Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
F uelled by anger, Anna muttered to herself as she dragged her clothes on.
At least her annoyance distracted her from the cold.
With extra layers on, she headed for the kitchen to find Selena speaking loudly on the phone – complaining about the lack of heating while a constant stream of Spanish poured out of Tamara, who was eating breakfast at the table with Josh.
Warren caught her eye from beside the coffee machine, but he looked away again quickly.
“It snowed even more,” Josh said, his bright blue eyes boring into her.
“Did it?”
“Yes. I’m going to play in the snow later.”
“That sounds like fun,” she told him.
Selena ended her call and looked over at her son. “You can’t play in the snow until the heating is fixed. You’ll never warm up again.”
“I don’t care,” he said. “I’ll just be a snowman.”
Anna smiled at his adorably cheeky grin.
“Do you want coffee?” Warren asked, clearly speaking to her, despite keeping his back to her.
“No,” she replied curtly. She was actually dying for a cup, but didn’t feel like accepting anything from him after his abrupt departure earlier.
“Tea?” he asked, finally turning.
This time it was her who refused to make eye contact.
“I think I’m going to go outside and have a look at the snow,” she said, aiming the remark at Josh – the only person in the room she could bear to converse with.
His eyes lit up. “Can I come?”
“You’ll have to ask your mum,” she told him, then turned on her heel and left the kitchen to the sound of Selena arguing with Josh – and Tamara joining in too.
After pulling on her boots and coat, she headed for the back door and ignored Warren when he called out to her. This time the door slamming had nothing to do with the wind, and she didn’t feel a smidge of remorse about it.
Alone in the winter wonderland that was the back garden, she inhaled the icy air and let her gaze linger on the fresh layer of glistening snow piled up on every surface. The tree branches were impossibly loaded, and there was a calmness about the scene, which she hoped she could absorb.
“Anna!” Warren called from the patio, making her stop and turn. The patio door stood open behind him, and he was pulling on his coat. At the sight of him, any calmness she’d achieved was washed away by a surge of anger.
Without a lot of thought, she scooped up snow and squished it into a ball between her hands. She threw it directly at him.
Surprise flashed in his eyes as he narrowly dodged the snowball. Taking advantage of him being off guard, she grabbed more snow and took aim again. This time, he raised an arm to block it, and it hit his forearm with a satisfying thwack.
“What’s that for? ”
“I think you know what it’s for?” She gathered more snow. “And I think you know you deserve it.”
This time when she threw, she got him on the shoulder, and he winced at the shower of snow that fluttered over his neck.
As she laughed, Anna felt immediately lighter.
“Don’t you dare!” she shrieked when he bent to collect snow himself.
He made a show of pressing the snow into a compact ball, and Anna had no doubt about his aim. With a peal of laughter, she turned to run as he drew his arm back. Her boot refused to grip on the icy ground, and she felt herself slip about a second before the snowball hit her on the back of the head.
The ground came up to meet her in a blur, and the shock of the snow on her face made her gasp. Her brain seemed to shut down, and she lay face down in the snow with laughter bubbling inside her.
“Anna!” Warren’s hand on her arm got her moving, and she rolled onto her back, blinking snow from her eyes to stare up at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling beside her and brushing snow from her face.
“I’m fine,” she said happily.
He continued wiping her face. “You just gave me a heart attack, but I’m glad you’re amused.”
She moved his hand from her face but kept hold of it as she looked him right in the eyes. “Why did you freak out?” she asked quietly.
“I thought I’d knocked you out with a snowball,” he said, tilting his head.
“Not then. Earlier. Why did you freak out when I kissed you?”
His sigh was highlighted by the slump of his shoulders, and he only managed a small shake of the head before Josh’s voice interrupted them .
“Anna!” he shouted. “Tamara said I can play in the snow, too.”
“He’s going to freeze,” Selena complained to Tamara inside the patio doors. “There’s no hot water for a bath to warm him up.”
Tamara threw her arms up and released a frantic flow of Spanish while she helped Josh on with his hat and gloves.
As soon as he’d shoved his hand into his gloves, he shot outside while his mother and Tamara continued to argue in their different languages.
“Why are you lying in the snow?” Josh asked, ploughing through the snow to get to them.
“I’m making a snow angel,” Anna replied, flopping onto her back again.
“How do you do that?” he asked eagerly.
“Just fall backwards in the snow and wave your arms and legs up and down.”
Warren moved out of the way while Anna flailed in the soft snow. Josh fell beside her, giggling loudly.
“Joshua!” Selena shouted. “You haven’t got snow trousers on! Get up out of the snow!”
Before she’d finished her sentence, Tamara joined in with shouting instructions.
“What’s Tamara saying?” Warren asked Josh.
“She told me to have fun. And to ignore my mum.”
“Does she often tell you to ignore your mum?” Warren asked.
“Yes.” His cheeks were bright red from the cold. “But Mummy tells me to always listen to Tamara and do what she says. That means I get to play in the snow.”
