Chapter Ten

 

 

Grey learned something new about his nephew: He was ruthless. It didn’t matter that Grey was taking it easy on the little guy and making sure he didn’t hit the kid in the face with a snowball, because Zac certainly wasn’t worried about the opposite. And Zac had some crazy good aim for a four-year-old.

Grey ducked behind a tree and took the glove off his right hand. He used his little finger to try and dig the snow out of his ear. Laughter floated through the air, drawing his attention to Cora who had also taken refuge behind a nearby tree. “Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?”

She snorted then slapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide with humor as she nodded.

He loved seeing her like this, with her nose and cheeks red from the cold and her eyes sparkling. It was as though the snow had scrubbed the rough ending of their marriage right out of the history books.

It didn’t matter how cold it got out here, Grey had every intention of milking this snow fight for all it was worth. He hadn’t been paying enough attention and got another snowball in the back of the head. He turned to find Dare grinning and giving Cora a thumbs up. Nice. He tossed Cora a mischievous smile before making a “T” with both of his hands.

“Okay, time out. Zac? You hear me, buddy? Time out. I have an idea.”

He peeked cautiously around the tree, half expecting one of the kids to nail him with yet another snowball. It was a relief to see they’d come out, their faces full of curiosity. Cora and Dare came out into the open as well.

Mom was watching through the glass door on the porch. She’d come out earlier and taken several pictures and some video before retreating inside again where it was warm.

“What’s your idea, Uncle Grey?” Zac fidgeted in the snow, barely containing his energy.

Grey paused for dramatic effect. “I think you and I should team up against Cora and Uncle Dare. We have ten minutes to make as many snowballs as we can and then have a huge finale of a snowball fight. What do you say?”

“Yeah!” Zac pumped his fist as a giant grin brightened his face. “We’re gonna get you, Uncle Dare!”

Grey laughed hard at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“We’re in,” Cora announced with Dare’s nod of approval.

That daring look on her face had Grey wondering what she had up her sleeve. He noticed Zac, shivering a little, even if he didn’t pay any attention himself. They wouldn’t be able to stay out too much longer. “All right, then.” He knuckle-bumped with Zac. “Let’s do this.”

Dare and Cora took off down the driveway and disappeared behind the snow-covered minivan that Flynn’s family must have driven in.

“Come on, Zac.” He waved his nephew around the side of the cabin. There, they spent ten minutes making as many snowballs as they could. Once time was up, they both armed themselves with as many as they could carry and then waited.

The sound of hesitant footsteps in the snow drew closer. Grey grasped a snowball in one hand, leaned around the corner, and let it fly. It landed right in the middle of Cora’s stomach with a satisfying thud. Her mouth formed an “O” before she threw one in his direction. He ducked out of the way.

“Incoming!”

For the next fifteen minutes, the teams threw snowball after snowball until all four of them were covered with the evidence of their battle. Dare picked up Zac and held him above his head. Grey had one more snowball left and launched it at Cora. She dodged it and, with one sweeping motion, knocked his hat right off his head.

She took off running and ducked around the side of the minivan away from the cabin. Grey followed her at a full run. When he found her on the other side, she screamed and threw his hat at him to distract him and tried to get away.

He ignored the hat completely.

Instead, he dove for her, catching her around the waist and causing them both to land hard side by side in the snow.

Cora laughed, her breath mixing with the cold air to create little white clouds.

“Did you really think you’d get away with stealing my hat?” He lifted himself up on one elbow so he could look into her face.

“If it helps, it wasn’t pre-meditated.”

“Uh-huh.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You just had no choice but to grab it and run?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again and shrugged, her cheeks turning even redder then they already were from the cold.

In all the excitement of the snowball fight, most of the hair she’d carefully tucked under her winter hat had escaped. Strands of it framed her face, and there was no way he could stop himself from removing his glove and brushing the hair aside.

