“Do we like this stepsister?” Bernice asked quietly.
Not quietly enough, though, for my father not to hear.
“Shut the fuck up about her if you don’t know her,” Dad snarled.
“Whoa.” Bernice held up her hands.
“Get out.”
Dad swung his head toward Creed.
“I warned you,” Creed said at my dad’s incredulous look. “You don’t speak to my sister like that, either.”
Vito snorted.
“I’m not fucking kidding,” Creed snapped. “Get out, or I won’t step foot out of this house. Cody can die in the goddamn snow for all I care.”
Dad snatched his coat off the back of a chair and slammed out of the house, the chandelier above the entryway rattling with his exit.
“Temper, temper,” Bernice mused.
“You’re not helping, Bermean.”
“Hey!” Bernice said. “Don’t call me that!”
“Well, if you wouldn’t act like the name…”
“Harrumph,” she grumbled.
I caught her on the shirt sleeve. “I’m going to get dressed, then I’ll tell you everything that happened.”
Bernice’s eyes lit up. “Deal.”
I was in the process of putting my underwear on one-handed when Creed entered the bedroom, using his body to block me from the outside.
“Need help?” he asked as he saw me struggling.
“I can put on underwear,” I admitted. “But whoever packed for me packed my laciest ones, and they’re hard to get on when I have two hands, let alone one.”
He snorted and dropped down to his haunches, helping me step into my underwear.
He fished out a pair of sweats from my bag and helped me get those on, too.
For the shirt, he grabbed one of his soft hoodies and threw it over my head before delicately looping my arm into the sleeve.
I did the other one myself, then looked up at Creed before saying, “Go find her.”
He sighed. “Your dad is turning into the biggest prick in the world.”
“I’ve noticed that myself,” I admitted. “But it’s okay. I’m used to it. Go find her. Hopefully before she dies of hypothermia.”
He grumbled something under his breath, then pressed a short kiss to my lips before backing up toward the door. “Everyone’s headed out but Major. He’s going to be in his truck outside. The tin roof blocks almost all signal, so he needs to be near a working radio in case one of us finds her.”
“Are you leaving from here?”
He nodded. “Taking the snowmobile and seeing what I can find on my own. The others are taking the trailhead on foot.”
“Okay,” I said. “Be careful and stay warm.”
