Winter Rescue (I'll Be Home for Christmas) (4 page)

he smiled up into Oscar’s face.

s they pulled up the drive leading to the Knutzen

farm, snow crunching under the truck’s tires, Curt

A tried to settle his nerves, uncertainty about his

reception taking hold. The sun shone down from a

brilliant blue sky onto the farmhouse from his dream. Fat

fluffy white clouds ambled by above them, and the snow

sparkled magically. Last night’s storm seemed an

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Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

impossibility in the face of this pristine vision. It wasn’t until

the truck’s powerful engine had been cut off that something

suddenly occurred to him.

“The Christmas presents!” he gasped, staring at Oscar

with wide shocked eyes. “They’re in the trunk of my car.”

“Nope,” Oscar said with a grin. “They’re in the bed of my

truck.”

“Huh?”

“I went out and collected everything from your rental

after putting you to bed last night, and I made an

appointment with Becky’s Tow and Salvage to have the car

brought into Anoka for you.”

It took several seconds for Curt to find his voice. “Thank

you, Oscar,” he breathed.

“No problem.” Oscar smiled, and Curt felt himself blush.

“Now let’s get you inside to your family. They’ve been waiting

quite a while for ya.” They hopped out of the truck and

headed around to the back, their boots crunching in the

shin-deep snow just off the plowed path to the house. “Can I

ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why’d you stay away so long? You said it had been

three years.” Oscar opened and lowered the back of the truck

bed, reaching in under the soft bed cover to remove three big

heavy-duty green garbage bags of gifts.

“Oh, well… I left soon after….” Curt wasn’t sure how to

continue, so instead he spotted and grabbed his duffel,

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Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

slipping the strap over his shoulder and closing the truck

bed for Oscar, whose hands were busy with the heavy bags.

“I can take one of those,” Curt offered, but Oscar shook his

head. The man stood there, big and beautiful, watching

Curt, waiting for an answer.

They heard the front door of the farmhouse squeak

open, followed closely by the screen door. And then, “Curt?

It’s Curt, everybody! Curt’s home!”

He and Oscar continued to stare at each other as what

sounded like a small army rushed out onto the front porch.

“After I told my family I was gay.” Curt watched Oscar’s

face closely for any negative twitch, but it was blank, not a

dimple in sight—so no positive twitches either—despite Curt

squinting desperately in search of one.

The big man swallowed noticeably and cleared his

throat. “We better get in there. Sounds like they’ve missed

you something fierce.” Oscar turned and strode toward the

house, heaving two of the bags over his shoulder, and Curt

followed soon after, trying his best to tamp down his

disappointment and rev up his Christmas glee… for his

family’s sake.

n onslaught of hugs, kisses, slaps on the back, and a

cheek pinch later, Curt was able to remove his coat

A and dump his duffel in his old room. He sighed and

slowly looked around at the changes his father had

made, turning it into his “man cave.” Gone were Curt’s

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Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

academic trophies and ribbons, replaced by a thirty-six-inch

flat-panel television, with a cable-sports-channel package

and surround sound, no doubt. Gone was Curt’s full-size

bed, replaced by a painfully plaid sofa bed. A crooked grin

spread over his face as he imagined his father entering this

room to escape whatever estrogen-laden activity his mother,

sisters, sisters-in-law, and nieces might have brewing in the

big family kitchen.

“Curt?” his mother called, “Curt honey? Come out here

and help us convince Oscar to stay for dinner.”

Oscar. Hmm. My hero. Yep, I can do that
. Curt kicked off

his shoes and slid into his slippers before rushing back into

the great room. Had his family multiplied in the five minutes

he’d been gone? His sisters, Arianna and Gina, and two

sisters-in-law, were in the kitchen filling plates for their

husbands and children. His brothers, George, Jaspar, and

Seth, were scattered throughout the room, as were their

children.

Sadly, Curt struggled to remind himself which children

belonged to whom. He was sure his mother had kept him up

on all of them over the years, but he couldn’t remember at

the moment and tried to get it all straight in his head.

Before he left Minnesota, his eldest brother, George, and

his wife, Karen, had two daughters: seven-year-old Loretta

and one-year-old Amy. Jaspar and his wife, Irene, had twin

baby girls: Bethany and Rebecca. Now the girls had a two-

year-old brother named Chet. Gina and Randy had a teenage

son, Jerry, and a young daughter, Rosalie. His last brother,

Seth, was dating a young woman whose name Curt didn’t

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Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

know as of yet. Then there was Arianna and her husband,

Kyle, and their four-year-old Tobin.

Now there was Oscar to think about. Curt saw him

standing by the front door, holding the front of his coat

closed as his tiny mother, Angelica, fought to remove it from

his body.

“I really should get going, ma’am. I appreciate the

invitation, but—”

“Please stay,” Curt piped up. The struggle ended as

Oscar’s and his parents’ faces turned toward him. He smiled

brightly at Oscar. “It’s the least we can do after you saved my

bacon and brought me home.”

“He’s right, young man,” Curt’s father, Aaron, said, his

voice booming. The big blond slapped Oscar on the back

hard enough to stagger him, which Curt hadn’t thought

possible. Oscar smiled nervously and slowly unzipped his

coat, much to Angelica’s delight.

The little woman turned immediately toward the dining

table. “Make room! Everybody, make room. We have a guest

for dinner!” Curt and Oscar laughed at the scattered

applause from every corner of the room, though not a head

turned in their direction.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you can wash up,” Curt

said, turning down a hallway on their left, Oscar in tow.

They squeezed into a tiny—considering the width and

breadth of most of the Knutzen men—bathroom and took

turns washing their hands. Curt watched Oscar closely,

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Winter Rescue • Dawn Kimberly Johnson

while he dried his own hands. “How did it happen you were

out in this weather?”

“Huh?” Oscar asked, turning to him and taking the

towel.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but why were

you out on the roads last night?”

“Oh,” Oscar said with a smile, “I was taking the long

way back from the grocery store after stocking up.” He gave

the towel back to Curt, who hung it on a small rack on the

wall. “I guess… I guess I took that road because… well, it

claimed my grandpa.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Oscar sighed and looked over Curt’s

shoulder, remembering. “He’d never been outside Minnesota

except for a vacation to Disney World my parents took him

and Gran on about eight years ago. If anyone would have

known his way and the dangers of this weather, it was him,

but….”

“But you just never know, huh?”

Oscar nodded. “We called all his friends, his garage—

Dad and I drove around out there for hours, trying to find

him, but it was two days before someone came across his

truck. That’s the one I’m driving now. It had flipped off the

road in the worst of it and was covered quickly. He was

pinned inside.”

“Oh my God.”

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