They both stilled the moment his hand touched her cheek. Her breath caught as he leaned in closer, drawn to her in a way he could no more control than the blizzard that had trapped them there in the first place. Her eyelashes fluttered twice before drifting closed.

His lips barely brushed against hers when the sound of Zac laughing had her pushing against his chest at the same time he was jumping away from her. He tried to cover his warring emotions over their near kiss by grabbing his hat and pulling it over his head, even though it was half-full of snow.

Dare and Zac rounded the corner. The little boy cheered. “Yeah! You got your hat back!” He ran forward and gave Grey a high five. “We won!” He proceeded to do a dance that had all three adults laughing.

“All right, little man, we need to get you inside before you turn into a Zac snowman,” Dare told him. He shot Grey a look that insinuated he knew exactly what had been happening when they came around the van.

Cora dusted her jacked off. “You know what? I think we all deserve some hot chocolate. I’m pretty sure Grandma said there’d be some waiting for us when we went inside. What do you say?”

That was all Zac needed. He took off running and Dare raced him to the door leaving Grey and Cora to walk back together.

“There should seriously be a cap on that boy’s energy,” Cora said with a chuckle. “I’m so tired.”

“But you had fun. Admit it, you enjoyed your first snowball fight.” He glanced at her profile. Her response shouldn’t matter, but it did. A lot.

“Yeah, I had fun.” She gave him a shy smile.

They clomped up the steps and into the warm cabin. As Grey removed his wet boots, coat, hat, and gloves, he couldn’t believe he’d nearly kissed Cora. The problem was, he couldn’t decide if he was more relieved or disappointed that it’d been interrupted.

 

~*~

 

Maria put water to heat over the fire in the main room. Cora happily helped her get mugs of hot chocolate for everyone who wanted some. Anything to get her mind off the fact that Grey had almost kissed her a few minutes ago.

She was going to let him, too. Cora suppressed a groan. Not only was she going to let him, but she was fully prepared to kiss him back.

It was a good thing Zac interrupted them, even if she’d felt a pang of disappointment when Grey had pulled away from her. Kissing Grey would open a whole box of trouble that she wasn’t even willing to examine right now. The least of it was the mess of emotions it was bound to stir up.

 Once they distributed the mugs of cocoa, Cora happily accepted one for herself. Everyone else was sitting in the main room, visiting or playing games as Cora and Maria walked in.

Maria gave a happy sigh. “Is it horrible that I don’t even want the electricity to come back on?” She gave a little shrug. “This is just so peaceful. No one’s got their attention on their cell phones or hiding out in front of the TV. For better or worse, we’re forced to interact with each other. It’s nice.”

“It is nice.” Cora took a sip of her hot chocolate. Grey’s eyes searched her face, an unspoken question on his own. There was an open spot next to him. Maria headed that way, so Cora sat on the hearth near Dare.

Cora pointed to the block of wood that Dare was still working on. It took several moments of studying it before she could really see what he was doing. “Wow, that’s incredible.” She reached a hand out. “May I?”

He nodded and gave it to her. He hadn’t done much to the log, but there were little scenes carved into different places. Like windows into a memory. The one he’d already finished showed the fireplace, complete with a pot hanging over the fire and the firewood and poker on the hearth nearby. The scene he was working on now showed a kitchen table. Several types of food had already been added, but Cora suspected there were going to be more. “I don’t know how you use a knife to get that much detail.”

Dare shrugged as if it were no big deal and lowered his voice. “I figured I could make something to give Mom for Christmas. You know, something to remember this trip by.” His ears reddened.

“I think that’s a great idea. She’ll love it.” She handed the log back to him and then watched for a while as he continued to use his knife to carve details into the table.

A strange noise caught Cora’s attention. With so many people in the room, she quickly dismissed it. But a moment later, she heard it again. Grey must have, too, because he stood, his eyes on the front door. He and Flynn exchanged glances.

“What is it, Daddy?” Zac asked.

