Someone got on the microphone and announced that the gift exchange was about to take place. Hunt didn’t want to be a party pooper, but he couldn’t think of anything worse than standing around watching everyone open the gag gifts they loved giving out. As soon as he opened his red-and-green-wrapped package that probably contained one of those creepy Elf on the Shelfs, he was out of here.
Roger appeared at his side again. “Last year I got a beer stein shaped like a Christmas stocking,” he said.
Hunt burst out laughing. “Maybe this year you’ll be lucky and get another. Then you’ll have a pair.”
He beamed. “That would be helpful, since I got Rachelle’s number.”
Hunt clapped him on the back. “I’m happy for you.” He meant it. He just wished to hell he could find some happiness in his own personal life. For all his desire for solitude and quiet, he was lonely.
Why was he moping? Spending the holidays alone wouldn’t be so bad. He had Aries for company, a case of beer in the back of his SUV and satellite TV in the cabin.
When his name was called, he accepted the small box. He figured it contained a gift card for the local sex store off the interstate.
He held the item up for all to see. “A ticket to the local high school’s production of High School Musical.” Laughter filled the room. Then he slipped his thumb against the ticket to discover the gift was so much worse.
Two tickets to see High School Musical.
He looked down at Aries at his side. His eyebrows moved up and down in the expression of curiosity Hunt was used to seeing from the dog.
Roger elbowed him. “Hope you like musicals, buddy.”
Hunt held out the tickets. “Here—why don’t you take Rachelle?”
Roger chuckled but took the tickets.
Ten minutes and two dozen goodbyes later, Hunt slumped behind the wheel of his SUV in relief. For rescue missions, Aries would be in his crate in the back alongside Freedom. But since it was just the two of them, Hunt let him sit in the passenger seat, fastened in with a dog harness.
Not unusual for Alaska, the weather had shifted. The conditions were crummy with low visibility and slick roads. Good thing the cabin was only a short journey up the mountain.
As they got rolling, Hunt relished the only sound being the whir of his tires. His headlights sliced through the white landscape, illuminating each snowflake falling rapidly from the sky.
The roads made him worry about not being there for someone if a rescue call went out. But they had enough manpower to do it without him. He didn’t need to save every lost or hurt person.
“They’ll be all right without us, Aries.” He reached over to pat the dog, his words more to reassure himself. “But what a horrible night to be out.”
Freya Fuller sank into the driver’s seat with a sigh of relief. Such a long day. Working an everyday nine-to-five job wasn’t nearly as wearing on her as the constant office chitchat, and today was especially long because of the Christmas luncheon.
She tossed the gift bag holding her gift exchange on the seat beside her and started the engine to warm it up while she dealt with brushing off the snow from the car.
When she picked up the long-handled snow brush that every Alaskan resident purchased the minute they bought a car, the top part of the handle fell off.
“Damn!” Her duct-tape job hadn’t held up, and she kept forgetting to buy a new brush.
With cold air still blasting from the vents, she got out to clean off her car with the broken brush. That meant she couldn’t reach the strip of snow in the center of her windshield, but hopefully the wipers would do that.
She quickly moved around the car in a flurry of snow and then jumped behind the wheel again. Dang, it was coming down fast. After socializing at the luncheon, all she wanted was to get home to her quiet apartment and slide into her flannel pajamas.
“Crap.” She didn’t have much food at home, and this morning her idea of hitting the little grocery store on the way home seemed doable. Now she wished she’d gone at lunchtime instead. Her flannel pajamas would have to wait a little longer.
Just as she was about to get on the road, her phone buzzed.
Oh no. Her stomach sank. This better not be one of those texts again.
Gripping the wheel, Freya battled with herself. Read the message or wait until after she got home?
These texts always made her stomach knot. It was better to get it over with now, so she could go home to her sanctuary and not taint her private time.
She grabbed the phone and skimmed the message.
We can get together soon.
“Ugh.” She deleted it and dropped the phone back into her purse, hoping it didn’t buzz again.
She should block Colby. But since they’d spent three years with the same foster family, she felt bad about doing that. He’d been just as screwed up in his youth as she’d been. He just needs a friend, she told herself.
But friends didn’t reminisce about how she’d looked last time he saw her at the grocery store, did they?
Frozen emotionally now, she tried to decide whether Colby would be working at the store tonight. She didn’t want to cross paths with him. If he was texting, he must not be at work, right?
She’d run in, grab the things she needed for the weekend, then run back out.
Decision made, she reached the store in a few short blocks. Despite Christmas being a week away, the small town was like a ghost town and no one was out shopping for a holiday ham.
Snow fell in a thick blanket across the parking lot and on the two solitary cars there. They’d close soon, but she’d be quick.
When she hit the inside and grabbed a shopping basket, she shifted her eyes around, looking for Colby. He worked there as a stock boy and spent most of his days in the back room, unpacking shipments. But it seemed like every single time she stepped into the store, she ran into him.
At least she had long legs and the advantage of walking fast. In no time, she grabbed the things on her mental list. A few treats, including a chocolate Santa grabbed at the checkout, completed her shop.
“Hi, Freya.”
The seemingly innocuous voice had her stomach pitching. She closed her eyes, gathering her patience with the guy who’d called himself her family since they shared a roof with the Andersons. But she didn’t feel connected to Colby, the Andersons or anybody else she’d spent her youth with.
Freya sent a sidelong look at the clerk, but the woman began scanning her items, content not to make small talk. Usually this would be a good thing in Freya’s mind, but now she couldn’t get out of speaking to Colby.
She swung toward him. “Hi, Colby. I didn’t think you were working tonight.”
“I’m always here. I work full-time now.”
“That’s great to hear.”
“And you’re still at the office.” It wasn’t a question. He already knew that. He kept tabs on her activities far too closely for her comfort.
“That’s right.”
“It’s almost Christmas.” His round face made him appear childlike even in adulthood, as did his bright, wide eyes. Something about those eyes always made her uneasy, as if he looked too deep into her. Was picking her apart. Knowing those cold blue eyes followed her every move had her feeling more uneasy…
She nodded in response to his statement. “Yes. Merry Christmas to you.”