by Dani Collins
Was she out with the dog?
He scratched his chin and headed to the stairs, but instead of going down to his office, he went back to his room, then out the exterior door and around to hers. It was impossible to tell if she’d come out this way. She might have walked under the overhang, leaving no footprints.
She was a big girl, he reminded himself. Neither she nor the dog wandered very far from the grounds of the lodge.
Her absence niggled at him, though. Did he feel responsible? No. Not really. Okay, a tiny bit. He remembered all too clearly another time when he had rejected affection from a woman only to have it be the last time he would see her.
Glory wasn’t dead.
He stubbornly made himself go to his office, but walked down the second floor hall to get there, coming across someone named Paula who was cleaning rooms. She had a bowl of individually wrapped chocolates on her cart, the kind he regularly found on his pillow.
Rolf rubbed the back of his neck and went down the service stairs to Glory’s pantry office. The shelves were full of dry goods. She wasn’t at her desk and the dog wasn’t in the bed she’d bought for him and set in the corner.
He started asking everyone he came across if they’d seen Murphy. The back door was open where Marvin and one of the local guys were carrying in Marvin’s possessions from his trailer.
“He must be with Glory,” Marvin said.
“Where?”
Marvin shrugged. “She’s holed up somewhere. Her laptop was gone from her room, so…”
He didn’t seem worried so Rolf shouldn’t be. He couldn’t shake the idea that she’d gone for a walk with the dog, though. In a blizzard, in the wilderness.
He grew more and more pissed—on so many levels. Taking Murphy out for a walk was his purview. And even he wasn’t stupid enough to go out in that.
Why did he even care?
He had some emails to answer, so he forced himself to sit at his desk and work, but he texted her first, asking her where the dog was.
Nothing. Thirty minutes later, when he couldn’t stand it any longer, he went upstairs to her room again, pushing in without knocking. No Glory, no dog. No jacket or boots.
Was she fucking someone? With the dog watching?
He moved through the lodge, doing a brief head count. All the workmen were accounted for.
He slapped on his telemarks and took a quick, ugly run to the base. The visibility was shit, with a heavy mist and wet snow. He startled a couple of elk, but otherwise the area was abandoned.
He came back in a deeper lather. The dog was never leashed, but even though he chased squirrels and deer, he didn’t run far. Even if he did take off, Rolf didn’t see Glory going into the woods after him. She would come and tell Rolf to do it.
Probably.
If they hadn’t had words.
Damn it, there was no reason he should be acting like her nanny. His only consolation was that no one knew how hard the wheels were spinning in his head, or how put out he was that he was this worked up.
All it took was a patch of ice, though. He knew that.
He ignored the sick knot in the pit of his gut. They would turn up.
He went back to work, door open, one ear listening for the dog’s nails on hardwood.
Two hours later, the workmen wrapped up for the evening. They walked with heavy feet to the parking lot where they swept their vehicles and drove away. Devon’s crew went into their trailers, parked on the far side of the lot. Only a handful of people stayed in the lodge. Glory usually headed into the kitchen about now to whip up a simple meal like chicken and rice, but she wasn’t there.
Wasn’t here.
Rolf heard Marvin say something about showering before he would see what he could throw together. As Marvin went down the hall to his apartment, Rolf went to stand outside the service entrance. The last tail lights disappeared in the gloom of dusk and falling snow.
God, damn it. He pierced the air with the sharp whistle that always brought Murphy at full gallop.
*
Murphy let out a loud bark and leapt to his feet, scaring the hell out of her.
Disoriented, Glory jerked awake to find herself in her car. Why? Geez, it was cold. And nearly dark. Her shoulder and neck hurt from sleeping on her reclined seat.
The car was covered in snow, creating that gloomy light. What time was it?
She patted for her phone, which she usually left in the console, but it wasn’t there. Memory rushed back, making her sink back into her flattened seat. She kind of wished she had died of hypothermia. What a crappy, crappy day.
