Rebel Without A Claus

“What are the main roads like? It’s all drifts over here and we tried walking down to see but we can’t.”

“All right, for the most part. I think the town has been on top of keeping them salted after last year’s two-week long blizzard.” The line cracked. “Shouldn’t take us long to get to you. Have you got enough firewood?”

“Yes, Oscar brought some last night. Nicholas is out checking the boiler now.”

“I’ll put Denny in the tractor with me. We’re not opening the tree farm until midday, so hopefully he’ll be able to help.”

“Thanks, Michael. If he can figure out what’s wrong, I’ll text you.”

“You got it, Quinn. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye.” I hung up and looked around.

The snow wasn’t quite as bad as we’d expected it to be, but then I’d tossed and turned all night thinking the worst until Nicholas literally hooked his leg over my body, pinning me down, and told me to lie fucking still or he was sending me back upstairs.

I hadn’t needed to be told twice. I already knew just how cold it was upstairs, thank you very much.

The snow drifts were our biggest problem. Our trucks were almost completely covered in them, and our first job after he’d checked the boiler was to get out there with a couple of shovels and start digging them out.

At least the main roads were mostly clear. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long before they could get to us. The best-case scenario was opening the grotto a little later—Demi could deal with putting up a sign since she lived within walking distance.

I paused to send her a quick text that we would probably have to open the grotto late and could she do the sign if needed. She replied almost immediately that she would be able to, so to just let her know and she would run down and have word put about.

After thanking her, I went into the kitchen to make breakfast. If we were going to be shoveling snow, we needed a pretty good meal to get us going.

The fridge was surprisingly full, and it didn’t take me long to learn the whereabouts of everything I needed. I tried turning on the radio but it was all Christmas songs, so I shut that right back off and set about cooking us something warm.

When Nicholas walked in the door twenty minutes later, I was almost done serving up bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash browns.

“Oh. You’re here,” I said, turning to the back door. “I made breakfast.”

He shut the door behind him with a shiver. “I have no idea why people come here for vacation in December. It’s like the fucking arctic out there.”

I was not going to argue that.

“What did you make?” He took off his outerwear and peered over my shoulder. “Shit, Quinn, I know I said I’d respect this whole friendship thing, but if you can cook like that all the time, I might just change my mind.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time today that you’ve violated the friendship boundary,” I said dryly, scooping scrambled eggs onto the plates.

“Look. I cannot take responsibility for what my cock does when I’m asleep.”

“No, no, I think you can.”

“Fine. I take responsibility, and I’m not sorry.” He pulled cutlery out of the drawer and held it up triumphantly. “Ready?”

I nodded and carried the plates to the table in the center of the room. “Could you see what the problem with the boiler is? Michael said the main roads are clear, so as soon as they’ve cleared our driveway, he’ll throw Denny into the tractor and head over here.”

“Denny?”

“Oh, his cousin. He’s a plumber. Helps us out at the tree farm in the last week of the season.” I sat down opposite him on the table.

“Right. Well, I think the boiler has crapped itself because I couldn’t get it to turn on, and there are some frozen pipes, so fucking God knows how much that’s going to cost.”

“Ouch. I’m sorry. Do you think your mom will allow some of the taxes money to get started on it?”

“She’s going to have to. She can’t sell it with a broken boiler either way, so.” He shrugged and dug into his breakfast. “Do you think we can get to the grotto?”

I nodded. “We might be late, though, but I already texted Demi to let her know. Even if we can’t get the trucks out, we’ll be able to get out.”

“Nah, we can get the trucks out. Especially after this.” He winked at me.

I fought back a blush. “It’s cold, we had a long night, and it’s going to be a long day. I figured it was the least I could do to get us set up for it.”

“Well, it’s appreciated. Thank you.”

“It’s fine.” I smiled and looked down, and we both finished the rest of our food in peace.