Chapter 6 #2
‘Yeah, of course.’ He rests his hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eye.
‘Since you’re probably going to be stuck here another day, let me make this clear right now.
If you want to use something, just use it.
You don’t have to ask. Same with putting your feet on the table and taking stuff from the fridge.
I really don’t care. Just do what you want. ’
Does he really mean that? Nobody’s ever said that to me so I don’t trust that it’s true. I always ask. Always. Not doing so would be rude.
‘You’ll need boots. They’re in the laundry room.’
I follow him in there and sit on the folding chair that’s across from the washer as he sets a pair of black boots in front of me. They’re so big, my feet slide in them without any resistance.
‘Shit, they’re huge,’ Brody says.
‘My feet won’t stay in these if I try to walk. And snow will get in all that space and make my feet wet.’
‘Got an idea,’ he says, taking off again.
‘Oh God, what now?’ I say to myself, laughing. After this horrible day, I can’t believe I’m laughing.
Brody returns with some t-shirts. He stuffs one of the shirts into my right boot, then does the same with the left. It makes the boots feel tighter but it’s still going to be hard to walk.
‘It’s not the best solution but it’s good enough.’ He stands up and grabs his coat from the hook. He puts it on, then picks a black stocking cap off the floor and yanks it on his head. ‘You need to get your coat on.’
I get up and put it on. I was so busy watching Brody I forgot to finish getting ready.
I’m finding myself fascinated by him, by the way he just does stuff without giving it much thought.
He gets an idea and does it. I’m someone who overthinks everything.
I imagine every possible thing that could go wrong, then come up with ways to avoid those things, and if I can’t, I don’t do it.
Cam’s the same way. We’re both very cautious.
We love pros and cons lists. In fact, that was one of the things I thought made us a perfect couple.
I’d finally found someone who overanalyzed stuff as much as I did.
But that became a problem when we didn’t agree.
We used our pros and cons lists against each other and ended up fighting and unable to find a compromise.
‘You need some help?’ Brody asks as I struggle to walk through the house. Brody’s already standing by the sliding glass door, waiting to go out back.
‘Go ahead. I’ll get there eventually.’
Brody laughs as he watches me walk like Frankenstein, moving one leg, then the other, across the floor. He comes over to me and scoops me into his arms.
‘Hey! Put me down!’
‘It had to be done or we’d be here all night.’ He slides open the door, goes out in the snow, and slides the door shut, all while still holding me. The guy’s strong. Cam couldn’t even lift me, but Brody’s acting like I weigh nothing.
‘Are you going to put me down?’ I ask as he tromps through the snow .
‘I think the less you have to walk, the better.’ He stops in the middle of the yard and sets me down.
Looking up at the sky, I watch as the snowflakes fall. They’re big and fluffy and sting my face. The wind has died down, allowing the flakes to gently drop from the sky instead of being blown around.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I whisper, feeling a calmness come over me.
Closing my eyes, I notice I don’t hear anything. I’m surrounded by silence. Living in the city, I’m not used to that. I don’t remember ever being outside and hearing nothing.
Something smacks against my leg.
‘What was that?’ I look down as I’m hit again, this time on my stomach, the snow sticking to my coat. ‘Brody, did you—’ I stop when something hits my back. I whip around and see Brody holding a snowball. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Having a snowball fight. You gonna join me or just stand here?’ He aims the snowball at me.
‘Wait! I don’t know what to do.’
‘Make a snowball and throw it. It’s easy.’ He tosses the snowball and it hits me in the arm.
‘Okay, that’s it,’ I say, getting annoyed, but not in a bad way. I’m annoyed I haven’t hit him back yet. I reach down and pick up some snow. ‘It’s not sticking together.’
‘You have to use both hands,’ he says, coming over to me. He scoops up some snow and adds it to what’s in my hand, then closes my other hand around it. ‘You gotta pack it. The tighter the better.’ He presses my hands around it. ‘See how that feels?’
I do, but it’s less about how the snow feels and more about how Brody’s hands feel around mine. He’s gentle, yet strong, and having him close to me like this, I’m feeling something, something I shouldn’t.
‘I think I got it,’ I say, backing away. I crouch down and get more snow, adding to what I already have. I quickly stand up and toss the snowball at Brody, hitting him in the stomach.
