Three weeks later, the first snow fell in Eagle. Liam was beyond excited. He drove up to the store, eight of his dogs pulling a sled. "Come on, Gen! I'll show you what I really love!"
Gen pouted. "What? You don't really love me?"
Liam walked over, kissing her. "You know what I meant. Warm coat, hat, mittens, boots. Let's go!"
Gen got on her winter gear and Liam settled her into the sled. It was long and narrow, with the perfect amount space for her. She felt warm and comfortable. Liam explained that it was really space for a hurt dog. The sled also had food, dog bowls and hay. Liam stood on the back of the sled, on the runners that glided over the snow. Eight of his dogs were attached to ropes that would pull the sled. They had on harness and breakway collars, both things attached to the other dogs and the sled. He started talking to her about the different kinds of dogs, lead dogs, swing dogs, and wheel dogs. The wheel dogs were the strongest. Max, Carl's dad, was a wheel dog. Lucy wasn't on the team today and another smaller dogs, Rex, was also missing. Liam explained that he had a split on his food pad and needed to rest. She also noticed that all of the dogs were wearing little booties on their feet. She couldn't wait to see Liam doing that chore. Putting shoes on dogs must not be easy.
Liam covered her with some kind of fur blanket. She didn't ask and didn't really want to know. Carl came bounding out of the store and jumped in the sled with Gen. "Oh, no, little guy." Liam said. "Dogs don't ride until they pull, buddy." He lifted Carl off the sled and set him on the porch. "Ready, Gen?" She nodded and Liam stood on the back of the sled and yelled, "Mush!". The dogs started to run, moving much faster than Gen would have thought was possible. Liam drove the dogs over what looked like a well worn trail that led through the woods surrounding Eagle. Gen had no sense of direction, so she didn't even pretend to know where they were going. She heard barking behind her, pushed herself up and looked back. Carl was chasing the sled. She starting shaking Liam's arm. He looked down at her and yelled, "Whoa!" pressing on the brake. The sled came to a stop and Carl went dashing by, heading for the other dogs. He was barking and jumping around, trying to make the other dogs run.
"That damn dog!" Liam yelled. "He's messing up our time! Well, if he wants to run, let's let him run." Liam yelled for the dogs to go and Carl ran along side of them, having the time of his life. When he started to lag behind, Liam stopped the dogs, scooped him up and dropped him in the sled with Gen. "I told you he was a sled dog." he said, winking. Gen smiled back and made Carl lay down, not wanting him to jump off the sled. Liam ran the dogs for several hours before stopping. He pulled hay out of the sled and spread it around for the dogs to lay on. Then, he pulled out the bowl and fed the dogs. Carl jumped out of the sled and went to lay by his dad.
"Now it's time for me to rest." Liam pulled the blanket off Gen on dove on top of her, kissing her over and over, pulling at her jacket.
"Are you trying to make me freeze to death?" she laughed.
Liam looked down at her. "No. But, I've always wanted to do this. Like, in my sled?"
"In the middle of winter?"
Liam sighed. "It's the beginning of winter. And it's not that cold. Next time, when we go over night, I'll bring the tent. Right now, I'm taking off your coat." He reached down, kissing her and working her out of her coat. He pulled off his own coat, throwing it out of the sled. He kept kissing her, running his hands up under her shirt and down, rubbing her bottom.
"What are you doing to me?" she panted. "How do you make me feel like this?"
"It's a gift." he said, his face lost in her neck. Liam pulled off his shirt and unbuttoned his pants, pushing them down and out of his way. He grabbed the blanket, covering them both completely, before he went to work on her pants. "I want you, so much, Gen. Please." he begged.
She looked into his warm brown, intense eyes and knew she was going to say yes. They were full of all of his emotions. She could see his love for her when he stared at her. He wanted her, he loved her. And she loved him back, more than she ever thought possible.
Moments later, they were together, as one, her nails digging into his back as he moved within her. Every time they made love, she enjoyed it more and more. She loved being a part of him, the feelings of closeness that always followed when they had finished. It felt like they shared a secret, that only they knew.
Liam laid on her chest, breathing heavy, clinging to her, like he always did after they made love. She ran her hands threw his hair, lightly scratching him. He moan, saying "I love that."
Gen kissed the top of his head. "I know." She took a deep breath. "I have news. Uh...my mom is coming up. She wants to meet you. Well, she really wants to see my dad, but you are next on her list. You have to come to dinner tomorrow."
"I have to?" Liam laughed.
"Yes." Gen said, firmly. "You have to."
Liam sighed and said, "Fine." Then he pushed himself up, kneeling and pulling on his clothes. He sat on the edge of the sled, tying up his boots before turning and helping her. Once they were bundled back up, Liam collected the dog bowls and dropped Carl back into her lap.
