Wrapped in Winter (Seasons in Montana: Winter)

5. January

Chapter 5

January

T he snow came down pretty hard last night, but by morning all the roads were cleared. My mom was able to get to my house early, and I crept out the door before Lily woke up. I made a mental note to bring the spreadsheets home with me so I don't have to keep asking Mom to come over so early. Avoiding the bakery this morning, I head straight to the boutique, texting Blossom to bring coffee.

I went over invoices and order forms until my eyes blurred last night. Since coming back to Wintervale, I’ve been doing bookkeeping for other companies in town. We don’t take much of a salary from the shop, so the side work keeps my income steady.

I’ve also picked up some pointers for running our business. Lief has tried to handle it all these years, but he never really had any business sense. Years ago, Jack gave him a loan to help keep the business afloat, but was too busy to teach him how to keep it running. Now Jack is digging us out once more, and I swear it will be the last time. This is our last chance to get it right.

“Good morning, love bug!”

My sister is ridiculous with these names. “You finally nailed Bennett? There’s no other reason for you to be so chipper in the morning.”

“Chipper? That's something Dad would say.”

I shrug. She’s right. “You're avoiding the question.”

“No, I didn't nail Bennett.” She rolls her eyes. “But maybe I should take him to The Range bathroom.”

My body freezes and I slowly meet her eyes. The smirk she’s wearing has trouble written all over it. “What did you say?”

“Was he a big guy? Those stalls are pretty small.” She says it nonchalantly while pulling the coffees out of the paper tray.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Meadow’s boy toy told her that the night we were there someone was banging in the bathroom. Said he thought it was one of the girls in our group. Then I remembered you disappearing for a bit.” Her expression reads like she already knows it all, and she’s baiting me with her tone.

I look away and shrug. “Wasn’t me.”

“I’m not mad about it. I’m actually impressed. My stuck-up sister getting railed in the men's room is just what she needs.”

“Blossom!”

She falls over with laughter, grabbing onto me, and I can't help but laugh with her. “Seriously, big sister, I love this for you.”

I shake my head. “You and Courtney share a brain. I told her and she’s happy too.”

“So it’s true?!” She eyes me with a look of suspicion but she already knows. “Are you going to see him again?”

I close my eyes. “I don't even know his name.”

Her eyes widen. “And here I thought you were Miss Prim and Proper.”

“Oh please. I've never been called that. Dad would be turning in his grave if he saw me with a baby out of wedlock and now banging guys without names.”

“Dad would have loved Lily whether you were married or not, and you know it. Now, fucking strangers is something I’m sure he’d be appalled by.”

The front doorbell chimes, and Mom walks in with Lily. “That didn't last long,” I say, greeting Lily with a smile. She comes running to me. “Why are you awake so early?” I scoop her up and she cuddles into me.

“She got up just after you pulled out. She’s so attuned to you, January. We had a quick breakfast and then she insisted on coming down here.”

The bell rings signaling someone is at the back door.

“Eek! Delivery!” Blossom whispers to me, “Speaking of fucking strangers!”

“Blossom,” I call out her name with all the authority I can muster. “Don’t.”

“Drake!” Lily yells out, and I look at her. They both dance around me and Blossom gives me a wink. She’s always been the fun sister. Where Meadow is wild, Blossom is bubbly and outgoing.

“Now we know why Lily was anxious to get here,” she muses.

As Blossom skips off to the back room, I follow slowly and catch a glimpse of a man walking backward into the warehouse. He’s loaded down with heavy winter clothes, more so than usual, and it makes me frown at his appearance. He’s clearly not from around here if he's dressed in overkill for the weather.

His hair is dark and his shoulders broad. And when he turns to the side, his profile makes me gasp.

No fucking way.

Blossom gives me a look over her shoulder with a clear smirk at what I must have spoken out loud, and she calls out, “We’ve been waiting for you!”

Just then I see my daughter go racing by me and skidding to a halt. The man stops and drops down to his haunches and says, “Hey there, Pretty Lily. How are you today?” He puts his hand out and she gives him a slap, then he pulls a small bag from his coat pocket and Lily grabs it before stepping back and grabbing onto Blossom‘s leg.

He rises again and pulls a paper out of his back pocket, a pen out of his top shirt, and hands them to Blossom. “It gets colder here every day. I don't understand how you people live…”

His sentence falters as his eyes find mine. There’s some kind of weird electricity that flows between us, as if we’re both replaying that night together. That trashy, sex in a bathroom, I don’t know who I am, best I ever had night.

“January.” He breathes out my name, and it catches me off guard. The sound of it falling from his lips is sweeter than anything I’ve heard yet. The tone of it alone is turning me on. Our quickie was filled with moans and pants of breath, low-spoken words but never a full name.

Blossom looks back and forth between us. “Do you two know each other?”

I’m still frozen in my spot, every possible scenario for how to handle this running through my head. Do I turn and run again? He knows my name now; he knows where I work. There’s no getting away from him. Do I acknowledge that I remember that night? He knows I wasn’t drinking, so there’s no way I could play off the drunk girl act.

