by Maddy Reeves
“We’re ready.” Clay says, appearing on the porch with Levi trailing behind. He’s moving slowly from the bulk of his winter gear. In fact, I can barely see his face.
“Are you in there, Levi?” I bend down trying to get a look at him under all of his layers. His words are muffled, so he holds up his thumb, the only finger I can distinguish with his mittens on.
“I don’t want him to get cold,” Clay says, by way of explanation. If only he knew the way he’s bundled his son in so many layers makes him that much more appealing in my eyes.
“Your dad says there’s a snow storm on the way…we better get moving.”
“Have fun,” Ed says as we march down the porch steps in single file. Clay helps Levi sit in the sled and then we start walking toward the hill. “We’ll have some hot chocolate waiting when you get back.”
“Your parents are so nice.” We’ve been walking a little while. Levi is quiet, enjoying the free ride as his dad pulls the sled.
“Bet you’re wondering what happened to their son.” He looks at me with a smirk, and I’m glad to see the humor in his eyes.
“I’ll admit, I thought you were a huge jerk when I first met you. Something has changed in you over the last few days, though. You seem a little lighter.”
“I think it’s been good for me to get away from the city. This is the first vacation I’ve taken since I joined the company five years ago.”
“It’s certainly well-deserved. I guarantee Levi’s happy you’re taking time off.”
“I did it for him. When his mom left, I panicked—for many reasons, but I knew I needed to provide for him. That translated into working non-stop and completely stressing myself out. Something made me decide to come home for Thanksgiving. Getting away from it all has helped me slow down and remember what’s important.”
“It’s true. You have to soak up this time with Levi while you have it. And your parents—one day they might not be around like they are now. I know all about that aspect of life.”
“What happened?” he asks quietly.
“My mom passed away when I was ten, just a little girl living in Wisconsin. Not ready for that kind of curve ball in life, yet. Still, I had my dad and he was always there for me. We grew so close when we lost her. She was the kindest, more caring person. She’s the one, in fact, who taught me to love baking. We’d always make cookies and candies for Christmas. When she died, my dad took over the tradition. It was sweet, and he didn’t have a clue what he was doing. But I taught him all I knew and somehow when we’d spend that time in the kitchen together, it felt like my mom was there too.”
We’ve been crunching our way through the snow toward the hill, Levi still silent in the sled. In fact, I decide to turn around and check to make sure he hasn’t fallen asleep.
“And then, a few years ago, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. We moved to Minnesota to be close to the Mayo Clinic where he was receiving his treatments. It became my home toward the end.”
“That sucks, I’m really sorry,” Clay says. “You must have hated me even more when you found out I hadn’t been home to visit in so long.”
“No, I didn’t hate you.” I dismiss his concern out of courtesy, but he is onto something. I hated the fact that he was so neglectful of his family. The more pieces I hear about his life, though, the more I slowly begin to understand. “Enough of that talk, though. It doesn’t feel very appropriate for a day on the sledding hill. I’m bringing the mood down.”
“When’s the last time you’ve been sledding?” he asks. We can see the hill ahead of us now. Snowflakes begin to fall around us the closer we get.
“Oh, it’s been years. I remember going a lot when I was young to the hill close to my house. Whenever it was, it’s been too long. This was a great idea, thanks for inviting me.”
Finally, we reach the top of the hill. Levi jumps up, ready to go, as if he’s been bottling up his excitement during the walk over.
“Go with me for the first one, Naomi,” Levi says.
“Whatever you want to do.” Levi takes the long sled and holds it so I can sit down. Once again, I can’t help but giggle at his cuteness. Such a little gentleman.
Clay holds the back as Levi climbs on my lap. “Ready?” he asks once I’m holding him tight.
Levi holds up his arms and yells which I take to mean he’s ready to go. Clay gives us a push and we fly down the hill, snow flying up from the front of the sled and brushing over my face. I laugh the entire time and don’t stop when the sled reaches the bottom.
“Wasn’t that fun?” Levi asks. He’s already on his feet, running back up the hill by the time I get back on my feet.
Seconds later, Clay comes flying past me on the inner tube sled.
“I want to try that one.” He jogs to catch up to me, snow covering his hat and shoulders.
“I don’t know, do you think you can handle it? It goes faster than that one.”
“Oh my gosh, are you trash talking me about sledding?”
“Maybe.” He stares me down for a second, then playfully jogs ahead of me up the hill. It’s been a long time since I’ve run up a hill, and I won’t be doing that today.
We sled continuously for another hour, snow falling all the while. After a while, it’s so thick it’s difficult to see around us.
“We better head back.” We’ve both reached the bottom, and I’m relieved that Clay says out loud what I was thinking in my head. Levi protests, but the snow is really coming down. It isn’t dinner time yet, but the thick clouds make it feel later than it is. Soon it’ll be dark, and I don’t want to be out here in a blizzard.
“Are you warm enough, Levi?” I fix his scarf so it’s covering his face except for his eyes. I check to make sure his mittens are on tight as he nods to answer my question.
