Home Is Where the Heart Is

Heather stood at the window watching the storm—again. It seemed it was all she could do lately. But it really was the worst blizzard she’d ever seen—& they were over a hundred miles south from where it was hitting hardest.

She heard a distant “thwumpfff” under the wind’s howling & could barely see a spout of snow fly into the air across the street, like some great whale breaching the surface & clearing its blowhole. Then she caught a glimpse of the depression it left behind.

“There goes another one,” she said to no one in particular. “I think this one was the Anderson’s.” She wondered if they were still at home. She hadn’t seen them evacuating. She hoped she had just missed them. The thought of them buried alive by the snow which had just crushed their home made her queasy, especially since there was no hope of rescue any time soon. She felt like crying, but she was out of tears.

“Why don’t you come away from the window before it drives you mad?” Patrick suggested. “There’s nothing we can do & watching is just going to tear you apart.”

He’d been trying all morning to think of any way they could reach their neighbors, always coming up empty. He knew they could climb out a window, if not on the second floor, they could use their window. They had enough rope to tie around someone’s waist so they wouldn’t get lost in the storm. But how do you dig through twenty or thirty feet of snow in the middle of a blizzard, just to reach the top of the rubble where any survivors would remain trapped & buried?

He knew there wasn’t a solution to be found, not even if they combined all the resources they had in the building. But trying to find one kept his mind busy & off other more disturbing things—just as preparing lunch for the three of them kept him from wringing his hands right off his wrists.

“I’d still hear them only it would be worse,” she sighed, never turning her head. “I’d have no idea whose house or what building it was & the sound of the storm would be less likely to drown out the screams I keep hearing in my head.”

“Well step away long enough to eat something. Lunch is ready.” Patrick had prepared his patented homemade cream of tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches fresh off their panini press. He’d made the sandwiches with horseradish sauce, Swiss, cheddar & camembert cheeses, a leaf of kale & a fresh slice of tomato. She loved his cooking. He knew how to pull her away from almost anything she was doing.

She walked over to fetch Josiah from where he’d been playing on the living room floor. He’d managed to roll himself over but hadn’t quite figured out how to push himself up on his knees so he could start crawling. His eyes were glued to the statue of the raging bull setting in the corner. He’d been wanting to investigate it for days.

The bull was an exacting replica of the statue where she & Patrick had first met, the likeness of the mascot at the university where they completed their doctoral work. For a somewhat handsome fee, one of the alums who had been an art major, produced the statues for anyone who asked. She wasn’t getting rich this way, but she wasn’t any “starving artist” either. Despite the cost, she had quite a waiting list. It took over a year to receive theirs. But to them it was worth it. To them it was all about how they met, got to know one another, & fell in love.

But that statue was also where her relationship with Corbin had begun to go sour….

No, that wasn’t true. The decline of their relationship began the moment she said, “No,” with him on one knee. She had seen it in his eyes.

But that wasn’t quite true either. “No” was where they had ended. It just took her another seven years to figure it out.

“Table’s all set, lunch is ready. If we don’t eat soon it’s going to get cold.” She snapped out of her reverie & turned her head. It was ready—two bowls of soup, steam still rising, with homemade croutons on top; two plates, each with a sandwich cut diagonally to make it easier to handle; two frozen strawberry-blueberry-banana-& orange juice smoothies; soup spoon & fork (in case the sandwiches were still too messy); & apple sauce with warm milk in a bottle for Josiah.

It was then she realized she’d just been standing there over Josiah, blankly watching him wanting that statue as she took a trip down memory lane. She had to shake her head & laugh at herself for acting so foolish.

She swept Josiah into her arms, got him situated in his height chair (complete with bib), while Patrick opened the jar of baby food & checked the bottle one more time to make sure it was the right temperature. Then they both sat down, said grace together, & began to eat.

She watched Patrick as he fed Josiah & chuckled whenever one of them did something cute or funny. (Patrick was quite good at making funny faces & noises. So was Josiah.) But as entertaining as they were, her mind kept wandering back to when they had both awakened in the middle of the night.

Something had startled them. They assumed it must have been the building’s generators as they could see by the flashing 12:00 on their alarm clock the electricity had gone off. (They really needed to change that 9-volt battery; someday they were going to need it.) When they had gone to check on Josiah, he was already awake, both staring & pointing at the window. She’d picked him up & carried him over to look outside while he just kept pointing. She had tried to follow his finger but couldn’t see much through the storm.

