Dakota
“You’re sure Chief said the roads weren’t bad?” Lena asked for the tenth time.
“He said they were fine. He said they had only responded to one accident, and it was a single car DUI. No weather related events.”
She fidgeted nervously. “Do we leave the food on the back porch or take it with us?
“Chief said three to four more inches are comin’ this way tomorrow so I guess we will take it with us. I don’t want to put it in the fridge, and have it spoil because we don’t know when the power will be back on.”
“Damn, more snow?”
I nodded. “That’s what Chief said.”
“I’ll go grab the stuff off the porch!”
“While you do that, I’ll go get the rest of our stuff loaded up.” As she headed out the back door, I walked out the front. Ten minutes later, I was walkin’ back across the yard, everything loaded up and ready to go.
That candle bag is entirely too damn heavy for her to be carrying around.
I slipped inside the front door. “Loo, ya ready?”
No response.
I walked to the back door. There she stood at the picnic table, slowly putting things into a bag.
She’s definitely stalling.
I slip open the door. “How are you still baggin’ stuff up? It was only like eight things. I already put your stuff in your car, my stuff in my truck and I’m already done. And let’s not forget I had to walk fifteen miles to your car to start with because of who you are as a person.”
She shot me a dirty look. “I wanted to pack it neatly.”
I tossed some sandwich meat into the bag. “I’m sure it’s fine. I’m gonna go upstairs and double check that the fire is out, and I’ll meet you in the living room.”
“Okay,” she answered quietly.
Maybe she doesn’t want to leave?
After making sure the fireplace was flame free, I met her at the kitchen counter. “Okay, girlie pop. Let’s go!” I picked the bag of food up from the top of the counter.
As we stepped out onto the front porch, my mood took an immediate nosedive.
Reality really is a bitch.
We walked past our freshly built snowman in silence, our feet crunching against the thick snow.
“I’ll walk you to your car. Take the food with you and donate it to that women’s shelter next to the bank.” She nodded but she looked like she was close to tears.
I stopped her dead in her tracks. “Lena?”
“Hmmm?” she mumbled, never taking her eyes off the ground.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she mumbled.
Bullshit.
“Jolene.”
She said nothing.
“If you don’t want to go,” I began, “we can stay. I just know we are both ready to wash our ass.”
Still refusing to look away from the packed snow, she spoke up. “I’m okay with leavin’. I do want a shower. I just… are you sure Chief Hennessy said the roads are okay?” The anxiety in her voice was palpable.
She’s afraid to drive back alone because of the weather.
“He said they’re fine, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll drive us back in my truck. We can just leave your car here and I’ll bring you to get it this comin’ weekend.”
Relief flickered across her face before fleeing just as quickly. “I can’t. I have to get my stuff from Jace’s house,” she explained.
Oh, no ma’am.
“You’re not goin’ to get your stuff, anyways,” I informed her. “I’m goin’ to get it.”
She looked shocked. “You are? Why?”
Cause I’m prayin’ he grows a pair and tries me so I can fuck him the hell up.
“Because you said you didn’t want to deal with him, and I want to make sure you don’t have to.”
She smiled gratefully. “In that case, let’s go!”
Jolene
The forty-five-minute ride with back to Creek’s Edge was fun but I felt the tears threatening the second I saw the city limit sign.
Dak noticed the sudden tension in the air. “When you get to your parents’ house and take a shower, lay down and take a nap.”
I don’t want a nap.
“Why?”
“Because the adrenaline from being in survival mode the last few days is goin’ to wear off and bitch slap you. It will make you feel like crap.”
I stared out the window. “I haven’t felt any adrenaline from this. I feel anger.”
“Anger fuels adrenaline. Anger fuels a lot of things.”
I didn’t respond. It seemed more polite to remain silent than it did to tell him I thought he was crazy.
“I know you think I’m wrong, but would you and I have ever had sex under normal circumstances?”
I bit my lip, thinking it over. “Absolutely not.”
He threw his hand up as if I’d said exactly what he wanted me to say. “I rest my case. Adrenaline.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence, the only sound between us was the song Brooks and Dunn were singing on the radio.
As he pulled up in my parents’ yard, he reached over and rubbed the top of my thigh. “This is the part I was referring to when I said it’s gonna get worse. A lot of people are goin’ to be talkin’. Ignore that shit.”
I nodded.
He stopped the truck in the spot my daddy appointed to him back when we were in high school.
The memory made me smile. “Remember when daddy told you if you messed up his grass again by driving across it, he would spike the food with exlax then invite you over for supper?”
He gave me a deadpanned look. “Why do you think I’m still parkin’ exactly where he told me to park nearly two decades later?”
I laughed. “Mama wouldn’t have let him mess with y’all’s food.”
He swung open his truck door. “I wasn’t takin’ no chances.”
Shaking my head, I hopped out of his truck. We trekked through the rare Georgia snow with an awkward silence settling between us. Both of us were unsure of what to say so we both just stared straight ahead. Thankfully, my mama, who could always be counted upon, came barreling out of the front door.
“Lee Lee! Dak!”
She embraced him for a quick minute before throwing her arms around my neck, lingering just long enough for a lump to start to form in my throat.
“Hey, Mama.”
She pulled away but held me at arm’s length. “I’m so sorry, sugar.” She turned to face . “For both of y’all. I’m so sorry,” her voice wavered, evidence that she was fighting back tears.
My mama had been like a second mama to Cassie since we were in elementary school and to the boys since we were in high school. She had always loved and treated all of them the same way she did me and my brother, coining her the nickname “Mama C” a long, long time ago. I knew without a doubt that, while it was for a very different reason, her heart was just as broken by all of this as mine and ’s.
Dak put his arm around her. “Look on the bright side, Mama C, now you… I mean, Santa… has two less stockings to fill this year for Christmas.”
Damn, I forgot Christmas is in less than two weeks.
Mama smiled sadly. “Y’all hungry? I didn’t know y’all would be back today, but I always cook enough for an army. I have homemade vegetable soup in the Crockpot if y’all want some.” Dak’s eyes lit up immediately, his reaction answering for the both of us.
“Perfect!” She beamed. “C’mon in, the house is good and warm.”
That’s a good thing, Mama, because the world is fuckin’ cold.