Wicked Winters: A Collection of Winter Tales

by Lucy Smoke

I glance down to see the mirth in her eyes, and we dissolve in another fit of laughter, doubled over. We keep an eye on the animals milling about until Peter finally arrives, trailer in tow and a rope in hand.

  “Thanks for the call, man.” He claps me on the shoulder as he passes, whistling softly to his little ladies before he stops suddenly and turns back to us. “Where’s Lady?”

  “Oh, holy night. Where is she?” Milly looks at me, panic in her eyes.

  There are only four here.

  “She can’t be far. Milly, you stay with Peter and help. I’ll go look for Lady.”

  She nods, and I turn, taking off before Peter halts me.

  “Here,” he says, thrusting a rope at me, and I smile.

  “Thanks.” I take off at a trot around the back of the church, whistling and hoping she isn’t too far away.

  If only alpacas had cell phones, so I could just call and yell at her. I make my way through the back of the church property. Dodging trees in the dark isn’t an easy thing to accomplish, so I pull my phone out, turning the flashlight on, and I vow never to go anywhere without a full survival kit from here on out.

  Back here, it’s calm, silent, still in the night air without the lights or hustle and bustle from the center of town. Peaceful.

  I swing my flashlight around and emit a high-pitched scream as two beady eyes glow back at me.

  “What the fuck, Lady? Don’t sneak up on a man like that.”

  I blow out a long breath as I keep the light pinned on her. She raises her head and flaps her lips at me. I’m not sure what it means, but I think it’s a threatening gesture, and I narrow my eyes.

  “Oh no, you don’t. This is not the time for games.” I hold one hand out with the rope as I creep toward her.

  She waits until I’m right next to her before darting off a few steps and then glancing around at me. I swear she’s laughing. I try to walk slower this time.

  “Good girl. Come here, Lady,” I croon, getting within a few feet of her again.

  She darts off.

  “Is this fun for you?” I say in a singsong voice.

  She looks at me, drawing her head back, and for a split second, I doubt that it’s only llamas that spit. I’m pretty sure I’m about to get a face full of alpaca saliva. She backs up a few steps and lets it rip, coating me with a stream of warm liquid from her mouth.

  I’m angry now.

  “Come here, you devil animal.” I start running toward her, losing all perception of how to keep an animal calm while trying to clear the sticky liquid off my face at the same time.

  She takes off at a trot, leading me on a chase before glancing back and stopping still. Whirling on a dime, she rushes up to me, nipping at my jacket before quickly twirling and trotting away again.

  What in the world?

  Then, I see it. The monster took the toboggan from my pocket. Milly’s toboggan that cost me one hundred dollars. I’m not about to watch her destroy my bargaining chip for getting back in Milly’s good graces. No, sir, not today.

  I raise both arms and screech, spitting on the ground to let her know that I can do it, too, and I start running at her. She stands frozen, and I almost feel like I’m in slow motion as I rush up to her, rip the hat from her teeth, and slip the rope over her neck.

  “You aren’t much of a lady,” I hiss at her.

  She only blinks at me, without a care in the world, and I keep a firm hold on the rope as she starts to make her way back toward the church, leading me in the direction I came from. I almost wish I had gotten video footage of what just happened. But I’m not sure that I’d ever want to relive it. I faced down the devil and won.

  11

  Evan

  My phone starts to vibrate in my hand. I raise it to swipe and answer, “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Milly.”

  “I found Lady. We are headed back to you.”

  “We aren’t there. Tula is in labor, and we had to get back to Peter’s. Can you bring Lady here?” Milly asks, her voice filled with excitement. “A baby alpaca, Evan. Can you even imagine the cuteness?”

  “I can’t,” I deadpan.

  I really can’t.

  I stare at Lady, cursing her for the wild goose chase she just led me on, and now, I’m stuck with walking her a mile to Peter’s farm. Who knows what could happen in that time? She’s probably plotting to kill me where I stand.

  “I’ll meet you at Peter’s,” I say.

  She shrieks on the other end, “Okay. Gotta go. Bye.”

  The phone clicks off, and Lady quickly swings her head toward me.

  “Don’t you dare.” I put my hand up, catching her halter and threading the rope through it so I have extra protection.

  Lady clucks her tongue, and I glare before she starts humming and then takes off in the direction of home. I swear she knows English.

  What seems an eternity later, I finally deposit Lady in her pen and make my way into the barn, finding Milly and Peter with Tula.

  “Evan, isn’t this exciting?” Milly beams at me and then looks back at Tula, her hand rubbing comforting circles in the curly fur around her neck.

  “If that’s what you want to call it. I thought you were scared of them?” I raise my eyebrows and walk up beside her, reaching out to rub Tula as well. She seems like she’s in distress. “Is she okay?”

