Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“Well, well, well, it is about time you joined me,” Crow said. “I thought I was freezing my balls off for nothing.”
“Crow, they might hear you!” She moved closer to him.
“Yeah, right. You think anyone can hear themselves think with that fucking noise? I’d like to see it happen.” He rolled his eyes. “Trust me, they’re more interested in the snow than my balls.”
Kelley couldn’t help but laugh. So, she was outside, but now she didn’t quite know what to do. She was at a loss.
“Help me build this snowman. Our yard is looking a little empty, and in case you can’t see, ours is the only one without a snowman.”
She looked down the street, and he wasn’t wrong. She’d been standing at the living room window, watching the kids play for a while. Perhaps a little too long. That sucked.
“What do I do?” she asked.
“We start gathering snow, and we get a nice big ball, and I say we settle it where we want Mr. Snowman to be. Are you ready for this, Kel?” he asked.
“Yeah, I am.” He made it sound so serious, but for the next hour at least, they built two large balls. The bottom was bigger than the other. Crow heaved the second ball right onto the first, and they patted it into place.
He took a step back and turned to her. “We need a third.”
She got right to it, and this one took less time, but there was still a lot of snow around.
With the head made, Kelley ran back into the house to grab a hat, another set of gloves, and scarf. She also grabbed some carrots. Crow had found a couple of dark stones to place for the eyes and the mouth.
She put the hat on the head, along with the gloves on each end of the stick. Once they stood back and admired their handiwork, Kelley loved it.
“Let me grab my camera.” She rushed back inside, grabbed her cell phone, and insisted that Crow stand with the snowman as she took a picture.
She should have known Crow would insist on the same, but she didn’t mind. Holding her thumb up, she stood close to her very first snowman, and she had a horrible feeling that when the snow melted, she might just cry.
“I adore him,” she said.
Crow didn’t get the chance to answer as a snowball was thrown right at the back of his head. It was like the street went completely silent.
Kelley looked to the kid, who couldn’t have been any older than ten. Even their parents had come out into the street to enjoy the snow. She and Crow were not the only ones taking in the fun.
“I’m sorry, Mister, it just slipped out of my hand. Promise.”
“So, you think you’re ready to take me on for a snowball fight?” he asked.
The boy frowned. “You’re not mad?”
Kelley watched as Crow bent down. “What’s your name?” he asked. Crow was gathering snow in his palms.
“Tim.”
“Right, Tim, you see that beautiful woman close to me?”
“Miss Rade,” Tim said.
“That’s right. You know she has never been in a snowball fight, nor had a whole lot of fun in the snow. How about you and your friends help me show her how much fun this could be?”
The smile on Tim’s face was wide. “You got it.”
“And, Tim, the name’s Crow, not Mister.” He got to his feet and spun toward Kelley. She looked at the snowball.
“Crow, what are you doing?”
“We’re going to have some fun. Don’t you want to have some fun?”
She held her hands up. Did she? Hell, yeah, she did.
“I suggest you arm yourself, because you’re about to get snowed,” Crow said.
It was so lame, but Kelley screamed as a snowball fight of massive proportions broke out in the street. There was no violence, but parents and kids all got involved, and Kelley couldn’t believe how much fun she had.
****
“You know, you didn’t have to do that,” Kelley said, bringing him another bowl of soup.
She’d made chicken soup, one of his favorites. He took the bowl from her, and Kelley picked up her bowl and sat next to him. They’d been outside playing with the kids for a good couple of hours. Crow couldn’t recall the last time he had played in the snow. It had to have been another lifetime ago.
“I know I didn’t have to do that, but I had fun. Didn’t you?” he asked.
The smile on her lips would stay with him forever. This is what he wanted for her, to make memories. He hated to see sadness in her eyes, or tears.
Kelley had also told him exactly what he knew was bothering her. Her mother was still alive, and that bothered Kelley. He pushed that little nugget of information to the back of his mind. He would deal with that soon. For now, he was just going to focus on his woman, and he had a feeling she had a lot more darkness in her past than she liked to admit.