Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
W aking beside Anna stirred feelings in Warren that he refused to dwell on.
It took a fair amount of willpower, but he didn’t linger to watch her sleep.
Quietly, he pulled on his clothes and left her snoozing.
The house was blissfully still, but the fresh coffee in the pot told him Rachel wasn’t far away.
Only after he’d poured himself a mug did he notice the weather. A foot of snow covered everything, and it was still falling fast.
Turning a dining chair, he sat looking out over the back garden, fascinated by the way the snow made the undulation of the ground more pronounced. Soft sunlight fought its way through the hazy clouds to make the snow on the boughs of the fir trees glisten majestically.
A robin fluttered onto the patio, landing on the back of a chair before taking off again a moment later.
He savoured the coffee and the quiet and stared out at the peaceful landscape until Anna appeared half an hour later.
“Morning,” she murmured and the single word made his pulse react.
“Sleep well?” he asked .
“Yes. Did you?”
He nodded. “Do you want a coffee?”
She put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him when he went to get up. “I can get it. Do you want a refill?”
“Please.”
She’d only just walked away when his mum arrived in the room.
“Morning!” she chimed.
Warren ignored the way the muscles in his jaw clenched. He wouldn’t let them get to him, he reminded himself.
“I’m getting coffee if you want one,” Anna said.
“No, thanks,” his mum replied. “I’ve already had three cups this morning.”
“Have you been working?” Anna asked.
“Of course she has,” Warren replied. “There’s no rest for the wicked.”
His mum rolled her eyes. “I’ll rest once this deal goes through.”
“Sure you will,” Warren muttered, but his animosity was drowned out by the joyful shouts of his nephew as he ran into the room.
“It’s snowed!” He stopped in front of Warren and jumped up and down. “It snowed a lot. Did you see it?”
“I’ve seen it,” Warren said, the excitement in Josh’s eyes making him smile. “Are you going to go sledging?”
Josh looked around, eyes landing on Selena as she strode in.
“You haven’t got a sledge here,” she said. “But Tamara is going to take you out for a nice snowy walk.”
“Aren’t our old sledges in the garage?” Warren asked his mum.
“I think so, yes.”
“He’s not going to play on a twenty-year-old sledge,” Selena said in her usual haughty tone.
“I want to go sledging!” Josh declared .
“The wood is probably rotten on those old things,” Selena insisted. “But I suppose Tamara could take you out to buy a new one.”
“It’s thick snow,” his mum pointed out. “Don’t let her drive in this with Josh in the car. It’s not safe.”
Selena shook her head. “They’ll just go for a walk then. Josh, go to Tamara, and she’ll help you get your snow gear on.”
Warren took the mug of coffee from Anna, noticing that Josh ignored his mum’s instructions and stayed put.
“I don’t see what the problem is with using the old sledges,” Warren said to his sister.
“Yes,” she said tersely. “But you also don’t see the problem with throwing him into the air or hanging him upside down.”
“True.” Feeling mischievous, he directed his next words at Josh. “I’ll get a sledge out for you.”
“Warren!” Selena hissed. “It’s nothing to do with you. Keep out of it.”
He tilted his head as he looked at her gleefully. “Don’t you have some work to do?”
She opened her mouth to argue, but her phone rang, and she only looked torn for a moment before answering it and striding from the room.
Josh looked at Warren. “Will you come sledging with me?”
“Tamara will go with you,” his mum answered for him. “Warren would like to spend some time with Anna, I’m sure.”
“Anna can come too,” Josh said.
“They want to spend time just the two of them,” his grandmother explained.
“Why?”
“Because that’s what new couples do. But you’ll have fun with Tamara.”
Josh frowned. “Do you want to come sledging?” he asked Anna.
“I’d love to,” she said, blowing on her coffee.
“Suit yourselves,” his mum said, heading out of the room. She turned back at the doorway. “Help yourselves to breakfast. We’ll all do our own thing for lunch, but Rachel will be around if you want her to make you something. We’ll have dinner at seven again.”
“Great,” Warren said. “See you later.”
Warren seemed completely at ease as he made them toast for breakfast – and while he told Tamara to take the morning off, and got Josh into his snowsuit and boots.
Anna watched him closely as the three of them set off walking through the back garden with the two wooden sledges, but there was no sign that he was in any way bothered that his family made no effort to spend time with him.
He was nothing but calm and cheerful when he showed Josh the best hill for sledging, and while they spent the next hour racing each other down the hill and marching back up it.
“It’s your turn to race me,” Josh said to Anna as he dragged his sledge back up the hill beside Warren and immediately sat down to go again.
Anna stamped her feet to ward off the cold. “At the risk of sounding pathetic, I don’t think I can go again. I’m not sure I’d make it back up the hill.”
“Totally pathetic,” Warren said, exchanging a conspiratorial look with Josh. “Girls just aren’t as good as boys, are they?”
“Hey!” Anna scooped up a ball of snow and threw it at the back of his head.
“They can’t take the teasing either,” Warren added, removing his hat to shake off the snow.
“Are you going to race me again, Uncle Warren?”
Anna caught the grimace which said he was just as tired as she was from trekking up the hill. “Why don’t you go alone this time?” he suggested. “I want to watch and see how fast you go.”
“I’m very fast!” Josh said, then immediately shuffled the sledge forward until it gathered momentum and sped off down the hill.
“Oh, you just want to watch, do you?” Anna said mockingly. “Nothing to do with you being too knackered to drag yourself back up that hill again?”
