Page 18 of Taylor

“I don’t have the right clothes. All I have is my peacoat and a hat and leather gloves. I don’t even have snow boots.”

She sat up, and he fought the urge to pull back to his shoulder.

“This is a cabin in Minnesota. I’m sure between my dad, brother, and brother-in-law, we have everything we need here. Come on, it will be fun,” she pleaded with the cutest fucking smile he’d ever seen.

With a deep sigh, he booped her nose, “Let’s do this, rainbow.”

She clapped her hands and got up off the couch. “What size boot do you wear?”

“Twelve.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

As she disappeared up the stairs, Taylor stood and stretched. The photos over the fireplace caught his eye.

Walking over to get a closer look, he found he barely recognized Alice. There she was, with blonde hair, in matching Christmas pajamas with the rest of her family. There was no sign of the colorful girl that always pulled him into focus.

Looking around the cabin, he saw all the colorful Christmas lights she’d put up. The Christmas tree was colorful, with sentimental ornaments. In the picture, everything looked like it had been posed.

They were in matching pj’s. The tree had beautiful white lights with coordinating decorations. Not that there was anything wrong with any of those things; it was just evidence things were different than Alice had set them up. In these pictures, she appeared as if she belonged to this remarkablefamily, although none were as soft and cuddle as she was, but they all looked good together.

But this, he thought as he looked around,this seems more like who she is. Cheerful colors and all.

Next thing he knew, Alice came around the corner and heaved a mound of winter clothes over the balcony, and they all landed on the floor of the living room.

“There,” she said with a victorious smile. “I know there is stuff to fit you in that pile.”

He looked at the array of snow pants, coats, hats, gloves. It was all there. He was sure he could find what he needed. The idea of wearing someone else’s clothes was generally hard for him, but at least these were Coach’s, and that felt better.

Looking up for Alice, he found she had, once again, disappeared. So, he bent down and picked a few things out of the pile to start getting ready.

He wasn’t one for playing in the snow. It always looked like it was going to be so fun, but then he ended up cold and wet, utterly miserable. In fact, the bane of his existence was snow tracked in and stepping in a puddle in warm, dry socks. He gave a full body shudder thinking of that.

But with the right clothes and making sure no snow got tracked in, this could actually be fun. He pulled on some snow pants over his khakis.

“Look at you,” she said. “We’re going to build the best snowman.”

He looked to the landing and... fuck. There was Alice Wagner. She was in purple snow pants, a puffy tie-dye coat, and a white hat. A white hat could look funny with the intense color of the rest of her outfit, but the rainbow-colored hair sticking out from the bottom called to him. It was all perfect. When you added in the way she was beaming and the grin that stretched across her face, it was everything.

“I found these,” she said, holding up snow boots. “They are my dad’s, and it just so happens you guys are the same size.”

Before he knew it, they were out in the snow, all bundled up, building a snowman.

“I think your outfit is very safe.”

She squinted down at her tie-dye coat. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you won’t be mistaken for a deer in colors like that?”

He turned away from her but enjoyed the indignant huff she gave. Next thing he knew, he was hit in the back by a snowball. As he turned, he saw her innocent expression as she was putting the head on the snowman.

“Is that how we’re going to play it?” he asked with a grin. He bent down, picked up a handful of snow, and packed it.

She squealed as she ducked behind a tree. Her eyes danced with joy, and her red cheeks called to him. He threw the snowball and hit her shoulder.

“Truce,” she called on a laugh as she stepped out from behind the tree. She moved to the porch to get a small bowl containing a carrot and other items.

She stepped back and admired at their work. Even he had to admit, it was a damn fine snowman.

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