Oh Snowy Night

“Great. I’ll send someone over.”

“No.” This time I get the silent treatment. “She’s fine here,” I explain but it’s not enough. King wants more.

“The thing is, you’re not really the one who gets to decide whether she’s fine.”

“Neither are you.”

“Great. We’ve both established Faith’s independence so I’m going to send a car over and you’re going to let her go.”

When you try to take Bear’s toy away from him, he crouches low, bares his teeth, and lets out a growl that could scare away a real grizzly. That same possessive noise rumbles through my frame. “The hell I will,” I bark and hang up the phone.

“Who was that?” Faith asks, tilting her pretty head to the side.

I stuff my anger and jealousy down where she can’t see it and march over to the refrigerator. “King. He’s glad you’re doing good.” I pull out two steaks and slap them on the counter. “You eat meat or you a veggie eater?”

“Meat is good.” She pushes to her feet. “Whatcha making?”

“Steak. Potatoes. Got a pie from the bakery.”

“Mmm. Sounds delicious. Let me get my purse.”

I grab her wrist before she can scamper away. “What for?”

“For the food, of course.”

I frown down at her. “What are you saying?”

“I am going to get you some money for dinner,” she says, dragging out the syllables. “That’s how it works at King’s place. You pay for your food and lodging in either money or work.” She must catch sight of my thunderous expression because she waves her hand in front of my face. “Not that kind of work, but like gardening and cooking and stuff.”

Only slightly appeased, I turn back to the steak. I unwrap the meat and start to salt it. “Sounds like King has some scam going on over there.” He’s got pretty girls showing up all the time and they do his housework for him? Sleep in his beds? Faith isn’t ever going over there. I slam the pepper shaker down on the counter so hard that Faith jumps, Bear barks and Smittens yowls unhappily. They all stare at me as if I’m nuts. I let go of the pepper shaker but then have to lunge for it again when the peppercorns start tumbling out of the cracked side.

“I think I’ll call Nora now,” she says.

“Yeah,” I say.

She eyes the damaged pepper shaker and shakes her head a tiny bit before moving toward the fireplace. The two animals stare at me in disappointment.

“Neither of you want her to go to King’s either,” I grumble. The two keep watching me as I light the gas range. While the pan heats up, I stab my fork into a couple of potatoes.

“Yeah, I’m fine. No. I never made it to King’s. I had to pee so bad and I was afraid if I went outside, it would freeze. Remember we read something about that once.”

Faith’s voice drifts over as if she were standing next to me. I glance up, expecting to see her across from the island but she’s still planted next to the fireplace. I guess the acoustics in this room are really good. I wouldn’t know because I live alone. The right thing to do would be to warn her.

“No. I’m not going to King’s. I found someplace else. He’s a lumberjack. Oh, I don’t know if he does that for a living, but he chops wood and he’s burly and hot. I think he could lift me with one hand.”

I could warn her, but I don’t.

“I’m going to seduce him. He’s so hot, Nora. I just know he’s the right one to pop my cherry. Why should I keep it anymore? It’s not like I’m going to get married. Marriage is for fools. I want to have some fun. This is going to be fun. Okay, yes, I’ve heard that it hurts, but it’s just the once and then it’s great. It has to be because why else would anyone stay with anyone if the sex isn’t good? Why else would Trish be with my ex? It’s not like he’s interesting or even very attractive so she must like what he can do in bed, right?”

Okay, that’s enough listening in. I clear my throat. “Dinner’s ready,” I boom.

“Just a min! I gotta go, Nora. I’ll text you later.” Faith pockets the phone and hurries over. “Sorry. I meant to help you.”

“I’ve got it.” I plate the meat and carry it over to the table. She smiles prettily. Is this part of the seduction? If so, it’s working. I’m ready to throw her down on the table. The plates feel heavy in my hands. I grip the edges tight. It’s hard to believe a girl this pretty wants to have sex with me. Part of me feels like I dreamed this up, but I heard her. She’s mentioned it several times. I should just flat-out ask her. If she turns me down, so be it. She’s still not going to King’s. “So…Faith—“