Three Little Words

She checked the kitchen while I went in search of the thermostat. The place had an old furnace that didn’t look too reliable, but also a wood-burning stove in the living room. The main level boasted a full bathroom, a dining area, and a ladder-like set of stairs that led up to the second floor.

The master bedroom was nice but small, although it had the only upstairs bathroom, a cubbyhole with a sink and toilet. The guest bedroom was quite a bit bigger, with a cozy little window nook on one side and an extra sleeping alcove on the other. The window over the bed overlooked a small patio with the snow-covered hot tub.

Downstairs I found Christy in the kitchen making a grocery list. While she finished, I took my backpack upstairs, emptied its contents on the guest bed, and returned to the main level.

“You about ready?” I said.

“I don’t know how Wren or my mom or Marianne do it every week. I can barely feed myself, let alone a whole group of people.”

“Well, they’ve had a lot more practice than you have. Here, let me see.” I scanned the list and added several things.

“See? I can’t even think of basics like coffee and sugar.”

“That’s because you don’t drink coffee. But Trip does, and I’ve lived with him longer than you. Don’t worry about it.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but she put on her gloves and followed me out. I looked at the sky and then my watch and figured we had about an hour of daylight left. We started down the road toward the village and said hello to a neighbor out walking his dog. A few minutes later I chuckled when I saw

the name of the street we were on.

“Christy Lane,” I said, and pointed at the sign.

“Oh, cool! I’m famous.”

My forehead wrinkled. “I thought you’d been here before.”

“Not up here. We usually stay down at the lodge.”

We kept walking and she began to recognize landmarks. We asked directions from another local and eventually found a little market, where we loaded our cart with enough food to last a couple of days. Christy added two bottles of wine and a bottle of Jameson. The clerk checked us out at the single register, while I loaded the heaviest things in my backpack and then double-bagged the rest.

The sun set before we made it back to the house, but we had enough light to see. Christy started unloading groceries and putting them away, while I hauled in firewood for the wood-burning stove. I soon had a nice little blaze going, so I took off my coat and gloves. Christy joined me a few minutes later and I put my arm around her.

“Mmm, you’re warm,” she said as she pressed her face to my chest.

“I have made fire,” I said in my best caveman voice. “Now I take woman to bed.”

She swatted me playfully.

“Are you really okay being alone with me tonight?”

She nodded. “I’m a little worried about Trip’s father, though.”

“Oh, crap! We forgot to call your parents.”

So we took a few minutes and called them collect. Then we called Trip’s house, also collect, and Christy spoke to Wren for a few minutes. She started blushing furiously before she said goodbye and hung up. I grinned and gave her time to collect herself.

“His father’s fine,” she said at last. “They’re keeping him overnight. His stepmother’s going to spend the night with him, so it’s a good thing they stayed to watch the boys.”

I nodded. Trip’s little brothers were barely school-aged.

“Wren’s pretty sure they’ll release him tomorrow, but they want to get him settled before they leave. So it’ll probably be the day after tomorrow.”

I nodded.

“I told her we’ll have everything ready for when they do.”

“What did she say at the end?”

“What?”

I repeated the question.

“None of your business.”

“I bet I know what it was,” I said with a grin.

“It doesn’t matter, ’cause it isn’t going to happen.”

“What isn’t going to happen?”

“What Wren said.”

“Which was…?”

“I told you, none of your business.”

I backed her into the kitchen counter and then lifted her onto it.

“You know, sometimes I really hate being small,” she said faux-petulantly.

“I kinda like it. Besides, not everything about you is small.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Your eyes, for one.” She closed them when I went to kiss her eyelids.

“Oh, boy,” she sighed.

“And your lips.”

“I was afraid you were gonna say that.”

I kissed them too.

“Here we go.”

“Where?” I teased.

“You know where.”

“Uh-uh. Tell me.” I kissed her again, soft and lingering.

“You’re going to make me say it?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“You never make things easy, do you?”

“It’s only ’cause you make them, ahem, so hard.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“You were? Why?”

“’Cause once I start…”

I kissed her and waited.

“…I can’t stop.”

“Can’t stop what?” I hovered with my lips so close to hers that I could feel her soft breathing.

“You know.”

“No, tell me.”

She cupped my face and kissed me tenderly. Then she sighed and began sucking as I thrust my tongue into her mouth.