Leah glanced up at Owen, taking a slow breath as she studied him. He had remembered. The Christmas play had always been Leah’s favorite thing to do with the family, and Owen’s question proved he had not forgotten it. “Yes, of course. I would be happy to.”
They all stood from the table, dispersing to get ready to go outside. So far, Owen had behaved himself. Perhaps she had been worrying and stewing over nothing. But, the day had only just begun.
Chapter 7
Leah. Afternoon of the second day.
Leah’sbootsskimmedthefluffy snow that now covered the more dense and heavy layer beneath. A genuine smile crept over her lips for the first time since Owen’s arrival. The clouds had dispersed, allowing the sun to illuminate the ice crystals and dance across the expanse of white. There was a fair walk to get to the hill and Rose had managed to convince Owen to pull her on the toboggan. She sat atop it, high and regal as a queen might grace her royal throne.
Leah huffed a quick breath from the corner of her mouth, successfully blowing away a curl that had fallen over her face. She pushed back the fur-lined hood from her brow, allowing a bit of the warmth from the sun to kiss her cheeks when a sudden squeal rang out as Owen dashed ahead with Rose on the toboggan. Leah had to swallow back a strange sensation that filled her chest as she watched him bring joy and delight to her sister’s face. Rose held her hand to her head to keep her hood in place, holding on to the toboggan with the other as she laughed in delight. He effortlessly pulled her along, his smile bright and genuine as he doted on her. It was . . . endearing. Leah was surprised to find she couldn’t look away.
“Any chance I could convince you to pull me along?” Graham asked, trudging up beside her with a toboggan of his own trailing along after him.
She shook her head with a grin. “Aren’t you a bit old for that sort of thing?”
“Yes, but so is Rose. I’m only trying to even things up.”
Leah threw her hand back, lightly smacking Graham in the chest. “Rose is still much smaller than you.”
Graham puffed out his chest, putting a hand to the front of his jacket and raising his chin. “That is true. I am practically a man now, after all.”
“Yes, of course.” Leah pulled in her lips, trying not to smile. Graham was as skinny as a boy of sixteen could be and had only managed to sprout approximately five sparse hairs on his chin.
When they made it to the place where the hill sloped down to a small valley, Leah sat on her toboggan, catching her breath. It crystalized in the air and she watched it swirl before dissipating into nothing. She had been afraid of getting chilled out here, but after that walk, she had the opposite problem. Pulling the hood entirely off her head, she felt a breeze run down her neck, cooling her in a moment.
Rose saw the crest of the hill and jumped off of her conveyance, running with all her might and sending little white clouds up into the air after her heels. “I get to go first!”
“You are only able to run like that because you didn’t have to lift a finger to get here,” Leah yelled after her. She smiled and shook her head, taking a deep breath. The cool air burned her lungs and she let out a small cough.
“If you had only asked, I would have pulled you as well.” Owen’s shadow fell across the snow beside her, causing her to glance up at him. A smug smile hung on his lips as he looked after Rose. Leah turned back and saw her youngest sister take a few running steps before jumping onto her toboggan and disappearing over the hill.
Leah spared Owen a quick glance. “Nonsense. You would have dumped me into the snow at the first opportunity.”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Not as long as you didn’t whine at me about how slow I was going.”
“Whine at you?” She held a hand to her brow, blocking the sun as she looked up at him.
The corners of his mouth turned down as he gave a decisive nod. “Yes. Whine.”
“Since when do I whine?”
“Since whendon’tyou whine.”
“Perhaps I wouldn’t whine if you and Jonas didn’t always torment me.” She stood, brushing snow off the bottom of her skirts to release some of her agitation. The nerve. For Owen to happily pull Rose all the way to this hill like she was the queen herself and then to come over and pesterher, only to then claim she whines. “Did you only come over here to bother me?”
He looked out toward the hill where Leah’s siblings discussed who would pair with whom on the next run. “To be fair, I did not incite the disagreement. You did.”
Leah rolled her eyes. While he was technically correct, she did not wish to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him. She gathered her own toboggan, ignoring the fact that she was still a bit out of breath from her walk. If she needed to plunge to the bottom of the hill to get away from the aggravation Owen was causing her, then that’s exactly what she would do.
“Who wishes to race me?” Leah asked, turning to Miranda, Cecily and Jonas, who all stood together.
“Why don’t we all go at once?” Jonas asked, glancing about at his sisters.
Miranda shrugged. “I suppose that would be fine.”
Cecily threw her head back. “I would love to. And I plan to beat Miranda by a mile if only to punish her for such moodiness.”
“Come now.” Leah lined up her toboggan in the row they had all begun to form. “Let us be nice and have fun.”
