21. Thinking Of You

Two weeks later, Knox was working in the second condo in Sage's building. There was a massive snowstorm coming and they might be snowed in and lose power this weekend.

In his mind, he wanted him and Sage to have a little winter retreat and was going to bring it up when he talked to her in a few hours.

When his phone rang in his pocket, he pulled it out to see Blaze calling him.

That never happened.

He put down the screwdriver, then answered. "Hey, Blaze. What's up?"

"Knox, I hate to call."

"Don't worry about it. What's going on?"

"Well, my buddy Mark and I flew into Boston yesterday afternoon to see a Celtics knockout game. It was his birthday gift from his parents and his father couldn't go last minute."

"Okay," he said. "Are you still in Boston?" Which was about two hours from here with traffic. If he was lucky.

"Yeah," Blaze said. "Because of the storm, our flights kept getting pushed off and now they are canceled. We can't get a hotel room. They are all booked. No one will rent us a car either because we aren't twenty-five. We are just stuck in the airport and don't know for how long. My dad's in Texas right now."

"Shit," he said. "Okay, I'll come get you. Is there any way you can get an Uber or taxi to get you out of Logan and at least head my way? I can meet you and, hopefully, it will prevent me from trying to get into the city, which I'm sure is going to be crazy."

"Hang on," Blaze said and put his phone down. He heard muffled noises in the background and assumed Blaze was talking to his friend through the airport buzz going around. "Mark is going to go out and see if he can find a taxi or Uber. I think a lot of people are just stuck here and won't leave knowing they can't find a place."

"Do me a favor," he said. "I"m going to finish up the job I'm at right now. Should be another twenty minutes and then I'm going to hit the road and head in your direction. If I've got to get to Logan I will, but keep trying to get out of there and I'll reroute to get to you any way I can."

"Will do," Blaze said. "Thanks. I appreciate this and am sorry to put you out."

"Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm glad you called."

Knox finished up what he was doing, called one of his men over and told him what was going on. He asked them to take care of what they could and said they'd do the rest on Monday.

When he was walking out of the building ten minutes later, Blaze called him again. "Any luck?" he asked.

"We are getting into an Uber right now. The guy said he was just going to drive south. He might be able to get us to Foxborough if we can get out of this mess. That's about forty-five minutes without traffic. I told him we'd tip him an extra fifty on top of it, but just drive as far as he could."

He laughed. "Put me on speaker."

"Hang on," Blaze said. "You're good."

"I'll add a zero to that tip if you can get them to Foxborough, but do it safely. Even if one of us has to wait for the other. Does that make it worth it for you?" he asked the driver.

"Shit yeah," he heard a guy say. "I know some back roads to just get out of this mess and will head that way. Makes it easier, to be honest, but probably an hour or more still."

"I'm just getting gas, so I'm more than an hour out to Foxborough. Take your time. Is it snowing there yet?"

"No," Blaze said after he was taken off of speaker. "But windy as a mother."

"Be safe. All of you. Hope to see you in ninety minutes or less. That would be a blessing."

He got in his truck, went to the gas station first, filled up, then stopped at the ATM for cash.

He called Sage to let her know what was going on.

"Hi, Knox," she said. "I was just thinking of you."

"I'm always thinking of you," he said.

"Aww, that is sweet."

He still hadn't said he loved her and wasn't sure what was holding him back. "I know we had plans tonight, but hadn't finalized them."

"I'm probably getting out of work at four. Not much going on and Rose told us to take off and get ready for the storm."

"Speaking of that, Blaze is stranded in Boston at the airport. I'm on my way to get him and his friend. They are in a Uber and trying to get out of the city and I'm going to meet them wherever we land."

"Be safe," she said.

She didn't even question it.

"I will. They are talking about the power going out. Why don't you come to my place tonight?"

"You'll have guests," she said.

"And a generator," he said, laughing. "You don't have that."

"I don't," she said. "Smart."

"I'm a smart guy."

