Page 9 of Miss Merry and Mr. Bright
Even Peaches running screaming to the door as she paws at it like a psycho.
Grumbling, I drag myself to my feet. “I don’t know why you’re so excited to get out there. It’s a damn mess.”
I open the door and let her out, my eyes narrowing at the gentle fall of snow in front of my eyes. Huffing, I blow a puff of air that turns into a heavy cloud in front of my mouth.
Glancing back, I wonder if I should wake her. But she was so tired. She worked so hard today.
And all I did was growl at her. Even though she still smiles at me.
The shifting lights from the tree dance across the gentle planes of her face, drawing me in until I’m breathless, cataloging every single freckle, every gentle breath she breathes.
I thought she wasn’t beautiful when I first saw her but there’s something about this woman that makes my heart pump harder, my whole body catch fire like a five-alarm blaze.
The wind buffets the house and I shiver. White flakes dance on the air and I groan. Snow. Just one more thing for me not to like.
The accident. The roads were icy on Christmas Eve but my parents couldn’t bear to skip the evening service at church even though I was sick. I’d stayed home with a babysitter. I can’t even remember who it was.
All I knew was that my mother came home that night and told me that there was an accident. My dad broke his arm and his back. He was in the hospital.
But at least they were both alive. I thanked heaven for that.
But he was different after he came back. He was angry and he had to walk with a cane. His body just couldn’t come back totally and it made him even more harsh and bitter than he had been.
So harsh and bitter that after six months, my mother took off and left the two of us. She left me a note and it said simply,take care of him.
I was only twelve. Someone should still have been taking care of me. But I pushed all those thoughts down and learned to cook a little bit. Enough so that we didn’t starve.
I cleaned the house and he went back to work at the law offices he had with a partner.
And we went on like that for years. Until he died right after I graduated from college. I never even bothered looking for my mother. When she first left, I thought I might when I got oldenough but anger rippled through me every time I think of what she did to me. To my father.
Angry as he was, bitter as he was. He still loved her. He never came back from losing her.
From losing himself.
Somehow I never seemed to be enough for him after that.
Peaches scuttles into the house and shakes all of the snow off onto the floor and my bare toes.
Grimacing, I lean down and pick her up. “You naughty girl.” Cuddling her close, I shut the door and lean against it, listening to the wind howl and shake the house.
“That better hold you for awhile. I’m not gonna open that door for awhile.”
Yipping, she struggles until I put her down and then she runs back into the parlor and sticks her cold nose onto Merry’s neck.
“Jeez!” She jerks up and wipes at her neck. “What the hell?”
“It’s just Peaches. She had to go out. And then she likes to pass the pain around since she got cold.”
Merry picks her up and cuddles her close and my dick jerks like an asshole when she kisses the dog’s head.
“Awww. Poor baby. I wish you didn’t have to go outside in this yucky weather.”
Her shimmering eyes widen and she jerks when the window rattles behind her. “What’s going on?”
“That storm I told you about. This one isn’t too bad. There’s going to be a worse one on Christmas Eve.”
“Ugh. That sucks. I was hoping to go to the midnight service. It’s been a long time since I went to one of those. They’re so peaceful.”
