Isolation , Jones, Nathan [top 20 books to read TXT] 📗

Right behind the kids was Gen, making a beeline for Nick with a huge smile on her face.

The sight of her lifted his heart even more than he'd expected, considering how much he'd been looking forward to seeing her. But he also felt a bit awkward; he had to admit that after so long not being able to get within fifteen feet of his girlfriend, he wasn't quite sure what to do now that that restriction was lifted.

A handshake felt woefully inadequate under the circumstances, but a hug felt a bit presumptuous. When they'd been friends before the Zolos outbreak they hadn't exactly been huggers, although Gen would often touch his arm or nudge his shoulder with hers as they walked side by side.

For that matter she couldn't want him to kiss her, could she? Right here in front of everyone, as their first kiss before they'd even gone on an official date? Definitely not.

To his vast relief, Gen didn't seem to share his sudden shyness; she didn't hesitate to pull him into a warm hug the moment she was close enough. That felt really nice, and he was a bit disappointed when she finally pulled back to grin up at him.

“Man, am I glad we're finally both on the same side of the three week quarantine wall,” she said.

“No kidding,” he replied, relaxing a bit. “It's so good to actually be able to get closer than fifteen feet after all this time.”

She nodded, turning to inspect the dugouts and large garden. “Looks like you've been busy.”

“We've done what we could. Hopefully the Norsons approve of all the improvements we've made.” His group had talked over all their plans with Bruce and Winn in close detail before doing anything, and the couple had frequently visited to check on their progress, but even so he wanted to make sure they hadn't stepped on their hosts' toes.

The Norsons were back with Hal, all carrying pots of food with hot pads. Nick eyed their expressions as they looked over his group's work in the adjacent lot, hoping for some sign of what they thought about it.

There was no visible sign of disappointment or irritation, which was a good sign. Bruce caught him staring his way and nodded, an acknowledgement of their efforts at least. “Those are some good borders on the garden,” the older man said as he made his way over to where Nick stood. “Could've used a ruler for them, they're so neat.”

“Boards, actually,” Nick said. “In line with your yard's boundary. We didn't want it to look like we just started digging up the nearby field.”

“No fear of that,” Winn said, joining them as well. “You've made a lot of progress with everything you've done, and it looks good.” She hesitated, and Nick could almost hear her adding “as good as can be expected” in her head, but she was polite enough to not say it.

Well, that was the best he could've hoped for with a line of dugouts made from scavenged building materials.

“Come on!” Tallie said, leaning out of her mom's arms and pointing eagerly towards the tables they'd set up under a nearby tree, loaded with food in covered containers and ready for dinner. “Have some lemonade, Mommy! I helped make it!”

“In that case I'll have to have lots of cups of it,” Ellie replied gamely.

They all drifted towards the table, Gen walking close at Nick's side as if she didn't want to be more than a few feet from him after so long apart. Nick couldn't help but be happy about that, although he did slow their pace so Hal could catch up when he saw the man walking close behind. “We got the hole for your dugout made to the dimensions you gave us,” he told the younger man. “Were you able to find building materials in town?”

“Enough to start with,” Hal replied. “It's all back with the rest of our stuff.”

The plan was to have a relaxing evening, and then in the morning everyone would go and help Ellie, Gen, and the Norsons move their stuff over. Which was only fair, considering that stuff included the group's cache from the cellar, which Gen and the Norsons had already laboriously moved once.

“Thanks for digging the hole,” Hal added. “That must've been a ton of work. It means a lot.”

Nick shifted awkwardly at the man's earnest tone. He still hadn't had many chances to talk with Ellie's new husband, mostly because they'd had to stay so far apart for quarantine, and the few chances they had for visits were usually dominated by Ellie talking to Tallie.

Now that they were going to be next door neighbors, Nick would need to do more to extend the hand of friendship. Digging the hole for Ellie's house was a good start, considering it was planned to be twice the size of any of the other dugouts to accommodate not only the couple but all the kids.

“No problem,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we can get the place built quickly so you all have shelter as soon as possible.”

Hal seemed pleased at Nick's tacit offer to continue helping with the construction; Nick knew from experience that building even a simple dugout was a daunting task, and while the man might've been in the construction business, even he wouldn't want to do a job that big alone.

“Well I'll have to buy you a beer when this is all over,” Hal said.

“Sure,” Nick replied, not voicing his doubts about things getting back to normal enough for that anytime soon.

The rest of Nick's group joined them at the table, and the mood was amiable as everyone either introduced themselves to people they hadn't been able to shake hands with before now, or had their own reunions.

Gen hugged Aimee for what felt like a full minute, hugged Lila more briefly but no less warmly, then hesitated for just a second when she got to Val before pulling