  “Ah, she’s fine. She’s just trying to birth a baby. Can’t imagine that’s much fun,” Peter says jovially, setting a pan with water and some clean cloths down.

  Tula makes a grunting noise, and her belly shifts.

  “Looks like she’s pushing!” He walks to her back end.

  I cringe, not wanting to be here for this. There has been entirely too much excitement for one day.

  “I think I’ll just wait outside,” I say, hooking a thumb behind me, but Milly grabs my arm.

  “Oh no, you don’t. Stay. This will be fun.” She grins.

  “I wouldn’t say fun is the word for Tula or me,” I whisper. “Oh, by the way, alpacas do spit.”

  “I knew it wasn’t just llamas!”

  She looks proud of herself, and I scowl.

  “Wait … how do you know that?” She peers at me and starts to laugh. “Lady is a brawler, huh?”

  “Something like that, but don’t worry. I showed her who was boss.”

  “I’m sure you did,” she says, still chuckling.

  “Hand me one of those cloths,” Peter says, motioning behind him, and I rush to get one. “Dip it in the hot water first.”

  I do, and then I wring it out and hand it to him. He starts to clean Tula off, and I head back to the safe zone at her head where I can see absolutely nothing going on down under. Tula lets out another strangled noise, and I grimace, glancing at Milly and then Peter.

  “Are you sure she’s okay?”

  “Well, I’m not a vet or even a nurse, but Peter doesn’t look concerned,” she whispers, still rubbing circles on Tula’s neck.

  “I can see hooves!” Peter says, throwing a slightly bloody towel behind him and yelling for more.

  “That’s you,” Milly says, nudging me.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “You have to.”

  “You can’t make me.”

  Milly reaches in between my open jacket and pinches me.

  “Fuck, ow. Okay, I’m going.”

  I put one hand up to shield my eyes and grab another towel, dipping it in the hot water. I hand it to Peter, and then it happens. I see it. I see everything. It’s not a sight I can accurately describe without wanting to throw up. There are blood and animal parts and things that don’t look like animal parts. I don’t know. But the world goes blissfully black, and I’ve never been so thankful to pass out in all of my life.

  When I come to, I’m still lying in the same spot where I fell, but Milly has a little bundle cradled in her arms as she sits near Tula, singing softly. Peter is still holding a wet towel by Tula, whispering to her as he rubs her down.

  “Than
ks for checking on me, guys,” I say with a cough as I try to sit up.

  “No problem,” Milly says, glancing up at me, her eyes shining. “Come meet Tula’s baby boy.”

  She glances back down, and I move to crouch beside her, my head fuzzy. A small, dark nose juts up from the blanket, flaring as the little guy moves around, and I grin. His little curls are soft as I run my fingers through them, and my heart warms.

  “What’s his name?” I ask.

  Peter hmms behind me. “He doesn’t have one yet. You got any suggestions?”

  “Albert,” Milly says, softly crooning to him.

  I laugh. “Albert?”

  “Albert the alpaca. It’s perfect.” She glances up at me with a frown. “What? Do you hate it?”

  “Nooo …”

  “Good, because that’s his name now,” she says with a triumphant grin.

  Albert huffs inside his blanket. Tula’s head comes down to sniff inside Milly’s arms, and she quietly places him in front of Tula for her to bond with him.

  “Go see your mommy, little guy.”

  She stands up, brushing the hay off her pants and jacket, and gives a squeak of surprise as Peter envelops her in a big hug.

  “Thanks for all your help, Milly. This has been the best day ever.” His large smile is infectious, and we are all grinning at the unexpected turn of events. “We’d better get out of here and let Tula feed,” he says, walking out and shutting the door once we are all clear of it.

  Milly hooks her arms over the stall, resting her chin on it and watching Tula and baby Albert. Peter walks off, holding all of the dirty cloths, and I sidle up to Milly, hooking my arms over the door like hers, but while her eyes are on the newborn, mine are on her. Taking in her flushed cheeks and the soft smile that is making her eyes twinkle.

  “Hey, Mills?” I start and watch as her head swivels slightly.

  Her eyes land on mine, and instantly, some of the light dies. I could kick myself for being the one to do that to her.

  “Mills, huh?” she asks, her mouth twitching.

  “I figured, as your boyfriend, I should give you a nickname,” I say with a shrug and watch her.

  She doesn’t say anything. She just waits for me to continue.

  “I need to apologize for how I treated you last night. You didn’t deserve that, and I regret not telling my parents they could shove it right then and there. I did though.”

  “You told your parents to shove it?”

  “Well, not in those exact words. But they’ve treated me like a child my whole life, lording their money over me to keep me in line, and I’ve let them. But last night, I let them know that I don’t need them anymore and that I want to be with you, no matter how they feel about it. I told them I was moving out.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Not entirely sure yet. I guess I’ll be house-hunting soon.” I grin, and she nods, looking back into the stall. “I just wanted to apologize. One day into being a boyfriend, and I already royally screwed up.”