“It’s fine,” she told Murphy, who was alert and staring at her driver’s side window. She heard a couple of squeaking footsteps in the snow and petted Murphy, whispering, “It’s fine.”
No way was she climbing out of this car and letting whoever was out there see her cowering in here like a self-pitying lunatic.
The footsteps stopped beside her car, creepy as a horror movie, heightening her senses. She held her breath as Murphy began a low growl that made her blood curdle.
A hand swept a space free on her windshield and half a face peered in.
She screamed.
The dog lost his mind, snarling and barking like a rabid wolf, scaring the shit out of her all over again.
Her driver door was yanked open, making her scream again and swear even louder when Murphy scrambled across her, nails clawing through her jeans.
“Fuck!” she cried while the dog literally somersaulted into the snow, face first, then twisted to get his wiry legs under him.
“Down!” Rolf bit out.
Murphy came up goofy and covered in snow, whining and moaning with excitement as he recognized Rolf. He peed right there, then commenced a bump and grind on Rolf’s leg, ecstatic and eager to tell him all about his day comforting Glory in the privacy of her dead car. He threw snow all over Rolf’s jeans as he sought the alpha wolf’s praise and approval.
Glory lay there with one hand over her jammed heart as it restarted in uneven slams. She pressed the forearm of her other hand across her eyes, trying to come back from the panic attack he’d caused her.
“What are you doing?” Creeper.
“I couldn’t find the dog.”
She dropped her hand to see him glaring at her like some kind of avenging warrior, dark hair sprinkled with snowflakes against the iron gray of the sky.
Her teeth came together, but she kept her lips sealed against, Sorry. No way. Not to him.
I’m not interested. Her heart lurched as all the prickly tension of their confrontation returned. Right there where people had heard. He might as well have been reading her diary aloud and laughing so hard he farted.
“Took you long enough to look for him.” She sat up and found the lever to bring her seat up. It snapped up, hitting her back hard enough to make her say, “Oof.”
Through the hole in the snow he’d made, she could see the looming shape of the lodge, the furthest thing from home, but all she had. She was still miffed with her dad for not remembering her mom’s birthday, but after a good cry and a long nap, she was over her tantrum and knew she wasn’t ready to be apart from him. Not yet.
Even if staying felt like taking up a heavy load across her shoulders again.
Rolf held Murphy’s collar, keeping him from leaping back into the car while she clumsily gathered her bags from the floor of the passenger seat.
They didn’t leave her much space to get out. She tried to shove the door open further, but it didn’t push, having plowed a doorstop when Rolf opened it. She had to do an awkward limbo, then was stuck in the V of the door until he backed off a couple of steps into the deeper snow.
She slammed the door and snow fell into her boots. Par for the course today.
“Feed him,” she said as she stomped back into the gulag.
*
BLESSED WINTER – (Deleted Scene)
Pandora, in the throes of bringing another human being into the world, said,
“The baby’s coming.”
Brock was such a pussy, he turned green and passed out, hitting his head on a credenza as he fell. He bled out before the ambulance got there.
Pandora delivered her daughter safely, thanks to the handsome paramedic who arrived in time to cut the cord. He was a bona fide prince, heir to a fortune, but he was a humanitarian at heart, which was why he did rescue work on the side. He longed for a wife who was ‘real’ and fell for Pandora on sight. He couldn’t wait to recognize her daughter as a princess and make Pandora his future queen.
Pandora had already forgotten Brock when flowers arrived with a note from his family that read, “Your credenza did us a huge favor. We’ve always thought he was a giant, uncircumcised dick.”
*
Trigg returned to the lodge four days later.
Glory was chatting with Devon over the logistics of restoring the dining room floor. She had already apologized to her, the morning after getting fresh.
“I stabbed a bitch for less,” Devon had said, freezing Glory’s heart for one beat, then Devon had grinned, dimples appearing high in her cheeks. “I’m messing with you. We’re fine. What do you want to do with this molding?”
