After the four inches of snowstorm we got last night, I didn’t blame them. They were lucky it didn’t start until after we got home from the airport. It had been a very mild fall. New England had one of the prettiest winters in the country and I was excited to finally have snow on the ground.
This was our first real snow of the season and it was just in time for Christmas. The kids had been off since last Friday and I appreciated the snow for them and for my parents.
Christmas would be hard enough this year; it helped that it would at least be pretty.
“No, grandparents are supposed to wake up early, Lizbeth. That’s why we came.” My dad sat hunched over the kids’ table with his knees pressed to his chest and a princess crown on his head.
My dad, Matthew Ferris, looked like the banker he used to be even in his late sixties, except for the tiara perched atop his head. His strong nose and angular jaw gave him the visage of a man in charge. Until his grandchildren surrounded him. Then he turned into a big puddle of grandpa and spoiled them rotten.
My mother, Julia, stood next to myKuerig, already brewing me a cup. She looked sleepy still, hugging a cup of her own coffee and dressed in her fuzzy pink pajama pants.
“I thought we would wake you up.” She passed the hot coffee to me and I inhaled deeply. “We were so loud down here. Did you take a sleeping pill?”
“No,” I told her. “I haven’t taken one in a long time. I’ve started to sleep better lately.”
“Oh,” her soft voice pulled on my heart. My mother was the sweetest woman I knew and she had been incredible during this time. Both of my parents were great actually. They loved each other deeply. One of the hardest things for them about Grady’s death was that I wouldn’t get to grow old with him. They felt they had something unique and beautifully special. They had wanted the same thing for me.
I looked out the windows to the snow-covered backyard. “I should go shovel the drive before we need to go anywhere.”
“You didn’t hire it done?” my dad asked while he pulledJaceonto his long legs.
“No, but that’s a good idea.” I wondered if Dillan, the kid I hired to mow over the summer, was back for Christmas break. I could give him a call…
“Then who’s out there shoveling it? I thought you paid a man or I would have done it myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“Liz, there’s a man out there shoveling your walk right now.”
My stomach flipped as I hurried to the front door. My family room had a nice view of the front yard and part of Ben’s yard, but I had to go to my front door to see the driveway. I held my coffee carefully in my hands so not to spill it, but I had to confirm my suspicions.
I opened the door and stepped out onto the shoveled porch in just my slippers. The cold, icy air bit at my skin and blew up my thin pajamas. I shivered in the morning air as I took in the sight of Ben working his way up and down my long drive.
“Hey!” I called out to him. His head lifted to face me, and even though he wore a stocking cap and a scarf that covered half of his face, I could see his eyes brighten with a smile. “I hope you’re not expecting a tip!”
His shoulders shook as he laughed at my joke. He stuck the shovel into a snowbank and walked over to me, tugging his scarf down as he went.
“No tip? I quit.”
“You can’t quit!” I squeaked. “You’re only halfway finished.”
He grinned at me. “And it doesn’t look like you’ll get out here anytime soon, lazy bones. Did the kids let you sleep in this morning?”
I handed him my coffee without thinking. He took it and held it in front of his face for a minute before taking a healthy drink.
“My parents flew in yesterday,” I reminded him. “They let me have some peace. Well, afterJace, Abby and Lucy all woke up and got out of my bed.”
“Oh, that’s right. They’re the ones responsible for ruining wine night.”
I shook my head at him. “I’m sure you survived.”
“Well, I drank the wine, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“All of it?”
He laughed into my coffee, “I’m teasing. I saved it for you.”
“Of course you did! I’m so much more fun than drinking byyourself.”
