Carrie walked over to him, leaving Abraham to kick his legs freely on the towel for a few minutes. ‘You’re usually never looking after a baby. How do you do on night shifts?’
He gave her a rueful look. ‘The busy nights are fine. The quiet nights? I drink about six cups.’
‘Will Mr Meltzer have anything left?’
Dan shook his head. ‘No. We’ll need to go further afield. Do you have rain boots?’
‘Wellies? Sure I do.’
‘Then get them. Go and get changed and I’ll make a few calls to see where we can get some supplies. Are you okay walking a few blocks?’
‘Of course. Do you want me to take Abraham up to Mrs Van Dyke?’
He shook his head. ‘No, I’ll do it. You go and get changed.’
She should have known. Dan wanted to check on Mrs Van Dyke himself. He really was a good guy. So why was he so down on Abraham’s mother? It just didn’t fit with the rest of his demeanour.
Ten minutes later she was ready. Her pink wool coat, purple scarf and purple woolly hat pulled down over her ears. Her wellies firmly in place with her jeans tucked inside.
The nip of frost was still in the air as they stepped outside. Dan pushed a piece of paper into his pocket and held out his gloved hand towards her.
Carrie hesitated for just a second. There was nothing in this. He was being mannerly and making sure she didn’t fall over in the snow. This wasn’t about the kiss that they’d shared—not at all.
She put her hand in his. ‘How far do we need to go?’
The snow was deeper than she’d expected. Not quite deep enough to reach the tops of her wellies, but not too far off it. ‘A few blocks,’ he murmured.
It only took a few minutes for her to realise that trudging through the snow was harder work than she first thought. She could feel her cheeks flush and her breathing get harder. This was the most exercise she’d had in days. But there was something almost magical about being the first set of footprints in the clean, bright snow.
They walked for ten minutes before they came across their first snowman. He was built in the middle of the sidewalk at a peculiar angle. The hat had slipped and one of the stones that had been an eye had fallen out.
Dan smiled as she stopped to admire him. ‘Oh, no. Here she goes. Snowman envy again.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I saw your face when you watched the news report. The shops we’re visiting are right next to Washington Square Park. If you really want we could stop and build one.’
She shook her head. ‘But I didn’t bring a carrot. Every good snowman needs a carrot for a nose.’ She smiled. ‘Actually, I’d much prefer to do a snow angel. Less work, more fun.’
They walked around the edge of the park towards the shops. There were a number of independent stores with lights on inside. Dan pushed open one of the doors quickly and shouted through to the back. ‘Aidan, are you there?’
‘Hi, Dan.’ The guy appeared quickly from the back of the shop. ‘Sorry, the phone keeps going ever since I got here. Seems the whole world needs supplies right now.’ He nodded to the bags on the counter. ‘I think I’ve got everything you requested—including the baby supplies. Anything you want to tell me, buddy?’
He looked from Dan to Carrie, and back again. ‘It’s not what you think. We found a baby on our doorstep a few days ago. Social services can’t get through to pick him up and we need some supplies to take care of him.’
Dan’s face was a bit flushed. As if he knew exactly what Aidan had been thinking. Was he embarrassed? Was he embarrassed that people might think they were actually a couple?
‘This is my neighbour Carrie. She’s giving me a hand with the baby.’
It seemed so.
Aidan nodded at Carrie and rang up the purchases on the register. ‘Hopefully this will last only another day or so. Then you’ll both be able to stop playing babysitter.’
The phone started ringing again and he headed back through to the back of the store. Dan had picked up the bags from the counter but seemed frozen. A bit like Carrie.
Another day or so. Abraham would be gone in a matter of days—maybe hours. What would happen to him then? Would he just get lost in the New York care system and be handed out to a foster family? The thought made Carrie feel sick. Before she’d been worried about Dan being embarrassed by her. Now, she realised she had much more to worry about.
She was going to have to say goodbye to another baby.
They walked out into the clear day. The snow was still thick everywhere, but the sky was clear and bright. Maybe this was the beginning of the end of the bad weather. Maybe it was time to move forward.
Dan seemed as lost in his thoughts as Carrie. Was he thinking about Abraham, too, or was he thinking about her?
They reached the edge of the park, near the Washington Arch. There were a few figures dotted around the park and a whole host of snowmen. ‘Look.’ Carrie pointed. ‘It’s like a whole little family.’ She stood next to the father snowman and looked down at the carefully erected snow family. ‘Dad, mum, a son and a daughter. How cute.’ Her voice had a wistful tone that she couldn’t help. Even the snow people had happy families.
Dan lifted his eyebrows at her. ‘Snow angels?’ he asked.
She wanted him to say so much more. She wanted to know how he was feeling. But Dan just wouldn’t reveal that side of himself to her. In a way he was even more closed off to her than Mark had been.
She gave a little nod. ‘Snow angels.’ This could be the last thing they would do together. She might as well have a little fun.
They found a bit of untouched ground. ‘It’s perfect,’ said Carrie. ‘Are you ready?’
She walked as gingerly as she could in her wellies and turned around holding her hands open wide. Dan left the bags on the ground and stood next to her, hands wide, their fingers almost touching. ‘You do realise you’re about to get soaked, right, Brit girl?’
‘It’s a question of whether I care or not,’ she responded as she leaned backwards, arms wide, letting herself disappear in a puff of powdery snow. She waved her hands through the snow as fast as she could, laughing, as Dan tried to keep up with her. Snow was soaking through her coat quickly, edging in around her neck and up her coat sleeves.
Then she felt it, her fingers brushing his, and she stopped.
She turned her head to face his. All of a sudden it seemed as if they were the only two people in New York. The only two people in this park, in this universe.
Dan moved. His breathing just as quick as hers. The warm air spilling into the cold around him, and then he was on her. His legs on either side of her, his warm breath colliding with her own.
‘What are you doing to me, Carrie McKenzie?’ His brown eyes were full of confusion and it made her heart squeeze. There it was. For the first time. Daniel Cooper stripped bare.
‘What are you doing to me, Daniel Cooper? I thought I was doing fine till I met you.’
She pushed her neck up, catching his cold lips with hers. Wrapping her hands around his neck and pulling him even closer. She didn’t mind the cold snow seeping through her coat around her shoulders and hips. She pushed aside the fact that a few minutes ago she’d felt a little hurt when he’d introduced her as his neighbour. She was as confused about all this as he was.
She’d told him everything. She’d told him about Ruby. She’d told him about Mark. But how much did she know about