They were fine. Too bad the same couldn’t be said about her and Rolf. Just saying his name made her tense, so she avoided it. Avoided him.
“Honey, I’m home,” Trigg said, strolling into the dining room. “Did you miss me?” He wore a loose pullover, several days of stubble, and a man-bun.
“Your dog did.”
“Yeah? Where is he? Murph!” he called, walking toward Glory’s office.
“He’s at the base.”
“Hey, new coffee.” Trigg read the menu. “How do I get a macchiato with whip cream?”
“You ask me nicely. Can I chat with Dad about the wainscoting and get back to you?” Glory said to Devon, moving behind the counter.
“Sure, but you—” Devon poked a finger into Trigg’s upper arm. “No more buying the cheap dog food. That animal of yours cleared the dining room the other day.”
It was true, but Glory couldn’t believe Devon had gone there. She started laughing and laughed harder when Trigg’s reaction was a fist pump and a, “That’s my boy!” What an idiot.
Then the criminal in question squiggled his way in, tail wagging as he went across to Trigg, bum hunched because he knew he was supposed to go straight to his bed in her office.
Glory stopped laughing and turned to start making Trigg’s coffee, knowing what the arrival of Murphy meant. He was here. Everything in her grew rusty and pained.
“Hey, Nate. Bro,” Trigg said behind her.
It was both better and worse when there were people around. She liked having a buffer, but it was really hard to act natural and hide the fact she was barely talking to him.
“On your mat,” she heard Rolf say to Murphy.
“Oh, come on,” Trigg said.
“It’s not just a rule,” she told Trigg over her shoulder, forcing a cheerful tone, like she didn’t notice the dark energy radiating off the Viking at the end of the bar. “It’s health code.” She hated taking Rolf’s side, but: “That dog only stays here if he obeys the law. Murphy. Mat. Now.”
Head hanging, Murphy trotted into her office and stood inside the door, tail wagging with eternal hope as he looked back at them.
“What are you having today?” She glanced at Nate. He didn’t have a ‘usual,’ but she started Rolf’s without asking.
“Americano, double-shot, thanks.”
She finished Trigg’s with a fern, pretty, but not too fancy. Why did she even care if Rolf saw and read subtext into it? He wasn’t even going to notice.
Trigg admired it, saying, “I know a guy who can draw a limp dick.”
“Challenge accepted,” Glory said dryly, turning to start Nate’s then finished Rolf’s. She poured the foam in a flaccid blob that bore a vague resemblance to a short, fat penis and balls. She could have given it some hair…if she wanted to play with it.
She left it in front of him, setting the puncher from beneath the counter next to it so he could punch his own card. She didn’t even look at him.
“Christ, it’s like you’ve seen it,” Trigg said.
“You two still bathing together?” Nate asked in a subtle aside that made Glory laugh a little too hard, but she really liked Nate for those unexpected zingers.
Rolf said nothing, only took a wooden stick and stirred away her portrait of his face.
She finished up Nate’s coffee while she tried not to betray how tense she was. She didn’t want to hold a grudge, but she didn’t know how to act. Nice? That meant she was coming on to him. Angry? Then he would know he had hurt her and she hated that he’d been able to.
She asked Nate about his son, hiding the fact she was using her chatty questions to disguise her contempt for Rolf. “You have to bring him up one day. Hey, are you going to take one of the new rooms we’re opening?”
“Still figuring it out. When do you need to know?”
“Depends how quickly they get filled by other contractors. Talk to your boss and work it out. Let me know.” She waved vaguely between the men, even though it was very much Rolf’s decision. “I have to run into Haven this afternoon. I can watch Murphy for the next hour, then you’ll have to take him or make other arrangements,” she told Trigg as she efficiently wiped up.
“You’ll be out of our meeting by then,” Rolf told Trigg.
“Oh. Am I invited to a meeting?” Trigg lipped the whip cream off his stir stick.
Rolf didn’t deign to answer, but Glory had her own axes to grind without paying attention to the ones Trigg had. She moved into her office and closed the doors.
