Winter's Warmth

by Ivy Ruthven

  “Goodnight, then,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  “Bye.”

  He turned once more when he was near the door and waved. Smiling, I waved back.

  “You guys are just so cute,” said Jeanne, coming to stand next to me. “When did you guys get together?”

  “On Thanksgiving.”

  “Is he your first?”

  I nodded as a pleasant warmth spread to my cheeks.

  Jeanne looked towards the door but Ryan had already left. “You’ve set yourself a pretty high standard, young lady.”

  Chuckling, I began putting back the chairs in place. Within minutes, Jeanne and Dorothy came forward to help me clean the rest of the hall.

  By eight P.M, everyone had left. Every other day, I was the first one to leave the teashop, so it was going to be a new experience for me. I made sure all the windows and the front doors were securely closed and switched off all the light fixtures. Only the tiny Christmas lights glinted at the windows, giving the darkened hall a dull golden glow.

  I took my English notes from my bag in the locker room and headed towards the kitchen. Since the delivery men would be coming through there, I decided to wait there.

  The walls of the kitchen shimmered from the overhead lights. Without the presence of Nicole and a counter top full of food items, the place felt oddly big and quiet. Even the silence of the outer hall seemed to settle down on me.

  To shake of the eerie feeling, I decided to give Sarah a call. She was about to launch into a rant but I quickly told her that Bramble would give me a ride home. When I mentioned my boss’s mother in the emergency room, she calmed down.

  “Do what you can to help her,” said Sarah before cutting the call.

  Before I could open my notebook, someone shouted from outside.

  “Sam’s Town Delivery!”

  I leaped up from the stool. “Coming!” I cried, rushing towards the backdoor.

  A late middle-aged man in a fur-trimmed jacket stared at me with curiosity. He was balancing five white, square boxes on his hands while his eyes roved all over me.

  “Never seen you before,” he said.

  “Yeah. It hasn’t been long since I started working here. Are you here with the chocolates?” I asked.

  “Yes. What’s your name?”

  “Olivia Buchannan. And yours?”

  “I’m Paul Myers,” he said, putting out a fat gloved hand. The boxes tottered dangerously and I had to rush forward.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as he regained his balance. “You better put the boxes on the counter.”

  “Yeah,” he said, walking into the kitchen. I watched him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t drop anything. “You gotta sign here,” he said, whipping out a folded piece of paper. He lay it beside the boxes and flattened it out.

  I moved closer with my pen.

  “Here and here,” he said, pointing to the dotted lines on the form. I signed in both the places and looked up at him.

  “That’s all,” he said, smiling. “Bye.”

  The men delivering the chestnuts came as soon as Paul left. They were less chatty and looked like they just wanted to be done fast and go home. While one of them carried in a wooden crate, the second man made me sign the papers.

  After carrying the crate to the pantry, I returned for the boxes of chocolate. Instead of carrying them all at once like Paul, I held two boxes at a time.

  I was about to close the door to the refrigerator after the last box had been placed inside when the faraway sound of breaking glass alerted me. For a moment, I wondered if it had been my imagination. Then a louder sound made me jump out of my skin. With a hammering heart, I turned towards the dining hall.

  Silence returned to the place. I stood with pricked ears, afraid to move. Suddenly, sounds of heavy footsteps marched towards me. Within seconds, a man with thick ginger beard stood staring at me. My shocked face was mirrored in his glassy blue eyes.

  “Who-who are you?” I asked thickly. My throat was constricted.

  The man didn’t answer me, but stared at me. Then he threw his head back and yelled. “Tony! There’s a kid here.”

  There was another person there?!

  I stepped away from the man but he was upon me within a second. “Stop!” he shouted, grabbing my hands. His hands were so big they wrapped around both my wrists without any trouble. “Quit moving!” The stink of tobacco was strong in his breath. “Tony! Get in here, man!”