Gen snuggled down into the blankets and looked back a Liam. "Are you angry?"
He leaned down and kissed her. "No. Here. I can't just throw it on the ground." Liam stuffed the used condom back into package and tried to hand it to her.
"OMG, No! Gross!" she laughed. Liam stuffed it down next to her anyhow, laughing as she freaked out. He yelled for the dogs to go and they took off, forcing Gen to stay still or get hurt. She cursed him under her breath, still laughing.
When they returned back to Liam's house, he showed her how to unhook the dogs and take off their booties. She helped him hook the dogs back to their houses, petting them, giving them praise and special warm food that Liam prepared. She loved every second. Carl was following her around, trying to eat everyone else's food and getting growled at for his efforts.
"Put him in the barn, Gen. I just feed them. I'll be right back." Liam said, heading into the house.
She opened the barn door and took Carl in, setting him with his brothers. He dove into the food, not even paying attention to Gen. She smiled and walked out, shutting the door. Liam appeared on the porch and she started to walk back to the house. "Get in the BARN! GENNY! Get in the BARN!" Liam starting yelling. She looked behind her and saw a bear lumbering into Liam's yard, heading to the dogs. She froze, watching the bear as Liam disappeared into the house. The bear walked over to the first house and sniffed the bowl. Finding nothing, him moved on to the next. The dogs had all gone into their boxes and she could hear them growling. Liam came back on the porch, holding his rifle, aiming at the bear. "God dammit! GET IN THE BARN!"
"He just wants dog food, Liam. Don't shoot him!" she yelled back. She watched the bear turn to her. He stood on his hind legs and growled. She turned to the barn and opened the door, trying to squeeze inside. Liam shot the gun into the air, opening to scare him. He dropped and turned back to the trees. Liam cocked the gun and shot once more, this time closer to the bear. He knew he couldn't hit and kill him from this far. If he wounded him, he'd just get mad. The bear moved away, faster. Liam hurried over to the barn, went in and grabbed Gen.
"Jesus. I should have shot him the first damn time. He thinks it's okay to come back here now. He thinks we have food, Genny. I need to move the dogs in the barn and call the DNR. You need to let me shoot him! Stop being so soft hearted!"
"It's not his fault! Winter is too early and he's not fat enough! He's not really to hibernate." Gen cried.
"He will eat you! He will eat the dogs! I need to make the call. Please start moving the dogs into the barn." He walked away, shaking his head. He went into the house and grabbed his phone, dialing the number. Looking out the window, he watched as Gen took the dogs into the barn. She was taking the dogs, two at a time, into the barn. The dogs loved her, jumping around, begging to petted. She took the time to love with each dog. Again, he was surprised by her. She loved him. She loved the dogs. He'd found his perfect mate, he laughed to himself.
After explaining the situation to the DNR officers, he went out to help her. She was taking the last two dogs into the barn. He took Rex from her and went over to his work station, just inside the door. Rex sat and raised his hurt paw. Liam squatted, looked at cut and grabbed the salve. Gen came over to watch. "How'd he hurt it?" she asked.
"Just the cold. It happens." he shrugged. "I have to check them all the time. Was anyone else limping? Or biting their paws?" Gen shook her head and sat on the floor next to Rex, rubbing his ears. Carl bounded over, jumping into her lap, demanding equal time. "Jesus. That dog loves you."
"Well, I'm his mom. Aren't it, Carl?" she leaned down, making kissey noises at him. He lick her, right on her mouth.
"Uh, yuck? I'm not kissing you ever again."
Gen tackled him, kissing his entire face. "You love me."
Liam moved his face from side to side, trying to avoid her. "Get off! Get off!" he yelled, pushing her. Carl growled at Liam. Gen stopped and looked over at Carl.
"Did you hear that?" Gen asked. Liam nodded. "Push me again." Liam shoved her and Carl growled again, snapping at Liam. "Holy Crap." Gen looked at Liam.
"Ya, that's not good. He needs to like me." Liam said.
"He does like you. He just doesn't want you to hurt me. Kiss me." Gen demanded.
Liam pulled her down, kissing her. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her onto her back. Carl didn't make a sound. Liam stopped his kisses and looked down at Gen. "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about you getting hurt. Ever." He pushed again, just to make Carl growl again. "Wow. That's interesting."
They finished up in the barn and Gen headed back to the house to start dinner. Carl stopped her, growling at her and not letting her move. "Stop it, silly. Nobody is hurting me." She tried to walk around him, but he snapped at her. "Liam! Help!" Gen called.