*
“What,” Trigg said as he threw himself into the chair beside Nate, “did you do to deserve that?”
Rolf lifted his brows in query, annoyed, but refusing to show it.
Nate pursed his lips and looked into his white coffee. “I meant to grab cream,” he mumbled, and disappeared.
Trigg watched him go with a smirk of enjoyment. “He knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That Glory thinks you’re a pile of shit. Did you make a pass?”
“No.” Rolf was trying to forget the creditable and therefore unappetizing schwanz she’d left on his coffee. “You’re the one who told her to do it.”
“And she looked like she wished she had thought of it sooner.”
She probably had, but who the fuck cared?
“I’ll ask around until I find out,” Trigg warned.
Rolf shrugged that off. If people were gossiping about their little dust-up, so what? He had accomplished what he wanted. No more silly attempts to get close to him. No hearts. No happy faces. She was keeping her distance and that was great.
“Listen,” he said, trying to get down to business. “We’ve had some thefts and it’s more serious than a few hand tools growing legs. There’s vandalism, too.”
Trigg slouched as though getting comfortable for a movie. “I’m guessing you were being your charming self. What did you say?”
“Are you going to act like a grown-up? Because I don’t need you here. Keeping you in the loop is a courtesy.”
Trigg ran his tongue along his upper teeth, not liking that.
Good.
Nate came back into the loaded silence, knocking briefly, then eyed them as he sat. “Talking about the thefts?” He pulled a sheet of paper from inside his jacket. “’Cause I notice the nitwit who rolled the trailer has the same last name as the guy who took out the power line.”
“Brothers?” Rolf asked.
Nate shrugged. “That was my first thought. They also work for the same company. Basco Construction.”
“Dirk Basco’s okay. Dad knew him,” Rolf said.
“Got a brother named Tab, do you think?” Trigg asked.
“Nice.” Nate sent him a small nod of appreciation.
“What do you know about these brothers, then?” Rolf
asked Nate.
“Can’t even say for sure if they are.”
“I thought you were a local. Knew everyone,” Trigg said.
“No, we—My wife—Ex, actually.” He swiped his hand across his short cap of hair. “She moved here with our son so I applied for this job and moved when I was hired.”
Nate had a decent track record on the professional side, but nothing as big as this project. Rolf had actually been leaning toward hiring a PM from a German firm that did international work, but Nate had swayed him. He hadn’t told Rolf much more about his personal life than what he’d just shared, but he had made clear he was motivated to stay employed close to his son. That meant he would look after Rolf’s interests, keep costs down, and push for success as hard as Rolf did. He was smart and steady and didn’t talk unless he had to. Rolf liked him.
“There’s always going to be push-back from a community when development like this happens,” Rolf said.
“That much I have heard.” Nate pointed at him. “You’ve got your progressives on one side, who want the jobs. Then the old-timers on the other, who like things quiet. I wouldn’t say it’s our place to start accusing anyone of deliberate sabotage, though. Maybe these were legitimate accidents. Even so, it might be a good idea to make a statement. Having an officer pay a visit might cool the petty theft.”
“Do they even have a police station in Haven?” Rolf asked.
“I’ve seen one. I can swing by on my way home tonight, see if anyone’s home.”
“Glory said she’s going into town. You could ask her to stop by on your behalf,” Trigg suggested, putting on his seven-year-old innocent smile.
Rolf didn’t bite, not even with a hard stare, just gave Nate the go-ahead to talk to the police. They talked about a few other issues before both men left.
Trigg came back ten minutes later, the dog at his heels. “Seriously, dude, you don’t deserve that ass.”
Rolf didn’t lift his head, but the gritty thing sitting against his conscience gave his voice a rasp. “Her opinion?”
“Fuck, no. Well, probably. She played dumb when I asked her why she was so pissed with you. No, Devon told me what you said. You’re not just an arrogant asshole, but a fuckwit, too. Who takes a hard pass on cute and funny?”