Black Flame by Ruby Laska

every tree branch and rooftop and mailbox. The fields were an unbroken field of white, and the family of cardinals that were making their winter home in the tree house out back were feasting on the birdseed Roan had set out for them. Cal was awake and up from his nap, but Deneen had gone back to bed for her own nap first, so he hadn’t spoken with her yet. Zane had arrived home, and Roan had come bearing a huge platter of antipasti. The three of them had set up an ancient Monopoly game while Jimmy, his project finally finished, changed clothes and prepared to cook Christmas dinner.
    He ventured into the kitchen and stopped short. The kitchen table, which he had left clean and scrubbed this morning before leaving for the brunch, was now elaborately set with what looked like all the plates and cutlery and glassware in the house, as well as decorations that he instantly recognized as the handiwork of his houseguest. Fresh cut pine boughs were arranged in the center of the table along with berries and pine cones and silk flowers Jimmy recognized from an arrangement that had graced Jayne’s bedside table. Deneen had plundered Mrs. Osterhaus’s boxes of decorations for ornaments and ribbons that now festooned the rustic iron chandelier. Candle holders had been fashioned from oranges, their skins studded with fragrant cloves.
    Jimmy wandered out to the family room, wiping away the water dripping from his hair into his eyes, since he hadn’t taken the time to dry his hair after his shower. “Is Deneen still sleeping?”
    “Yep, cowboy,” Cal said, smirking at him. Jimmy wasn’t sure why his roommates had given him that nickname, since he wasn’t involved in any ranching activities, but it seemed to have stuck. “Guess you must have tired her out. You know, with all that kissing .”
    Roan shrieked. “ What ? You didn’t tell me?”
    “Slipped my mind,” Cal said, winking at her. Jimmy felt that was improbable. More likely, they were teasing him again. Because he understood this to be a display of affection, he didn’t mind.
    “You?” Zane said, pointing at Jimmy, then down the hall to the closed door of Chase’s bedroom. “And her ?”
    “But didn’t she just get here yesterday?” Roan asked.
    “Way to go ,” Zane said, tossing an almond into the air and catching it expertly with his mouth. “But no, since you’re asking, we haven’t heard a sound from her. Hey, maybe you better go back there and, you know, check on her.”
    A chorus of laughter followed. Jimmy looked at his roommates and Roan and wished he could join in their merriment, but he was feeling unsettled. And it wasn’t just his usual holiday gloom, either. While he’d been busy in the workshop, his mind kept wandering back to Deneen: the way her face shone with delight as she served pancakes to the kids. The shy smile when he’d opened her gifts. The look of dismay when he’d stumbled through his inadequate thanks.
    Most of all, the way she had felt in his arms, the taste of her kiss, the scent of her perfume.
    She was without a doubt the most memorable, as well as confusing, woman he had ever met.
    “I will begin preparing dinner,” he said, aware that he wasn’t participating in the cheery repartee.
    “Aww, do you have to, man?” Zane asked. “We could just eat what Roan brought and drink the rest of our dinner.”
    “There’s always that cake,” Cal said. “Think Deneen would mind if we had it for dinner?”
    “She left a note,” Zane said, taking pity on him. “With instructions for the turkey. I just put it in the oven a half hour ago.”
    “The table looks very nice,” Roan said diplomatically. “Jayne was right—Deneen is incredibly creative.”
    Jimmy mumbled his assent and went back to the kitchen. Delicious smells were beginning to waft from the oven. He opened the refrigerator, only to be confronted with half a dozen pans and pots covered in foil.
    The phone rang. It hung from a wall in the kitchen, so Jimmy