"Call me when you're on the way back," she said. "You could be a long time."

"I'm hoping not," he said. "It's one now, if we can get home by dinnertime I'll be thrilled."

"Fingers crossed," she said. "The snow will start around then, so I hope for everyone's sake you are."

"It's going to start there first, so I just want to get them while I can, but we'll make it back before it's too bad, I'm sure."

"I'll talk to you soon. Call me with updates or I'll check in," she said.

"Bye," he said.

He was driving for thirty minutes when Blaze called and he hit the dashboard to answer.

"We are still in the city," Blaze said. "It's nuts, but we are making ground. The driver asked if we could meet at Patriot Place. Longer for you but shorter for us and he knows some other shorter routes. He thinks we can get there in like forty minutes."

"It's still better than the city. Let's aim for that. I'm cruising pretty well right now. Keep me posted."

An hour later, he was actually pulling into Patriot Place and made much better time than he thought but still no word from Blaze, so he was assuming they weren't there yet.

He parked and got out. Might as well piss and get some food. The boys would be hungry, he was sure, as he knew he was.

His phone went off with a text. He looked to see they were ten minutes out and moving pretty fast. What should have been a thirty-minute drive for them from the airport was two hours easily, but he didn't care at this point.

He found a takeout burger place and got in line, then got to the window. "Can I have five cheeseburgers, five orders of small fries and two chicken strip things?"

He pulled his card out and swiped it. "To go or eat in?"

"To go," he said. "Can I get four bottles of water too?"

It came up and he swiped again, then moved to the pickup side. There was a vending machine to the side and he went there, got three candy bars, and came back. That would be enough to get them through the ninety-minute drive back and if they were held up, they'd be fine.

Knox got his food, threw the candy bars in the bag and went back to his truck.

The wind was blowing enough that it sent his short hair all over the place. His fingertips were even numb at this point and he hoped he still had blankets in the back of his truck if they were needed.

No snow yet, but the thought of being in gridlock traffic wasn't appealing to him though he didn't think that would happen. The further they got away from here and back home, the easier it would be to make it.

He was putting the food in his truck and lifting the collar of his jacket higher around his neck when his phone vibrated with a text that they were pulling in now.

He told them where he was parked and stood there waiting until he saw the small sedan come up next to him, almost blocking him in.

Blaze got out with another kid. Knox hadn't seen his brother in three years since his high school graduation and maybe five years prior to that.

Both kids had a duffel bag with them and were wearing nothing more than a hoodie.

What the fuck?!

He hated to feel like an adult and lecture them so he kept it to himself.

"Thanks, Knox," Blaze said.

"I've got to piss," Mark said. "Do we have time?"

"Go," he said. "Both of you. I've got food in the truck and blankets if you're cold. I'll settle up here."

The boys took off in a mad rush for the building and he moved to the driver's door. The window came down and he pulled out ten bills to hand over. Double what he'd promised. The damn Uber drive alone was going to be huge and he didn't want his college-aged brother to have to deal with that.

"Here you go," he said. "Don't charge his card."

The driver took the bills and counted them. "This is a thousand dollars."

"It is. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did for them and getting them out of the city. Get your ass home and be safe."

"This is more than I make in a week. I just do this part time," the guy said. He looked to be in his mid twenties or so.

"Good deeds never go unnoticed," he said. "Seriously. We appreciate it."

The guy pulled away and took off with a big smile on his face.

Blaze and Mark came running out and got in his truck.

"I'm starving," Blaze said. "We haven't eaten since we left the hotel at seven. Every time we wanted to get something, the lines were too long and we were worried they might call our flight. Then we gave up and I called you."

"I'm glad you did," he said. "Give me one of those burgers since I missed lunch too and then eat up. Both of you. We'll be home by dinner easily at this point."

A few snowflakes were starting to drop, but he wasn't too concerned. He could outrun the storm as it was coming from the north anyway.

"That driver was pretty cool," Blaze said around a mouthful. Both boys were eating like it was their last meal. "He's a Celtic fan and we were telling him about the game last night."

