Chapter 6
By the time we make it back to the cabin with the tree, the snow is coming down and covering the ground in thick blankets. Teddy parks and I hop out and stare up at the sky.
I stick my tongue out and catch a large snowflake. When I glance back at Teddy, his hat is covered in white, and he’s grinning at me. He leans down and scoops up a handful of snow with a wicked glint in his eye.
“Oh, no,” I say as he packs the snow together. I get my own snowball ready, but he’s quicker and a big, wet heap of snow pelts me in the arm.
We fire more snowballs at each other, running around the small yard. Mine all miss. He might be bad on skis, but he’s quick on his feet. He comes at me and wraps an arm around my waist to keep me from throwing another at him.
“Truce.” His voice rumbles next to my ear.
I swivel in his hold, our faces inches apart. His gray eyes twinkle with mischief and something else I can’t quite place.
“Truce,” I agree. He lets go of me and then I fire at close range. This one gets him.
He shakes his head and laughs. “Come on. We better get your tree inside.”
Together, we carry it into the cabin. Teddy stomps back outside to shake off the snow. “It’s really coming down out there.”
“Yeah.” I pull my phone from my pocket. “I thought Felix and the others would be back by now.”
“Zero chance his car is making it on those roads until they clear them.”
“Crap, you’re probably right.”
I FaceTime Stella. She answers, holding up our parent’s cat, Whiskers. “Look how big he’s getting.”
“You’re still in Scottsdale?”
“Yeah. The guys decided to play nine holes of golf while the carpet cleaners were here. They should be back any minute. How are things with—”
“You need to hurry. It’s snowing. Like a lot. The roads are totally covered, and it does not look like it’s stopping any time soon.”
Her brows pull together in the middle, and she lowers Whiskers. “Hold on. Felix just got here.”
I listen as she relays the info to my brother. A minute later, Teddy’s phone rings. Stella and I are quiet while they talk.
Teddy paces in front of the window, looking out at the snow still falling. He brings one arm up and rubs the back of his neck as he says, “Not a chance your car can get through right now. Hopefully they get a plow out here soon.”
“What’d you do today?” Stella asks.
“Umm . . .” I’m distracted. It’s not easy, trying to eavesdrop on Teddy, and carry on a conversation with Stella. “We baked cookies and then got a tree.” I move the phone, so she can see the tree sitting in the living room.
My twin smiles. “Sounds fun.”
Felix says something to her, and she looks away from the phone.
“Looks like we’re staying put until the snow stops.”
“Really?”
“Felix doesn’t think his car will make it.”
“Who buys a front-wheel drive car?” I ask loud enough that hopefully he can hear me.
“Everyone in Arizona,” Stella says. “On the plus side, skiing will be awesome tomorrow.”
“If you manage to get here,” I mumble.
“Oh, cheer up, Hol. Sometimes you have to make the most with the cards you’re dealt.”
“Did you read that in a fortune cookie?”
“Made it up. Just now.” Her eyes widen. “Go have fun. I’ll check in later.”
“Bye, Stell.”
She kisses the phone and then ends the call.
The awkwardness that I feared all day sets in as the snow piles up. I lose all hope that my siblings are going to make it back when I check the weather app on my phone, and it says the snow is supposed to continue all night long.
My stomach is uneasy, but it rumbles for food.
“Hungry?” I ask Teddy.
He nods. “Always.”
“I’ll make dinner.”
“I can help.”
“No, no,” I say too quickly. I need a minute without him so close. My nerves are on edge. I plaster on a smile. “I know how you feel about cooking. I’ve got this.”
I open the fridge. Stella and I bought what we thought was enough groceries for the entire weekend, but after sharing with the guys, it’s dwindling fast.
“Turkey sandwiches?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
I pull out everything I need and make us dinner while Teddy puts on a movie—Jingle All the Way again, and his laughter at the cheesy holiday movie does funny things to my insides.
“Thanks,” he says when I hand him a plate with the sandwich and some chips.
“Welcome.” I eat standing up in the kitchen.
Between bites, I find the string of LED lights from my dorm room I brought to hang on the tree, and it looks even better than I imagined. I only wish I had two or three more strands. After that, I pull out everything to decorate the cookies.
Teddy sits on a stool in front of me, his body angled so he can watch the TV.
I watch him. He finishes his first sandwich in four large bites, then moves on to the chips. I’ve barely touched my food when he’s finished. I take my sandwich and push my plate of chips toward him.
“Thanks.”
“We’re almost out of food, but we have lots of cookies.” I hold one up. He snatches it from me and pops it in his mouth.
“Good,” he mumbles as he chews.
I give him a playful glare and smack his hand as he goes in for another cookie. I do a super-fast decorating job on a small bell-shaped cookie and hand it to him. “Sugar cookies without frosting are sad. It’s like unfrosted Pop-Tarts. What’s the point?”
He laughs, but after he takes the first bite, he nods. “Damn, that’s good.”
He shoves the rest of it in his mouth and then gets up and pulls a beer out of the fridge.
“That seems like a truly terrible combination,” I say, pointing between the two.
“You’re right.” He sets the beer back and then grabs the RumChata off the top of the fridge. “Cookies and cream.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have a sweet tooth.”
He fills a coffee mug with the sweet liqueur and downs it. His face twists up. “That’s too sweet, even for me.”
He reclaims his beer from the fridge.
Together, we decorate the cookies. Well, I decorate, and Teddy eats them. I do my best on the Santa with the small third leg, but it ends up looking like he’s packing some serious heat in his trousers.
Teddy politely doesn’t mention it, but I notice he doesn’t eat that one, either.
By the time we’re finished, we’ve only killed thirty minutes. It’s still snowing out. A freaking blizzard. Just what I wanted, but not exactly how I wanted it.
“I don’t think they’re coming back tonight.” A weight settles in my stomach.
“Nope.” He gives me an apologetic smile. “Do you want to watch another movie or something?”
I nod. “Yeah. Might as well.”
Teddy takes two more cookies and his beer and heads to the living room. I no sooner than step out of the kitchen when the lights flicker. We both freeze. They go out, come back on, and then go out again and stay that way.