Charlotte gave him a funny look and then turned to Lizzie. “What if Santa brought you a box of one-thousand crayons?” Her voice had a hopeful note to it. “Or markers–washable, of course,” she added, laying her hand on Micah’s forearm.
The contact made him all buzzy inside like he’d managed to put two audio tracts in perfect harmony.
Lizzie twisted her lips in thought. “That would be … nice.”
“Yeah?” Charlotte continued. “Imagine all the colors!”
Lizzie nodded. “They’d all be sharp. I like sharp ones.”
“Me too,” Charlotte nodded. “Oh! This is the turnoff.” She pointed right, and Micah steered them into a parking lot of sorts. Trucks and SUVs were parked anywhere and at any angle. Didn’t these people know how to line up?
He frowned as he looked for a spot. “I’ll be lucky if I get out of this without a fender bender.”
Charlotte laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first one from a snow day.” As soon as the SUV rolled to a stop, she was out and cheering on a group at the top of the hill. They yelled back to her, raising their hands in greeting and calling for her to get her butt up the hill.
Micah faced Lizzie. “Let’s get this over with.”
Undeterred by his lack of enthusiasm, Lizzie unbuckled and leaned down to look up the hill. “I see Jenny!” She jumped from the car and joined Charlotte, yelling loudly as a line of sleds started down the hill. Some of them moved much slower than others. The ones in front were grown men, whooping and hollering as they egged each other on. One guy threw a handful of snow at another. Panicked, the second guy leaned away and ended up wiping out. He came up laughing with a face full of snow.
Micah huffed as he zipped up his coat. It was going to be a long day.
Charlotte turned to find him dawdling behind the wheel. “Are ya scared?” She pumped her eyebrows.
Micah gave her an apathetic look. “Do I look scared?”
She tipped her head back, revealing her long and slender neck. “Yes!” She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at him. “Come on, Grumpy. It’s time to get your Christmas on.”
Lizzie unbuckled and climbed out. “Wishy–behave.” She let go of her imaginary friend and pretended to watch it zoom away. “Do you think they’ll be alright?” she asked Charlotte.
Charlotte followed the same pattern with her eyes that Lizzie did. “What damage can they do out here? There are no banana trees and nothing breakable. I say we let them do their thing today and wear each other out. It’s a fun day.”
Lizzie clapped her mittens together. “I love fun days.”
Micah grumbled as he climbed out of the car. If he had to spend the day as a loner, at least he’d get to be near Charlotte. Her holiday energy was off the charts, and there was this light in her eyes that he couldn’t pull away from–not that he was trying that hard.
For the love–when Lizzie needed cheering up, Charlotte was the first person he thought of visiting. This woman had a hold on him, and he wasn’t sure he wanted her to let go. Ever.
Maybe he should stop worrying about everyone else and focus on her. She’d invited him today and didn’t show any signs of abandoning him now that they were here.
Charlotte met up with a man and his wife, who were already loaded into their truck and pulling off gloves and hats. He pointed to a sled.
Jenny fell off one side of the sled she rode, hopped up, and charged the rest of the way down the hill. “Lizzie!” she squealed. “Come on–you have to ride with me.”
Holding one side of a sleigh, Lizzie and Jenny raced a quarter of the way up the hill with all the energy kids contain and parents wish they had. Micah’s heart warmed at the sight.
Charlotte waved him over, pointing at the sled. “Let’s go!”
He kicked the snow behind him as he trudged over. “What’s the hurry?” he asked.
Charlotte shoved his arm. “You can’t tell me you aren’t excited.”
“Okay then, I won’t tell you,” he said.
Charlotte laughed as they each took one side of the rope and started up the hill, pulling the sled between them. “I think I’m starting to figure you out.”
“What’s there to figure?”
“It’s not that you don’t want to smile–it’s that you haven’t hurled yourself down a mountainside and felt that rush of adrenalin for a long time that’s holding you back.”
