Page 9 of Christmas Wish
Chapter Four
Ryder put downthe coping saw and grabbed his cell phone. As the jangling continued, he hit the button again before he realized it was the landline phone that interrupted his woodworking. He pushed up off the chair then brought the receiver to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Dude, I couldn’t get through on your cell. Is everything okay?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah. The reception’s been spotty since the snowstorm hit. I’m just finishing up a train set I’ve been working on. Does Braxton have one?”
“The question is, what the fuck doesn’t my son have? Between Cara and her parents, I’m gonna have to get a big-ass shed for his and Isa’s toys.”
“Oh … and you don’t spoil him?” Ryder cradled the phone in the crick of his neck. He went back over to the worktable and picked up the unfinished locomotive. Soon, the sound of sandpaper on wood filled the room.
“You fuckin’ got me. I guess I want my kids to have everything I didn’t, which is a helluva lot.” Hawk chuckled. “Braxton would love one of those fire trucks you make. Remember, you made one for Harley a few months ago? Braxton’s still talking about it.”
“So is Banger.” The two men laughed. “I can make one for Braxton. I can bring it to the Toys for Tots event. I’ve made a shitload of toys for the kids. I’ll just include the train set. I’m almost done with it.”
Toys for Tots was the Insurgents’ annual Christmas charity to collect toys and distribute them to abused, sick, and underprivileged children. A lot of money was raised at the event, which took place a week before Christmas. Since Ryder had come back to Pinewood Springs three years before, he was active in the charity. It gave his woodworking hobby purpose, and he loved helping out the kids.
“That’d be great. Are you buried in pretty deep?”
“Yep. I doubt my four wheeler could get through the drifts. When I last looked out the window, the snow had died down some.”
“It’s that way in town too. The brothers at the clubhouse can’t get out, but they’re closer to you than to town. Throttle said that he’ll probably get the plows out tomorrow or the day after. He wants you to know he and Rags will come out your way and dig you out.”
“Appreciate it. I’ll have to give him a call. For now, I’m good. I bought some whiskey from Tom.”
Hawk’s hearty laugh rang through the phone line. “How’s that fuckin’ old moonshiner doing? I haven’t seen him around much.”
“He’s slowing down. Since Martha died, he’s not the same. He misses the hell outta her.”
“It’s gotta be tough—they were married for forty years. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for him. Hell, if Cara goes before me, I’ll be fucked up for sure.”
“Yeah … I feel for him, but his whiskey still has that kick that’ll land you on your ass if you don’t respect it.”
“Speaking from experience?” Hawk chuckled.
“Too much experience.” Ryder looked at Brutus, who sat at his feet looking up at him. “I gotta take Brutus out. Thanks for checking up on me, bro.”
“Yeah. Later.”
Ryder put the phone back in its cradle and ruffled the top of Brutus’s head. “You wanna go outside?” Brutus barked and wagged his tail then dashed toward the front door. Ryder pulled on his boots and slipped his arm inside a jacket then closed the door behind him.
Cold slapped his naked face, squeezing tears from his eyes.It’s fucking freezing out here.He immediately thought about the woman and her son in their small camper.I wonder if they got enough heat. Why the fuck are they living in that damn thing?Breath rolled from him in short frosted puffs. Treading slowly through deep, soft snow as the thin rays of light filtered through the ice-laden tree branches, he whistled for Brutus, who bounded out from behind the evergreens and ran over to him.
“It’s too damn cold out here. Come on.” Ryder plodded over to the garage and opened the door. Brutus barked and ran in circles as Ryder took off one glove and fished in the pocket of his parka for his car keys. When he opened the jeep’s back door, the dog jumped in, then Ryder cranked up the heat and backed out.
The tires skidded on ice-slick snow as beams from the headlights danced on clusters of frosted firs lining the road. “Dammit,” he muttered as he gripped the steering wheel. The snow began falling again—harder and faster. It erased the car’s icy tracks on the road, and the trees that loomed in the distance vanished, swallowed up in white. The jeep’s wipers now moved frantically over the windshield as Ryder drove toward the trailer.
Brutus’s barks echoed eerily in the muted stillness as Ryder closed the car door. A thick quilt of snow surrounded the camper, and Ryder saw that there wasn’t as much light coming from the small windows as there was the day before. He pushed on, cursing under his breath at the pain shooting through his residual limb. He’d been too damn lazy to put the liner sleeve over it when he’d gotten up that morning, never thinking he’d be plodding through two feet of snow. While stopping to rub his upper thigh, the cold air seared his lungs as the rest of him sweated beneath the parka. Savannah was peering out the window and he motioned for her to open the door. She stayed at the window for a few seconds, making him think he’d have to break down the damn door, but then she disappeared, and a faint sliver of light fell on the white ground as she stood in the doorway.
Ignoring the pain, Ryder gritted his teeth and walked toward her with Brutus by his side. With a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her, she stood aside as he pushed himself up into the trailer. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and spotted Timmy sitting at the table with what looked like a puzzle in front of him. The boy wore a jacket and had a blanket wrapped around his thin shoulders. He saw Savannah looking at him from the corner of his eye and craned his neck to meet her gaze. After a short pause, she cleared her throat and looked away as a slight pinkish flush swept across her cheeks.
“Why are you here? You can’t possibly think we can leave in this blizzard,” she said softly.
“I came by to check up on you and the boy.”
Timmy looked over and smiled, and Ryder’s lips twitched when he noticed the boy’s missing front tooth.
