Page 110 of Familiar Things New

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In the middle of the afternoon, Edwin and Andrew finally arrived at Edwin’s house on James Street. Once they reached the walkway, they abandoned their shovels—both men tossing them onto the small front yard—and tromped through the three feet of snow to the door, neither of them still concerned about wetting their pant legs and socks by that point. After all, inside Andrew’s pack, they had coal for the furnace. All Edwin cared about right then was seeing his family and confirming they were well. He could stand for his feet to be extra cold for a while.

Despite Edwin’s hands shaking slightly from the combination of exhaustion, worry, and cold, he somehow managed to unlock the door with ease, and then he hurried to open it. Before his eyes could even adjust to the low light emanating from the sole lamp on the far wall, he heard two loud yelps and nearly leapt out of his skin. Stumbling backward, Edwin knocked into Andrew, who then fell on his rear end into the snow.

“Oh, thank God,” Agnes said from one of the high-backed chairs opposite the front door. “It’s only Edwin.”

Edwin had only just begun to turn so that he could help Andrew to his feet when the scene finally came into focus, his eyes at last adjusting to the orange-yellow glow. Several more seconds passed as his brain worked to comprehend the scene before him.

Agnes and William were both there. Together. And Agnes was sitting on William’s lap.

“Will?!” Edwin spluttered. “What—”

“Ah, oh no, Agnes!” William said, his voice a mixture of alarm and boredom. “It, ah, it looks like you fell right . . . on top of me. How . . . unfortunate?”

Edwin blinked twice.

After one more second of confused silence, he burst out laughing. Behind him, Andrew began laughing too. When William then started to chuckle, Agnes shoved his face with her palm, letting out an irritated-sounding scoff, though there was still a hint of a smile on her lips.

“You’re all such children,” she said.

Once Edwin managed to contain at least some of his laughter, he faced the other direction and held out his hand to pull Andrew back up.

“Sorry, Andrew.”

“Don’t be. I’m fine,” Andrew said through a soft chuckle, brushing snow off of his bottom with his free hand as he stood.

Edwin was still holding Andrew’s hand when he turned and threw William and Agnes a smirk.

“Aren’t you even going to climb off of him?” he asked Agnes as he and Andrew came into the house.

Agnes let out a dramatic sigh. “Why should I even bother? It seems like there’s no purpose in pretending to abide by even a sliver of propriety now, thanks to you.”

“It’s not as though you were being particularly careful,” Edwin countered.

“How were we not being careful?! Mother is taking a much-needed nap, and as far as I knew, you were still stuck at Andrew’s. How’d you even get here?”

“Me?! How did William get here? He lives much farther away than Andrew!”

“I came here yesterday morning,” William said. “I was worried about your family. I knew you’d left to visit Andrew after we chatted in the conservatory. And so, when I realized how bad the storm was, I thought I’d better check on them. I brought a bunch of coal with me just in case, too.”

Edwin shook his head, bewildered. “How, though? Even yesterday, there must have been over two feet of snow on the ground.”

“Snow shoes,” William replied. “Obviously.”

“Oh, yes, obviously. Because everyone owns snowshoes,” Edwin retorted.

After a beat, William crooked an eyebrow and asked, “Does everyone not own snowshoes?”

“For heaven’s sake, William, you’re so obtuse sometimes,” Agnes complained, burying her face in her palms. “Why do I even like you?”

“I think it’s because I’m charming,” William replied with a smug smile as Agnes came out from her pretend hiding place. “And handsome, of course.”

Agnes rolled her eyes, and William pulled her close to plant a chaste kiss on her cheek. Wrinkling her nose, she wiped the invisible remnants of William’s affection off with the cuff of her sleeve.

“Really, Edwin, how did you two make it here?” she asked.

“Shoveling,” he said. “Lots and lots of shoveling.”