Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
GRACE
It was early afternoon before Grace accepted that Alix had been born in a Christmas movie fever dream. Everything she’d seen of her family and town was adorably charming. Her cowboy-booted feet, however, were living a nightmare.
After walking around all day, Grace was questioning every choice that led her to the torture devices on her feet.
Feet that throbbed even while she sat on the couch checking the status of her luggage.
It had been more comforting knowing her things were in Detroit, rather than the terrifying “in transit” she was staring at now.
“So we’ve got three options,” Alix said when she plopped down next to her.
“Making Christmas cookies — yes, that includes decorating them — checking out the Christmas tree on Main Street, or Old Herbert’s Sleigh Ride.
” She offered a little lopsided grin, looking more like herself than she had all day.
Grace put her phone down. “What variety,” she joked, when what she really wanted to do was ask which option would get them a moment alone.
She wanted some uninterrupted time to ask Alix how she was coping with being back after so many years and get more than a single-sentence answer. “What are you thinking?”
Alix put her hand to her flat stomach. “I’m thinking that if I eat any more sugar, I might actually perish.”
Grace chuckled. “I’m just happy you can repay my fattening holiday favor.”
“Cubans definitely don’t have the market cornered on incredibly unhealthy festivities,” she replied, brown eyes brightening the longer they sat together.
“What are we talking about?” Matt, for no appreciable reason, jumped over the back of the couch and landed with a bounce next to Alix.
Alix sat back so she could look at Grace and Matt on either side of her. “Just deciding between showing Grace the town tree or a sleigh ride.”
“Oh, God,” he groaned. “Two equally boring options. Why the hell would you even visit here from Miami?”
“Because life isn’t a GTA game, my dude,” Alix replied before Grace could.
“Well, I’m pretty sure there are a hundred percent more hotties and considerably less manure there,” he said, giving the same expression Helen did when she thought she’d scored a conversational point.
“Look at my little brother pretending to know math.” Alix ruffled his hair in the single most condescending move possible. “I’m so proud.”
Matt laughed as if despite himself. “We can always stay here and play Rock Band,” he offered, scooping up Paul when he jumped on the couch.
“I know you’re trying to ‘make fetch happen,’ buddy, but there is a reason they stopped making that game.”
Grace would have said that she was happy to play, but she didn’t want to pass up her chance to talk to Alix. Even if that meant losing the opportunity to remove her boots and not have to put them back on, because she was sure that the swelling was going to make that impossible.
“I’d go downtown, I guess,” he said after a beat. “But Dad’s taking a nap and Mom will make us wait for him.” He rolled his eyes.
“My mom really loves a family picture in front of the tree,” Alix explained like a dutiful translator.
Pictures, damn it. Grace wanted to take more of those.
She grabbed the phone in her lap, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask Matt to take a photo of them.
There was nothing special about sitting on the couch together, except that she wanted to capture it.
Wanted to squirrel it away so she could stare at it later.
So she wouldn’t forget what Alix looked like with wind-burned cheeks and hair a little flattened by her beanie.
“Sleigh ride it is, then,” Grace said. “Do you have a real jacket Alix can borrow?” she asked Matt.
“I don’t need—” Alix started to protest, but Grace cut her off with her most serious lawyer face.
“Please, Matt,” Grace continued like Alix had never protested. “If you don’t mind. A scarf would also probably be great.”
Laughing, Matt cracked an imaginary whip as he left the room.
“Great,” Alix grumbled, but she couldn’t hide her dimples when she bit back a smile. “Now, they’re going to think we’re married.”
When Matt returned with a black snow jacket and scarf, Alix took them with minimal grumbling.
Half an hour later, they’d arrived at the top of a snowy hill. When Grace jumped out of Alix’s rental, the soles of her feet felt like she’d landed on broken glass. Forget getting the boots back on, she might never wear shoes again.
Mercifully, the walk from the small gravel parking lot up to the stables decorated in garlands and wreaths was short. She walked as naturally as she could given that she was sure there was no more skin left below her ankles.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Grace said when reached the small ticket window.
Snowy mountains in the distance, pine trees, and rolling white hills looked absolutely unreal.
