Wrapping Up (Mitchell Family #4.5)(25)
Author: Jennifer Foor

The two of them ran back in Bella’s room and refused to come out to even talk to me. My mother and John had gone over to Ty’s parents. As it stood, my aunt and Lucy were going to have a delayed flight due to the weather closing down our airport. I was just glad that Colt had made it here before it got too bad.

We still had three days before Christmas, so they had plenty of time to get the roads and runways clear for a safe travel. There shouldn’t have been anything to worry about.

Ty and I had already wrapped everyone’s presents and had them all hidden in different places around the house. Van had told me that Colt ordered the twins rival jerseys, so she and I thought it would be funny to surprise the guys with their size jerseys too. I was sure she wanted to do it for the Kodak moment, but it seemed priceless and we knew the guys would get a kick out of it.

We let the family vote on what we were going to make for Christmas Dinner. Since they decided on stuffed shells, Ty took it upon himself to enlist his mother’s special recipe. She usually made them a few days before and let them sit in the refrigerator before baking them. With the big kids wanting nothing to do with Ty and the twins sleeping, we sat in the kitchen and started getting everything together. A major part of making them was keeping the large shells from breaking apart as they cooked. A lot of olive oil and stirring was involved.

Ty had me watching the noodles as he added all of the other ingredients to a giant mixing bowl. Once he got the cheese mixture finished, he separated half and added a combination of ground beef, seasoned ground pork and even ground veal in one of the bowls. Some of us preferred no meat in our shells, while others loved them with the works.

Ty made perverted faces as he mixed in the meat with his hands. “This feels so good.”

I shook my head and kept stirring the pasta. “It amazes me how you amuse yourself.”

“Don’t pretend that having a handful of meat isn’t hot.” He winked and kept working the mixture.

Conner came in the kitchen before I could think of something witty to say back to him. He stuck his finger in the bowl and tasted it. Ty slapped his arm. “Dude, keep your hands off of my meat.”

Conner sat down next to him and looked back at me. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to say about it. “Well, just so you know, your meat needs more seasoning. When your mother prepares these, the meat tastes the best.”

I set down the spoon and crossed my arms, while leaning on the countertop. “Hearing you two discuss meat and Ty’s mother just ain’t right. Did you check on the boys when you walked by their room?” It wasn’t like he had to do it, but if they were awake I would have assumed he would have told me.

“It was quiet. I reckon their still asleep.” He grabbed a napkin and started folding it. “So, I guess Colt dropped off the kid and went to Van’s parents?”

Ty finally stood up and started washing his hands. “Yeah, it got nasty out there fast. Everything is a sheet of ice, dude. We’re going to have to go out there when it stops and treat the damn lane so they don’t get stuck. Four wheel drive is great, but it doesn’t help with the ice. What’s going to suck worse is if it snows on top of the ice tonight. The roads will be deadly.”

Conner agreed, “Yeah and you know some idiots will try to drive in it.”

“You could probably make a pretty penny pulling people out of the ditches tomorrow morning though, well, if they haven’t already froze to death.” My comment was not very Christmas spirited.

Ty drained the noodles and started sitting them out to dry and cool. He grabbed three spoons and the baking sheets and handed us each our own. “Let’s get this done so we can get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to suck ass.” We all sat there stuffing the shells until they were all done.

He was right too, all except for the part about it being tomorrow. We climbed in bed and had just fallen asleep when this faint honking woke us up. We sat up in bed at the same time and looked at each other, first wondering if it was something going off in our own house. Ty climbed out of bed before me and after we both put on some pants, we found Conner on the other side of our door. When Ty got out of our bedroom I saw him whispering to Ty so I couldn’t hear.

“What is it? Is something wrong?”

Ty held up his hand for me to stop talking. “We think it’s just a disabled car. I knew someone would drive off the road, I just thought it would be tomorrow morning. Who would want to be out in this shit tonight?” He leaned down and kissed my head. “Why don’t you just go lay back down. Everything will be fine. We just really need to get out there before everyone in the house wakes up from the sound of that horn.”

I could have huffed and puffed over it, but they would still have gone out into the icy conditions to stop the horn from sounding. I looked across the yard and noticed that the light was now on in Ty’s parent’s house. It was only a matter of time before my house was filled with screaming children.

Instead of waiting for them back in my bedroom, I stared out the window, watching as two four wheelers went driving down the lane. I could see their headlights approaching the car and then they stopped. For the longest time I just stood there, as if I would be able to see something in the dark that was nearly a quarter mile away.

I no sooner sat down on the couch when I heard the four wheelers driving back up in the direction of the house. If they needed the tractor to pull someone out of the ditch they were headed in the wrong direction. Their headlights blinded me and I walked to the door to let them in as they approached. Ty came walking in first and when he glanced at me, he just shook his head. Before I could ask him why he had given me that kind of reaction, my brother came through the door. His coat was wrapped around someone that he was carrying. It was clear that it was a woman. She had her face buried into his chest as she cried and he wasn’t holding her like he was rescuing a stranger from a bad storm.

It took me a second to recognize the red hair, but when I did, I couldn’t hold back my interest in the situation. I approached my brother, but he kept walking in the direction of his room. I grabbed the back of his t-shirt and noticed the goose bumps from him giving his coat to Amy. “Conner, what is going on?”

“Not tonight, sis. Just let it go for tonight.” He kept walking until he reached his room and closed the door behind them. I couldn’t understand why she was out in this weather and why she would have been crying. Obviously something major was going on. If Rick hurt her again, why hadn’t she called the police or gone to a hospital?