“You can warm up by the fire when we get home, buddy,” Clay says.
The wind picks up on the walk back, stinging my face and making me wish I had a scarf like Levi. We’re quiet for the walk back because talking over the snow and wind would be a challenge. Instead, I think about how much fun I had today. There were times when I laughed so hard my sides hurt. Like when Clay’s sled hit a bump and threw him off to the side, sending him into a big snow pile. It looked so funny to see a grown man get thrown in the air like that.
I realize, a little too late, that I like Clay.
The fact that we both live in different cities is reason enough to keep things strictly as friends. The fact that I still don’t know many details about his ex-wife or their past situation is an even stronger reason to keep things strictly as friends.
Strictly friends, I tell myself.
A few more days and I’ll be on my way back to Minnesota.
Eventually Clay will return to New York.
There’s no happy ever after with this scenario, a fact I remind myself of continuously during our walk back to the farm.
As soon as we reach the porch, Frankie pulls open the door and ushers us inside.
“I’m so glad you’re back, it’s getting really bad out there.”
“It is,” I say, agreeing. “The snow is heavy and thick. I better get going back to the hotel.”
“Oh dear, you can’t drive in this weather. You’ll just have to stay here for the night.”
I look at Clay, waiting for him to object, and send me on my way. He brushes the snow out of his hair and stomps his boots after helping Levi out of his gear.
“Definitely,” he says, leaving me speechless. “Stay. You can’t drive in this.”
And then, as if his eyes are capable of hypnosis, I nod my head and agree to stay.
Chapter 13
An hour later, Frankie and I have dinner in the oven, and we’re drinking a glass of wine together around the island. I’m not sure where the boys went off to, but I’m mesmerized by the snow whipping around outside of the window.
“I really hope I’m not imposing by staying overnight.”
“Don’t be silly. We have plenty of
space, and we really enjoy having you here. With you around, Clay is beginning to loosen up a little bit. I see more of the boy I used to know.”
“I don’t think I can take the credit for that. He’s back home, away from the stress of his job. With his awesome parents again.”
She laughs before taking another sip of wine. “I’d like to think it’s that. And maybe that’s part of it. But, there’s more to it, I think.”
“Frankie, I’m going to be leaving in a few days. Now isn’t the time to become a matchmaker.”
“About that,” she says. “I wanted to ask you about staying on for a while. Don’t feel obligated, especially if you have another job waiting for you. But, if not, think about staying to work with Ed and I. The tree farm is magical this time of year. It might just be what you need.”
“I’ll think about it.” I’m surprised when the words come out of my mouth. It isn’t what I intended to say, but I’m much more open to the idea now that Clay has mellowed out. Not to mention, I’ve thrown myself into my work since my dad died. I’m not too different from Clay in that way. Maybe a break would do me some good too. Frankie’s right, the tree farm is magical this time of year. It lifts my spirits in a way I didn’t think possible.
“You do that. I don’t want to have to teach someone else how to make my famous peppermint tea.”
We talk about other things while we wait for dinner to cook, but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about her offer. In fact, I have a full-blown pros and cons list happening in my head when the timer goes off and it’s time to sit down to eat. I decide to file it away for now and enjoy dinner—after all, it isn’t every night that I get the chance to eat with others.
I’m sitting in front of the fire when Clay returns from putting Levi to bed. I’m not sure where Frankie and Ed have disappeared to, but now that Frankie has given me a glimpse of what she’s been thinking about, I assume their absence is purposeful.
“Do you play chess?” Clay lifts the game box from under his arm, presenting it to me.
“I don’t,” I say, honestly.
With a laugh he sits down and pulls a small table between us. “I can teach you.”
Suddenly, I’m tongue-tied so I simply nod my head.
“I remember playing a long time ago—probably when I was in high school. But I don’t remember much, it’s been too long.”
“It’ll come back to you, I bet.”
He sets up the pieces, and the fact that he doesn’t have to check the directions makes me think he’s played this games hundreds of times. He’s in for a real disappointment when he realizes I can’t challenge him.
“How did you meet your wife?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stuff them back where they belong. Strangely, the more I get to know him, the more I want to know about his wife and how she could walk out on him with a little baby.
“Getting right down to it, I see.”
“I’m sorry. It just came out.”
He finishes arranging the pieces on the board, and then holds up his finger. “Can I give you the summary of rules first, or would you like me to answer your question.”
“No, please—give me the rules.”
He gives me a quick summary of all of the different pieces and which direction they can move. He’s right, as soon as he starts explaining everything, it all starts to come back to me. Not enough that I’ll be able to give him a competitive game, but enough that I won’t completely embarrass myself.
“I met my wife in college,” he says, after making his first move. I study the board, trying to decide what I should do first. In the end, I move one of my pawns, just like he did. “We were young and in love, you know. It was her idea to move to New York. To be completely honest with you, I hated it at first. I stayed because Rachael was there, and I figured I’d grow to love it, just like she did. We got married fast…my idea. Looking back on it all, I think I knew that she was drifting away from me. We grew apart once college was over and we moved on to the next phase of our lives. Maybe I thought getting married would fix the distance that I could feel between us.”
