January Embers Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Keep Up With Hildred

  January Embers

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Join Me On Facebook

  NEXT MONTH

  Author Bio

  January Embers

  A Year In Paradise #1

  Hildred Billings

  BARACHOU PRESS

  January Embers

  Copyright: Hildred Billings

  Published: January 11th, 2019

  Publisher: Barachou Press

  This is a work of fiction. Any and all similarities to any characters, settings, or situations are purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Keep up with Hildred’s latest releases by joining her mailing list! Behind the scenes, first looks, and even some free snippets!

  January Embers

  Chapter 1

  MIKAIYA

  A woman couldn’t drive for five miles in Oregon without the winter rains splashing against her windshield.

  “Watch out!” Skylar grabbed the oh shit handle as they may or may not have slightly hydroplaned into the other highway lane. Luckily, there were no other cars on the road. Driver Mikaiya had forgotten how desolate some of these roads became on early winter nights. Throw on some headlights reflecting the rain… and, well, was it a wonder she didn’t see the giant wave of water flooding from a nearby creek?

  “We’re fine!” Mik had a death grip on her steering wheel. Thank God for a sturdy truck! The tarp covering her furniture and plastic totes fluttered in the wind and rain, but they should be protected as long as Mik didn’t flip over the truck. Where are the other cars? A little rain wouldn’t stop the locals of Paradise Valley from getting where they needed to go. Was there nuclear fallout nearby? Did a tree block the highway up ahead? Mikaiya had not missed the high winds that powered through the area during the winter. They were close enough to the coast to get the worst of it, and high up enough in the Coast Range to get dumped on before anyone else in the county. Did. Not. Miss. This. Yet Mikaiya had learned to drive in the worst of Oregon’s winter weather. Her friends in Portland were total babies when a little rain fell. If only they could see her now!

  Skylar covered her face with her hands as they took a sharp turn down the hill. The cedar trees shielded the worst of the rain on this part of the road, but that also meant critters taking shelter were likely to run out into the road at any moment. Already, Mik had seen an unfortunate amount of roadkill on the side of the highway. Something else her city friends were not as familiar with.

  “Are we almost there?” Skylar squeaked.

  “About five more miles.” Mikaiya would have called her grandmother to tell her they were almost there, but nobody, including the forest rangers with their satellite phones, could get reception on that part of the mountain. “Sorry we left so late, Sky. I should have listened to the weather reports.” One would never guess they left Portland as early as two that afternoon. The sky was cloudy yet bright, but as soon as they left the Willamette Valley, the rain and gloom arrived. Paradise Valley was only a couple hours from Portland, but between the rain, the traffic farther out, and the multiple pee breaks Skylar insisted on as things got hairier… it was pitch black by the time they got this far four days after New Year’s.

  Mik had little choice about when she moved back to her hometown, however. Her contract at the marketing agency in Portland lasted until Christmas, which she spent with the close friends she had made over the years while working for a firm that had international sportswear, food processing, and medical equipment manufacturers for clients. The stress had been so bad that Mikaiya forgot what it was like to have a personal life outside of her best buddies in the building where she worked. Dating? Impossible. After a nervous breakdown that left her bereft for a few weeks, she decided to not renew her contract and figure out something else to do with her life. She had money in the bank and… well, she had her grandmother, Abby, the woman who helped raise her in Paradise Valley.

  When Abby suffered a major stroke in September, Mik thought it was the end. Yet her resilient grandmother pulled through, albeit a little worse for wear. The fact she personally asked Mik to move back home and help her around the house meant things were bad. Yet wasn’t it a sign from the universe that she had quit her job around the time her grandmother needed her?

  In Paradise Valley… the place Mikaiya had left, hoping to never return…

  She sighed. The rain let up a bit. A road sign assured her that “Paradise is Only Three Miles Away.” Not to be confused with the other Paradise, Oregon, of course.

  “We’re almost there,” she reassured Skylar, one of her best friends who agreed to move to the small town with her. Like Mik, Skylar needed a serious change of pace from the chilly, strange vibe of Portland. When Mikaiya reminded her heterosexual friend that Paradise Valley was originally a lesbian commune that now boasted one of the highest populations of queer women in the state, Skylar merely commented that it really did sound like paradise. Because someone had no interest in dealing with men and dating for a good, long while. “I hope my grandma’s got a fire going. Hey, at least it ain’t snowin’!”

  Skylar groaned. “We’re not even there yet, and you already sound like a hick.”

  “Don’t worry, hon. You’ll pick it up quick enough.”

  “God smite me if I ever have a faux-Texan twang!”

  Mikaiya chuckled. She finally let up on the windshield wipers and let out a sigh of relief that they were almost to the city limits.

  They rounded one of the last major curves leading into town… and Mik was compelled to hit the brakes.

  “Jesus!” Skylar grabbed her seatbelt and braced herself against the glove compartment. “What happened?”

  Even through the rain, the tell-tale signs of a car accident were ever-present. Flashing warning lights. Bright orange cones. A giant ambulance and a cop car with their lights on. They had probably just missed the fire truck.

