Free Perilous by E. H. Reinhard

shoes, walked toward her, and slid the door open. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a tight-fitting light-blue T-shirt. Her black hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Butch sat on her lap, staring off the balcony. He turned his head and gave me a quick glance. I rubbed his head and scratched his ears.
    “He loves it out here. He just watches everything,” Callie said.
    “I was always afraid he’d jump.”
    “You’d never jump from me.” Callie patted his head. “Would you, Butchy baby?”
    He meowed and dug his head into her hand. She definitely had a way with him. Callie let Butch past me into the house. She stood and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Hey, hon. How was work?” she asked.
    “Ah, okay I guess. I got everything wrapped up that I needed to, so that’s good.”
    “That is good. So you’re saying that you won’t be worrying about a case while we’re gone?”
    “Nope. No cases to worry about.”
    “I missed you today.” She squeezed me hard and kissed me.
    I held her by the small of her back. “Careful, you’ll crush my son.”
    “She’ll be fine. She’s tough.”
    I smiled. We’d been going back and forth on boy or girl for a while. We decided that we would wait and be surprised.
    “I missed you too,” I said. “How’s the packing situation going?”
    “Um, I’m almost done. I started a bag for you as well, but there are a few things in the dryer yet. Just think, tomorrow at this time, we’ll be in Wisconsin.”
    “Yup. Freezing our asses off,” I said.
    Callie let her arms drop and slid past me into the condo.
    She talked over her shoulder. “Oh, come on. You spent your whole life there. You should be used to it.”
    “Cold is cold.” I followed her in. “Did you pack warm clothes?”
    She walked to the kitchen and pulled out two beers. “I checked the weather. It’s not supposed to be that bad. But, yes, I packed warm clothes.”
    “I just know what February is like up there. It sucks. Every single day is gray and cold. I’m sure we’ll get snowed on. It’s like being in an old, cold, black-and-white TV.”
    She popped the top on one of the beer bottles and then looked around. “Where’s Hank?”
    “Not here yet. He had to run home and change.”
    “Oh, guess he won’t need a beer, then.” She slid the beer back into the refrigerator and hip bumped the door shut. She handed me the open beer. “Well, I’m looking forward to going up there in the cold. I haven’t seen snow since I was a little kid.”
    “Really?”
    “Really. My parents took me to see the snow in the mountains once or twice when I was little. That was it. They don’t ski or anything, so there wasn’t too much of a reason to see it again. I’ve been in Florida since I was twenty. No snow here.”
    She took a seat at one of the stools at the breakfast bar. I walked to her and wrapped my arms around her. She rested her head against my bicep.
    “Are you freaked out to meet my family?” I asked.
    She shook her head and looked up at me. “Not about meeting your dad and stepmom.”
    “Good. You don’t need to be. They are surprisingly normal. What about Melissa?” I asked.
    She shrugged. “A little, I guess. I mean, I know she is close with Samantha, which kind of makes me an enemy doesn’t it?”
    “No. You’ll never be an enemy of anyone in my family.”
    “Has she called you lately?”
    “Who? Mel?” I asked.
    “Samantha.”
    “Nah. I think she got the point after we talked last. It was starting to get ridiculous.”
    Callie smiled. “That was mean, by the way.”
    “That wasn’t mean. That was honesty. I told her I’m having a child with someone I’m in love with, and while I cared about her as a friend and couldn’t apologize enough about what happened with Cross, she needed to leave me the hell alone.”
    “It’s the leave me the hell alone part that is kind of mean.”
    I shrugged. “Sorry.”
    Callie smiled. “I forgive you. Now go get rid of that thing”—she