Liam shakes his head slowly as if I’ve told him something tragic. “How about now? Is it in your contract that you can’t do things that could cause bodily injury?”
“Not technically…”
“Okay, well, do you trust me?” He scoops a bright red magic carpet sled from the box and holds it up. “I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to try the saucer, those things move at the speed of light.”
“You really want me to get on a thin sheet of hard plastic and fly down a hill?” I say in disbelief.
“See, that’s where the trusting me bit comes in. This one should fit both of us. All you have to do is sit and enjoy the ride.” He adds a little eyebrow wiggle as he says that last bit, making me laugh despite myself. “Consider it a rite of passage. Every Canadian should go sledding at least once in their life.”
“Come on, Joss! It’s fun!” Rex rifles through the box and chooses a purple sled. “You can go once and if you hate it, you never have to go again. Mom does that with food and calls it a ‘no, thank you’ helping. I always have to try stuff before saying I don’t like it.”
How do I argue with logic like that?
Several other people join us as we trudge through the snow to the hill behind the center. I’m relieved to see it’s not unreasonably steep. By the time we reach the top, I’ve convinced myself that even if I tumble off the sled, the snow is so soft and deep it’ll cushion my fall.
Liam hasn’t even set our sled on the ground before Rex takes a running start and leaps headfirst onto his sled. My heart drops into my stomach, although I can’t help but laugh as his joyful “yahoooo” follows him all the way down the hill. He hops to his feet the second the sled comes to a stop, snatching it up with one hand while using his other arm to swipe snow from his face.
“Shown up by an eight year old,” I murmur.
“You get used to it,” Liam says dryly. “Okay, my lady, your chariot awaits. Hop on and I’ll slide in behind you.”
I drop gracelessly to my knees and shuffle my butt onto the sled. Liam sits behind me, scooting so my back is flush with his front and his strong thighs bracket my body. He puts his arms around me, giving me a quick squeeze before reaching for the sled’s handles.
“Ready?” he asks, nuzzling my neck through my scarf. His hot breath makes me shiver. At my nod, he counts down from three and pushes off, sending us zooming down the hill. I let out a squeal that quickly turns to a high-pitched laugh as we careen down the hill. The world around us is a blur of shapes and color as snow flies into my face.
The sled comes to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the hill, making us both rock forward. We sit in silence for a few seconds and then I break out in delighted laughter. Chuckling softly, Liam releases the handholds and wraps his arms around me, pulling me even closer to him than before.
Rex flies by us, whooping and cackling. When he gets to his feet, he turns to us with a wide grin. “Ready to go again? Wanna come with me this time? I’m not as heavy as Uncle Liam, so I bet we could go even faster and further than you two did.”
“Bring it on,” I say without hesitation.
Rex gets a head start up the hill as I clamber to my feet, laughing again when Liam gives me a little push. I bend to kiss his snow-dusted lips. “Wanna race?”
His eyes go wide with surprise, then crinkle at the corners as he grins. “You’re on.”
After countless trips down the hill, we join the others at the front of the center, where there’s a snowball fight in progress. Rex dives into the fray headfirst while Liam and I take cover behind what appears to be a partially-built snow fort.
“I feel like a kid again,” Liam says, laughing breathlessly.
“I never got to do stuff like this as a kid,” I say, peering around the edge of the snow fort wall we’re leaning against. “I had so many opportunities most people will never have, so I didn’t get the sense I was missing out. I feel like I’m getting a belated second chance at a childhood today, though.”
“We’ll have to send our thanks to the weather gods for snowing us in then,” Liam says. His soft, playful smile warms me from head to toe.
“I do thank them, believe me. I’m thankful for you and Rex too. You’ve both reminded me what it’s like to let go and have fun.” I grip the collar of his coat and pull him to me for a long kiss. When I release him, his goofy, dazed smile makes me giggle. “Let’s get back out there. I’ve never been in a snowball fight before. That seems like as much a rite of passage as sledding, and I don’t want to miss out.”
As the sun begins its descent in the sky an hour or so later, casting us all in oranges and reds, we decide it’s time to return to the warmth of the center. While I stomp the snow from my boots and strip out of my borrowed snow pants, I glance around at the people I’ve spent the day with. Most of them were strangers until last night; now I know every single one of their names, along with where they live and work, and what their plans are for the holidays. I’ve slept and eaten in the same room as them, laughed with them, thrown snowballs at them, helped create an elaborate snow fort with them. I try to tell myself the tingling in my eyes is their way of adjusting after hours in the cold, but I can’t deny the rising tide of emotion in my chest. I also can’t deny that I’m falling hard and fast for this town and its people.
A nearby laugh draws me from my thoughts a second before Delia tilts in my direction. I grab her arm to hold her upright as she struggles to free her leg from her snow pants.
“I’m thinking hot chocolate is in order,” she says breathlessly, finally kicking the pants off. She gives my arm a squeeze before releasing it. “And then maybe that feast I mentioned earlier? I heard some people say they were going to attempt to make it home, but Addy and I aren’t that brave. I couldn’t evenseeour car in the parking lot because of all the snow.”
“I’ve got some calls to make to check in with people, but then I can do a head count, see who wants to stay,” Liam says, appearing from behind me. “Rex was begging me to spend another night, and I think it’s the safest thing to do. We don’t need cars getting stranded in the snow or people freezing in their houses if the power is still off.”
I offer to do the rounds and count people who plan to stay while Liam makes his calls. Delia heads for the kitchen, recruiting Rex along the way to be her ‘hot chocolate helper’. Twenty minutes later, Liam announces the Murphys and several other older couples around town are doing fine, and I tell Delia we’ll have sixteen people for dinner. I join the volunteers who drift into the kitchen offering to help; I’m honest about my lack of cooking skills, but happily agree to be the one who peels a sea of potatoes.
A few hours later, with bellies full of delicious food, we gather around the projector screen Liam has erected, and settle in to watchElf.
“This has been the most wonderfully weird couple of days,” I whisper to Liam partway through the movie. He, Rex, and I are sitting much like we did during our first movie night at the center, all squished together in an oversized beanbag chair.