“Please don’t make me look weak in front of my nephew.” He straddled the sledge and took a seat. “I’m completely done in. I don’t understand how he’s still going.”
His gaze drifted down the hill, and he waved at Josh, who’d come to a slow stop where the hill tapered off.
“Do you think we’ll be able to coax him into leaving soon?” Anna moved around to perch on the front of the sledge. “I think I need to go and get warm. My toes are numb.”
“Mine too,” Warren said, stamping his feet. “I can’t imagine he’ll be happy about it, but I reckon with a bit of bribery, we could convince him it’s time to leave.”
“He’s definitely looking a little tired.” Anna waved at Josh, who had stopped partway up the hill.
He beamed back at them. “You two are too big to ride together!”
“No, we’re not,” Warren replied.
“You are!” Josh called out, giggling. “Two grown-ups can’t ride on one sledge!”
“I think I’ll take that as a challenge,” Warren said.
“No, you won’t,” Anna argued, just as Warren’s arms sneaked around her waist and pulled her back until she was flush against his chest.
“You better watch out,” he called to Josh, “because this is going to be the fastest sledge you’ve ever seen.”
“Probably,” Anna said. “Due to all the weight!”
“You really shouldn’t make such derogatory comments about yourself,” Warren said in her ear, earning himself an elbow to the ribs just before he pushed them off.
Laughter bubbled out of Anna as they gathered speed. She clutched at Warren’s arms around her waist as a flurry of snow flicked up around her and they sped toward the tree line at an alarming pace.
“We’re going to crash!” she shouted, not sure if Warren could hear her over the wind whipping around them.
“Maybe,” he replied, but he didn’t sound overly concerned.
The ground levelled out, slowing them enough that she was no longer worried about colliding with a tree. With that fear out of the way, she basked in the feeling of Warren’s arms around her.
He didn’t immediately get up once they came to a stop, but seemed to enjoy the closeness too.
“That was so fast!” Josh said, running over to them with wide eyes. “Can we all go down together on one sledge, so we’re the fastest sledge ever?”
Warren stood up. “We can’t all three fit on a sledge. And it’s time for us to go home and get warm. We’ve been out here ages.”
“I don’t want to go home yet,” Josh said. “Can we just go one more time, all three together?”
Anna stood. “I really need to go back to the house because I can’t feel my toes anymore, and I’m worried they might fall off.” She pulled a face at Josh. “And that would be quite disgusting, wouldn’t it?”
“Your toes can’t fall off, silly,” Josh said.
“Do you know what I’m going to do when we get home?” Warren said, crouching to Josh’s level. “I’m going to make hot chocolate – and it’s the best hot chocolate you’ve ever tasted.”
“Rachael makes the yummiest hot chocolate in the whole world,” Josh said, deadly serious.
Warren shook his head. “Does she make it with real chocolate? ”
Josh seemed to mull it over. “She makes it with chocolate powder.”
“Then it’s definitely not as good as mine,” Warren told him. “But I’ll need you to try it so you can decide for definite who makes the best hot chocolate in the entire world.”
Distracted, Josh seemed to forget all about the three of them riding down the hill. Warren took his sledge from him and set off, pulling the two sledges up the hill while Josh and Anna followed slowly. They didn’t get very far before Josh stopped dead and declared his legs wouldn’t work anymore.
Warren backtracked a little. “Sit on the sledge and I’ll pull you up.”
With a radiant smile, Josh clambered onto the sledge.
“Hold on tight,” Warren said before setting off again.
“Wait a minute!” Anna said, hurrying to catch up with them.
Warren turned and offered her the rope from the empty sledge.
“I wasn’t offering to help,” she said cheekily. “I was thinking I’d quite like a ride back up the hill, too.” Her gaze was all challenge as she sat on the empty sledge.
Warren rolled his eyes. “Really? You actually think I’m going to pull you both back up this hill?”
“I do think so,” she said teasingly. “Because I’m fairly sure you’re going to take this as a masculine challenge, and you’ll do it just to prove that you can.”
Warren cocked his head. “I think you’re overestimating my need to prove my masculinity.”
Josh looked at Anna. “He can’t pull both of us. He’s not Superman.”
Anna almost choked on her laughter – knowing she couldn’t have come up with a more perfect line to stir Warren’s ego .
“What did you say?” Warren demanded, glaring at his nephew.
“Superman could pull both of the sledges easily, but you’re just a normal man, so you’re not strong enough.”
“That’s a very good point.” Anna got up from the sledge. “I didn’t think of that, Josh, but you’re absolutely right — he’s definitely not strong enough.”
“I can see what you’re doing,” Warren said, turning his glare on Anna now. For a moment, he was silent. Then he nodded at the sledge. “Sit back down.”
“I just don’t think you’re strong enough,” she said sweetly as she took a seat.
He shook his head at her teasing, then turned and pulled both sledges up the hill, seemingly without too much exertion.
Josh exclaimed delightedly the whole way, pronouncing that Warren was Superman.
At the top of the hill, he hopped off and bounced around, slapping Warren’s hand when he reached out to high-five him.
“That was a very impressive display of masculinity,” Anna said, getting off the sledge.
“Do me a favour…” Warren took her elbow and led her a little away from Josh. “If I collapse, can you distract Josh so I can keep up the pretence of being insanely strong in his eyes?”
She laughed. “You made it look like no effort at all.”
“Because I’m a good actor!” He heaved in a breath and sank his head to her shoulder. “I may need to go to bed for the rest of the day.”
Biting back a suggestive remark, Anna looked over at Josh.
“Come on,” she called. “Superman says it’s time to go home.”