Page 77 of Mine For The Winter

“I just don’t like bullies,” she told him. Truth was, she’d tried to stay under the radar at school. It was so much easier to disappear than be the center of attention. That’s why she’d naturally gravitated to Kris and Lyle. They were chilled, laid back. All three of them liked an easy life.

Until none of them did.

It took half an hour to drive into the mountains. There were few cars out on this side of town. Only the locals knew the winding roads that led to nowhere but some trekking paths and the lookouts.

“Do you remember the day you got your driver’s licence?” Kelly asked.

A half smile pulled at his lips. Lyle had been out of town. She couldn’t even remember where he’d been. But Kris had arrived at the tavern with a pair of keys in his hands, a triumphant expression on his face.

“Yeah, North let me borrow his car that day, too.”

“I’m surprised he ever let you borrow it again.” They’d driven to the lake and swam for hours, but a storm had come in and they’d rushed for the car, not realizing that the beach they’d parked on had already become a river of sandy mud. They’d been stuck there until Charlie Shaw managed to winch them out.

“North was still finding sand in the car four years later.” Kris smiled and she grinned back.

“I’ve never seen anybody look so angry when we finally got the car out.” She could still picture the thunder in North’s expression.

“Yeah, well he loved that car. It was his first. Important to him, you know?”

Her breath caught. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I know.”

Silence descended, only broken by the growl of the truck’s engine and the sound of the wheels on the gravel road as Kris took a right onto the unmarked road. He was driving slower now, the headlamps on high beam as they passed through a copse of trees that obscured the moon. And then they were out again, high up on the mountainside, Winterville looking like one of those minature villages Kelly had seen in expensive gift shops as the lights of the town sparkled far below them.

“Here okay?” Kris asked.

Kelly nodded and he climbed out. She followed him around to the back of the truck, and tried not to smile when she saw the blankets and quilts there, along with cushions and pillows to soften the hard metal of the truck bed. “If it gets too cold, tell me,” Kris said, helping her climb up over the tailgate. He followed and knelt over to grab the brown bags Dolores had given him, taking out two paper cups, a thermos of coffee, and two still-hot sandwiches that steamed in the cold air.

“Eat, then we talk.”

Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten any lunch. Hadn’t had much of an appetite all day. So she did as she was told, biting into the hot beef sub and chewing it down. Damn, Dolores knew how to make good sandwiches. As she swallowed, her stomach growling with satisfaction, she couldn’t stop thinking about another night when she and Kris talked.

When she’d begged him to make everything better. And for a moment she’d really thought he had.

* * *

Kris, age 22

She looked tired and upset, but so damn beautiful it made his chest tighten. And this was why he’d been avoiding her for the last year. Because it hurt too much not to touch her. To know she wasn’t his to touch.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered, her eyes full of tears. “He’s going to end up hurting himself.”

Yeah, but he was already hurting her. Not physically, or at least Kris didn’t think so. But emotionally she looked beaten.

“You need to leave him, Kel.”

“I can’t.” She shook her head. “He’s always been here for me. I need to be here for him now.” He’d forgotten how fiercely loyal she could be. “I thought maybe you could talk to him. Get him to see some sense.”

“He won’t listen to me. We’ve barely talked for over a year.”

His eyes met Kelly’s and he knew what she was thinking. That he’d barely talked to her either. Some of this was his fault. If he’d been there for Lyle when his mom died maybe he wouldn’t have spiraled so much.

If he’d talked to Kelly maybe she wouldn’t have hung in there for so long.

“Okay, I’ll try,” he promised and for the first time that night he saw her smile. “But promise me something.”

“What?” she asked softly.

“If it doesn’t get any better you’ll leave. Promise me that.”

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