Ren Frost's Arc

Chapter 8 of 13

The notice was nailed to the gate before sunrise. Ren found it stiff with frost, the seal smudged, the court date printed in black: December 24. Three days. She tore it free with shaking hands and carried it to the cabin without a word. Jason cleared the kitchen table and turned it into a desk. Photos in one pile. The injury log in another. A laptop borrowed from town humming between them. Ren opened a small notebook and marked three squares on the back page. One for each day left. They worked past dark. Then Jason set down his pen. "Ren. Stop." She looked up. His face was tired in a way the work hadn't made. "I need to know what we are. After Christmas. After the judge says whatever he says." He kept his hands flat on the table. "I can't keep building this without knowing if you want me in it." Her throat closed. She thought of every cancelled dinner, every 2am call, every word she had not said. She crossed out a square on the notebook. "I want you in it," she said. "I bought the land alone because I was scared. Not because I didn't want you on the deed. I want you on everything. I should have said it months ago." Jason didn't smile. He just nodded once, slow, and picked his pen back up. "Okay," he said. "Then we win Tuesday." Two squares left on the page. The notice lay between them, no longer a threat alone — now a date they were walking toward together.