He stands there, acting like nothing happened.
‘I did it!’ I say. ‘I got you!’
‘Yeah, it’s usually better if you wait until the person is farther away. You want to take them by surprise and try to throw it hard so they feel it when it hits them.’
‘Oh,’ I say, embarrassed. ‘Sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing.’
‘You don’t have to be sorry. Hey.’ He sets his hand on my shoulder. ‘I wasn’t making fun of you. I shouldn’t have said it that way. I was just telling you how it’s usually done, but there aren’t any rules. You can throw it however you want.’ He smiles. ‘We good?’
I nod. ‘Let’s do this.’
Brody just met me and already sensed how I was feeling. He knew his comment upset me and said something. I don’t think that’s ever happened with anyone I’ve ever met.
‘I’ll give you a head start,’ Brody yells from across the yard. ‘Go ahead and make a few.’
Keeping my eyes on him, I quickly make some snowballs. The snow is wet, not powdery, making it stick together well.
A tree branch snaps off behind Brody from the weight of the snow. As he turns back to look at it, I toss the snowball, hitting him in the leg.
‘What the hell?’ he says, turning back and smiling. He takes the snowball he was holding and hurls it at me. I duck down before it hits me. I see another one coming and take off to outrun it but my boots get stuck in the snow. I end up falling straight down on my face.
‘Kate? Are you okay?’ I hear Brody yell.
I hear the snow crunch as he runs toward me.
‘Kate?’
With a snowball still in my hand, I turn on my side and hurl it at him. It smacks into the front of his jacket.
He looks down at it, then back at me. ‘You were faking it?’
‘Maybe,’ I innocently say.
He laughs. ‘Good job. Even my brothers couldn’t fool me like that.’
‘I guess I’m a natural at this,’ I say, pushing up from the snow.
‘Here.’ Brody offers me his hand and helps me up. ‘You having fun?’
‘Yeah. I really am,’ I say, brushing the snow off me. ‘When I left the church today I thought I’d be spending the rest of the day crying and depressed and wondering if I made the right decision.’
‘And now?’
I smile. ‘And now I’m hanging out with some strange guy, wearing his clothes, throwing snow at him and—’ I pause and look down, suddenly feeling sad at what I was about to say.
Brody puts his hand on my arm. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I just realized I haven’t felt this way in a really long time.’
‘What way?’
I look up at him. ‘Happy. Like truly happy, not happy because someone said I should be.’ I shake my head. ‘Never mind. Get out of here before I hurl another snowball at you. ’
‘You’re out of ammunition,’ he says with a smug grin. ‘Better hurry and make more because I’ve got a whole stockpile.’
He heads back to his spot at the edge of the yard while I hurry to make more snowballs.
I can honestly say I can’t remember when I’ve had this much fun or felt this free.
I’m covered in snow, wearing clothes that don’t fit, with no makeup on and messy hair that’s stuffed under a hat.
I’m sure I look horrible, and yet I don’t care.
For the first time in my life, I’m not trying to impress anyone.
My mother’s not telling me to go inside and clean myself up.
I don’t have Cam looking at me with disapproval and telling me I’m being childish.
I can just play in the snow without anyone judging me or telling me it’s wrong.
‘Watch out!’ Brody yells as a snowball flies past me, part of it hitting my face. ‘Sorry! I didn’t mean to aim that high!’
‘Yeah, right,’ I yell back, running toward him with my snowball. It’s a slow run since it’s really hard to move in these boots.
‘What are you doing?’ Brody calls out. ‘You’re going to fall.’
‘I’m too far away to do this.’ I’m almost in front of him now and get the snowball ready to aim.
‘Do what?’
‘Get you back!’ I toss the snowball at his face, lunging toward him as I do. My boots slip and I end up slamming into Brody. He loses his balance and falls back in the snow, with me sprawled on top of him.
‘Oh God, I’m so sorry!’ I say, trying to get off him. ‘Are you okay? ’
He holds onto my arms, keeping me there as he smiles at me. ‘I’m good.’
Our eyes meet and I feel my pulse race as I gaze back at a guy I just met who’s making me feel more in this moment than I ever felt with Cam. How is that possible? How did I almost marry a guy who never made me feel this way?
And why am I feeling this way with Brody?