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Sterling rolled his eyes. Garrett pretended to dust some lint off his shirt.
Cerys told me, “Ignore the two of them. Especially Garrett. He’s been on about grandkids since you two married. A lot of I missed out on all the firsts! I tell him he missed out on the sleepless nights, the diapers, and everything chewed up. Sterling was vaguely civilized by the time Garrett came along.”
“Right. Civilized. That’s what you call the kid that got kicked out of four schools in a year,” Garrett said. “Civilized.”
“Sterling, were you a delinquent?” Cye asked in delighted horror.
“Too rich to be a delinquent,” Sterling replied over his wine.
At this rate, most of my wine was going to end up on the table. Jun hiccuped.
Sterling gave his father a sideways look. “Just try not to infest my portfolio with whatever it is you’re into these days.”
“You think you’re the only one at this table with risk tolerance up to here?” Garrett held his hand to his temple.
“I think I’m taller than you.”
Garrett flipped him the bird.
Sterling glanced out the window again, but only for a second.
“You expecting someone?” Cerys asked him.
“On edge.” Sterling tapped his fork against his still-empty plate. He caught my eye for a moment. There was something worried there. I bit my tongue and didn’t ask.
“Should I stay up?” Garrett sliced some of the turducken.
Sterling shook his head. “Just the usual, and even if they are out there, it’s just because they’ve caught scent of Winter.”
“Does that mean they’re going to come up here?” Jun asked worriedly.
Garrett was just as dismissive. “They come up to the treeline to piss on trees and convince themselves I’m impressed. We ignore them. Now if they burned this place down while I’m not here—and we aren’t here forty-nine weeks out of the year—then I’d be impressed.”
“Have you tried leaving some lighter fluid and matches out for them like I suggested?” Sterling asked.
“We did. Including with a big old fucking bow on it, but the damn things were still there when we came back seven months later.”
“Pathetic.” Sterling’s tone dripped utter contempt.
I inhaled the magical scent of my meat pillow slice. “They probably just smell our turducken and lack of fucks to give.”
“Scorched,” Jun said as Cye tittered.
Cerys waved one hand. “Enough. I don’t want to talk about the locals. Garrett, finish carving the bird.”
I smiled at Sterling and nudged him with my foot again. He winked, even if his hazel eyes were worried.
“You really aren’t coming to bed.” I watched Sterling pull off his shirt.
“Too on edge,” he said.
“Should I stay up?” The night had been so warm and fuzzy, I wasn’t ready for it to end. Actually, I wasn’t ready for it to end with me going to bed alone.
He unzipped his jeans. “No, I haven’t actually smelled anything. It’s sometimes hard for me to sleep when I’m here.”
I was impressed he could sleep at all, given what had happened to him. He thoughtlessly traced his silver scar once. I hugged my robe tighter around myself—it was cold that night, and some snow was coming in—and said, “I’ll keep you company if you want.”
“Absolutely not.” He placed his hands on my arms, smoothing the silk. “I usually burn myself out pacing the patio once the moon sets. You go to bed. There’s no reason for you to be out in the cold because I’m a worrier.”