“Most likely the wind. You just stay here, and we’ll check it out.”

Everyone was curious now as the two men approached the front door. Flynn pulled it open. They must not have seen anything at first because Grey pushed the screen door open. Immediately a mass of golden fur raced through the doorway, snow flying everywhere.

“A doggy!” Zac practically leaped off the floor only to be snatched up by his father.

“We don’t know if the dog’s nice or not, Zac.”

The boy clearly didn’t care. The dog, on the other hand, flew from person to person, tongue lapping at people’s hands and faces as though it hadn’t seen a living soul in weeks.

“Where did he come from?” Maria wondered.

“No clue,” Grey responded, “but it was determined to get inside. The poor thing was probably freezing.”

Cora grabbed the dog’s collar as it bounded by her and pulled it to a stop. She bent down to look at its belly. His belly. “He looks like a full golden retriever, doesn’t he?”

The dog used his front feet to hop up and down in excitement. Dare took his collar so Cora could let him go. “Yes, he does. No tags. What’s your story, big guy?”

The dog woofed once as though answering. Everyone in the room chuckled.

“We can’t let it stay here,” Flynn objected. “What if someone’s looking for it?”

Zac immediately threw his arms around the dog’s neck and hugged it tight.

Flynn might be right, but just thinking about sending the poor guy back into the freezing cold made Cora sad. Who knew what he’d gone through to get to the cabin? “What if he’s lost? No one’s going to find him in this weather.” Or even worse, what if the dog had nowhere to belong? That was a feeling she could certainly relate to at different times in her life.

Zac, at four years of age, already knew who to go to first. “Can he stay, Grandma? Please?”

Emma looked from her big brother to her grandmother and back again. “Peeese?”

Abby put a hand over her mouth but there was no missing the way her shoulders shook with laughter.

Maria and Flynn exchanged a look that said it all. Flynn stood and reached for the dog’s collar. “Let’s take him into the kitchen, get him some food and water, and we’ll go from there.”

The kids cheered so loudly that the dog lifted his ears and barked again.

Cora followed the crowd into the kitchen and watched as the dog wolfed down the half sandwich that was left over from lunch. He drank a bunch of water, dripping some of it on the floor as he turned to look longingly at the counter. When Maria picked up another slice of sandwich meat, the dog again bounced up and down on his front legs.

“What are we gonna name him?” Zac asked.

“Well, we do need to call him something,” Mom agreed. She looked thoughtful. “How about Pogo?”

Laughter and approving comments filled the room.

Zac looked up at his dad. “Can we keep him, Dad? Please?”

Flynn shook his head firmly. “Someone probably misses him, buddy. Once we have power, we’ll call down to the resort and see if someone is looking for him. If so, I’m sure they’ll be really glad we found him and gave him some food.”

The little boy nodded sadly. Cora felt for him. She’d never had a pet as a child. Her parents had insisted that they were too dirty and too much work. No matter how many times Cora promised to take care of it herself, the answer was always “no.”

As if the dog could sense her thoughts, he walked through everyone else and sat down at her feet. Cora crouched on the floor beside him and ran her hand over his head. She’d always wanted a dog, and Pogo here would be perfect. Too bad the timing was all wrong.

Grey moved to stand next to her. “If we can’t find the owner, you should take him home with you. I bet he’d be a great guard dog.”

“Maybe. But I work twelve-hour shifts at the hospital. I can tell just by looking at Pogo that he needs a lot of attention and opportunities to run. He’d be miserable waiting for me to come home. Probably make the neighbors miserable.” She doubted her apartment building would even let her have a dog that large in the first place. “Maybe you could take him home. He could be your store’s mascot.”

Grey seemed to consider the idea. If he took Pogo, she could always go by the store to see him.

The dog, not Grey.

Not that she had any intention of going by Grey’s store for any reason.

The fact the idea had popped into her mind at all annoyed Cora. That near kiss had obviously messed with her brain more than she’d thought.