“Last go,” he told her, caving.
Yay! This one was gonna be the best!
Jenner pulled the sled up the hill for her and then he even gave her a good shove! Cat, Alejandro, Abe, and Rafael were waiting at the bottom along with Tobias who had headed down as they walked up, stopping to give her a kiss on the way.
Tobias was a great kisser. And hugger. So was Jenner.
She was one lucky girl.
As she flew down the slope, Immy let out a cry of happiness. This was so much fun!
Suddenly, something jumped out ahead of her on the path. It was huge and brown and then it turned to face her.
Reindeer!
With a scream, she tried to turn the sled and it headed off toward the trees.
She was aware of people yelling at her, but it was like she was in a bubble where no sound could penetrate. She pulled on the brakes and came to a shuddering stop.
“Immy! Immy!” Jenner yelled and she turned to see him running toward her from the top of the slope. Tobias and the others were also racing up to her. But she had to check. Had she hit it?
Had she hit the reindeer?
She got out of the sled and ran up the hill to where she’d seen it. There was no sign of it.
Then she saw something half-buried in the snow.
A red nose.
Oh no! She’d hit Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!
12
FAITH AND REUBEN
23rd December
“Are you ready?” Reuben asked as he tucked a blanket around her legs. “You’ve got snacks, a drink, and Colin, Piggy, and Courageous Camel.” He did her seatbelt up before moving around to the driver’s side of their rental SUV and climbing in.
Yep, she was surrounded by her friends.
And she was snug as a bug in a rug.
However, she still felt a bit nervous.
“You really think we’ll be okay driving in this?”
“The storm has passed. We’re not traveling the whole way to Wishingbone today. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, not going to lie. But we should make it by late Christmas Eve.”
“I’m so sorry I didn’t want to fly again today!” she told him, feeling guilty.
Ralph and Alfie were flying back to New York tonight. They probably could have flown them to Montana, but she’d been unable to stomach the thought of getting back on a plane. She knew she’d have to do it at some stage. But not right now.
Maybe it wasn’t her fault that the storm had hit. Perhaps she hadn’t forced the plane to land because she’d wanted to get off.
But she really felt guilty that they were having to travel by car all the way to Montana because she was a big old wimp.
Reuben was missing out on quality time with Juliet. That’s why they’d decided to fly in the first place.
