Chapter Forty-Six
The inn had cocoa, coffee, tea and a variety of pastries waiting for them on a long, thin table inside the front hallway when they arrived to carve their snow sculptures. Ali and JT grabbed cups of coffee and scones while they waited for the judges to arrive.
“Do you really think our design is good enough?” JT asked.
Ali smiled over the lip of her cup. “Yes. We have to do a good job, obviously, but if I had to bet on one team, it would be us.” She nodded in the direction of their competition.
Kyle had his hands on his hips like some kind of superhero and Sharon was busy scrolling social media as he jabbered at her.
Ali knew Kyle well enough that she would have been willing to bet he would implode before lunch. He hated being outside his comfort zone, but he also overestimated his own abilities. She raised her eyebrows at JT and then walked over to Kyle.
“You must have been happy when you heard what the final contest was.”
He eyed her warily. “Why would you say that?”
Ali smiled. “Isn’t carving snow just like carving shrubs? You have tons of experience trimming trees and shrubs and making them look nice for people. I’m sure you’re feeling confident.”
Kyle blinked but recovered quickly. “Yeah, that’s right. I’ve been doing that since I was a teenager. How hard can this be?”
Ali shook her head. “Not hard for you, I bet.” She waved to Sharon. “Good luck out there!” She walked back to JT with a smile on her face.
“What are you doing?”
Ali laughed and stepped into a small room with a roaring fire.
“Kyle hates being bad at things. But even worse, he hates being bad at things when people think he should be good at them. He gets embarrassed, and then he gets pissed when it’s not going his way.
I thought I’d remind him that everyone knows that outdoor decorating is basically his job, so… ”
JT looked slightly horrified. “Oh my god you are diabolical.”
Ali did her best impression of the Grinch’s horrible smile.
“Maybe I am. But that guy tried to shit-talk you the other day and you kicked his stupid ass. I figured it was my turn to talk some shit, in my own way. If it throws him off his game to be reminded that his job is literally to make outdoor things look good, that’s not my fault. ”
“Were you always this competitive and I forgot?”
Ali shrugged. “Ask Tommy about how many times I kicked his butt playing soccer in the backyard.”
JT laughed. “I do recall you practically knocking him out when he tried to slide into home during a family softball game.”
Ali smiled. “I got in so much trouble, but he didn’t score.”
The inn door opened, and several middle-aged and older folks walked in. “Ah good, I see our finalists are here.” A man wearing a camouflage hat stepped into the room with the fire. “Would you join us in here? I’m freezing.”
Kyle and Sharon walked into the room and took the only two seats on the couch in front of the fire.
“I want to review the rules quickly before we get started and answer any questions you might have.
You have until three this afternoon to finish your sculptures.
At that point the judges will decide who the winner is.
You may not get help in the sculpting from anyone who is not your teammate, but you may ask the judges for rule clarifications.
You may take breaks whenever you like, and the inn will have food and drinks in here to keep you going.
“Finally, keep in mind that these sculptures are intended to draw interest from passersby and to bring foot traffic both to the town and to the inn—we hope you have considered that in your designs. If there are no questions, you may get started. Good luck to you all.”
JT and Ali filed outside and down the steps to their giant rectangle of snow.
The committee had removed the plywood forms to reveal two giant blocks of snow.
They walked around theirs, inspecting the surface and pointing out areas that seemed uneven.
Fortunately, Ali noted that there were no major issues with the structure.
Kyle and Sharon didn’t seem quite so lucky.
They had a couple spots where there were chunks missing where they hadn’t packed the snow in tight enough.
JT pulled a piece of paper out of her jacket and laid it flat on the table they’d been provided for their tools and food. “I think we should start by taking off these spots. I think we can safely cut off the chunks here and here. What do you think?”
Ali looked at the block and then back at the drawing. “Yeah. This whole thing makes me very nervous, but let’s start with the big stuff and then work down to the stuff that takes more finesse. You want to go first?”
JT shook her head. “You’re the only one of us with any kind of art background and you want to hand the tools to me?”
“I’m not sure that classroom decoration counts as an art background.” Ali picked up a flat-ended shovel. “I trust you. You can do this.”
JT beamed and took the shovel. She scored along the edge of the block and removed a piece. When the entire thing seemed to stay together, she looked at Ali and went back to take off another chunk. “Okay, that isn’t so bad.”
It only took about an hour for them to make the rough shape of their design.
After talking with JT’s parents, they decided to make a throne out of the snow so couples could sit on it and take cute photos for New Year’s.
They thought the folks at the Hart’s Inn would like the way it would bring people to the front and entice them to take pictures and maybe even stay for a drink or dinner.
JT’s parents had warned them about being too aggressive.
“Once you cut something, it’s gone for good.
You can’t stick it back together. Better to be careful than to have to try to repair it.