“Warren!” Selena shouted. “Bring Josh back here, please. It’s far too cold, and he’s not dressed properly.”
“He’s fine,” Warren shot back. “He’s got a massive coat on. ”
“But he doesn’t have his snow trousers! Josh, come back inside right now!”
Anna sat upright. “Do you want to make a snowman?” she asked Josh.
“Yes! Can we make a really big one?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Joshua!” Selena screamed. “I said get back here!”
Warren moved to crouch beside Josh, who was still flapping his arms and legs. “I think we might need to shut your mum up before we make a snowman.” His eyes sparkled as he scooped up snow.
“She’ll go crazy,” Anna said, grinning as Warren carefully smoothed his snowball.
“She’s already crazy,” Warren said, catching Anna’s eye and beaming. “Watch this,” he said to Josh as he straightened up.
“I mean it, Josh!” Selena bellowed as she pulled her boots on in the doorway. “Now I have to come out to get you, and you’ve made me very cross.”
“She’s going to be even more cross when she’s got a face full of snow,” Warren muttered, pulling his arm back. He waited until Selena stepped outside to launch his freezing weapon.
Focused on Josh, Selena didn’t even see the snowball coming. It struck her on the side of the head, making her stop dead and gasp loudly.
Anna held her breath as she waited for Selena’s reaction. Behind her, Tamara had her hand over her mouth to hide her glee, while Josh’s amusement came out in peals of childish laughter.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Selena said, her icy glare aimed at Warren.
“And I can’t believe you won’t let your kid play in the snow.”
Selena seemed to consider her next move before she reached down and gathered a snowball of her own .
“How do you feel about being a human shield?” Warren asked Josh.
“What’s that?” he asked, sitting up.
“It’s where you help your uncle out!” He picked Josh up and held him at his chest as he took steps backwards and away from Selena.
“You wouldn’t seriously use your nephew as a shield,” Selena called, ready and armed with a perfect ball of snow.
“I won’t need to,” Warren said. “Because I don’t think you’ll really throw snow at your child.”
Anna hopped up and moved out of the firing line while Josh continued to giggle at the fun.
“You’re so annoying!” Selena grumbled, then fired the snowball straight at Warren and Josh.
At the last moment, Warren swung around so it missed Josh and hit him squarely on the back.
“You threw a snowball directly at your child’s face!” Warren said, laughing as he set Josh down.
“I knew you’d move,” Selena said, a smile cracking over her face.
“Can I build a snowman with Anna?” Josh asked, skipping over to his mum.
“Let the kid have some fun,” Warren said, dusting snow from his jeans.
“You can’t stay out for too long,” she told Josh. “And I’m going to get Tamara to bring your snow trousers. You need to put them on.”
“I need a carrot for the nose,” Josh said, ignoring her instructions. “Can you bring us one, Mummy?”
She huffed out a sigh and cast Warren a mock scowl before retreating inside.
“We need to make one big ball of snow,” Josh said, looking at Anna. “And one small one. Do you know how to do that? ”
“I do,” Anna told him. “Warren can make the big one, and we’ll make the small one.”
Apparently, the conversation about their kiss was being put on hold.
But they were definitely coming back to it later.
Warren’s fingers had gone numb inside his gloves, and he wanted to suggest going inside, but Anna and Josh were having such a good time building a family of snowmen that he didn’t feel he could suggest it.
Since the three icy figures of varying sizes had all their facial features in place, they were now foraging for sticks to use as arms.
Warren stamped his feet on the patio and blew into his cupped hands to warm his fingers. The door opened behind him, and his sister stepped out. He only cast her a quick glance, then shifted his gaze back to Anna and Josh, who were tramping in the snow by the garden wall.
“I like her,” Selena said, taking him by surprise when she stood close beside him.
“What?”
“Anna. She’s nice.”
He kept his expression blank. “I think your seal of approval makes me like her less.”
Selena bumped her shoulder against his, then remained glued to his side. Not used to any kind of physical contact from his sister, his instinct was to move away, but he overrode it and stayed still.
“I especially liked it when she shouted at us all over dinner last night.”
Warren snorted a laugh. “It was definitely the highlight of the trip for me.”
Selena rested her head on his shoulder. “I looked up your restaurant online.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s got great reviews.”
“That’s because I’m a brilliant chef,” he said, a jokey tone to his words.
“Apparently so.”
The earnestness in her words made him turn to search her features while he waited for the joke or the put down, but nothing came.
“Josh needs to come in soon,” she said eventually. “Maybe you can convince him, since he never listens to me.”
He paused, taken aback by the entire conversation. “It might be the nanny,” he ventured uncertainly. “The reason Josh doesn’t listen to you.”
“I know, but he adores her.” She moved towards the door. “I’ll make hot chocolate. You must all be frozen.”
“Thanks,” Warren called, stunned by the civilised conversation.