Fire

"I don't want to go."

"I heard it, the first time, the second time, and this the third time. Now be quiet and drive slowly. The bottle could tip over."

"I hate family responsibilities."

Carina prayed to be patient with him. Eric had reminded her of a child, who had crookedly refused and just wanted to stay home with his toys instead of going to his relatives.

The past two weeks had been relatively pleasant, except that he kept complaining about the holidays. Anna had reminded her that Thanksgiving was more than a Halloween nightmare for the Swanns, so Carina sympathized with her husband, but she also refused to let him make it a habit. "We don't have a choice. As a newlywed, we're expected to be there for dinner. But there won't be many people there anyway."

Eric snorted. "You'll be sad to death."

"Then go get drunk."

He scowled and turned into the house. Baskets of cakes and pies clattered with wine in the backseat, but they remained in the seats. She touched the doorknob and stuck h