White Ribbon by Aleatha Romig
Julia
My teeth chattered as I opened the door to the outhouse and sheepishly smiled up at Van. The snow blew around us as he tucked me under his arm, and we hurried back to the cabin. Once inside, I shivered as I shrugged off my down-filled coat and looked down at the ridiculous waders.
“Thank you for going out there with me.”
“What good is it to hold a beautiful woman captive if I let her freeze to death?”
“Or if she’s eaten by wolves.” I had been ready to venture outside to the outhouse by myself until I heard the howl of a wolf. There weren’t many literal wolves to deal with in the Chicago suburbs.
“Wolf attacks are rare,” Van said with a grin.
“Rare implies that they do occur.” Holding onto the wall, I pushed down the giant rubber waders until I could step out with one foot and then the other. When I turned, Van was looking in my direction. “If you say the waders looked sexy, I’ll know you’re lying.”
He came toward me and grabbed the waders, taking them to the pegs on the wall to let them dry. “No, Julia, the waders aren’t sexy.”
I nodded. “Maybe you don’t lie like other men.”
My attention went to the one bed. I reached for a pillow. “I can sleep by the fire.”
“There are plenty of blankets on the bed. You’ll be warm.”
“How do you know?” I asked, pulling back layer after layer of blanket. “You’re right.”
Van gestured out to the room. “I figured if all these blankets are out here, there would be plenty on the bed.”
“Shit,” I said, noticing my phone. Picking it up, I saw that not only was there no signal, the battery was down to less than ten percent. “I meant to turn this off.” Once I did, I put it back on the bedside table. Slowly, I turned toward Van. His dark hair was mussed from the hat and there was dark stubble on his cheeks. His coat and boots were again near the door. Starting at the floor, I scanned his wool socks, long legs in faded denim, the way his shirt stretched over his chest and arms, his five o’clock shadow, high cheekbones, emerald green eyes, and back to his messy dark hair.
It wasn’t until my scan reached his stare that I realized Van had been doing the same to me. Nervously, I ran my fingers through my hair and laughed. Seeing the door, I asked, “Should we lock that?”
“If anyone finds their way out here, they deserve a warm shelter.”
“But what if they’re bad people?”
“What if I told you that I was a bad person?”
I reached again for the pillow and hugged it in front of me. “I wouldn’t believe you.”
Van took a step toward me. “Why?”
I stepped back as I hugged the pillow tighter. “Because you saved me. You gave me coffee and fed me.” I grinned. “And protected me from the wolves.”
He came even closer, his scent clouding my thoughts as he reached toward me and then...beyond me, pulling down the blankets on the bed. “Climb in, Julia. You’ll be warm in no time, and I promise it’s more comfortable than the floor.” He lifted his chin toward the fireplace. “I’ll sleep by the fire and keep it going so we don’t freeze.”
Bending my knee, I knelt on the soft mattress and wiggled my way under the blankets. Once I did, Van pulled them up over me. For a moment he hesitated. Shaking his head, he turned, but before he could go, I seized his large hand.
“Wait.”
Turning his hand over, I ran my fingers over his palm. “Your hands, they’re not callous.”
“I have a great lotion regimen.”
A smile came to my lips. “I was beginning to think you lied about not living here. But if you lived out here and chopped wood, your hands would be rougher.”
He shook his head. “Don’t try to figure me out.”
“Is that mutual? Are you not trying to figure me out?”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he sucked in a breath. “I already have you figured out.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Somewhere there’s a man who did you wrong. You’re searching for a life that isn’t planned out, and in the process, you found yourself stranded in a snowstorm.”
“I wasn’t completely stranded,” I said. “I followed the white ribbon.”
Van’s gaze narrowed. “The white ribbon.”
“With all the snow, I couldn’t see the road, so I told myself to follow the white ribbon.”
He nodded. “What did he do?”
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head.
“I don’t say this often, but I’m sorry he hurt you.” Van’s finger traced down my cheek in a display of familiarity that felt surprisingly right. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“I’m not sure what I’m looking for. I think it was to get away.”
His smile bloomed. “If that was it, I’d say you got it.”
“I did.” When he started to stand, I again reached for his hand. “I just ended a...relationship, and I’m not looking for a new one.”
“That’s good because I’m not the relationship kind.”
“You’re the good kind, though. You didn’t need to rescue me or take care of me, but you did.”
“Julia, I promise, I’m not good.”
I fought the tears as I held tight to his hand. “I’m tired of pretending to be happy and pretending that everything is the way it should be. I thought maybe I could get away and find myself.” My gaze went to his eyes. Letting go of his hand, I reached up to palm his cheek. “I found you instead.”
“I think technically, I found you.”
I scooted over to the cold side of the bed. “You can sleep here. Maybe tomorrow the snow will have stopped.”
Van shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“Listen, I’m not against a one-night stand. It’s that you’re not the kind of woman I would want a one-night stand with.”
“Oh,” I said, turning away.
“Shit.” Van reached for my chin and turned it back. “That was a fucking compliment. I’m the damn wolf you heard out there. It’s who I am in my private life and in my career. You are Little Red Riding Hood, and the last thing you should do is invite the wolf into your bed.”
“Weeks before my wedding, I found out my best friend is pregnant and the man I was engaged to is the father.”
“Fuck.”
I nodded. “I’ll sleep over here. I’m not asking you to make love to me. I’m offering half the bed.”
“I don’t work that way,” Van said as he walked away.
My eyes closed as I tried to make sense of anything that had happened over the last forty-eight hours. The stress and cold had worn me down. I opened my eyes to see Van crouched near the fireplace, tending to the fire inside. His words made me wonder about him.
What kind of private life did he have?
What did he do in business that he considered himself a wolf?
I was almost asleep when I heard the wind as the door opened. When I looked up, the kerosene lamp on the table was extinguished and Van was gone.
He probably went to the outhouse, I told myself.
Time passed.
Uncertain of where he could have gone or if he’d leave me alone, I sat up against the hand-carved headboard and pulled the blankets over me. The fire snapped and crackled. The wind outside continued to blow. I reached for my phone to see the time, and then, remembering it was turned off, I set it back on the bedside stand. My eyelids grew heavy, but I refused to lie back.
Finally, to my relief, the door opened. Through the firelight, I watched as Van took off his hat, gloves, coat, and boots. My lip disappeared behind my teeth as he unbuckled his belt, unfastened his blue jeans, and allowed them to fall to his ankles. His silk boxer briefs weren’t those of a mountain man. They showed each bulge and pulled tight over his muscular behind. Reaching over his head, he tugged on the back of his thermal shirt and pulled it over his head, revealing his wide chest with just the right amount of dark hair.
Inconspicuously, I moved lower under the blankets so as to not alert him that I was still awake.
The moving of the blankets and leaning of the mattress caused my eyes to open. “Van?”
“You’ll regret this, Julia.”