  The man jerked me around to face the kitchen’s entrance where a tall, lean man stood glaring at me. He had a sallow complexion and dark, unfathomable eyes.

  “Is it just her?” he asked, fixing his gaze on his friend.

  “I think so.”

  “You think so?” he growled. “What if some other waitress has already dialed for the cops?” His angry glance shifted to me. “You, girl! Is anyone else here?”

  I stayed silent, too stunned by their sudden apparition.

  “Answer him,” said the ginger man, grinding the bones of my wrists.

  A cry escaped my lips.

  “Easy, Marco,” said Tony. He bent on his knees so that he was level with me. “Play nice and we won’t hurt you. Understand?”

  There was no way I trusted these men. I wished the delivery men would come back, having forgotten something important to deliver or say. Panic seemed to engulf me as pain shot through my hands.

  “Let’s take her to the front,” said Tony. “She’ll show us where they keep the cash.”

  Marco pushed behind me, still keeping a hard grip on my hands. Stumbling forward, we followed Tony. The dining hall was dark. All the Christmas lights had gone out from the window sills. A gaping hole with jagged, uneven edges was on one of the tall windows. The sight made my heart tighten while a sob choked my throat.

  While I was distracted, Tony came forward with a length of rope.

  “What’re doing?” I asked, renewing my struggles against Marco.

  “Hey! Stop that!” shouted Marco. “Hurry with that, Tony.”

  They bound my wrists together. Tony kicked me in the knees, making me stumble forward and fall to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of my hair to steady me.

  Marco got down on his knees next to me. He leaned into my face. With a sudden strike, he caught my chin. “She’s kinda pretty,” he mumbled.

  “Forget about her,” hissed Tony. “Check the counter over there. We need to hurry before someone comes along.”

  “Someone needs to watch her. You go ahead.”

  Marco placed a heavy hand on my head. His fingers began touching my hair. I recoiled from him but it did nothing to deter him. On the other side, Tony was fumbling through the things in the shelf behind the counter that encased the fresh pastries for sale every day.

  “Got it,” came Tony’s dazed whisper. “And it’s not even locked.”

  “Put it back!” I hissed, surprising myself. “People worked very hard for that money.”

  “Shut up, kid!” said Marco, pulling at my hair.

  “Please, don’t do this,” I begged, tears pricking my eyes. Poor Bramble was getting robbed on top of having her mother in the hospital. For a moment, I’d forgotten my own predicament, being tied down with a criminal breathing down on me.

  “It’s nothing, personal,” said Tony, coming forward with the cash box. “Everybody’s gotta do something for booze.”

  “What do we do with her?” asked Marco. “Can we take her with us?”

  “Don’t be stupid,” scolded Tony. “We leave her here and take the money.”

  Marco bent down next to me. Extending his hand towards me, he moved stands of hair away from my face. “Such a shame to not be able to have more fun with you.”

  I was about to swear loudly when something out of the dark knocked Marco away from me. The next instant, Tony uttered a guttural sound and crumpled to the floor beside me.

  “Olivia, are you hurt?” The voice was tight with tension but unmistakably Ryan’s.

  “Ry
an?” For a moment, I wondered if my mind had conjured up a dream.

  There was a sickening sound of creaking bones and Marco’s scream tore through the silent hall. “What were you doing to her?” Ryan hissed.

  “Nothing! Let go! Let go!”

  It was difficult to see things in the room. Only the street light filtered through the broken glass, leaving only silhouettes to be seen.

  “Hello? 911?” Ryan’s voice was heard again. Within minutes, he’d explained the situation. When he disconnected the call, there was another shout. Tony had jumped on Ryan. I remained in my kneeling position, watching the two men fight. My terror made it difficult to breath. I prayed for the cops to get there soon because every second that passed made my heart squeeze painfully with fright.

  However, Ryan turned out to be an expert fighter. It took only a few kicks and chops for him to bring Tony down. A maniacal laugh escaped me. My boyfriend is a karate master, I thought with sudden glee. Take that, you moronic burglars!

