in the back of his van with Grace underneath him, both of them naked, Grace gasping as he thrust into her. “Whatever he did,” Sherry said, “he won’t throw me out. Tomorrow, I’ll go back to my place and have someone change the locks.”
“Here we go.” Jim slid his car into a stretch of open curb between two driveways. “It’s a little bit of a hike.”
“That’s okay.” She swung open her door. As she climbed out, the wind blew under her skirt and hurled it up. She let go of her blouse to battle it, so the wind jerked her blouse wide open. The only button came undone. The blouse started to fly off her shoulders, but she quickly caught it and pulled it shut.
Looking over her shoulder, Sherry saw that Jim was making his way, hunched over, toward the front of the car. He’d probably seen nothing of the wind’s attempt to strip her.
Quickly, she tucked her blouse down the waistband of her skirt.
“A blustery night!” she called to Jim.
He smiled and shook his head. His hair was a wild, blowing tangle. His clothes flapped.
Sherry waited for him on the grass strip beside the curb. The grass felt soft and warm under her bare right foot. As Jim approached, she stepped over to the sidewalk. The concrete didn’t feel good, but at least she could watch its flat gray surface and avoid kicking a sprinkler head or putting her foot down in broken glass or a dog pile.
Jim came to her on the sidewalk. “I forgot about your bare foot,” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the moans and howls of the wind.
“It’s okay,” Sherry told him.
“Are you sure? Maybe we should get back into the car. I can go ahead and park in Duane’s driveway. If I’d remembered about your foot…”
“No. It doesn’t matter. It’s not that far, anyway.”
“Want to wear one of my shoes?” he asked.
She looked down at Jim’s feet. He wore high-top leather hiking boots. Large ones. “What are they, size fifty?”
“Twelves.”
“I think I’ll pass. But thanks for the offer.”
“I’d be more than glad to carry you.”
Sherry huffed out a laugh. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“I’d risk it.”
“Well, I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks.”
As they hurried down the sidewalk, Sherry felt the gusts flinging her short hair every which way. It blew its hot breath against the nape of her neck. It snapped the sleeves and sides of her blouse while it pasted the center against her back. It pressed her skirt against her rump and legs. Sometimes, it gave her a rough shove as if it hoped to throw her sprawling on the concrete.
“Your boyfriend picked a great night for his disappearing act,” Jim said.
“I shouldn’t have let him go out. It was my fault.”
“Did you get an urge for a snack?”
“Huh?”
“Did you send him to the store for a snack?”
“Not exactly.”
“How long was he gone?”
“About an hour. Then I went looking for him. Another big mistake. I should’ve waited.”
“Maybe so.”
“What do you mean ‘maybe?’
” Bumping gently against her, Jim said loudly into her face, “You met me, didn’t you?”
“Is that supposed to be the silver lining?”
He laughed. Holding her blouse shut with one hand, Sherry used the other to point across the street. “That’s his entrance,” she said.
Jim nodded. “Let’s go.”
They walked down a driveway to the street. No traffic was coming, so they rushed to the other side. There, Sherry took the lead. She waded through the wind to the foot of the stairs, then trotted up them to the building’s front stoop.
She tried to open the glass doors, but they were locked.
Beyond them, the lobby and ground-level corridor were dimly lighted. And deserted.
She stepped over to the call box. Leaning in, she thumbed the button for Duane’s apartment. Then she put her ear close to the speaker.
“Yeah?” she heard.
“It’s me.”
“Sherry?”
“Yeah. Let me in.”
Through the noises of the wind, she heard a faint buzzing sound.
Jim, standing by her side and ready, pulled open the door.
While he held it wide, she rushed into the lobby. Turning around, glad to be out of the wind, she watched Jim struggle to pull the door shut.
“Wow,” she said.
Jim smiled slightly. “Nice and quiet in here, isn’t it?”
“Almost peaceful.”
He stared into her eyes. “I guess you’re probably safe now.”
“Looks that way.”
“Do you mind if I go up with you, anyway?”
“It really isn’t necessary.”
“I’d hate to bring you this far and lose you at the last moment.”