Julia

"What do we do?" I can't quite keep the panic out of my voice. I've just made it that much easier for Daniel to uproot Aaron from here. All Daniel has to do is tell my father, and even if Dad doesn't drive Aaron out of town, he’ll probably make Aaron so uncomfortable that he'll flee on his own.

I’m finding out the hard way that nothing kills a good afterglow like being caught by the wrong person. But I’ll be damned if I let some drunk, corrupt bastard mess up my future with Aaron.

"Well, either I find my brother and kick his ass before he can talk to your dad, and maybe I’ll go to jail for it. Or I let him spill the beans to your dad, and I probably get run out of town." He sounds so frustrated that I feel like a complete idiot. I got him into this.

We’re cuddled together for a few stolen moments on his couch before I have to hurry home and grab a nap before Dad gets up. "Let me help. I can reason with my father."

He shakes his head. "How the hell are you planning to do that?"

"I’ll find a way, okay? Besides, it's better that he hears about our relationship from me than from some horrible asshole who is just saying stuff to drive us apart." My voice shakes as I plead with him.

He frowns and folds his arms. "I certainly think we had better warn your father and some others about Daniel being in town. Not the deputy, though. Earl will just think I invited Daniel here, and that things went south."

"Darnit. Earl." I sigh. I'm getting sick of prejudiced people, even if they generally mean well. “One day, I’ll get every last one of them to stop judging people they barely know.”

“Honey, you’re not gonna be able to work miracles,” he says sadly, but I shake my head.

“I believe people around here can be better, or I wouldn’t want to take over my dad’s job.” I look him firmly in the eye. “Meanwhile, I’ll go home and warn Dad about Daniel. If we’re lucky, maybe people will be madder at him for stirring things up during the holidays than they will be at you for having a shitty brother.”

I kiss him goodbye, aware of his taste in my mouth, his scent all over me. The little sore spots where he’s marked me and the melting warmth deep in my belly are souvenirs from our lovemaking. I feel like I’m carrying him with me, and it gives me strength on the dark, cold walk home.

Strange things are happening in this town, and I have no idea how to take some of it. I don’t mind pranks, windfalls of food, even the odd blizzard. But a drunken older brother who is scheming to take away my man? I can’t wait to see the back of that bastard Daniel.

I’m worried I won’t notice him if he’s following me on the walk back, and I take a circuitous route just to make sure there’s no one behind me. I’m walking back down the hill toward our church when I hear a scuffle up ahead.

I carefully move up to the corner and peek around it—and see Daniel getting his butt kicked. Not by Aaron, though. The woman in question is a tall, statuesque redhead, way underdressed for the cold, and currently beating Daniel over the head with her Fendi bag while screaming at him at the top of her lungs. Lights are already going on in the houses nearby.

“What the fuck, bitch! Just give me your purse and stop making problems!”

“Take it, then!” She thwacks him with it so hard that it sounds like she’s got a brick stowed in her little purse. Then she yanks out an honest-to-God canister of bear mace and blasts him with it.

I just stand there staring. Oh my God. Who is this crazy city woman and where did You find her just in time for this guy to get a much-needed stiletto heel up his butt?

Daniel goes down yelling and holding his face. The redhead starts stalking off. I’m still hesitating about stepping in when Earl, out cruising the town for lost drunks, bleeps his cruiser siren and pulls up to the biker.

I draw back behind the corner, blinking slowly. Then I call up Aaron. “Hey, sweetie? Before you go back to sleep, uh...I think we won’t have to worry about your brother for a few days...”

I leave him laughing as I walk the rest of the way home.

The reprieve is more than welcome. It means Christmas without interruption. It means that if we’re very lucky, Earl and the guys at the state police will check warrants in New York and New Orleans, and that will be the last we see of Daniel.

It really looks like Aaron’s luck has changed. And I know that mine sure has.

Dad is still passed out in his room when I get home. I’m slack from exhaustion and sexual satisfaction, and I have to wrestle with a faint sense of guilt as I walk past his door. But as I change into my flannels, most of what I feel is contentment.

We’ll find a way to work this out. God willing, we’ll even find a way to get Dad on board.

I don’t shower. I go to bed with the scent of Aaron on my body, and fall asleep smiling.

The next two days are a busy, happy blur. Holiday festivities mix with storm preparation, and by the time our small Christmas dinner comes around, both my father and I are ready for a reprieve.

Unfortunately, the break we get is thanks to a big Christmas snowstorm.

“Are all the storm windows in place?” my father frets a little. “Is the snow removal gear inside? It won’t do us any good if it’s out in the shed.”

“It’s fine, Dad, I handled it all.” Compared to my dad, I’m so calm that I could be floating on a cloud right now. I snuck out to Aaron’s trailer early this morning again, and we made love until we both couldn’t move.

I would be doing that again tonight, but the damn storm’s coming in—two to three feet of snow expected in twenty-four hours. At least it gives me an excuse to sleep in tomorrow.

I come to stand with my dad and look out the window at the big flakes starting to swirl past outside. The sky is leaden, the wind keeps rising to a whine in the eaves, and my father tenses up each time the windows rattle.

“So, this brother of Aaron’s made bail?” He’s trying to make conversation, but I can tell from the topic that he’s looking for reassurance.

“Yes, he did, down in Kingston. I know it wasn’t Aaron who paid it.” I wish he was here. I would just feel safer with my man around now that his brother is loose, even if he’s an hour’s drive away in a growing blizzard.

“Are you sure?” he eyes me worriedly.

“Pretty sure. No one’s madder about that creep being out than Aaron. He doesn’t want Daniel anywhere near here.”

“Well, he’ll probably get his wish, at least for the night. Only a crazy person would be out driving in this.” My father rubs his face. “What did they say the chances are of a blackout?”

“We have three generators now, and Aaron’s bringing by two more in a little while. I just got off the phone with him. If people end up blacked out at length, we can have heat, light, phone-charging stations, and food for them for three days.” I touch my father’s arm.

He’s starting to answer when someone knocks hard on the front door. “That must be him now!” I cry out excitedly and run down the stairs.

It’s a stupid mistake. The kind that makes you wish you could rewind the world by thirty seconds and make a different choice. I’m inexperienced, in love, and have underestimated the determination of a crazy person with a vendetta. None of those things are really an excuse.

I throw the door open before checking through the peephole, and before I can do anything, Daniel is shoving his way inside.