Page 50 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

She sighed. “I’ll sleep in the women’s room with one of those sleeping bags, as well. At least I don’t have to worry about waking up with a rattlesnake sharing my bag with me. I’ve heardstories about people waking up with scaley companions who are looking for warmth.”

Oliver grinned at her. “As far as I know, we don’t have any snakes hanging out in the lodge. They should all be hibernating for the winter.”

After a quick breakfast of leftovers from the night before, Gwen, Lucas, Sawyer, and Darren stepped out into the bitter cold and made their way to each cabin, stuffing blankets and thermal sleeping bags from the supply closets into trash bags and taking them back into the lodge.

When they returned with their heavy loads, everyone was up and crowded into the parlor.

Samantha smiled. “I love those sleeping bags. My father had some when we went camping when I was a kid. I’ll take one of those and sleep in the same room we’ve been in.”

“Me, too,” Maddie said. “Joseph and Elsie are out gathering wood now, but they said that they would sleep in their room, as well.”

“We’ll make this work,” Samantha said. “We’ve been through a lot already and we’ll get through this.”

“Come on, Jeff and George. You have to help,” Sawyer said.

“Help with what?” Jeff asked belligerently.

“Help us with the firewood. You are enjoying the warmth and eating the food and haven’t done anything to contribute. That ends now,” Lucas said.

“And if we don’t?” George asked.

Oliver smiled. “Then you are free to leave. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.”

The words might have been funny, but the message behind them was loud and clear. Reluctantly, the two men pulled on their coats, boots, and gloves.

Lucas, Sawyer, Joseph, and Darren grabbed axes. Joseph and Darren cut fallen trees into smaller chunks. Lucas and Sawyer split those logs into smaller pieces that would fit into the fireplace. Gwen and Samantha picked up the larger logs and carried them to Lucas and Sawyer while Jeff and George hauled the smaller pieces into the lodge and stacked them on the porch.

Finally, in the early afternoon, they had enough wood on the porch to last them at least a day, if not two. They trudged inside, pulled off their outerwear, and downed the soup that Millie made with a couple of the birds.

“I think people need to get out of the lodge even if it’s for a short while,” Gwen said. “Oliver, do you have enough snow shoes for everyone?”

“Almost everyone,” he said.

“Alright everyone, let’s go,” Gwen said.

Lucas and Darren demonstrated how to strap on the snowshoes and how to walk. Pretty soon, almost everyone from the lodge was out on the snow, waddling around.

“We look like a bunch of penguins,” Samantha shouted.

“I feel like a foal trying to stand for the first time,” Maddie laughed, just as she face-planted into the snow.

Darren and Lucas helped her back to her feet and Gwen brushed her face off.

“Are you okay?” Samantha laughed, giggling.

Maddie bent over, picked up a handful of snow, formed it into a ball, and tossed it at Samantha.

“Oh yeah?” Samantha howled, picking up her own handful of snow.

Soon, everyone in the yard was throwing snowballs at each other, laughing, and having fun. People were picking sides, switching sides, and having an all-out war. After half an hour of battling, everyone was covered in snow.

By the time they made it back inside, there was a lightness in the group that hadn’t been there before. The fresh air and snowball war had done wonders for their moods. Gwen felt happier, too.

Millie bustled into the parlor. “Surprise. I found a couple boxes of hot chocolate in the back of the pantry. I have enough for everyone to have a cup.”

Everyone cheered. Gwen smiled.

It really is the simple things in life that make it worth living.

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