Liam walked out of the barn, asking what was wrong. He saw Carl stopping her from walking and looked up, behind Carl. The front door was open. Something was moving around in the house. Liam yelled at Gen to come back to the barn as a green truck with the state seal on the side, pulled up into the yard. The man in the truck looked at the situation as Liam yelled. "He's in the house!" Just then, the bear appeared in the doorway, roaring. Carl growled at Gen again, this time, pushing her back with his head. She took the hint and started walking backwards as the DNR agent took aim. He pulled the trigger and she watched as a dart flew through the air, hitting the bear in the neck. The bear roared again, standing up to his full height of nearly eight feet, swatting at his neck. The was on the porch now, trying to work his way down the stairs. The agent shot again, hitting the bear's arm. He thrashed around a bit more before hitting the ground.
Liam ran to Gen and grabbed her, pulling her back. "I told you!" he yelled. "I should have killed him the first time! Damn it!"
The DNR agent was on the phone as Liam walked over. He hung up and looked at Liam. "Chopper is on it's way. He's not tagged, so this is his first offense. We will tag him and move him further north." Liam and the agent rolled the bear into the yard and Gen held Carl as she watched them put a tag on the bears ear. She could hear the helicopter in the distance. She felt like she was in a fog as she saw them roll him onto a huge piece of plastic that would hang under the chopper. They hooked him up and flew away, Liam still speaking to the agent.
Gen walked over to the house, not eager to see the damage. She peaked in the door. The door was off the refrigerator. He hadn't managed to open the freezer door at the bottom of the unit. Food was everywhere. He hadn't gone anywhere else, it looked like, and she walked over to the kitchen, picking up ruined food and putting it into piles. Compost, recycling, trash. The bear had stepped on a bottle of ketchup, squirting it all over the cupboard. The shelves of the fridge were broken or ripped out completely, laying on the floor. The milk had spilled and all of the fruit and vegetables were gone or chewed up. The bowl of apples that Liam had on the counter was broken and his toaster was laying on the floor, smashed into bits. It was going to take hours to clean.
Liam walked in and looked at the mess, shaking his head. "I'm going to call my insurance company. Is the fridge still working?" Gen shook her head. "Great. Can you move the stuff in the freezer to the big freezer in the pantry?" He pointed to the door that lead into his "Pantry" which was just a room with shelves, hooks, a door to the outside, his washer, his dryer and a huge deep freezer. It was full of caribou and moose meat. She opened the freezer and started moving his frozen food he'd bought from her dad. She heard him walking around in the living room. She grabbed a broom after the food was moved and starting sweep up the messes she couldn't pick up.
Hanging up, Liam walked over to Gen. "So, they will cover about half of what I've lost because I have to pay my deductible." He sounded angry.
"I'm sorry, Liam. I don't have a lot of money, but I'll give you what I have saved." Gen said.
"Why are you going to give me money?" he asked.
She looked down. "It's my fault. If I'd have just let you shoot him, this wouldn't have happened. Did he break the front door? You can't replace that!" She started to cry.
Liam walked over and put his arms around her. "Don't cry. It's fine!"
Gen had her face in his shirt. "You yelled at me!"
"Oh, Jesus! I was angry. I'm sorry." Liam said. "You don't need to cry. It's fine. I can get a new fridge. And that toaster was crap. The front door is fine. I must not have pulled it closed. He wouldn't have bothered with the house if he couldn't get in. We are both to blame, how's that?" He pushed her back so he could look at her. She nodded. "Okay, Let's finish this and eat something. I'm starved. Anything good survive?"
Together they inspected the fridge. Nothing looked savable. Liam started to move the trash and Gen mopped the floor. Once the kitchen looked normal, except for the dented, door missing fridge, she dug a frozen pizza out of the deep freeze and Liam started looking for a new fridge online. He was mumbling under his breath. "What's wrong?" she asked, bringing him a slice of pizza.
"5 days. They don't have a truck heading this way for 5 days. If I lived somewhere normal, I could get it faster."
Gen put herself in his lap, stroking his hair. "Do you want to live somewhere else?"
"No."
"Then, pfftt. Who cares. 5 days. You will be fine. Just eat at my house." Gen starting kissing his ears.
"Don't do that! I need to concentrate. Which one? Do I get the same one? Or upgrade?" Liam said, swatting her away. She mumbled something he couldn't understand, still working on his ear. "Fine! I'll do this myself! Same one!" She moved from his ear, down to his neck. He moaned, leaning into her kisses. "Stop! Paypal! Order!" Gen straddled him, blocking the view of the computer. "Confirm!" Gen pulled off her shirt, throwing it to the side. "You are horrible!" he said. He pulled her down, kissing her hard. "You are so in for it!" He picked her up and headed for the stairs, glad to leave this day behind.