Uncle Colt’s grin widens. “Have to catch us first.”
With that, he breaks for the door, moving surprisingly fast considering he’s carrying a whole other human with him. The move shocks a shriek of laughter from me as we burst out into the freezing air.
Godthat feels good.
“Put me down, Uncle Colt!”
Laughing, he does exactly as I ask—and drops me ass-first into the snow.
Glaring up at him, I gather a large chunk of snow, roll it into a ball, and launch it straight at his face.
Uncle Colt stumbles back, his expression shifting to one of shock. But the surprise quickly fades, replaced by a boyish enthusiasm that sends every alarm possible ringing in my head. Panicked, I do the only thing I can think of.
“Daddy, help!”
Axel fills the doorway, a winter jacket stretched across his broad back and a beanie pulled down on his head, his expression full of worry. “What’s wrong, baby? Did you fall? Are you okay?”
Putting every bit of “scared Little girl” I can manage into my voice, I point at my would-be attacker. “Uncle Colt dropped me and now he wants to throw a snowball at me!”
“Wait, wait, Ax, that’s not exactly what?—”
Before he can finish his defense, Axel has him up by the coat and the next thing I know, Uncle Colt is flying toward the snow. He lands with a soft thud, his hat falling off somewhere along the way, and he sits up with a glare.
“You’re going to pay for that, little girl.”
“Over my dead body.” Scooping me out of the snow as if I weigh nothing, Axel holds me on his hip as he returns his brother’s glare. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Colt. Picking on a baby like that.”
“She started it!”
“And I’m finishing it. No more snowballs, or I’ll lock you outside and you can sleep in the barn.”
Guilt pricks at the back of my skull. “It’s okay, we were just playing.”
“Colt plays too rough,” Axel grunts. “You’re just a Little girl.”
“I’m notactuallya child, Axel.”
At that, he goes still, his expression hardening as he turns his head to glare at me. “What do you call me, Melanie?”
“Daddy,” I rush to correct myself. I wouldn’t put it past him to haul me back inside, spank my ass red, and then lock me in the house the rest of the day if I piss him off. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“Uh-huh. See that you don’tforgetagain, little girl.”
“Yes, Daddy. But I really am okay playing with Uncle Colt. I just yelled for you so he wouldn’t hit me with a snowball.”
“Hmm.” Axel turns back to his brother, who’s managed to get himself up out of the snow and mostly brushed off. “Think you can play nice, Uncle Colt?”
Cocking an eyebrow, Uncle Colt holds out a gloved hand. “What do you say, little one? Truce?”
“Truce,” I agree, reaching out to shake his hand.
Axel begrudgingly puts me down, and the three of us go to work rolling a giant snowball for the base of a snowman. It’s hard work, and I’m panting heavily by the time it’s done, but excitement churns in my belly as I study our creation.
It’s been years since I did anything as frivolous as build a snowman, and despite my assertions that I am notreallya Littlegirl, I can’t deny the childlike wonder coursing through me as our creation takes shape.
“Now his middle!”
“Hold on.” Biting the tip of his glove between his teeth, Axel tugs it off and presses his bare hand to my cheek with a frown. “You feel cold. We should go back in and warm up.”
