Nathan Jones - First Winter

As for Linda, she’d also grown fond of the shelter group animals that were going to be slaughtered today, and had actually burst into tears when Trev mentioned it. And yet for some reason here she was, pale but obviously intending to come with him.

Trev had a feeling that had something to do with the handsome carpenter who’d be helping out with the work. It was cute in a way, if unrealistic considering her age, but since he knew his sister Trev had a feeling she would regret trying to use this particular event as an opportunity to flirt.

His suspicions were confirmed when they arrived at the barn to find the others already there and busy making preparations, and Linda immediately made a beeline for where Robert and Hailey were setting out and sharpening tools. She wasted no time drawing the carpenter into conversation.

Robert was obviously wise to her motives, considering the amused look he shot Trev’s way as Linda talked a mile a minute, idly playing with a lock of her soft brown hair as she asked him to describe the butchering process.

Trev shrugged at the man’s unspoken question about whether he should actually do so, giving tacit permission to humor the girl. A little reality would be good for her.

So the carpenter launched into a very, very detailed explanation of how they’d kill, gut, hang, skin, and quarter the excess sheep and goats. In less than a minute Linda was looking green, and as he moved on to describe the possibility of removing the head for taxidermy as a trophy she finally exploded.

“Stop!” she nearly screeched. “This is awful, why would you tell me it?”

Robert raised one eyebrow. “You asked me. I thought you were mature enough to hear it.”

The young woman scowled. “It’s got nothing to do with being mature! You don’t tell a girl those sorts of things, it’s rude.”

At that Hailey cleared her throat pointedly. She wasn’t just hearing about the process, she was going to be helping. And she’d probably started helping with butchering her own family’s animals when she was younger than Linda. Trev’s sister went a bit pink at the woman’s unspoken rebuke, but stubbornly held her glare on the carpenter.

“Not to be rude, but I think it has everything to do with being mature,” Robert replied, not unkindly. “If you want to be treated like a kid, I’ll treat you like one.” That was obviously the last thing Linda wanted to hear considering her flirtation attempts, and she didn’t have a response to it. She fumed silently for a moment until Robert turned back to his work, speaking over his shoulder. “Excuse me.”

“Excuse you is right!” Linda shouted at his back as he walked away. Then she gave an angry screech and stomped away from the barnyard.

Once she was out of earshot Robert looked Trev’s way. “Hope I didn’t overstep myself there.”

Trev shrugged, eyes still on his sister’s retreating back. “Probably better than letting her watch, if she couldn’t even bear to hear about it.”

As her brother Trev felt bad for her, but he also couldn’t deny that he’d gotten just a little bit of satisfaction out of the exchange. He loved his sister, but he wasn’t blind to her difficulty adjusting to a completely changed world. She was young, and she’d always been a little spoiled. That hadn’t prepared her well for a life of scarcity without easy and delicious meals, physical and emotional comforts, and endless entertainment options. She balked at the hard work required of her, stewed at her boredom because she had so little to do, and constantly pestered others who were working to entertain her.

Trev hadn’t realized his sister’s attitude and behavior had gotten noticed to the point where even newcomers were aware of it, and willing to call it out. And from her seething resentment as she stalked into their cabin and slammed the door behind her, he was afraid this wasn’t going to be a wake up call for her.

As he turned back he realized with a start that Deb was standing nearby, watching the exchange. He hadn’t seen her since she bolted from his room, so he was a bit nervous about how things were between them. But to his relief she smiled and waved, obviously here for him. He came over to stand next to her.

“I’m sorry about your uncle,” she said immediately. “How’s he doing this morning?”

Trev shook his head. “About the same, and probably will be for a long time. Whooping cough can last months if left untreated, and we have no way to treat him.” He gave her a concerned look. “How about you and everyone in Jane’s group? Are you all doing okay?”

His girlfriend nodded. “No sign of it in our cabin. Matt came by to warn us of the danger, and advise us about quarantine procedures. But I figured since I’ve already been around your family so much without getting sick there’s not much use staying away now.” She fell silent, looking a bit embarrassed. That was skirting close to the topic of what had happened the night before last, and how she’d fled into the storm.

Trev quickly changed the subject, gesturing in the direction his sister had retreated. “So… that was awkward.”

“I don’t completely blame her,” Deb replied, avoiding looking at the hooks Robert was setting up to hang the carcasses to drain. “Although if she has trouble with it she shouldn’t have come around to watch.”

Trev grinned and gestured at the carpenter as he finished that task and returned to helping Hailey with the tools. “I don’t think it was the butchering she came to watch.”

“Watching the butcher’s not much different,” Deb replied, also smiling. Then she sobered and took a deep breath. “Speaking of awkward…”

He bit back a sigh. He supposed they’d put off clearing the air about what had happened for long enough. “Yeah, we should probably talk about that.”

She turned to look at him with her vivid brown-flecked green eyes. “I felt pretty silly after running off.”

“No reason to,” Trev assured her. “I really couldn’t have picked a worse time or way to pop the question.”

That made Deb smile faintly. “No, you really couldn’t have. But yesterday was still pretty lonely and miserable, and I spent the entire time wishing I was with you.”

That felt good to hear. “Same here.” He carefully took her hand. “No reason we can’t give it another try.”

“Exactly.” She took a nervous breath. “By which I mean if you have something you want to ask me, I’ll handle it a bit better this time.”

That was a very strong hint Trev could expect a “yes”, and mingled elation and panic swept through him. Deb was making this easy on him, which he appreciated. But at the same time… “Let’s wait a bit.”

He saw disappointment flash across his girlfriend’s face, then she nodded a bit glumly and withdrew her hand. “Yeah you’re right. We agreed to take it slow.”

“Well that’s not exactly the reason,” Trev admitted. It wasn’t really romantic to spoil the surprise, but he didn’t want her thinking he was rejecting her or getting cold feet. “It has more to do with that “terrible time and way to pop the question” part of it.” He gestured wryly towards the outdoor slaughtering floor the others were preparing. “Not to mention place.”

“Ah.” Her eyes crinkled in a genuine smile. “In that case take your time.”

He planned to. Because in spite of what he’d said, taking it slow was also part of the reason. He enjoyed snuggling, and would definitely like to try kissing some more, but there was no hurry. Doing things right was his priority.

Of course there was such a thing as taking it too slow, especially since Deb was giving him the go-ahead to take the next big step. Still, he’d try to strike a balance.