Page 87 of Burn With Me

“For being kind to my mom, she can be a bit…much, but she means well.”

I looked around the room, my eyes landing on the bushy tree that was as wide as it was tall and decorated with so many ornaments. I wasn’t sure how it was still standing. My eyes moved onto the flashing lights strung from every available space to the television. The station was set to a crackling fire, and then I looked at the Santa that moved. His one arm was in a waving position, and the other held up a sign that said, ‘Welcome to the North Pole.’

“It may be a lot, but it’s perfect. It’s like a Christmas paradise, and your mom….” I looked around his shoulder to make sure she hadn’t snuck back into the room. “Is so sweet and…you’re very lucky.”

The corner of his mouth tugged up in a sad smile. “I really was, you know. My brother always protected me, and then I found the Giltberts and then Lizzy, who I truly do feel like she’s my mom.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I just wish…I need to know what happened to my brother. I know he did horrible things and hurt you, but I need to know if he’s still alive or….”

My emotions were conflicted. On the one hand, if I’d been him, then I’d want to know if my brother was okay no matter what, but on the other, I was elated that the person responsible for my parents’ horrible deaths was put in jail to pay for what he’d done. It was hard to hold the opposing emotions in my chest, but I planned on helping find out the answers no matter what.

“So sorry about that, but I can’t have the sugar cookies burning. They’re Asher’s favorite,” Lizzy said as she whirled back into the room. “Oh my gosh, don’t you two make the cutest couple. Give me a sec now, don’t move. I want a picture.” She dug around in the large pockets of the jumper, and as I flicked my eyes up to Asher he once more mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

Monica and her partner Sylvie were the next to arrive, and as soon as they stepped foot in the house, the bubbling excitement that Lizzy had managed to contain for half a glass of rum and eggnog evaporated. We just got her calmed down again when Sabrina and her husband, Andrew, arrived. She reminded me of Beck in some ways, but Lizzy even had Beck beat when it came to the high-level energy.

Asher and Andrew were sitting out on the deck while Lizzy went to bed early so she could get up early to enjoy the Christmas breakfast. That left me alone with the other three women. Now, most social individuals would find something in common and manage to make a semblance of a conversation. However, I stared at them as they reminisced and talked about Sabrina and Andrew’s new house and how Sylvie’s IVF was going well.

They hoped to be pregnant in a few months…I was way out of my element. Sure, they were talking about normal life things, but these were not the things lead fire investigators discussed or people who’d spent almost their entire life focused on burnt buildings and arsonists.

I felt like I had nothing to contribute, and I suddenly realized what Beck had been saying. I hadn’t understood how consumed I’d become in my hunt for Asher’s brother. It really had clouded everything I’d done from that one life-altering moment when he chose to kill my parents.

At this point, I didn’t even know who I was without that investigation.

“What about you, Violet?” Sabrina asked, and I blinked and looked at her and the other two women.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear what you said. I zoned out.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how that sounded. “I have this work thing, and I was thinking…it doesn’t matter what I was thinking about. What did you ask?” I felt terrible as Sabrina’s face fell. Well, so much for making a good impression on all of Asher’s family.

“We were talking about special Christmas moments. Did you have one you’d like to share?”

“Oh…um.” I took a sip of my drink.

I was pretty sure Asher was trying to get me drunk because he kept making new concoctions. This one had a very distinct coconut flavor with chocolate and coffee.

“Well, I guess my favorite Christmas moment was when I was twelve. I turned into a brat of a teenager the following year, and my parents and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on anything, but the year before was magical. At least it felt like that. It felt very much like being here with all of you.”

The three women smiled, so I continued.

“My parents had decided to go away for Christmas that year, and it started out as a disaster. We were trying to make our way to Colorado and to the cabin they’d rented. It was going to be at the base of one of the mountains, and they had this large water park that I could use, but we never got there.”

“Oh no, what happened?” Sylvie asked, her eyes tearing up. She waved a fan at her eyes. “Don’t mind me. It’s just all the hormones they’re pumping into me. I cry at commercials about soup.” We all laughed, and another little part of me relaxed. “Continue on, please.”

“We were all packed and had the tow behind the trailer we’d rented all ready to go, but we never even made it out of Florida when we hit an alligator. The scaly gator had decided to lie on the road just over a hill. My dad couldn’t see it, and as soon as he crested the hill, he slammed on the brakes, but the weight of the trailer pushed us, and bam! We went right over the gator.”

“Oh my god, did you drive off the road?” Monica asked.

“No, but it was close. Luckily, my dad had put himself through school by driving trucks and kept us on the road, but it was terrifying. We got the rig pulled over, and my mom, who was an animal advocate, jumped out of the truck and ran for the gator to see if it was okay.”

I shook my head at the memory of my father screaming for her to stop. I loved my mom, but she always tried to rescue the next person, animal, or plant. If there was a level higher than advocate, that was my mom.

“Of course, the gator was not dead and didn’t take kindly to the woman yelling for someone to call a veterinarian or touching it. So the gator managed with its last dying breath to grab hold of her arm.” The three women gasped, their hands going to their mouths. “I’m sure you can imagine how well this went. We ended up at emergency for hours, but luckily, she only needed like twenty-five stitches.”

“She’s so lucky,” Sabrina said.

“Tell me about it, but that’s not the end of it. We were almost through Texas when we were hit with a freak snowstorm, and the roads turned into skating rinks. People were in the ditches everywhere, and emergency vehicles passed us going both directions when suddenly, we were in the middle of a pile-up. No one was hurt, but the trailer with all our stuff flipped off the road, rolled down a steep ditch, and smashed. Other than our suitcases of clothes we lost almost everything that we brought with us.”

I laughed as I thought about the look on my dad’s face as we stood at the edge of the road.

“I’m not sure I want to see what number three is if this was number two,” my dad said, making me smile.

“So what did you do?” Monica asked as she rubbed Sylvia’s back, tears streaming from her eyes.