My heart hurts for him. I can understand what it’s like to try desperately to hold onto something that isn’t meant to last. He grows quiet, and his usual good-mood of late seems to be slipping.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “You don’t have to talk about it if it makes you sad. I was just being nosy.”
He looks up at me again and when our eyes meet, he returns to me from wherever he was. After relaxing back into his chair, his eyes lighten, his mouth turning up in a small smile, even if it’s a bit sad.
“Where did you learn how to play chess like this?” I ask instead, eager to change the subject if I’m making him uncomfortable.
“Believe it or not, I was on the chess club in high school.”
“You were not.” My entire face lights up at this new tidbit of Clay’s life.
“Why is that so hard to believe?”
I’m shaking my head as I look over the board, searching for my next move. “I guess I imagined you played football or something like that. Just because you grew up on a farm so naturally physical labor was a big part of your childhood.”
“I liked it…maybe because it was so different from what I did every day. What about you? What kinds of things were you into back in high school?”
“I played soccer for a long time, and I loved choir.”
“Really? I thought you were going to say you majored in home economics. Because you love baking and all of that,” he adds to clarify.
“I did take home economics but that was in middle school. I made my very own pair of shorts, in fact. Now of course, I couldn’t sew a seam. I’m too out of practice.”
The game takes longer than I expected it too. In fact, I’m really proud of myself for giving him such a long game. The thought does cross my mind that he’s being easy on me, but if he is, I’ll take it.
“My mom mentioned she asked you to stay on until Christmas.”
“She did.” I watch him closely, looking for any kind of indication about how he feels about it. He certainly didn’t want me here when this all began, but I get the feeling he’s beginning to soften toward me—at least a little bit.
“You should stay,” he says, surprising me. “If you want to. It would be nice to have the extra help, and you’d get a chance to see all of your hard work pay off. You should stay.”
He watches me closely and something shifts in the air between us. He has a lot of baggage in New York that will eventually pull him back. But for now, in Willowdale, something has changed with us. I just hope I’m not the only one who feels it.
“I’ll think about. The break might do me some good.”
He nods and moves one of his pieces. “Checkmate.”
It’s ironic that I didn’t see the move coming, and more importantly, I had no idea how close I was to defeat.
Chapter 14
“Here, I thought you might need something to sleep in.” Clay is standing in the doorway of my temporary bedroom, holding a folded T-shirt toward me.
I take it from his hands, our fingers touching. Electricity crackles around us, and I suddenly realize how quiet it is in the house. The wind blows aggressively, shaking the windows in the frames.
“The house is old, you’ll hear a lot of noises as it settles. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“Hopefully the wind dies down a little bit. I’m glad I didn’t try to drive home, though. I would’ve ended up in a ditch.”
“The back roads are no joke in bad weather. Hey—thanks for letting me teach you how to play chess tonight. I haven’t done that in a long time.”
“It was a lot of fun. Maybe you’ll give me a rematch sometime? I really thought I started to get the hang of it by the end.”
“I told you, it all comes back to you.”
We say good night and he heads back to his own room. Before I tuck into bed, I have to look out the window to see how much snow has fallen, just l
ike I used to do when I was young and was hoping for a snow day from school. I’m shocked to see the huge drifts leading up to the front porch. The driveway is completely blocked and the snow is still coming down.
I rest my forehead against the cold window pane, cooling my overheated skin after my extended interaction with Clay. Now I’m standing here with his shirt in my hands, and the next thing I know, I’m holding it up to my face, breathing in his scent.
Falling for Clay isn’t part of the plan.
Now that his anger has somewhat dissipated, he’s extremely charming. And handsome. Somehow the image of him working the tractor in his worn jeans and boots keeps popping into my head. To be fair, I haven’t been on a date since my Dad got sick. I didn’t want the distraction. But now, no matter how hard I’ve tried to keep my distance, I’m drawn to him. He eases a little of my grief that’s always hiding just beneath the surface. I keep waiting for more moments where I forget I’ve lost them both, and my subconscious grabs my cell phone to give them a call.
Life isn’t always fair, but sometimes, it redeems itself.
I fall asleep listening to the sound of the wind shaking the eves while the moon follows me into the darkest corners of my dreams.
I climb out of bed in the morning, eager to get a look outside. Getting a peek at the perfect landscape after a snow storm is always the best part. The branches on the trees are covered in snow for as far as I can see. The pre-cut trees leaning against the side of the cottage are almost completely covered, not much more than the brown trunks visible. It’s going to take a lot of work to get all of the paths and driveways cleared before we open.
I throw my clothes back on from yesterday and tidy myself up in the bathroom before going downstairs. Thankfully it’s just Frankie and Levi in the kitchen. I don’t know why, but I don’t want Clay to see me in day old clothes again, pre-shower. Moments after I step into the kitchen, I hear the trucks outside plowing the drive.
“How’d you sleep?” Frankie asks.