From Glowing Embers by Emilie Richards

miracles and walked to Dory’s to wash a Saint Bernard no one else would touch. Gray wasn’t there after she finished for the day, nor did he come by her house that evening. By noon the next day, as she started toward the TG&Y for her shift, she was sure she wasn’t going to see him.
    The hours dragged as Julie Ann cut fabric to other people’s specifications and inventoried patterns for reorder. There was no familiar Plymouth in the parking lot when she left for the evening. There was only the moon shining brightly in the cool night air and a long, tiring walk home.
    She was halfway there when she heard a car coming down the dirt road behind her. Without having to think about it, she sidestepped into the bushes. Sometimes Black Creek Road was used for Saturday night drag races, and she didn’t want to be some drunken teenager’s victim.
    “Julie Ann.”
    For a moment she couldn’t believe it was Gray. She had wanted to see him so badly, and she had so rarely gotten anything she wanted.
    He leaned over and opened the door on the passenger’s side. “Get in.”
    She did, surprised and hurt by his curt tone. “Yes, Your Majesty.” She settled herself in the seat beside him, buckling her seat belt. “To what do I owe this honor?”
    “Your infinite charms.”
    Julie Ann knew immediately that Gray had been drinking. She hadn’t lived with her father all those years and not learned to know the signs and be wary of them. She had never seen Gray drink too much. Occasionally he had a beer when they were together, but he always stopped after one, and he never showed signs of not tolerating it well.
    His speech wasn’t slurred, but even in the dim light of the moon she could see his eyes were too bright and his face lightly flushed. “Are you sure you should be driving?” she asked, trying not to sound overly concerned.
    “Why not?”
    “Let me know if I’m wrong, but I think you’ve had a few drinks too many.”
    “You know too much for a girl your age.”
    She put a restraining hand on his arm as he pulled back into the center of the road. “At least go slow, please.”
    “Like a snail,” he assured her.
    This snail would have won any race hands down. Julie Ann watched her house flash by as Gray continued along Black Creek Road. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other,” she said, fighting to sound casual. “But I haven’t moved.”
    “You should.”
    “I don’t think there’re any places to move to down this way. Nothing except farms. Maybe you ought to turn around.”
    Gray turned onto another dirt road that zigzagged through the county. He picked up speed, but Julie Ann wasn’t too worried. The road was deserted. They were on the border of the National Forest.
    “There’s no turning around now,” Gray said, swerving expertly to miss a series of ruts.
    “Are we on a sight-seeing tour?”
    “We’re on our way to the beach house. The back way.”
    “How do poor boys manage without a great out-of-the-way place to take their dates?”
    “I’ve never taken anyone there but you.”
    “You expect me to believe that?”
    He ignored her, sweeping his hand toward the woods surrounding him. “I used to hunt back here with my dad when I was a kid. Just me and him. I hated it, but I wanted to be with him. That’s when I started to find out what kind of man he was. He’d laugh when he shot a deer. Killing things put him in a good mood.”
    Gray had never talked much about his family. Julie Ann hadn’t suspected that his relationship with his father was strained. “I had a teacher in elementary school who was a hunter, but he was still a good man.”
    He acted as if he hadn’t heard her. “You know what else puts him in a good mood? Sending people to jail. You ought to hear his stories. Old Hanging Judge Sheridan.”
    “Isn’t sending people to jail his job?”
    “Justice is his job.”
    “Does he know how you feel?”
    “Hell, I don’t even know how I feel.”
    They