  The sound of sirens and the glare of cop cars flooded the front of the teashop. The front doors were still locked, so they entered through the broken glass. One of the men switched on the lights. The sudden luminance blinded me for a moment.

  As I looked up at Ryan, I felt a stab in my heart. His face was deathly pale against the dark strands of hair on his forehead. Tony and Marco lay on the floor nearby, writhing.

  “Olivia,” whispered Ryan, coming to sit beside me. He removed the ropes binding me and helped me stand up. My knees hurt from where they’d been kicked before but I was able to stay on my feet.

  “Miss, are you all right?” asked a cop. He was slightly round in the middle but his gaze was kind.

  I nodded. “They have the cash box. Please get it from them.”

  “We’ll take care of it and these goons,” said the cop.

  Ryan stepped closer. His blue eyes took in my state from head to toe. Without a word, he pulled me into a tight hug. “Too hard,” I muttered, but he didn’t loosen his hold.

  “I’m not letting go.” His voice was still strained.

  The cop cleared his throat. Ryan let go off me but I could feel his reluctance.

  “Do you work here?”

  “Yes. I work for Miss Woods.”

  Marco and Tony were hauled out of the shop by the other policemen. At the same time, a wide eyed Bramble Woods stumbled into the room.

  “What is going on here?” she asked, taking in the broken windows and the cops. “Olivia?” She was bewildered.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but who are you?”

  “I’m the owner and manager of this place,” said Bramble still looking around as if in a daze. “What happened here?”

  I explained everything that happened since the time everyone left. The cops verified my statement on the spot, checking the delivery receipts that had time stamps on them both. In the end, I had questions for Ryan.

  “What were you doing here? I thought you’d gone home.”

  “I did. After sitting down to finish my homework, I realized that I’d left my book here. I was sort of distracted before I left.” He eyed me meaningfully while I remembered the kiss before he left. “So I drove back to see if you were still around and take my book. The shop looked too dark and when I got nearer, I saw the broken glass. And you…on your knees and hands tied behind your back.”

  “And you attacked the two men?” asked the cop.

  “Yes.”

  “You were lucky. Both of you,” said the cop, staring at both me and Bramble. “You weren’t hurt and you weren’t robbed.”

  “I’m not so sure,” muttered Bramble. “Just look at this place. I’ll have to stay closed tomorrow to fix everything.” Then she glanced towards me, her eyes brimming with tears. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I never meant to put you in such a dangerous situation.”

  “Don’t apologize, Miss Woods. It wasn’t your fault these crooks decided to rob the shop. By the way, how’s your mother?”

  Bramble gave a wry smile. “She had heartburn from eating stale scones. She is fine.”

  A long breath whistled out of me. “We should be thanking her too.”

  “What? Why?”

  “If both Ryan and I’d left, you would have been all alone. I don’t even want to imagine how bad things would have been then,” I said.

  “I suppose we should be grateful?” said Bramble.

  I nodded.

  “Can I take her home?” asked Ryan.

  “Yes. We have everything,” said the cop.

  I rushed to get my coat and bag. Without bothering to change out of my uniform, I went out of the teashop with Ryan. Only when we were both seated inside his cars, did I begin to feel the stress leaving my body.

  “Some day this was,” I whispered, looking back at the shop.

  Ryan’s hand came to grasp mine. “You’ve no idea how scared I was.”

  “You were scared? You were kicking like a ninja,” I said with a chuckle in an attempt to lighten his mood. “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

  “That’s not important,” he said in a grave voice. “You’re the only person in this world I care about, Olivia. You have to understand that.” His voice got caught as he said that.

  “Hey,” I said, rubbing his hard. “I’m okay. Everything will be okay.” I was surprising myself again that night. Before his appearance, I’d been choked with fear and was almost paralyzed with fright. It was his presence that made all my terror disappear. Snuggling closer to him, I lay my head on his shoulder.

