“Everything’s ready for you, Dani,” Elf said proudly as she entered the mechanics’ bay.

“Thanks, Elf. I really appreciate it. I’ve got some help scouting the track. Any chance two snowmobiles are ready?”

“Sure. I have a few to look at still but plenty of time to do it. Male or female?”

“Male or female what?”

“The second rider. Thinking of what size snowmobile to get the keys to.”

Dani raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t asked Travis if he’d ridden a motorcycle before, but snowmobiles were similar and he likely had or wouldn’t have offered his help. She’d just have to take him at his word. The boys had said he was a race car driver, so she figured he could handle a snowmobile as big as hers.

“That one,” she said, pointing to a snowmobile the same as her own.

“Mind following me over to the Main House with the second?” she asked, and Elf nodded without hesitation.

“Thanks,” she said as they parked them to the side of the Main House. “Coffee inside if you want some.”

“Gotta get back, but thanks,” Elf said as he looked around, seeming a little distracted before he smiled and waved over his shoulder, heading toward the bay.

“Hey, those are niiiice,” Travis said as he rounded the corner of the Main House from the direction of the cafe. He had jeans and boots on, and his plaid, flannel collar peeked out from underneath a heavy duty jacket. He still wore his ball cap, but he’d have to take it off anyway to wear his helmet.

Dani took a quick peek up at the sky, grateful that there were no clouds. She’d checked the weather earlier and no snow was expected until closer to the Christmas weekend—perfect. One of the races was at night, and it was always much better—and safer—with clear skies. None of the guests were professionals, and the last thing she wanted was an accident or injury. She got enough of that on the job.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a black backpack that hung from Travis’s hand.

“Oh, just some supplies. I imagine we’ll be out most of the day.”

“Yep,” Dani answered as she tossed Travis a helmet and donned her own. “Follow me. I’ll go slow.”

She pulled on her helmet but thought she heard Travis laugh before she buckled it up. She knew he was a novice, so why wouldn’t she go slow? All they needed to do was scout a track, which she could do on the first try, and then run it as many times as they could before it got dark. Having two of them would make it take half the time. Not much more to laying a track, but it would be nice to have it done.

She turned over the engine on her snowmobile and clipped her walkie talkie to her belt, turning to see if Travis was set. He’d slipped his backpack over his shoulders and pulled on his gloves after he’d clipped his helmet on. He pulled down his visor, giving her a nod and a thumb’s up.

She slowed to a stop at the traditional starting line for the races, just to the west of the Main House, and cut off her engine. Travis pulled up beside her and did the same.

He pushed up his visor and asked, “Do you use the same course every year?”

Dani pushed up her visor as well. “No, not possible. The snow’s different every year. I just have to feel my way through it. It’s pretty slow on the first run, then we just go over and over it. Kind of boring.”

“Boring? No way. I go in circles all the time for a living. I love it.” He laced his fingers and straightened his arms, flexing his knuckles. “Let’s ride,” he said and Dani laughed as his eyes crinkled with his smile. There actually was something about his eyes that made her take notice, and she was surprised again at how that made her feel. Kind of silly.

She shook it off and lowered her visor, leading Travis through the mounds of snow between the ranch proper and the lake, through a stand of trees and up onto a small knoll. She checked behind her several times, ensuring that he was keeping up and there were several occasions where he was actually almost right on her tail. Clearly, she hadn’t needed to worry about going too fast for him.

“What do you think?” she asked as she cut the engine again after he’d pulled up behind her and done the same.

He hopped off the snowmobile and took in the panorama, spinning slowly in a circle and eventually stopping and watching as Dani took off her helmet and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Beautiful,” he said as he stared at her.

She looked up at the sky and the surrounding mountains, the white snow sparkling in the morning sun. “Yes, it is.”

“No, I meant you,” he said, and her breath hitched as she turned to look at him.

“Oh. Um, nah. You must be thinking of someone else,” she said as her fingers instinctively ran through her hair again.

“Nope. I’m not,” he said as he threw his leg back over the snowmobile. “So we head back and then just run the course as many times as we can, right?”

All the air rushed out of her lungs and she paused for a moment, looking back over the course and avoiding eye contact with Travis. She pulled her helmet back on. Did he really mean what he’d said? Shoot, her hair was so short she practically looked like a boy—although it was relatively long for her at the moment, curling down to just below her collar.

She eventually caught her breath and said, “Yep. Just over and over. It gets kind of boring for some people.”

“Not me,” he said before he lowered his visor and gave her a thumb’s up again.

They spent the next several hours taking runs around the course, stopping occasionally to chat. Once, Dani pulled over and cut her engine, Travis doing the same right behind her.

“See that?” she whispered, although if the noise of the engine hadn’t scared the group of deer away, her voice likely wouldn’t. They were up on a ridge in some trees, and the deer were on the bigger side, the buck likely with antlers that would be highly prized by a hunter. She didn’t hunt, and hoped that they’d fade back into the forest and safety...right after Travis saw them.

“Wow,” he whispered as they faded back into the trees. “They’re beautiful. And huge.”

She smiled as she watched him, imagining that he’d possibly not ever seen any—and she’d seen hundreds, if she had to guess.

“It’s fun seeing River’s End Ranch with you. Like I’m seeing it for the first time, in some ways,” she said as she hopped off the snowmobile and walked over to an exposed boulder. She sat in the sunlight and leaned back, the sun warming her face.

“Probably seems funny to you that I’ve never seen a lot of these things. But hey, here’s a question. Have you seen an alligator? Up close, I mean?” he said as he laughed and set his backpack down beside them.

Her eyes flew open. “No, I haven’t seen a real alligator, up close or otherwise. Have you?”

“Of course,” he said. “They’re pretty common in parts of Florida.” He unzipped his backpack and looked up at her. “I guess there are interesting things to see wherever you go. You hungry?”

“Yeah, I guess I am. I didn’t think about bringing food. Have plenty of water, though.”

“Some survivalist you are.”

She smiled. “I never said I was a survivalist and you can see the cafe from here in case of an emergency. We could walk that far.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you might like this for now,” he said as he handed her a sandwich in a plastic bag.

She looked up at him as she reached for it. “Thank you, Travis. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

“Nah, I just like to eat. Remember I told you, it’s important. Feed the body and the soul.”

“Yeah, you did say that,” she said as she reached into the bag and took a bite of the sandwich.

“It’s true,” he said as he took a bite of his own sandwich and she noticed he was watching her. “Like it?”

“Yeah, it’s great. Kelsi always makes my favorite when she knows I’m working hard. She sent me lunch all week. It’s nice,” she said as she took a sip of her water.

Travis laughed as he reached for a bottle of water.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s interesting, your strange hot and cold relationship with your sister.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I love Kelsi. We’re twins—twin bond and everything. We’re just different. She likes taking care of people and I—”

“You don’t?” he cut in softly.

“It’s not that I don’t. I don’t think I know how. When we were younger our parents dressed us alike, we spent every waking moment together. Even teachers just called us ‘twin’ when they wanted to get our attention. I think at some point I just wanted to be different. Or found things about myself that are different. I don’t know.”

“Of course you know how. Everybody knows how.”

“Maybe. I guess I just don’t see myself that way,” she said as she finished her sandwich and shoved the bag in her pocket.

“You may not, but lots of other people do. Me included,” he said as he put the rest of the trash back in the backpack and zipped it up, sliding his helmet on. “You ready? I think we have quite a few more circles to run, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do,” Dani said as she turned the engine over. Lots more circles to run. As she set off down the snowmobile race track one more time, she hoped she wouldn’t be running in circles forever.