  “Wow. Hope nobody was seriously hurt.” Mik was stuck behind the wreckage. No wonder she hadn’t seen any cars coming the other way. Both vehicles involved in this crash took up the whole two-lane highway. A sedan was flipped, and an old, rusty truck was halfway into a ditch, the driver revving the engine and spinning the back wheels, trying to get the hell out. Mik was grateful that she didn’t immediately recognize anyone. Would’ve been grand if the first thing she saw when returning to her childhood home was her second grade teacher wrenched from her car with the jaws of life.

  The driver of the other car sat in the back of the ambulance, a cold compress on her head and an EMT giving her a look over in the rain. One of the other EMTs caught sight of Mikaiya and Skylar and sauntered over. Maybe tourists would have assumed that was a self-assured young man coming toward them, but Mik immediately recognized the cool gait of one of Paradise Valley’s many native butches. Great. So when I’m not fearing for my life on this highway, I’m getting all hot and bothered by the locals. Here was hoping this nice woman had a wedding band on her left hand. Mik had gone so long with
out dating that she was liable to jump the first willing woman she came across in Paradise Valley.

  Now there’s a good way to reunite with my second grade teacher…

  “Sorry about the mess here.” The EMT leaned inside the cab of Mik’s truck after she rolled down the window. Rain continued to pound the pavement and the top of the EMT’s head, but nobody, least of all a couple of native Oregonians, were perturbed by a little wet on the forehead. “Tow truck will be here soon, so we’ll hopefully have at least one lane open for traffic.”

  “Thanks. I hope nobody was hurt.”

  “Looks worse than it apparently is.” The EMT sniffed. “If you’re in a hurry, there’s an old dirt road about a half mile back that turns into Ar…”

  “Arizona Street?” Mik interrupted. “Oh, yeah, I remember that one.”

  “You do, huh?” That earned her a pearly-white smile. I used to know a sweet girl who smiled like that. A pang hit Mikaiya right in the heart. Damn. She knew she was going to think about her as soon as she was back in that familiar wasteland, but wasn’t expecting to be reminded of her first big love before she saw a building.

  Mik cleared her throat. “I’m actually from here.”

  “Oh? Don’t recognize… you…” The EMT took a step back with a scoff. So much for not recognizing her. “Mikaiya Marcott.”

  Mikaiya’s eyes widened. Oh, my God, who is this? An old classmate of mine? Or was the EMT older than she looked in the rainy dark? Did she know Mikaiya as a little kid? Why couldn’t Mik recognize a person who clearly knew her? Had ten years really been enough time for her to forget what it was like living in a tiny Oregonian town?

  “Uh, yup, that’s me. Heh?”

  The EMT put her hands on her hips. Damn, wasn’t she beyond formidable in that heavy rain jacket, those hefty boots, and the hat on her long head? She looks like she’s about to kick my ass! The worst part? Mik had a huge soft spot for strong butches who could throw her over their shoulder and cart her off somewhere. (Preferably, to bed.) This was going south, fast. First, the terrible omens of the rain and the crash that almost ended someone’s life. Now? Mik was pissing off the locals, and she didn’t remember who they were! I was a kid when I left! How am I supposed to know what kids back then look like now?

  “Welcome home, Mikkie.”

  Did the rain stop? Or did Mik’s heart stop beating, and now she could no longer hear, see, or smell a damn thing?

  Oh. My. God.

  This wasn’t some stranger she barely knew as a kid. This was fate. This was hell.

  This was Ariana Mura, the girl Mikaiya dated back in high school. The girl she left behind the day they graduated. The girl whose heart she probably broke.

  Didn’t look like anyone was going to break anything of Ari’s anytime soon, now.

  Chapter 2

  ARIANA

  Well, look at what the dog dragged in from the garbage pile.

  Ariana was already in an uncomfortable situation. Racing to a scene in the middle of a rainstorm was nothing new for the EMT, but did she like it? No! Who the hell wanted to stand for forty-five minutes in the pouring rain while exhaust fumes filled the air and angry drivers honked at her to get a “move on?” That was when she had the luxury of taking in that deplorable scenery. Oftentimes, someone was hurt enough that all of her focus was on getting them stabilized and to the county hospital before it was too late. Tonight’s accident looked bad, but only the driver of the sedan suffered any kind of minor injury. The boys had her possible concussion under control. They would take her to the hospital when she was ready to move, but there wasn’t much else for Ariana to do than assist Deputy Greenhill with directing traffic.

  Now, this? Ari envied the woman sitting in the back of the ambulance. What Ari would give to have a concussion right about now!

  Mikaiya. Marcott. Here. In the flesh. In some fancy truck with a bed full of items and another girl in the passenger seat. Who was she? Mikaiya’s latest victim? Some hapless city-slickin’ soul that had no idea what she was in for? Then again, some of the townsfolk definitely thought that the Portlanders had no souls and deserved whatever they got. Because both Mikkie and the girl beside her screamed Portland, from their thin, department-store bought plaid shirts and fancy haircuts. With one glance, Ari could tell that Mik’s hands were softer than a baby’s butt. One didn’t have to do hard labor to get calloused hands while living in a small town. Even the people who typed on laptops all day still had to cut firewood and change their oil. Mik looked like she hadn’t done a hard day’s of labor since she used to work on her uncle’s farm.

