Page 16 of Cabin Fever Baby

And for once, it was very nice not to have to make yetanotherdecision.

In the end, I managed to find a vacuum in the slim cupboard under the stairs, and I chased after Kane as he moved everything. Bells even helped me with some of the remaining lights before they finally had to be on their way.

"I'd stay and play, but this guy has us overbooked for the whole day." Bells looped her arm around his waist, and Kane draped his arm along her shoulders.

"You volunteered me,kaimoni."

"No,Lavernevolunteered you."

"Oh, I met Laverne. I can totally see that," I said with a laugh.

"She has him wrapped around her finger." Bells went up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss over his cheek. "And I kinda love it."

The quick kick of envy surprised me. I'd been so busy for so long, that the idea of a relationship was almost laughable. After my first year on tour—and an unfortunate relationship with a co-worker—I tended to fall into my bed in exhaustion at insane hours of the morning very much alone.

The mere idea of hooking up was too exhausting to even consider.

But I'd never had a man look at me like Kane looked at his wife—even in my other life. Hell, I don't think I'd ever had a man inspire anything other than a quick hit of attraction in far too many years to count.

I walked them to the door. "I hope the rest of your deliveries are less intensive. I really appreciate the help."

"We had fun." She bumped Kane's hip with hers. "Gives me some ideas for our new house—if we can ever get it finished."

Kane snorted. "I'm not the one who keeps making changes."

She elbowed him. "I can't help it that you're an architect that can make all my dreams come true in and outside the primary bedroom."

My eyebrows shot up as I laughed. "Now I'm actually jealous."

"I am pretty lucky." She grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs. "And don't get a swelled head about it, your hair is big enough."

The sky had bloomed with more clouds since we’d been playing with the furniture. A light dusting of snow now coated the walkway and grass.

Sighing, I waved at them and closed the door. Then I glanced around.

Man, did I still have a lot of work to do.

FIVE

6 Days til Christmas

Flyingdirect into Syracuse was usually easy peasy. Unfortunately for us, we ended up trapped on the tarmac, thanks to the downfall of the airlines in general. First, we had a mechanical difficulty, then we needed an available flight crew.

We’d been loaded on a plane twice, and we had also deplaned just as many times. Getting to the ticket agents to rebook was a lesson in futility, and I'd ended up sleeping in the O’Hare terminal for all of two combined hours, thanks to the chaos.

Surprising my parents was becoming more of a pain in the ass than I had planned for.

If that wasn’t enough, we’d flown into a storm that Michigan was punting to New York with a good ol’ middle finger. According to the pilot, we were hopefully going to get ahead of it.

Finally, I walked across the departing tunnel that opened into Syracuse's airport. I paused at the massive window decked out in fake snow and classy glitter to find all too real snow piling up. At least six inches so far from what I could tell from that vantage point. "Well, shit."

Swearing under my breath, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see the dreaded weather warning on my screen. I'd been so exhausted I'd slept the full flight and had missed the update stating we hadnotbeat the snow. There were multiple warnings piling up that had changed over to storm watches with a staggering amount of feet forecasted.

Awesome.

And I still had an hour’s drive into Crescent Cove.

Maybe I should call them. But knowing my mom, she'd worry if I was driving in this bullshit. I was well versed in driving in this crap, thanks to living in the Syracuse region. Two of the Finger Lakes were in our backyard and lake effect was very much a way of life for winter storms in this region. I checked the board for which baggage claim I'd have to camp out at then I trudged over to the car rental booths.