“Haley.” Angel’s already pink cheeks flush a shade darker. And shit, she looks pretty when she’s flustered. “Maybe we don’t talk about Ronan’s muscles. That’s not really appropriate.”
“But he’s a Guardian, Mom. Of course he has muscles. How else can he protect people?”
Angel covers her face with her hand for a second. “Sorry. I don’t know… We’ll have to have a talk later.”
“It’s fine,” I tell her. “Idohave to have muscles to help people. But.” I glance at the mound of snow again. “What’s this about a ski hill?”
CHAPTER 4
ANGEL
Why is there nevera convenient hole to jump into when you need it?
After two days spent thinking about Ronan, rewinding our time spent together and picking it apart minute by minute, agonizing over whether I should call him or if it was nothing more than a polite offer he hoped I wouldn’t take him up on, debating if bringing cookies to his house to thank him would be nice or make me seem like a stalker, andthisis how I see him again?
Sweaty from trying to make a giant pile of snow in my yard. Hair all messed up because I haven’t even run a brush through it since I got home from work. My breath? I don’t even want to think about it. But based on the garlic parm chicken tenders I had for lunch, I’m going to assume it isn’t good.
And to top things off, Haley just commented on Ronan’s muscles. Hismuscles. Of which he has a lot. At least he did during the half marathon, and, judging from the stretch of hisjacket across his shoulders and the fit of his worn jeans, they haven’t gone anywhere.
But he’s going to think I’ve been talking about him. Admiring him. Mentioning all his muscles to my nine-year-old daughter.
Augh.
My face feels so hot, it’s a miracle the snow isn’t melting around us.
“This is our ski hill,” Haley announces, oblivious to my inner embarrassment. She gestures at the three-foot hill we’ve been working on ever since she got home from school.
Ronan glances back at me. His gaze lingers on my face, almost like he’s memorizing it. That same indecipherablesomethingI saw the last time he was here flickers in his eyes. “A ski hill? Who’s planning on skiing on it?”
Given its current size? No one.
“Well,” I start, “it’s still a work in progress. Hopefully, if we keep working on it for a few more days, we’ll make something tall enough to ski on.”
He frowns at the hill in confusion. “You want to go skiing in your yard?”
“So I can learn to ski,” Haley explains. “Mom found Gran’s old cross-country skis in the garage and she said I could use them. So we’re going to make a mini mountain in our yard, and I’m going to go skiing.”
Judging from Ronan’s expression, he doesn’t understand. And how could he? As nice and helpful as he is, he’s never had a daughter come home begging to learn how to ski and had to come up with a cost-free way of making it happen.
But on top of being nice and helpful, Ronan also has an abundance of tact. So instead of being dismissive or telling us we should just get tickets to Stowe, he looks at Haley and nods. “That makes sense. Convenient, too, having it right in your front yard.”
“I know!” Haley flashes Ronan a blinding smile. “Once we have the mountain—well, mini mountain—built, I’m going to practice every day. Mom said we could watch some videos about skiing, too. So I can learn the techniques.”
“I’ve only been skiing a few times,” I explain to him. “And not since I was a kid. So I thought it might be good to watch some videos as a refresher.”
“On Gran’s cross-country skis,” he says. “I see.”
Suddenly defensive, I say, “I wouldn’t let Haley go down an actual mountain in them. But a little slope in our front yard with me watching seems safe enough.”
Ronan’s mouth thins. For a second, I think he’s annoyed with me. Then he puts his hand on my shoulder and gives it a little squeeze. “It does sound safe,” he agrees. “And I think it sounds like a great idea.”
I look at him in surprise. “You do?”
A small smile tips up his lips. “I do. There’s no reason Haley can’t ski down a simple slope with cross-country skis. As long as she has the proper safety gear, of course.”
Inwardly, I wince. I hadn’t gotten that far with the idea yet. But he’s right. I can’t have Haley skiing in her bike helmet, no matter how little of a hill it is. Which means I’ll have to start searching online for a ski helmet on sale. Hopefully, one with fast shipping.
As if he read my mind, Ronan says, “Enzo sells ski helmets at his store. Rossi’s Outfitters? I can ask him about it.”
