Free Heart Thaw by Liz Reinhardt

that the eggnog already had enough rum to get a horse drunk, so he probably didn’t need to mix vodka in. Danny could be a real douche-bag.”
    “I loved him anyway.”
    He uses the pinky of his free hand to push back the hair that fringes over my eyes.
    “Me too. Everybody knows you loved him. Georgie knows that.”
    His words are muscle relaxers to my heart.
    “Yeah? I only gave him shit because I thought they needed time to grow up.”
    He shakes his head and his eyes turn a toasty golden-brown.
    “You know, my sister forgave all of Danny’s bonehead mistakes when he was alive and forgot them all now that he’s dead. I know you were only trying to protect her.”
    “She’s usually more logical about things. But she never applied any of that to Danny.”
    My smile is tight. Danny was the one thing Georgia pulverized all her rules for. Well, except for the baby, now, which Trent doesn’t know about. Yet.
    “Yeah.” He snorts a little. “I don’t even know what those two had in common. She was so National-Honors-Society-polished. You know she ironed every single thing she wore, even her socks? Laid ‘em all on her bed the night before. Every year since I was tiny, I remember her asking Santa for a day planner. I’m not even kidding. I mean, she asked for normal crap, too, but really? What ten-year-old needs a fucking day planner?”
    I laugh a little, curl tighter to him, and watch the way the glow from the Christmas light strands bounces over his skin.
    “I think she kind of experienced things vicariously through Danny. And he was no pressure, you know? To him, every move Georgie made was perfection.”
    “Yeah, I guess my sister would look like a candidate for sainthood compared to the trainwreck that was Danny Lee.”
    Trent shifts and some tinsel knocks off, leaving a crinkled silver strip in his hair. I realize that, when Trent eventually gets gray hairs, it will only add to his dashing handsomeness.
    He stares right at me, like he knows I’m hiding the truth. I know it’s just paranoia on my part. I hope it is anyway.
    His voice is heavy with worry. “I hate to say this, but with Danny gone, and now that mom’s not around, maybe George can get back on track. Mom let her mope her ass off, and, I know she did the dental assisting thing, but she got accepted to Drew. Did she tell you that?”
    “No.” The hurt is like a splinter, incredibly small, but deep and, I know, painfully embedded. “She said she didn’t even look at all the acceptance letters because it made sense to go to community college. For money.”
    “Maybe.” He rolls onto his back and cushions his head on hands. One elbow grazes my hair. “She had savings. Mom did. Dad left some. There was a little from my grandparents. We could have scraped together whatever she needed. I think it was about Danny. I think she was scared.” His voice drops. “Or pregnant. Do you think it’s possible?”
    “No!”
    The word darts out so fast I don’t have time to clamp my mind around it. She was so determined to be with Danny, but this one day, when there was still a tiny window of opportunity to accept a college, she called me and, through sobs, told me she was packing boxes, ready to go to college, ready to follow her dreams, and learn who she was again.
    I was so excited, I didn’t even ask what brought it all on.
    But it didn’t last.
    Danny left for the lumber job a week later, and she unpacked the boxes and got ready to wait. We all waited, anxious to see if Danny would transform from boy to man with that one rough job.
    We didn’t realize we were all actually waiting to get the news that he was dead.
    “We had this weird little Christmas elf when we were kids, my mom’s mom picked it up in Norway.” Trent’s voice weaves toward me, covering up my careening thoughts and blanketing my nerves with total, silken calm. “Cute as hell. Mom would put it all over the house and tell us it watched us, spied to Santa or some shit. You