After a few minutes he’d let go of his fascination & begun playing on Mommy’s lips with his fingers. She always made funny noises & faces & laughed when he did that. She was fun. Maybe even as much fun as Daddy.

Heather had told Patrick he could go back to bed. She’d stay up with Josiah until he fell asleep. He almost made it, too, lifting the covers & just crawling in when they heard it. Heather looked out the window, shook her head & blinked her eyes a few times, because she was certain she couldn’t have seen what she had just seen: a plume of snow rising from the ground through the storm.

Patrick walked back through the bedroom door asking, “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” Heather replied. Then she saw it—a deep depression in the snow which hadn’t been there before. “I think the Roberts’ house just collapsed!”

Patrick walked over to the window & peered out. It took a while for his eyes to adjust, but when he finally saw it, he said, “I think you’re right.” After a few moments he added, “We’d better get the super.”

She grabbed his arm & asked, “Why him?”

Patrick looked into her eyes with sudden earnest. “Because I’ve only been thinking about the outer walls of this building when I told you I was confident it would hold against the storm. I never thought about the roof. We need to make sure the snow’s not getting so deep it will cause the roof to cave in. If it is, we could all be in trouble.”

She let go of his arm & he headed off for the stairwell. Two flights down would be a piece of cake. It was the seven flights back up that had him concerned.

Heather turned back to the window & scanned as far as she could see. She asked Josiah, “Is that what woke you up? Is that what you wanted me to see? Houses falling down?” She wasn’t worried about the Roberts. She’d watched them pack their things & leave two days before the storm. They were heading to a cousin’s house somewhere out east. She was so confident no one had been home that she allowed herself a little moment of mirth. Mr. Roberts sold homeowner’s insurance. She had to wonder if he was covered for this.

In the meantime, Patrick had been downstairs pounding on the building superintendent’s door, calling for him to wake up, but getting no response. He would have used his phone, but there was absolutely no service left in the area, neither cell nor landline. Patrick wondered if the super had left. Surely not, not right before a major storm. Who would he have left in charge? Wouldn’t he have let everyone know?

He had just given up & started for the stairs when he saw the super coming down.

“There you are,” Patrick exclaimed. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“I know,” he replied. “I could hear you four flights up. It’s a wonder the neighbors didn’t start throwing things at you. I had to come back down to make sure they weren’t beating you to death.”

“It’s the roof,” Patrick continued. “Houses across the street have begun to fall in on themselves. We need to check the roof.”

“I know. I’ve been keeping an eye on it since the storm began,” the super reassured him. “But I wouldn’t mind some help, especially now that we can’t use the elevators. So far, the wind has been doing a pretty good job of keeping it clear. There are places where the snow may be a foot deep, but that’s not a problem, though it is wet & heavy. If it really starts sticking & gets a couple of feet deeper, we’re going to want to round up a crew & break out the shovels. Right now, though, everything’s okay. Go to bed, professor, & get some sleep. I may be needing you later.”

Then he added, “I’m leaving the door to the roof unlocked for now. Feel free to go up & check on things anytime you want. Just be careful. It’s slick & that wind is dreadful.”

“Thanks. I’ll do that. Sorry about all the ruckus.” Patrick headed for the stairs.

As the super opened his door, he called back, “Say hello to the missus for me, & the young’un.”

“I’ll do that,” Patrick replied as he disappeared around the corner.

He got back to the apartment just as Heather was putting Josiah to bed. They held each other in the doorway as they usually did, watching him sleep & not saying a word. For him it was because he felt relieved & content, at least in this moment. For her it was something else.

“They say that home is where the heart is,” she thought to herself. “But that means I still have two—here where my heart is full & there where it lies broken.” She thought about the apartment she’d shared with Corbin, the last place she knew he’d lived. It was the top floor of a two-story house & it’s now the epicenter of this storm. What were the chances?

“So, it’s a split decision,” she said to herself, but plenty loud for Patrick to hear. “But the better part is here.” She looked up at Patrick & said, “C’mon, let’s go to bed.”

They walked back to their room, slid in beneath the covers, & kissed one another good night. She fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Patrick had laid there wondering, “What did she mean by that?”

Now, as they finished lunch, he still didn’t have a clue.