Page 10 of Snow Drift

After a minute, I snap off the light and walk silently back to the library, my mind going in circles, and my jeans way too tight in the front.

Kallie is mine. We were meant to be. I just have to make her understand that she is completely safe with me.

No matter what she's running from, I'll protect her.

6

KALLIE

Wow, Moore was right about the snow. Looking out the windows as I do the usual round of Friday morning cleaning, I'm delighted to see the glorious thick blanket of white over everything.

He's actually right about a lot of things. Like me wanting to settle down someday. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Just because something terrible happened to my mother doesn't mean that it would necessarily happen to me. Still, it feels safer to keep moving.

How strange that we are sometimes so illogical.

I go back to my room before lunch to scrub my hands and face, and blink when I see something different on the dresser.

Then I laugh out loud as I recognize the pot of violets. There's a note beside them that reads, "If we weren't snowed in, I'd bring you fresh flowers to draw. For now, something borrowed from the library will have to do. I hope they brighten your day."

The tidy printing looks like it belongs on site plans or an architectural blueprint. Everything about Moore is proper. Even last night, he stopped before he slipped his hand into my pants.

Although… I wanted him to. There's something about him. Pheromones…an electrical pulse…who knows. We're already connected more deeply than I can understand. I would have said yes to anything he wanted to do. Feeling so relaxed around him, even when my heart is racing… It's amazing.

If we lived together, I'd feel like that every single day.

Shaking the fantasy out of my head, I wash up and go down to lunch, trying to pretend like everything is normal. Like I'm not in the middle of falling in love with a man who is leaving soon.

After helping clean the kitchen, I peer out the window to check the depth of the snow. "You're not seriously thinking of feeding the birds in this," Rosa says.

"Somebody has to."

"Mrs. H. told us not to go out when it's like this," Maya reminds me. "Get Cooper to do it."

I roll my eyes. "No. He did it once, and there was more seed on the ground than in the feeder. That encourages squirrels. Those things are too cheeky already."

"Besides," Rosa lowers her voice, "Cooper might be busy with a certain boss of ours."

Maya grins. "It really seems like that's happening, doesn't it?"

"Seriously! Every day they're a bit closer," I laugh. "Hopefully she won't notice my brief escape, but if she does tell her it's for a good cause."

I bundle up in boots, a parka, and gloves in the back hallway. The bag of birdseed is pretty heavy, but it's not that far to the feeder.

After a dozen steps in the two feet of snow, I wish I had rethought my plan. It's too hard to carry the bag and be a human snow plow at the same time.

My head jerks up when I hear something. Moore is in the sunroom, tapping on the glass and motioning for me to stay put. Waving him off, I give him an awkward thumbs up, which thinking about it might not even register in these gloves.

Slowly trudging along, the wind begins to cut right through me. My feet shuffle forward anyway. No birdies are going hungry on my watch.

I squeal as the bag is lifted away. Then a thick arm wraps around me.

"You don't think the birds would survive a few days without your help?"

"It's about routine," I explain. "We want them to drop by the chalet on a regular basis. Then they teach their children there is a reliable food source here, and there will always be birds nearby."

With Moore's help, we reach the feeder quickly. He's wearing boots but no coat or gloves, but the cold doesn't seem to bother him at all.

"Interesting that you're so concerned with the future of this chalet when you might not even be coming back," he says casually.

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