Page 98 of Getting Wrapped Up

Levi reached out and took the phone.

“Hey, bro.”

Joe was going to ruin everything. He would have mentioned the fried green tomatoes. He liked them almost as much as Levi did. Joe also liked the fried pickles.

“What’s going on? Oatmeal at Dottie’s? I thought you liked this girl?” Joe asked.

“Right, of course,” Levi said nonchalantly. “All I need to know is where to get a sled.”

“Asled?”

Levi sighed. “Yes, a sled. You’ve heard of them.”

“I have. In fact, I own three. I wasn’t awareyouhad ever heard of them.” Joe sounded amused.

Joe often sounded amused when it came to Levi and things related to…almost everything in Sapphire Falls.

Of course, Joe had been in Levi’s shoes not that long ago. He’d been every bit the Vegas playboy that Levi was.

Well,almostthe Vegas playboy that Levi was.

“Can we borrow them?” Levi frowned. “How many do we need?”

Joe laughed. “I think I’ll loan you the bigger one and you can go down together. Since neither of you has any idea what you’re doing, that might be the safest thing.”

Levi smiled. “How hard can it be? You go to the top of the hill, you get on and slide down, right?”

“Pretty much,” Joe agreed. “Go out to our place. You can use our sled and there’s a small hill behind the house that will work.”

“Are you there?”

“No. The sled is in the shed.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

They disconnected and Levi headed for Joe’s house.

“We’re heading for Joe and Phoebe’s place,” Levi told Kate.

They were both very familiar with Joe and Phoebe’s. It was where they’d first spent the night together at Christmas while Joe and Phoebe were out of town.

“Great.” Kate actually looked excited.

Levi was too. Because she was happy and the sledding had the potential to be fun, but also because it was guaranteed that there would be food in Phoebe’s kitchen.

They found the sleds easily. They were lying in the middle of the floor, as if they were just waiting for the next outing. The biggest sled looked a little like a big plastic tub. It was bright blue, about five feet long and almost a foot deep.

They also found the hill easily. There was a clear trail leading from the backyard. They followed it about the length of a football field to where the land turned downward toward the river.

“You ready for this?” Levi asked. He held the sled at the top of the hill for Kate to climb on.

“I guess,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “You coming with me?”

“You go first.”

It was about fifty yards to the bottom of the hill and the incline wasn’t too steep. There was a long patch of flat land before the river bank and Levi figured the sled would stop well before it slid out onto the frozen-solid river. There was about five inches of snow back here, soft and powdery. The sun was shining, warming the air to about forty degrees with no wind. Apparently, this was nice for February.

Levi thought it was pretty damn cold.

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