  Great. Ari really was a masochist, huh? Because now she was thinking about losing her virginity to Mik in the loft of her uncle’s barn. Got hay up my ass, but I was young and dumb enough to think it was worth it! Ariana hated how flustered she already was after two seconds of recognizing the girl who had stomped all over her heart and taken a giant dump on her soul.

  “The fuck you doing back here?”

  Mikaiya gasped. Ari instantly regretted saying it. Like that, anyway. Well, now she knows I’m still a resentful bitch, so I’ve got that going for me. At least Ari wasn’t cowering before her. The old Ari would have. The one who spent the whole summer after senior year crying in her bed. Then I chopped off my hair. Started hitting the gym. Finally enrolled into a program that would give me a life of saving other people’s lives instead of tearing down my own. That was the power of a broken heart.

  She had thought Mikaiya a ghost. Now, here she was, with PORTLAND stamped all over her, thinking she could ever belong in Paradise Valley again. Damn. She was here because of her grandmother, wasn’t she? Abby Marcott didn’t deserve a granddaughter like Mikkie.

  “I’m moving back for a while.” Mik played it cool, although Ari wanted to believe that her ex trembled like a frightened child deep, deep down. She should. She should fear the fuck out of Ariana Mura now that she knew how to get her point across and wasn’t afraid to smack the shit out of this bitch if she tried her crap again. I make it sound like she abused me… No, it had never been like that. Mik was a weak-hearted git, and Ari was too stupid and too in love to realize that following her girlfriend was a good idea. Mik’s dreams of leaving rural Oregon finally came true. Part of Ari’s deciding to stay and become a core member of the community was to spite the traitor.

  “Your grandma?” Ari forced a more neutral tone. The rain washed off her face. She could no longer feel it now that an old, haunted visage stared back at her from the cab of a brand-new truck. “I know about what happened.”

  “Yes, well…” Good! That was a squeak in her voice! She definitely deserved that! “Anyway, I guess I better be turning around and finding that road. I’ve got four-wheel drive, so I should be okay.”

  Like I care. Ari cared enough that she didn’t want to be called to save her ex’s life, but she could be a vindictive ass-butt when the moment called for it.

  “Now’s your chance to turn around before any other cars come.” And get the fuck out of my town. Ari would treat this as a shitty dream. Her ex, a rainy night, and an accident that could’ve been a lot worse. Bad enough Ari would be doing paperwork past dinnertime. Now here was Ms. Too Good For You sashaying back into Paradise Valley like she was Sappho’s gift to lesbian kind. “I won’t tell Deputy Greenhill that you’re making an illegal U-turn.”

  Mikaiya narrowed her eyes. Oh, she knew what her ex meant. The message was as loud and clear now as it had been a decade ago. “Greenhill, huh? So Cadence really became a cop?”

  “Yup. Now she’s deputy in Paradise Valley. So don’t piss off our nice lunch lady.”

  Mik turned to her friend in the passenger seat. Ari wasn’t going to ask who the stranger was. She didn’t want to know, or care. I don’t want the details on your new girlfriend, Mik. Ari would rather eat the mud her ex was about to tear up down that dirt road on her way to Arizona Street. Probably would get to her old house faster than the highway, anyway.

  “Thanks.”
Mik shifted gears and, turning around outside the window to get a better view of the highway behind her, backed the truck up to make that illegal U. “See you around, Ari.”

  God, I hope not! Ari gave them a half-hearted wave before turning back to meet Deputy Greenhill in the road. Eventually, the taillights from Mik’s truck disappeared around the curve.

  “Someone you know?” Cadence Greenhill, the only woman in town possibly tougher than Ari, asked. “Takes a lot to make you turn a shoulder to a stranger.”

  Ari gritted her teeth. “You’ll never guess who’s back in town.”

  “Hm?” Greenhill glanced down the dark highway. “Hope it’s not that Ben McLaughlin. Thought we ran his ass out of here once and for all.”

  A laugh shot out of Ari’s mouth. Oh, little miss Soft Butch will love to know she was mistaken for Ben Freakin’ McLaughlin! Ben had written himself into the annals of infamy when he opened a shop in Paradise Valley in the hopes of finding the bisexual woman of his dreams. Better if she was a lesbian he could turn to his dick-side. Took five years and half a town of pissed off lesbians who were sick of his fetishizing shit before he finally took the hint and shuttered up his shop and got the hell out of town.

  “I wish!” Ari scoffed. “That was Mikaiya Marcott. Remember her?”

  The deputy took a step back. “You’re kidding. Little Mikkie? The softball shortstop?”

  Ari grunted.

  “Your ex-girlfriend who…”

  “Yeah, her!” Ari marched to the ambulance, where she shoved aside fellow EMT Brendon and took over. “Y’all better give me something to do. Now.”

  Ariana always did best when she had something productive to take her mind off the shit. Riding in the back with this poor woman on their way to the county hospital would be a great way to take her mind off that fuckhead who stole her heart – then her faith in love.