Page 56 of Wild Nights

"I'll let you young people do the shoveling. I'm going to read my book in front of the fire."

I smiled, my hands wrapped around the warm mug. "I'm sure Marcus will keep you warm and fed."

Arthur grinned. "This vacation is turning out better than I thought it would."

"Do you have plans to be with your family for the holidays?" I asked him, unsure what that looked like for him now that his wife had passed away.

"This is my first Christmas without Abigail. My son, Jeff, wanted me to stay with him for the holidays. He lives in Denver. But I needed a few days to myself first."

"It's going to be hard without her," I said, my heart aching for him.

Arthur's eyes were shiny. "I'm grateful to be able to travel on my own and to have a few days of quiet before I see my family. Jeff has twin boys, and they are rambunctious."

"You're worried you won't be able to be joyful around them?" My heart clenched when he nodded. I reached over to squeeze his hand. "You don't have to be anything you're not ready for. I'm sure your family understands that this will be hard for you. They just want to spend time with you." That made me wonder about my own expectations for the holidays. I put so much pressure on creating the perfect day and carrying on traditions. What if time was all my family wanted? Spending the day together? No expectations. No elaborate meal.

Oliver cleared his throat as he entered the room. "The sidewalks were clear, but it's coming down hard."

I pulled my hand from Arthur's and sipped my coffee.

Arthur leaned back in his chair. "It's probably a waste of time until the snow slows down a bit."

"If we can't clear it, I guess we should go play in it." Oliver grinned, and he looked so much younger. Playful and carefree. Is this how he was with his son? I loved this side of him.

Joey came skipping out of the kitchen. "Can we go outside?"

Oliver looked down at him. "Did you eat?"

Joey scowled. "I was helping Marcus in the kitchen."

"Sit down and eat," Oliver said as Marcus came out of the kitchen with syrup.

"Ugh. Fine," Joey grumbled as he climbed onto the seat next to me.

Oliver placed a pancake on his plate, and cut it up before pouring the syrup on top. Then Joey dug in.

Oliver stacked his plate high with pancakes, then sat across from us. "Shoveling makes me hungry."

I smiled. "I can see that."

It was the best kind of morning. I didn't have anywhere to be. Even if I did, I couldn't go anywhere. It was a forced relaxation which suited me perfectly.

When we’d finished eating, I helped clean up. Then we headed down to the locker room area where Oliver stored my snowsuit and skis from the other day.

"I thought you rented these," I said when Oliver pulled them out for me.

"I bought them for you to use whenever you're in town."

Surprised, I said, "But the next time I'm supposed to visit will be in April."

Oliver cleared his throat. "You’ll have another conference in the winter."

"I can't get my boots on," Joey cried from his spot on the floor, and I resumed putting on the extra layers.

When we were dressed, Oliver led us to a storage lockerloaded with all kinds of fun stuff. He handed me a sled, then a smaller one to Joey.

He opened the door to the outside. The wind was strong, the snowflakes biting into our cheeks.

"We'll have to see how long we can last. There's a perfect sledding hill close to the lodge." Oliver motioned for us to follow him. The sleds had strings so we dragged them behind us in the snow. Joey stepped into the footprints that Oliver left in the snow, and the sight of that had my heart squeezing.

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