Page 32 of For Him

Wrapping the hair tie around the base of my braid, I tugged at the stiff clothes from yesterday. Weston had already dressed and headed upstairs for breakfast, leaving me to get ready for the morning—morning that was going by so quickly. I didn’t look nearly as haggled as yesterday, even the bags under my eyes were non-existent. I wished for my own toiletries, but Weston at least had a decent hairbrush.

Pausing at the base of the stairs, I stared out the large window beside the sliding door. Snow piled halfway up the glass, obstructing my view of the pink sunrise just peeking out upon the mountainside. Something threatened in the air, taunting me with the idea of an adventure. Finally, I climbed the carpeted stairs, laughter reaching my ears as I emerged at the top.

Weston and Keaton were in the kitchen, the young boy sitting on the kitchen island beside a plate that was already stacked high with waffles. “Hey, Doc Tenley!” Keaton said, his smile bright as he dipped a waffle into a bowl of syrup and stuffed the sticky mess in his face.

“Hey,” I responded with a smile as Weston plated another waffle.

“You’re going to join us sledding right?” Keaton asked, stuffing another bite into his mouth.

“To be honest, I’ve never been sledding before.” I slipped onto a barstool as both Weston and Keaton whipped around to stare at me.

“Like, ever?” Keaton asked, syrup dripping from the waffle he was holding.

“Never,” I answered as Weston placed a plate down in front of me.

“She can come right?” Keaton asked, returning his focus to Weston.

“We have cows to check this morning, gotta make sure everyone handled the storm kiddo. Once morning chores are done, of course she can come,” he replied, placing a glass of orange juice on the counter in front of me. Grabbing the syrup bottle from beside Keaton, I drizzled some over the waffles that steamed upon my own plate.

It melted in my mouth, and I moaned lightly, closing my eyes. One of the best waffles I’d ever tasted came the morning after a crazy snowstorm. Cutting another piece with my fork, I quickly stuffed a massive bite into my mouth, suddenly understanding Keaton’s actions earlier.

“I’ll take that as approval, and a silent thanks to the chef,” Weston teased and I nodded, humming an agreement while stuffing another bite in my mouth. He chuckled. “So, you’ll stay for sledding? We could just check the cows this morning while you’re here instead of this afternoon like we’d planned.”

My fork paused halfway up to my mouth in shocking realization. “It’s Friday,” I said, stunned. I’d completely forgotten what day of the week it was.

“Yes?” Weston questioned.

“I have patients today,” I muttered, and the last bite of waffle plopped to my plate. “I am supposed to be at work!” Shoving the seat back from the counter, I stuffed the waffle in my mouth and drained the orange juice all in one gulp.

“Give me a minute, and we will head down the mountain so you can take off,” Weston said, scrambling to clean up. He, too, stuffed an entire waffle into his mouth, while sticking the rest in his fridge and wiping down the countertops.

Keaton hopped down, and we made our way towards the door where I slowly layered myself in now mostly dry clothing.

“Disgusting,” I muttered, brushing at the sticky red jam stain that surely wouldn’t come out ever now.

A chuckle sounded behind me and I spun around while stuffing an arm in my coat. Weston was pulling a vest over his black hoodie and then tucking his arms into his Carhartt. He looked put together as usual, pulling his boots on and tucking them under his crisp wranglers. He tugged on his hat, causing me to tilt my head sideways.

“You kind of look like Doc Holliday, did you know that?” I said as I slid the beanie tighter over my ears.

Weston simply winked and then pulled open the door. Crisp white snow coated the entire world in front of me. Sparkling crisp and clean, bending with the waves of everything around us and thigh deep. Weston snagged a shovel from beside the front door and began pushing snow off of the porch.

Eventually, he dug a pathway down towards the Razor that we could wade through and began brushing the snow off of our transportation that would take us down the mountainside. It took some finessing because of the snow, but eventually I was buckled into the passenger seat, with Keaton jumping in the back, and we were slowly making our way down the hillside.

The snow wasn’t quite as deep as we emerged at the bottom of the pastures and sped over towards the main lodge where my car was covered in snow. Though it looked like the cowhands had already taken a plow to the drive, so at least my vehicle wouldn’t stay stuck. Things were already lively with cattle braying, and cowboys out riding. Cassidy came sauntering up as Weston put the Razor into park and began updating him on the rounds they’d already made as I walked over to my car.

Slowly, I began pushing snow off of the roof and windshield, attempting to prepare to leave. Keaton made his way towards me, leaning up against the vehicle.

“You make him smile,” Keaton said.

“Sorry?” I replied, shoving the last bit of snow out of the way so I could see while driving.

“Uncle Weston. He’s happy around you and smiles more. He even laughs with you,” Keaton continued.

“He’s a really fun friend, and I’m pretty sure he was like that 'cause you were there,” I answered, tugging at my frozen door. It crackled and took a couple more nudges before it broke loose and opened.

“He always laughs with me, yeah, but never when strangers are around. Mom says that people see him as some monster, and he doesn’t like scaring people so he keeps to himself. That’s why he refuses to come to parties and things. But not around you.” Keaton pushed himself off of my car.

“Anyway, see you this afternoon!” He waved and suddenly was gone. Just like that, throwing a curveball towards me without a second thought before disappearing.

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