My only option is to walk up to him and shake his hand. The hand that was all over me, making me feel more in thirty seconds than I have in my thirty years.

I swallow hard and walk toward him, putting my hand out and ignoring the way my sister takes in our interaction. “January Nilsson.” He takes my hand in his, and it’s warm, big, and feels safe as it holds mine tightly.

“I’m Drake Ford.”

I drop my hand from his and smooth it on my jeans. “So you’re the new delivery guy my sister has been talking about?”

He gets a cute smirk as his lips twist, and I swear I see a blush form. “I guess so. What have you been saying about me, Blossom?”

He calls her by name too, and suddenly I’m jealous of my sister.

Stop it, January.

“I might’ve mentioned you a time or two. Lily is the one who has been talking about you.” His eyes soften as they drop to my daughter and he pulls on her little pigtail.

“Well, Pretty Lily is a sweetheart.” They chuckle together, and I’m left bewildered watching this exchange. My daughter is almost four and very shy, so the fact she ran right up to this guy is astonishing.

“So anyway, back to my question. How do you two know each other?” my sister butts in.

He stands back up to his full height, and I’m caught remembering how tall he was standing over me, holding me, controlling me. “I think it was a few weeks back, right, January? I ran into you at the bar and grill.”

I’m watching his face as he gets a smug grin, and Blossom snaps her head to me with wide eyes.

“You met at the Range? Why didn’t you tell me you already knew our delivery guy?”

I shrug at my sister's question. “What’s there to tell? I didn't know he was delivering here, and besides, we didn’t say much.”

He raises a brow and places his hand on his hip while leaning on the dolly that still has a bunch of our boxes on it. Boxes full of lingerie that I imagine wearing and putting on a show just for him.

For Drake.

Damn, his name is hot.

Everything about him is hot.

“Yeah, no real talking. There was just a quick in-and-out exchange before I left for the night.”

“Quick is right,” I reply, and he guffaws. I bite my bottom lip to try to keep from smiling. His stare is intense, and I know I’m not the only one who’s been remembering that night.

“This is all very interesting news,” Blossom muses.

“Mama,” Lily cuts Blossom off and jumps to my leg, wrapping herself around it. “I have to go to the bathroom.” I brush her hair out of her face.

“Okay, baby, come on.”

I catch eyes with Drake once again as he asks, “She’s your daughter?”

I stiffen my back because I feel a bit protective of her right now. “Yes.”

His face relaxes and his eyes soften. “I should’ve known. She looks so much like you. Both gorgeous.” My lips roll in, and I take Lily by the hand.

“Thanks for bringing our stuff on time,” I call out as I walk away, because I can’t stay in his presence another minute.

“Care to share, dear sister?” Blossom corners me as I come out of the bathroom with my daughter. I push by her, narrowing my eyes before dropping them to Lily and back again. She follows hot on my heels anyway. “You better start spilling the beans.”

“You’ve been hanging out with Mom too much.” I glance around the shop. “Is he gone?”

She laughs. “Yeah, he’s gone. Now tell me, and I won't tell Mom you’re hiding something.”

I spin on her. “Don’t even think about it.”

She laughs and pushes me ahead into the main storefront.

I can't seem to compartmentalize anything about this guy the way I do everything else. It wasn’t even this difficult to do when Sean died while I was pregnant. I knew I had to push those emotions away to keep my unborn daughter safe. And when she was born, I was so busy trying to be a mom twenty-four hours a day, it was just easier to keep them locked away.

The fact I even felt something for another man when I’d written that hope off for good makes me think I’m losing my mind.

“Mom, can you watch Lily for a bit? I need to show January something in the stockroom. If a customer comes in, just yell.”

“I ran this store for years, honey, go!”

We shut the door and Blossom is bouncing on her toes. “Drake is the bathroom guy!”

I close my eyes and fall into the folding chair we have in the back. “I cannot believe this.”

“Believe it.”

“It’s just my luck that the guy I have a one-night stand with isn’t just passing through this resort town.”

She squeals again. “I think it’s fucking fantastic! I told you I wanted you to meet him. There’s something about him, isn’t there?”

There is something about him. I would normally never do what I did, but I couldn’t resist him.

“It’s so messy, Blossom.”

“Messy is our middle name. But listen, I want you to enjoy this. Just take it for what it is. There’s a reason he’s in your path again. Stop closing yourself off.”

It’s for everyone's own good that I keep to myself. They don’t need to be burdened by me. I’m present, but I don’t feel part of the family anymore. I’m not sure if it’s because I was gone for too many years and we lost that closeness. Maybe I just can’t allow myself to get close to anyone anymore. Our family dynamics haven't really changed. Blossom is still sweet, Meadow is still wild, and Lief still thinks he knows everything. I’m still stubborn, and the wall I’ve worked years to keep up can’t just come down in a matter of days. I’ve been back in Wintervale for six months but not one brick has moved.

And one chance night with a stranger isn’t going to start the crumble.