” Ali had felt like Mrs. Cox was speaking directly to her when she said that, like she thought she might be prone to being careless or breaking things she couldn’t fix with JT.
As they worked side by side, Ali watched JT. She was careful with each bit of snow she removed. She concentrated so hard on every move she made. It was adorable how she concentrated and double-checked each piece before smoothing the edges and carving the design into the snow.
Ali peeked a few times at Kyle and Sharon and they were not having as much success.
At some point, one of them made a part of the snow too narrow, and the head of the bear they were trying to carve appeared to be falling off.
Kyle was barking at Sharon, who looked ready to kill him or burst into tears. Maybe both.
JT, on the other hand, hadn’t said much to her. After their night together, Ali wasn’t sure how to read JT’s silent concentration. Was she simply trying to do her best work or was there something else going on?
“Hey,” Ali said, stepping next to JT and handing her some cocoa. “Are you okay?”
JT nodded. “Yeah, why? Thanks for this.” She took a sip of the cocoa.
“You seem quieter than normal, and I didn’t know if I did something wrong last night…”
JT put her hand on Ali’s forearm. “Definitely not. You were perfect. I just have a lot on my mind.” Her serious expression disappeared quickly when she pointed to the throne.
“You know, like winning this thing and making my family of famously incredible artists proud.” She laughed but it sounded forced.
Ali nodded but her mind whirred with possibilities. JT wasn’t usually so stiff or reserved. Ali didn’t know what to think about it. Maybe this was her competition mode or maybe Ali had done something wrong, and JT didn’t want to say anything in the middle of the event?
Maybe saying she loved JT was a mistake. It had only been a few days. They’d known each other forever but not like this and maybe Ali had come on too strong even when she knew they lived very different lives. Oh god, she’d really fucked this up.
Ali looked across the walkway at Kyle and Sharon.
They were each working on one half of the sculpture and it wasn’t matching very well.
The scale of the bear was off between the two halves.
Ali didn’t want to feel overconfident, but she felt good about how their progress was going even if she worried about what JT might be thinking.
She took a small shovel and carefully removed some of the snow around the arms of the throne. She watched how JT was cutting the design into the other arm and tried to match it. After a few minutes, she decided it would be better for her to work on something else.
“Hey, why don’t you do this arm, too and I’ll work on the back.” She subtly motioned to the other team. “We don’t want to end up with a lopsided chair.”
JT looked at Kyle and Sharon. “I don’t want to get too cocky but holy shit that’s a train wreck over there.” She stepped to the front of the chair. “Do you want to come here and look at this for a second?”
Ali joined her. “What am I looking at?”
JT smiled. “Nothing in particular. Do you see anything that looks off? We still have time to fix it if you do. I think the back could use more decoration and I’ll keep the arms as even as possible. What else?”
“What if we carve the seat to look like it has a pillow? Or is that overkill?”
JT shrugged. “I don’t know.” She leaned her head close to Ali’s.
“If those two keep fighting they’re going to end up with a headless bear so I’m not too worried about winning, but I kind of want to do the best I can.
” Ali was charmed when she realized JT was blushing.
“I know I’m not as good as my siblings, but I want this to be good, you know? ”
Ali leaned her forehead against JT’s and resisted the overwhelming urge to kiss her pink cheeks.
“I get it. I’ll do my best to make the back look like a throne.
But at some point we have to stop fiddling because if we go too far we could wreck it.
” She held JT’s eyes with her own, realizing midsentence that she wasn’t only talking about the sculpture.
The hours passed and they took a break for some food and to get warm inside.
JT hovered around the food and drinks table making plates for herself and for Ali while Ali sat by the fire waiting for the feet to thaw.
She was used to the cold but standing on the snow all morning left her toes almost numb and her legs exhausted.
The fire felt heavenly, and having JT dote on her by bringing her hot cider and a sandwich made it the perfect way to spend an afternoon.
Too bad they had to go back outside to finish the throne.
Ali patted the spot next to her. JT joined her on the couch, balancing a plate of food on her thigh. “Are you okay? You seem a bit…”
JT stared at her plate. “Yeah, fine.” She looked up at Ali. “Oh god, you look so serious. I’m fine. Just a little stressed, you know?”
No, I don’t know, Ali thought. “Stressed about the throne?”
JT shook her head. “No, I mean, a little maybe. But mostly thinking about what comes next.” JT scowled at the floor. “Not in a pressure way. I…”
Ali put her hand on top of JT’s. “There’s no pressure. Other than winning, we don’t have to plan anything else.”
JT smiled but Ali could tell it was forced. “Right. Got it.” She shoved her sandwich into her mouth and stood up. “We should keep going. I’ll meet you out there.”
Ali watched her go, wondering what the hell had just happened.