  Ryan kissed the top of my head and started the car.

  “You’re going to start making me pray,” he said grudgingly. In a lighter voice, he said, “My angel.”

  I chuckled. “Wish I had more powers like you.”

  Chapter 9

  The whirring sound of a food processor jerked me from a dreamless sleep. Blinking my eyes open, I woke up to a bright sunny morning. The clock beside displayed the time as nine A.M. It was well past the time to go to school. Stretching luxuriously inside my covers, I remained in bed for a while longer enjoying the warmth of my blankets.

  I and my family had stayed up late last night. After coming home, I’d found my mother reading a book in the living room and James was upstairs. They weren’t aware of the incidents that occurred a few hours ago. Only when I sank into a couch beside Sarah did she look up.

  As I began narrating my story, Sarah grew hysterical by the minute. Her voice took on a high pitch quality. It must have reached James’s room because he appeared there after a while. As I continued, he took a seat on one of the couches as well.

  My story of being held hostage by the burglars at the teashop both fascinated and horrified them. I repeated the story three times with them asking for additional details each time. At some point, the cops came to check up on me at the house. It had been their presence that finally made the whole thing seem very real.

  “Thank God for that boy!” Sarah had shakily as her lips trembled. “Did you thank him, Olivia?”

  “Of course,” I said. “We all did. Without him, Bramble would have lost a lot of money.”

  We were up past midnight last night. The cops who came by suggested that I should take the next day off to relax and let the shock wear off. So, that was the reason I got the luxury to stay in bed until the sun shone through the curtains in my window.

  The sound of the food processor jerked me out of my thoughts. Getting up from bed, I checked my phone. It had several texts from Ryan. Deciding to reply them after a cup of tea, I went downstairs.

  Sarah was grinding something floury and brown in the processor. She looked up as soon as I entered the kitchen.

  “Morning, Mother,” I said with a smile.

  “Morning.” She had an anxious look on her face. “How are you feeling now?”

  “Good,” I said, switching on the kettle. “The extra rest really helped. Did James go to school?”

  “Yeah. He was quite sleepy but there was no reason to
keep him home. They wrote about you in the papers.”

  “What?” I stared at my mother. “How did they know?”

  “Actually they don’t know your names,” said Sarah, scraping at the contents of the processor. “It said two high school students were responsible in getting the burglars caught. I’m sure reporters are snooping around the school to find out more. Good thing I kept you home.”

  “Yeah. I’m sure Ryan would not speak about it to anyone. So unless the cops tell them, our names will remain under wraps.”

  Sarah came to sit at the table. My tea was also ready, so I took a seat too.

  “I hope it will stay that way. I don’t want John finding anything about it.”

  Warming my hands on the sides of the cup, I said, “Stop worrying about him, Mother. He’s miles away and Knightswood is just a tiny town in this great country. I doubt even the people of Philadelphia will be interested in this incident.”

  “Yeah. I hope you’re right.” She peered at me. “Are you sure you’re okay, honey?”

  “I am, Mother. Ryan came just in time. Before that though…” I shook my head. “I was very scared. But the way Ryan knocked them out, you’d think they were a couple of old drunkards who couldn’t stand on their feet.”

  Sarah shuddered. “I just can’t help thinking what would have happened if he didn’t show up. What if you were kidnapped? Or worse?”

  “I heard them talking. They were more interested in the money,” I said, keeping details of Tony’s hints to myself. My mother didn’t need to know.

  “Good. Good.”

  Sarah continued to look glum. It was hard to watch her suffer. I began thinking of something to say or do to cheer her up. Then an idea came to me.

  “When do we put up our Christmas decorations, Mother? I see a lot of houses that have already put up their tree.”

  “We had an old tree up in the loft but it’s so much nicer to have an actual one. I loved the smell of pine and fir in the living room when I was younger.” Instantly, she had a faraway look.