Page 13 of Yule Tied Up

“It’s fine,Kukla,” I say, laughing. “It’s parked right outside.”

I shove my feet into some snow boots and throw on my jacket, and then grab the car keys. At least we don’t need to worry about the alarm bothering the neighbors, all the way out here. It could be an animal, or that snow has fallen from one of the overhanging trees and landed on the roof. The impact might have been enough to set off the alarm, or maybe it’s faulty?

I open the cabin door to a gust of cold air and snowflakes. “Stay inside,” I tell the others, “where it’s warm.”

I use the key fob to silence the alarm, but I want to check the car. I know there’s zero chance that someone has tried to get inside, but it’s better to put my mind at rest. I don’t want to be distracted tonight.

With my head down and shoulders hunched against the cold, I run over to the vehicle. Though snow is falling, it’s not yet deep enough to have covered all our footprints from earlier. At least I’ve turned off the alarm so I can hear myself think.

Light from the cabin doors and windows just about reaches where I’ve parked the car, thank God, what with me hating the dark woods around us and the press of the night sky. I put the dark out of my mind and focus on what I’m doing, looking down at the ground and inspecting it.

Are some of the footprints in the snow clearer than the others? I frown and pause. Or is that where I’ve just walked? I glance around. I’ve done a circle of the car, and there are stillmultiple prints to and from the cabin in the snow. Four people can’t get in and out of a vehicle without leaving a whole mess of prints. I must have stepped into some already existing ones to make them deeper and appear fresh.

There’s no sign of any damage to the car, so I shake it off.

Despite me telling them to shut the door behind me, the others are all standing in the open doorway, watching me.

“All good,” I call out to them with a shrug.

The snow is coming down heavier again, and the footprints will soon be filled.

Mackenzie puts out her hand to catch the new snowflakes. “Look how thick the snow is getting,” she cries. “Can we build a snowman?”

“What are you, five?” Tino teases her.

“Do you wanna build a snowman?” she sing-songs.

We all know that whatever Mackenzie wants, Mackenzie gets.

Dom slings his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll need to wrap up warm.”

“And we’ll need a scarf for the snowman,” she says, “and something to make its face. I’ll put the food away, and then we can have some fun.”

I stamp the snow off my boots and enter the cabin. I go to the pantry and open the door. The owners of the place have it stocked up with all the basics needed to get by should anyone get snowed in, and that includes a bottom shelf with a burlap bag full of root vegetables. I delve inside and pull out what I need.

The carrot is huge—a monster of a vegetable, straight and thick, with the perfect pointed end.

“I found the snowman’s nose,” I declare, waving it around.

Mackenzie’s lips purse as she straightens from the fridge, where she’s put the leftovers. “What are we going to use for its eyes and mouth? It’s not like we have any coal.”

Dom glances over at the fireplace. “Yes, we do…well, kind of. We have the burned down wood from the fire. It’s hot right now, but it’ll be fine if we leave it outside for a few minutes.”

“Don’t go burning yourself.” Mackenzie’s eyes go round. “We’re too far away from the hospital out here if anything happens.”

He uses a pair of metal tongs to grab a couple of chunks of the blackened wood and drops them into the metal fire bucket. “See, all safe.”

The others bundle themselves into hats and gloves and scarves. The red wine with dinner has given everyone a playful edge, though, for some reason, my mind is still on the car alarm. The fact Mack heard something in the bath, and the car following us up the road, too, is bugging me. Christ, I wish we’d brought our guns with us. Fucking Dom and Tino screwing it up.

Yes, it was probably just an animal, but it’s still stressing me. Not that there’s any sign of them now. I shrug it off, telling myself I am being paranoid because of my past. I don’t want to ruin this so I focus on having fun and relaxing. We spend the next ten minutes building the snowman as big as we can get it.

Dom tries to shove a handful of snow down Mackenzie’s back, and she laughs and squeals and dances away. She bends to scoop up a snowball and throws it back at him. It hits him square in the middle of his annoyingly handsome face, and he stands there, gaping, snow falling from his eyelashes and brow.

“Right, now you’re dead,” he growls.

She screams and turns to run, but Tino catches her around the waist and lifts her off her feet.

He buries his face into the side of her neck as she kicks out. “Keep struggling. You’re making me hard.”

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