  “Yeah, you did. But that’s the good thing about Christmas; it’s the season of giving and forgiving.”

  “Speaking of giving, I got you something,” I say, reaching into my pocket and withdrawing the toboggan.

  Milly gasps and looks up at me, eyes shining again. “Where did you find that?”

  “I can’t give away all my secrets,” I say with a wink and reach forward to pull the hat down over her hair.

  She reaches up to touch it, a smile lighting up her face before she leaps toward me with a squeal.

  “Thank you, Ev … Evvie … E-man?” She frowns down at me. “I’ll work on it.”

  I chuckle, and she cuts it off with a searing kiss, her soft lips landing on mine, possessing me, body and soul, as we make out in Peter Stinson’s barn after a wild day of alpaca chases and birthing babies.

  The Christmas Festival will never be the same.

  Epilogue

  Milly

  Two Weeks Later—Christmas Morning

  I blink at the ceiling as the knock comes again, making me realize I’m not dreaming. With a groan, I throw the covers back, goose bumps coating my body in the chill as I hunt down my robe to cover the thin T-shirt and pair of shorts I was sleeping in. Not finding it, I yank the comforter off the bed, Evan’s eyes snapping open as I do so. He tries to grab for it and fails.

  “Mills, not the blanket,” he whines, and I pause as another knock hits my front door. “What time is it?” Evan grabs his phone from the bedside table and squints. “Eight thirty. Who is knocking on the door at eight thirty?”

  “No idea,” I say as I breeze out of the room, headed to the front door with a yawn.

  I wrap the comforter tighter around me, and I throw open the door, blinking at the sight in front of me. Peter Stinson is standing on my front porch, Tula on one side and baby Albert bundled in a red wagon.

  “Merry Christmas!” he bellows, and I cringe at the noise this early on Christmas morning.

  “Merry Christmas, Peter,” I say back in a more normal voice as his smile never falters. “Uh, whatcha doing here?”

  “We came to visit,” he says, holding his arms out wide as if I should have known just by looking at them.

  Evan walks up behind me, dressed a little more warmly in a hoodie and sweatpants as he looks over my shoulder.

  “Morning, Evan.”

  “Morning, Peter,” Evan says a little slower, obviously as confused as me.

  “Peter, Tula, and Albert came to visit,” I tell him, and he nods as if this were something that happened every day.

  “We just couldn’t wait,” Peter says, his face red as he beams at us.

  “Wait for what?”

  “To give you your Christmas present.”

  I glance back at Evan, who is staring at Peter, a completely befuddled look on his face.

  “Well, not at this exact moment, of course,” Peter continues, and we nod, eyes wide, just letting him talk. “You’ll have to wait until he’s a little older, but little Albert here, Tula and I are giving him to you,” he finishes, looking ready to burst with happiness.

  “What?” Evan and I say together as we look at Albert and then back at Peter.

  “Albert is coming to live with you two. Merry Christmas!” He smiles wide.

  I stare at him for a moment before I can feel Evan’s body shaking with laughter behind me.

  “Peter, we can’t possibly take your alpaca.”

  “Nonsense. You can, and you will.” His tone brooks no argument even though he’s still smiling at us. “I’m letting you know now, so you can, uh, maybe get all this in order.” He glances around my yard that is clearly not ready for a baby alpaca to inhabit and then looks back at us. “Well, my job here is done. Merry Christmas!” Peter turns, pulling the wagon and holding on to Tula’s rope as he walks away.

  Evan and I stand in the door, slack-jawed, as we watch him until he disappears around the corner. Slowly, Evan shuts the door, and then we walk back to the bedroom. We put the comforter back on the bed in silence and crawl back under the covers. Evan pulls me against him for warmth.

  “I’m not ready for a child,” I say.

  Evan starts laughing again. “This puts my toboggan present to shame,” he whispers against my ear.

  I giggle. “I guess we got an alpaca for Christmas.” I roll over, placing my head on his chest as our laughter dies down.

  “What more could you want?” he asks.

  I rise, pressing my lips to his and smiling. “I have everything I could ever want and everything I never knew I needed. You and Albert. Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas, Mills. I love you.”

  “I love you, E.”

  Did you enjoy reading An Alpaca for Christmas? Want more from Jacie Lennon? Grab the first book in Jacie’s next series right here!

  About Jacie Lennon

  Jacie Lennon is a wife of one, mom of two, and proud owner of two dogs and a cat. She lives in the southern US
with her crazy bunch. She loves reading, crafts of all kinds, The Office and cooking.

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  Other Books by Jacie: If you like academy romances, try the first book in her new darkish bully series:

  King of Nothing: mybook.to/KingofNothing