I packed a snowball, took careful aim, and pegged him right in the back of the head.
He spun around with a shriek of surprise and delight. He immediately declared war.
What followed was the most ruthless snowball fight of my adult life. I showed no mercy, taking out kids left and right with precision shots that would have made a major league pitcherproud. They tried to gang up on me, but I was bigger, faster, and had better aim.
I was absolutely merciless, and I loved every minute of it.
CHAPTER 9
SYLVIE
Around eight o’clock, a parade of tearful children came trudging through the front doors of the lodge, their cheeks red from cold. I looked up from where I’d been helping clear dinner plates to see what the commotion was about.
Aspen was among the group, her little face scrunched up in a way that meant she was working up to a full-scale meltdown. She made a beeline for her mother, who was stacking dishes near the kitchen entrance.
“Mama!” Aspen wailed, throwing herself against Stacy’s legs with dramatic flair. “The big mean man threw a snowball at me!”
I felt my stomach drop. Big mean man? There was only one person that could refer to, and sure enough, Kent Bancroft came strolling through the front doors a moment later with Alder by his side. Both of them were acting like absolute hooligans, faces bright red from the cold, eyes glassy and wild, snow still clinging to their hair and coats.
They were laughing together like old friends, completely oblivious to the trail of crying children they’d apparently left in their wake.
“That was awesome!” Alder was saying, practically bouncing with excitement. “Did you see when you got Tommy right in theface? And when Kylie tried to hide behind the tree but you totally got her anyway?”
Kent was grinning in a way that made him look years younger, but also slightly unhinged. “Kid, that wasn’t even my best work. You should see what I can do with proper ammunition. Me and my brothers used to have the most epic fights.”
Stacy’s expression had gone from confused to furious in about two seconds flat. She gently disentangled herself from Aspen’s grip and fixed Kent with a stare that could have frozen hell over.
Mama Bear mode activated.
“Alder,” she said, her voice dangerously calm. “Take your sister to your room. Now.”
“But, Mom?—”
“Now, Alder.”
The tone brooked no argument. Alder’s enthusiasm deflated immediately. He shot Kent an apologetic look before trudging off toward the back of the lodge where their family’s private quarters were located. Aspen followed, still sniffling dramatically.
Once her children were out of earshot, Stacy turned her full attention to Kent. I’d seen my sister-in-law in protective mama mode before, but this was next level. She looked like she was considering whether it would be worth the legal consequences to throw Kent out into the snow personally.
Thank God the ground was frozen because I had no doubt she was contemplating digging a hole for the six-foot-something man.
“I know who your family is,” she said, her voice low but carrying clearly across the lobby. “I know what the Bancrofts are about. And I don’t like you being around here one bit.”
Kent’s post-snowball-fight glow faded slightly, replaced by something more guarded. “I was just having some fun with the kids.”
“You made half of them cry.”
“They’ll get over it.”
Wrong thing to say. Stacy’s eyes flashed dangerously, and for a moment I thought she might actually take a swing at him. Instead, she took a deep breath and stepped back.
“Stay away from my children,” she said simply, then turned and followed Alder and Aspen toward their quarters, leaving Kent standing in the lobby looking like he wasn’t quite sure what had just happened.
I watched the whole exchange with a growing sense of unease. Kent might be infuriating and arrogant, but watching him with the kids, seeing him laugh and act like he actually was familiar with the idea of fun had been oddly endearing.
Kent looked around the now-quiet lobby, then focused on me. “Where can a guy get a good drink around here?”
“We’re a dry lodge,” I said automatically.
