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HUNTER

H unter didn’t think his joke was that funny, but Trixie laughed so hard that she had to sit down in his lap, and that wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

When she had wiped her eyes and recovered enough to stand up again, she made hot orange tea with a healthy slug of spiced rum. It was dark out, and Hunter looked out the window, squinting suspiciously at the sky.

“Are there northern lights out?” Trixie asked, handing him a steaming cup.

“Can’t tell,” Hunter admitted. He couldn’t tell what was glare on the window and what was cloud.

“Let’s go see.” She put on a wool hat on her way out and shrugged into an insulated flannel jacket. “I don’t have a coat that would fit you, but I have a spare hat.”

Hunter gratefully took the offered hat. It had been warm enough with the sun up when they were working hard, but it was well below freezing now, and he was glad to curl his fingers around a warm cup.

Trixie made a show of looking around for the marauding moose, then they went up to the unfinished porch deck to sit and look at the sky.

“It’s supposed to warm up a little tomorrow and then snow,” she said, squinting up at the stars. “We’re cutting it really close.”

“Trusses are almost finished,” Hunter said, trying to sound encouraging. “What’s next, roofing?”

“Purlins first, to attach it to,” Trixie said. “It’s a small enough roof that it doesn’t need panel sheathing, so it should go pretty quickly. We could finish tomorrow. I think we will. If our luck holds.”

“It’s not luck ,” Hunter grumbled. “It’s hard work. It’s your hard work. Don’t undersell yourself.”

Trixie snuggled into his side, warm and comfortable. “Thanks,” she said simply.

When they finished their drinks, they toured the house.

“Tell me what you’d do with it,” Hunter commanded.

It had changed even more since he started working, and the rooms were all in their final shapes now, with windows and walls in place.

It was uninsulated, and a brisk breeze blew through the open doorway out onto the porch upstairs; the glass doors were already boxed and ready to install, but Trixie wanted to wait on that until the roof was finished to minimize the chance of damaging them.

“I’d turn this wing into rentals,” Trixie said, as they wandered through it.

“Each one has an en suite bathroom already. The other wing I’d make my personal space, and I’d convert that entertainment room to a shop and put in a garage door.

You could use it all winter for making custom cabinetry.

One of the upstairs bedrooms would be a library.

The master suite is way too big. I’d carve it into a bedroom and an office.

Stairs, of course, not ladders. Oh, there are lights, look! ”

Hunter had been watching Trixie as they circled the house and he looked up now to find that the sky above them was starting to swirl .

Pale streaks had saturated into brilliant green, and they danced to unheard music, fading and intensifying unpredictably. There were little hints of purple and magenta at the edges of it, and sometimes it was bright enough to light up the whole house.

“That’s a show for you,” Trixie said triumphantly. “People pay a lot of money for tours that aren’t half this good.”

Hunter drank it in, watching the lights through the rafters. It was almost a shame to put a roof on the house, the view was so good.

“You’re shivering,” Trixie observed. “Let’s not get hypothermia the day before a big push. Also, I think the rum is hitting me and I should make dinner before I fall over.”

Hunter followed her back to the trailer and sat down out of the way as she bustled around the tiny kitchen making a meal for the two of them.

He liked their cozy domesticity. He liked the way Trixie looked, reaching for dishes.

He liked the warmth of the trailer, and the way Trixie paused for kisses as she worked.

Den , his bear said happily. Wherever she is.

After dinner, he made love to her, slowly and deliberately, delighting in all the sounds and moves she made. “Do you mind if I stay the night?” he asked, tracing the side of her body. “I don’t know what the rest of the crew would think.”

“Maybe they’ll just think you got to work first?” Trixie suggested with a giggle. “Oh, who cares what they think. Please stay.”

Hunter never slept so well in his life.