"Yeah," Mark said. "Thanks so much. My father was supposed to go to the game with me, but he broke his leg and it'd be too much. Blaze said he'd love it but had to get his flight last minute."

Which probably cost a ton too, but he wouldn't say anything. "Does Mom know you're here?"

"No," Blaze said. "Are you going to tell her?"

"Do you know the last time I called Mom first?" he asked.

"No," Blaze said, grinning.

"Neither do I. So there is your answer."

"I'm supposed to leave tomorrow for home," Blaze said. "What do you think the chances are of us getting a flight? I can at least tell Mom I got held up and leave Sunday if I have to."

"It's all going to depend on how much snow there is and the flight schedule. We'll get it figured out."

"Thanks," Blaze said again, reaching in for a package of fries now.

Mark put his hand forward for the bag again and the two boys were eating while he drove.

Thirty minutes in and a lot of just chatter about the game, his phone rang and he saw it was Sage calling.

Her name came up on the screen and both boys were quiet.

"Hi," he said.

"Tell me you at least are close to picking them up."

"We are on our way home. Less than an hour at this point," he said. "Sorry I didn't text or call. We just wanted to get on the road."

"I'm glad," she said. "Really I am. Is it snowing?"

"Flurries when we left, but I've managed to get ahead of it. I'm thinking we will get home no later than four thirty if we stay at this pace. Maybe I'll stop at the store and get some food. I don't even know what I've got."

"I can do it," she said.

"So you're coming over?" he asked.

"The thought of having no power swayed my decision," she said, laughing.

"I'll get it," he said. "Just go home and get your stuff and head over."

"I'll see you then," she said.

When the phone disconnected, Blaze said, "Is that your girlfriend? I didn't know you were dating anyone."

"It was," he said. "I haven't talked to Mom since September and don't make a habit of telling her much about my personal life. Do you?"

"Nope," Blaze said. "Never did if I could avoid it. It's better that way."

Knox snorted and wasn't surprised they thought alike.

"She won't hear it from me unless you've got no choice in the matter due to the flight schedule. I'll get you boys back to Virginia one way or another."

Even if that meant he had to get a private flight out of the airport across from his house. It might cost more, but he wouldn't care. Right now there was no way he was bringing them back to Logan with rescheduled flights either. He'd deal with that when the time came.

When they got into Groton at a little after four, he knew he was flying on the road. The wind was throwing his truck around, but he didn't care and it didn't seem the troopers on the highway did either. He imagined they were letting everyone get home safely.

"Do you guys care if I stop at the store first?" he asked. "I'm sure it's nuts, but I should get some food in case we are stuck in the house."

"We don't care," Blaze said. "I'm stuffed right now and happy for it."

He turned and pulled into the grocery store parking lot. It was packed as he expected, but he'd make a mad dash for it.

He left the truck running for them so they didn't get cold and all but ran through the aisles getting a package of chicken, ground beef, bread, eggs, cereal—he remembered Blaze liked Frosted Flakes as a kid—milk, pasta, sauce, sandwich meats, and a ton of snacks. Easy enough and would carry them over.

Ten minutes later he was in the truck and pulling out.

"Damn, did you buy out the store?"

"It's three bags," he said. "And I ran through the aisles. I got lucky with a fast cashier."

When they pulled into his garage, he saw lights right after him, Sage coming behind him. He pointed her to the second slot next to him so he wouldn't have to dig her out tomorrow.

"Hey," she said, getting out. "Perfect timing."

"It is," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "I'll introduce you all in the house. Grab bags and let's get inside and thank our stars we are here now."

"You're such a good big brother," she whispered in his ear.

He smirked and reached for the last bag of groceries, as the boys each had one and Sage got the bag of their fast food. Not one burger or fry was left and he was glad he'd bought enough.

Now he just had to make sure everything was set in the house if they lost power, but he'd deal with that later now that his heart rate was finally slowing down.