She couldn’t imagine living somewhere so beautiful.
Once she got used to the cold, she’d want to spend all of her time outside.
Palm trees and heat had nothing on this.
Miami had never felt magical. Not like this.
“It is,” Alix said, her attention on the horizon. But she didn’t let herself stay in the moment. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a lip balm. “Here. Reapply so you don’t transform lips first into an alligator.”
“You weren’t kidding about the dry air,” Grace said while taking the lip moisturizer that never seemed to last long enough. She was applying it when the biggest horses she’d ever seen trotted out to them like they were filming a Budweiser commercial. “Holy shit.”
“Don’t worry.” Alix patted her back. “Clydesdales are very friendly. They only kill people who displease them.”
Grace couldn’t look away from the animals that were all solid muscle. What if they got spooked and tore off into the woods at the base of the hill? What if they ran into the street and into traffic, light as it was?
“If you don’t want—” Alix furrowed her brow like she was primed to request a refund.
“No, no. I want to.” She started on the dirt path to the real-life red sleigh that fit six, even if there was no one else around. “When else can I say I was this close to Mrs. Claus cosplay?”
The joke did nothing to ease the knot in her stomach.
The one aware of all the ways this could go painfully wrong.
It was her chance to be alone, and they hadn’t even signed a waiver.
She soothed herself with that knowledge.
If they’d ever had a disastrous accident on the premises, they’d have learned the hard way to warn people about the inherent risks.
As soon as they were settled in the last row of the sleigh, Alix reached for the black-and-red-checked blanket next to her.
It was thick and warm and Grace had absolutely no ego about covering herself with it from the nose down.
She’d been to New York in February, but there was something about the wide-open country that made it so much colder.
“Do you want hot chocolate?” Alix relayed the sleigh-driver’s question Grace registered belatedly.
She pulled Helen’s fluffy pink hat over her ears. “Do they have oat milk?”
Alix laughed and leaned in close. Close enough for the addictive scent of her cologne to mix with the pristine scent of nature that no chemical combination could ever recreate.
“Bellvue pretty much only has two exports: milk, and fancy yogurt made from that milk. I think I’d be run out of town if I suggested an alternative option. ”
“What?” She covered her spike in adrenaline from Alix’s proximity with a mildly deranged shriek laugh. “What if you were lactose intolerant?”
Alix shrugged. “Only terrorists hate milk, Gator,” she said, but she couldn’t deliver the entire line without laughing. “Real Americans shit their pants.”
“Duly noted,” she replied with a laugh and an unreasonable warmth spreading over her skin.
The sled lurched forward, moving faster than Grace expected over the packed snow. As soon as the icy wind slapped her in the face, she scooted closer to Alix.
A racing heartbeat later, Alix had her arm around her. “Is this okay?” she asked quietly.
Alix was suddenly so close. Her lips were only inches from hers. Grace couldn’t feel her face, but she was sure that kissing Alix would thaw her out.
“I still can’t believe we’re here,” Alix muttered, gaze focused on Grace like she’d rather look at her than the incredible scenery. Like the lightly falling snow and the sleigh and the mountains were background noise.
“There’s nowhere else I’d want to be,” Grace admitted too easily.
Alix’s smile was the sun rising over clouds, blinding and hopeful. She moistened her lips but couldn’t suppress the grin that lit Grace on fire from the inside.
Grace turned toward Alix, heart racing. She leaned in gradually, giving Alix every excuse to pull away. But she didn’t. She was right there, watching her like she was waiting for Grace to move in another centimeter. To remove all doubt that she wanted Alix to kiss her.
Their noses nearly brushed. Grace’s lips parted despite chattering teeth she couldn’t blame on the weather—
“They say this route was made to connect to the main fur trade trail that ran through here a hundred years ago.” The driver’s voice cut through the moment. “Beaver was big then,” he continued cheerily. “You ever felt a beaver pelt? It’s the softest fur you’ll ever touch.”
Whiplashed, Grace’s nervous system malfunctioned and responded with an embarrassing and inappropriate snort. Pretending to be freezing, she hid half her face in the blanket.
“A whole pelt, huh?” Alix replied to make her laughter worse. “Nope. I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”