On the drive home, Mandy’s many barbs dig under my skin.How was I supposed to know Gram was going downhill so fast and they needed my help?
It starts to snow again and by the time I get to Middlebury, it’s turned to sleet and freezing rain.
Welcome to Vermont.
Chapter 7
Cole
While others shop, my brothers and I observe a tradition so old, no one remembers when it started. Black Friday is, and has always been, my favorite holiday.
My two older siblings, Greg and Seth, hire a couple teens to milk the cows and watch over the farm. Nathan, newly out of rehab, doesn’t want to shoot but agrees to keep us company. Mike, still in college, hopes for bragging rights this year.
Before dawn, all decked out in orange, the five of us head up the mountain. About thirty minutes later, we exit from two pickup trucks, grab our gear, and hike into the woods. Our boot prints spoil the dusting of snow as we make our way to the secret place I’ve spotted deer all summer.
Overly caffeinated, Greg catches up with me. “Did Danni text you yesterday?”
“No.”
Grinning, Seth punches my arm. “A woman? Is that why he’s so grouchy?”
I up my pace. “Shut up.”I am not doing this with them.
“Who’re we talking about?” Nathan, glancing at the others, smiles for the first time this morning.
The other two, in perfect unison, help him out. “Danni Adams.”
Not one to miss a good roast, my brother Mike adds his two cents. “Are we discussing the girl who sat behind you in high school? The snotty cock tease?”
“Don’t call her that.” I consider knocking him on his ass but the ensuing fight would pit four brothers against one.
“Why not? You did.” Greg’s bigger than me but I’m the one with military training.
“Well, I was an asshole.” I still hate how their juvenile teasing gets under my skin.
Mike, the soon-to-be lawyer runs ahead, turns, purses his lips, and smacks them. “Did you like kissing her?”
My heated face gives me away. “If y’all wanted to gossip, you should’ve joined the quilting bee at St. Anthony’s.”
I speed up the hill but Nathan catches up with me. “Just tell us. Was it good?”
Ah hell, it was way more than good and I haven’t been able to think of anything else since. Thank God a twig snaps, a six-pointed buck steps into the clearing, and everyone shuts the fuck up.
Seth shoots and the animal goes down. I slap him on the back and a pang of regret follows. Keeping down the herds is far more humane than letting them starve but still, ending a life, even for the meat, is never easy.
We’ll have venison for the winter and best of all? The inquisition has ended.
While my brothers argue about the right way to dress the fallen animal, I check my phone to see if Danni texted me but here on the side of the mountain, there’s no reception.
With our kill tied to a pole, we take turns hauling it back to the truck. Once it’s lashed to the roof, we drive down the road a piece and drop it off with a guy at the gas station. Nothing will go to waste.
Back at home, I shower and check my emails. Jumping in my Ford, I drive, ring Jeff’s smart bell, and wave at the camera.
“Cole? Whatever it is, can it wait? It’s not a great time.” He shushes a giggling woman.
“It won’t take long.” My God, Stacy isn’t even in the ground and he’s fucking someone else? For a guy whose wife’s body is going to be sliced up on a cold slab, he’s about as callous as my brothers were with the deer.
I lean against the railing like I got all the time in the world. Three or four minutes later, footsteps sound, and he opens the door a crack.
