Girls' Night Out: A J. P. Beaumont Short Story

A skilled mechanic and certified spitfire, Twinkle Winkleman is as hard as nails; she has to be with a name like hers. Twinkle learned everything there is to know about cars from her time in her daddy’s garage in Anchorage, and when her father dies, she gains ownership of the shop and Maude, her dad’s prized 1973 International Harvester Travelall.

Life has not been kind to Twinkle: she grew up without her mother, her daddy’s gone, her ex-husband betrayed her, and her son Tad was killed after a trip to Seattle to handle some “unfinished business.” Right now, the only things Twinkle truly cares for are her garage, Maude, and Cindy—her daughter-in-law and Tad’s widow.

One evening, Cindy and her friend, Leslie, have a girls’ night out at the local karaoke bar. Even though neither Twinkle nor Cindy are fans of Leslie’s boyfriend, James, Twinkle is happy to see her daughter-in-law enjoying her freedom and a night on the town. That is until she wakes up in the middle of the night and discovers Cindy hasn’t come home. Even more concerning, she isn’t picking up her phone.

What follows is a mother-in-law’s desperate and bold attempt to find her daughter-in-law—even if it means leading the dangerous search on her own, with a little help from J. P. Beaumont. As an Alaskan Winter rears its head, Twinkle is up against the clock: will she be able to save the person that means the most to her?