“Getting the snow off of you!” Luke replied, equally as loud. “You’re covered from head to…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Madelaine swiped the snow off her hair and face. Then she released the fastening below her chin in one swift move and let the entire coat drop to the floor—snow and all.
Luke opened his mouth but closed it again without saying a word.
“You’re completely covered, too, you know,” she said dryly. “Your whole beard has frozen snowballs in it!”
Luke touched his face and felt small balls solidly frozen into his beard. He hadn’t even noticed the weight of them. How ridiculous must he look right now?
He watched as Madelaine bit her lower lip. Was she trying not to laugh? This whole situation was ridiculous.
“Ah! You’ve found her!” Caleb’s voice came from the doorway. Evelyn followed her husband with Belle on her arm. Both gasped and stopped in their tracks, openly staring at the icy faces of Luke and Madelaine.
“Yeah, I found her all right,” Luke said, looking back at Madelaine.
Buster ran past both of them, howling loudly as he was being chased by Simon, who came to an abrupt stop right in front of Luke. “You got snowballs in your beard!” Simon yelled, pointing straight at him with a snorty giggle.
Madelaine’s shoulders began to twitch. It was only a little bit at first, but it became increasingly strong, and then he heard Madelaine chuckle.
“I had to carry her back! Piggyback-style,” Luke said to Simon, who responded with a cackle. Madelaine stared up at him, seemingly shocked, but then she doubled over and burst out laughing.
Caleb and Evelyn were staring with open mouths.
Hearing Madelaine laugh like this was the most melodic sound Luke had ever heard. Her face lit up, and when she looked at him, her bright green eyes sparkled with mischief and crinkled a little in the corners. She laughed wholeheartedly, a full belly laugh, and it seemed to release all the tension in her body. It was beautiful to watch.
Luke lost the fight. He joined in, and they both laughed until Luke was holding his sides and Madelaine had to wipe tears from her face.
Chapter Sixteen
Luke’s Ranch — The next day
Two weeks before Christmas
“Oh, I like this one!” Madelaine exclaimed when Evelyn held up a rough-looking nutcracker she’d pulled out of a straw-filled wooden box. The paint was chipped off in places, one arm looked slightly charred, and there were scratches all across the body of the wooden soldier. It was surprisingly tall, almost as long as Madelaine’s arm.
“This belonged to John,” Evelyn said with a sad but fond smile. “Luke’s son. Caleb made it for him for his first Christmas, but Luke hasn’t…” She stopped talking.
Madelaine nodded knowingly and carefully took the nutcracker into her hands, tracing its rough edges. They’d begun decorating the house for Christmas shortly after lunch, and the early afternoon had been cheerful and happy. “It’s perfect,” she said.
“It is,” Evelyn said. “I am just not sure if we should put it up, because…”
“Oh, what’s this?” Simon yelled as he came running into the room with Buster hot on his heels. The two of them had become inseparable.
While Belle was taking a nap in their room, he’d been playing outside for a while. Looking at his reddened cheeks and snow-covered hat, Madelaine surmised the sun must have disappeared again for yet another bout of snow. He threw his coat, scarf, and hat over a nearby chair and held both his hands out to the wooden soldier. “Can I play with it?” he asked.
Caleb walked in, not looking much better as he followed Simon and Buster into the house. When he saw the nutcracker, he glanced at his wife and smiled at her. “I didn’t know this was still around,” Caleb said.
“Can I play with it? Please?” Simon asked again with both hands still raised toward it.
Madelaine didn’t know what to do, so she was relieved when Caleb walked over and gently took it from her. “Evelyn told me that you made it,” she said. “It’s amazing.”
Caleb smiled at it. “It has seen better days.” Turning to Evelyn, he pointed at a bite mark in the left thigh. “Do you remember when Buster was still a puppy and he stole it from little John and all chaos broke loose on Christmas Eve?”
Evelyn giggled and nodded. “The two of them almost knocked the table over. Buster was already as big as a baby bull then!”
“Can I please, please,pleaseplay with it?” Simon nagged, and Caleb finally gave it to him.
“Yes. You can. It’s yours, if you want it,” Caleb said, smiling.
