Page 30 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
The sound of a snow shovel scraping against pavement woke her. Had to be her father but why he used a shovel instead of the snowblower, she had no idea.
For a moment, irritation at her father coming over just to shovel her driveway rose in her throat like bile, but she forced it back down. Gerald wasn’t one for hugs or words of affection. He showed his love by doing. Her father loved her enough to get up early, dig his own car out, drive over, and then dig her out.
Even though he knew she had a snowblower.
That man.
A warm smile stretched across her sleepy face.
The storm must have finally passed, meaning her headache was finally gone. Hooray. The novelty of waking without a pounding in her head lifted her mood enough that she’d overlook her parents’ smothering. They loved her and would bury her under their love until they squeezed every gasping bit of love from her body. It was the Muller way. Patricia showed her love by micromanaging, Gerald always had something to fix or a project going, and Odessa expressed her love with food.
Poor Ruby. That kid was going to need a therapist.
Odessa rolled over and checked the time. Still early. She had to open the market at 8:30 and the Beckers would pick up Ruby at eight and keep her entertained for the day. Last year, Marianne took Ruby out shopping and the little goblin loved it.
Pulling herself from the cuddly warmth of her bed, she dressed in layers and stumbled into the kitchen. By the time the coffee brewed, she was mostly awake. She carried two mugs to the cold garage, walked past the untouched snowblower, and opened the garage door.
The man who had already cleared most of her driveway was not her father.
“I have a snowblower, you know, but I’m not turning down free shoveling,” she said.
Mads leaned against the shovel, hat, and coat discarded to the side. He gave her a long, heated look, like she was the greatest thing he ever saw and had not just rolled out of bed and put on yesterday’s clothes.
Odessa handed him a mug, steam curling thick in the air. A strong gust of wind pierced right through her layers and scattered a dusting of snow back across the freshly cleared pavement.
“Thanks.” He took a sip. She knew heavy cream and sugar wasn’t how he took his coffee, if his tastes hadn’t changed, but he made no complaint.
“Do you ever wear a coat?”
“Not if I can help it,” he said.
She shuffled back into the garage, if only to get out of the wind. Mads followed.
“I owe you an apology,” he said.
“Go on, then.”
“I thought you were aware of yesterday’s invitation. Gerald walked right up to my door and invited me, so I assumed it was intentional.”
Intentional, probably, on her father’s part. Odessa took a sip of her coffee, letting the caffeine and sugar wake her up. “Wait, he knocked on your door? Dad said he was walking the dog.”
“I’m renting the place behind you.” Mads pointed to the back of the house. A line of trees and a road separated her house from the lakefront cabin so often occupied by tourists.
“So, we’re neighbors again.” Was that stalking? Was it weird that he moved in next door? Alarm bells should be ringing but instead, she had a warm, pleased feeling.
“Is that okay? My uncle arranged it for me. I had no idea about,” he gestured broadly, “you.”
“I could have reacted… better, so I should apologize for having a tantrum and putting you on the spot.” She rubbed the back of her neck, ashamed of her behavior.
“Do not trouble yourself.” He watched her with a careful, guarded expression. Odessa waited, regarding him over the rim of her mug. At length, he said, “I owe you another apology for leaving you behind.”
“I emailed you.” Faithfully once a week, even after it became obvious he’d never respond. She kept that up for longer than she wanted to admit.
He ran his hand up the back of his head, making his hair stand on end. “I will be blunt.”
Odessa steeled herself, expecting to hear how her youthful affection flattered him but he did not feel the same way or how he met someone and needed to make a clean break.
“My father beat me.”
