Christmas at Hart's Ridge by Elizabeth Bright

Author:Elizabeth Bright [Bright, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bright House
Published: 2023-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Luke

“Bottoms up, y’all. We survived.” Jasmine lined up four shot glasses and filled each one nearly to the brim with whiskey.

Ethan, Jasmine, and I each took a glass and tipped it back in one swallow. Bethany was a little slower. I could tell by the way she took a quick sniff of the amber liquid before draining it that this was another first for her. She coughed as it went down, but I didn’t laugh. It felt too special, bearing witness to one of her firsts.

Sure, Ethan and Jasmine were here, too, but they didn’t know what they were watching. For some reason, I felt some kind of way about that. Protective. Possessive. Which was stupid. The first-time list was Bethany’s, not mine. But still, I didn’t want to share.

“Oh, lord, I’m tired.” Jasmine yawned as she capped the whiskey and placed it back on the shelf. She did a full body shake, like she was trying to wake herself up. “Okay, boss. Give me a chore.”

The clock read two a.m. Jasmine and Ethan had been here all day, covering the lunch shift while Bethany and I were at the community center, and staying on through the show. We had closed the kitchen at ten p.m. and Ben and Amber had cleaned up before they left. There was still plenty to do now, but it could wait until tomorrow.

“Go home. Go to bed. You, too, Ethan. I’ll take Bethany home.” Ethan was halfway to the door before I’d even finished talking. “Be back at four tomorrow,” I called after him and he grunted in response. We were closed Sunday until five, when we would open for dinner, which meant we all had the morning off.

“Yay.” Jasmine yawned again. “Actually, if it’s okay with you, I’ll crash here tonight. There aren’t any hikers in the rooms, right?”

We hadn’t had a through-hiker since October. “Knock yourself out. Grab some fresh sheets from the closet, though. The beds aren’t made.” I glanced at Bethany, whose eyes looked suspiciously bright. That shot of whiskey had hit her hard. To be fair, Jasmine had poured doubles. “You’re welcome to a room, too, Red. We have plenty.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll text my parents so they won’t worry.”

Jasmine took off—she knew where she was going—but Bethany waited for me to lock up so I could walk her to her room. She slumped against the rough-hewn logs that served as a wall, her eyes half closed.

I shoved my keys in my pocket and took her by the hand, hauling her upright. She bumped against me with a giggle, which felt like it might have been my intention all along. Shit, I loved to make her laugh. “How did you like your first shot of whiskey, Red?”

She smiled up at me, looking a little fuzzy around the edges. Whisps of hair curled around her pretty face. “It burned. I like things that burn.”

“Oh, yeah?” I had some dirty ideas of what to do with that information.

“Yeah. Luke, I’ve made a decision.

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