“I know. Me too.”
“Everyone’s so damn hearty around here.”
She giggles. “It’s true. We never had any snow days during school. Ever.”
“Never,” I agree.
We watch the snow for a minute.
“Californians wouldn’t know what the fuck to do with this.” I snort. “They cry when it drizzles out.” I take a deep breath. “If you need to get anywhere soon, I can take you. I’m an extremely cautious driver. I…lost my mom in a car accident. Almost lost my sister in another one…”
“Dylan! Really? Oh, I’m so sorry. That’s…I don’t even know what to say. I can’t imagine how painful.”
I nod. “Sometimes it feels like just yesterday, and other times, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen her.” I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry for taking a serious turn. Family means so much to me. I’m grateful to my siblings, and my dad, and my grandmas for helping keep her memory alive with me. My mom wouldn’t want us to be sad. She was so fun, so full of life. I’ve tried to live my life that way too.”
Her eyes are glassy when I look up. “That’s a really beautiful way to think about it.”
“Are you close to your parents?”
“I’m so close with my mom. My dad…it’s complicated.”
“Ahh. Complicated can be hard.”
“I’m an accountant at his company, so it’d probably be a lot easier if I didn’t have to deal with him in that capacity, but…it’s a great job. I think he tries to the best of his capability with me…he’s just not capable of a whole lot.” She laughs quietly, looking down at her plate.
“I’m sorry. That’s hard.”
Her eyes are sad when she looks at me and nods. “I didn’t mean to go to the dark side.” She crinkles her nose.
“You didn’t. I’m the one who brought this conversationdown,” I say, smiling at her. “Since it’s snowing so hard out, I vote we go make a snowman or something…”
She looks down at her clothes. “I’m not sure?—”
“I’m sure there’s something of my sister’s here. She lives in Windy Harbor now, but we’re all in and out of this house from time to time.”
“Okay. If we find something, I guess I’d be game. That whole ‘live life to the fullest’ mentality…maybe you’ll rub off on me.” She swallows hard and looks away, while I stare at her, my mind reeling with mental images of just that. Her cheeks flush, and I try to reel in all my lustful thoughts.
We finish up with breakfast, and I tell her to leave the dishes when she tries to clean. I take her to the mudroom and show her all our snow gear.
“You guys must be really…outdoorsy,” she says.
I laugh. “You could say that. I own a surf shop in Malibu and am about to become the activities coordinator for a resort. Are you not outdoorsy?”
She makes a face. “Not so much. I should try to get better at it. Chloe loves being outside so much, and we go for walks and to the park…but during the winter, I look for indoor activities.”
I grin. “Challenge accepted. I’d like to find things you like to do outside.”
Her head tilts as she looks at me skeptically. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”
I find a hat with cat ears and hand it to her. “This will look great on you,” I tell her. “My grandma made it.”
“Aw, that’s adorable! Wow, she made this?”
“Grandma Donna would cover the world with her knitting if she could. She’s definitely done her part.”
I hold up a black fitted snowsuit that looks like it’s hersize. “You’re taller than my sister, but this should fit you…you think?”
She nods. “I think it’ll work.”
