CHAPTER 1
Cole
Anail gun jams and lets out a hiss that sounds like it’s laughing at me.Perfect. Monday and the equipment already has jokes.
I wedge my boot against the stud, strip a glove with my teeth, and reset the compressor. Snow drifts through the rib cage of the house we’re framing, flakes settling on raw beams that still smell like pine and rain. December at the edge of Denver is moody as hell. It’s sun one second, the next a slap of wind cold enough to make your eyes water and your patience thin.
My phone buzzes against my chest under the flannel.
Maddie:Emergency.
The last time my little sister sent a text like that, she’d set a pumpkin pie on fire while she was home alone at our parents’ house, trying to surprise Mom by taking dessert off her plate. We still refer to that Thanksgiving asThe Great Burnt Pumpkin Incidentand tease her relentlessly about how she almost left Mom and Dad homeless instead.
A call follows a few seconds later and I swipe to answer. “If this emergency involves frosting, call a bakery this time.”
“Very funny. This is important,” she chirps, cheerful as always. “You remember my best friend, Hailey Simpson, right?”
I lean a shoulder into the stud, glancing through the frame at my crew. “You mean the woman you’ve been living with since college?” I laugh. “Of course I remember her, Maddie. She was always scurrying around our house behind you with braces and a stack of books.”
Maddie laughs too. “I wasn’t sure if you remembered that she and I still lived together.” She snorts. “But anyway, yeah, she hasn’t looked like that in a long time.”
“Okay… and what about her?” I ask, confused as to how this has anything to do with me.
“Oh, right! Well, she just landed her dream job in Denver!”
“That’s good. Congrats to her. You calling to brag for her or?—”
“Volunteer you actually,” she barrels on. “She doesn’t really have the money for movers after spending it all on her master’s this year, so we’re driving a U-Haul that’s packed to the roof and towing her little car behind it. You’re the muscles when we get there, big brother. Congratulations.”
Of course. I laugh again, shaking my head. “At least I’ll get to see you out of it.”
“And it will be the highlight of your week.” She quips but then pauses, her voice softening. “Hey… are you still not coming home for Christmas?”
Out past the skeletal frame, the foothills sit under a low ceiling of pewter-colored clouds. The air smells like a snowstorm might be rolling in. My chest tightens. I haven’t made it a habit of going home for Christmas—not since the holiday season was ruined by my ex. It’s a truth my entire family avoids, everyone tiptoeing around asking if I’ll be home this year.
“We’re behind on a couple projects,” I say truthfully. “The damn weather’s so unpredictable out here. Probably stay in Denver this year.”
She goes quiet for a beat that lands heavy. “Mom’s gonna pout.”
“She always pouts.”
“Just—think about it?”
“I will.”
“Lies.” There’s a soft smile in her voice, the one she uses when she knows she’s right. “Anyway, okay. So. Hailey. We went out last night and it was so fun but also bittersweet—it’s our last Chicago Christmas party together before she moves.”
Her voice is upbeat, but I know she’s sadder than she’s letting on. I don’t think I’ve heard a single story over the last ten years that didn’t have Hailey in it. They’ve been practically inseparable since high school. Maddie’s happy for her friend, sure, but I can hear the loss under it too.
“Oh yeah? You guys behave?”
“Of course. What kind of question is that?”
“You know what I mean—did the guys behave?”
“I’m not twenty-one anymore, Cole. I can handle the boys.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” I laugh, picturing Maddie shoving her finger in some guy’s face, reminding him she’s got a brother who could bury him in drywall dust.
