Mafia's Final Play (Mafia's Obsession #3) - Summer Cooper Page 0,34
Several hits, but they just joined to the wall without damaging it.
“I don’t think that’s going to work,” she turned to tell him. Another snowball smacked her in the back of the head softly when she did.
“Score two for me, none for you!” Anton called out with glee.
“That fucker,” Marie hissed with mock anger. “What do we do now?”
“Follow me.” Matteo took her hand and they ran around the edge of the house to the other side. “Get behind me.”
“Why?” she asked, a little miffed that he wanted to go first.
“Because he’s going to hit me first, so if you’re behind me, you can get him next.” Matteo grinned down at her. “Then we’ll both get him.”
“Good planning!” She grinned and followed him as he ran for the edge of the SUV.
They spent another ten minutes throwing snowballs back and forth, and they were all covered in snow by the time Marie fell to the ground, exhausted from laughing and the cold. The sun had started to go down and the temperature had dropped even more.
“I think it’s time we get her inside, boss,” Anton said as the two men looked down at her. They were grinning just as much as she was.
For a moment, it felt like the world narrowed down to just this moment in time, this moment of pure happiness and fun, and she knew it was a memory she’d never forget. Matteo held out his hand and pulled her up off the ground. “Yeah, I think it’s time for cocoa and something a little alcoholic to warm us up. Come on, my little snow bunny, let’s get you warm.”
Her nose, chin, and cheeks were glowing from exertion and the cold air, but she didn’t care. She was happy, and so were the men. They tramped into the cabin, pulled off their winter gear, and she ran up to put her pajamas back on but left her hat on. She’d kind of grown to like the silly thing and it helped her to feel warm.
She walked back downstairs to find the men had boiled water in the kettle and put out three mugs of hot cocoa with a plate of buttered toast for all of them. She smiled at them both because she felt they’d broken down some barrier with Anton. He smiled back and nodded at her cup.
“That one is yours.” He spoke directly to her for the first time, almost like a brother, and that made something warm begin to glow in her chest.
“Thanks, Anton.” She leaned into Matteo for a moment, as a way to say hello to him, and then picked up a slice of toast. “That was fun.”
“It was,” Matteo agreed quickly and sat back in his chair. “I don’t think I’ve played like that since I was very small.”
“We did it all the time where I grew up in upstate New York,” Anton volunteered, which shocked them both. Neither spoke, and Marie knew Matteo kept quiet for the same reason she did: any words might stop him. “Up until high school, anyway. Then we all became too cool for children’s games. I don’t know why we thought that it’s fun.”
He didn’t look at either of them, just his cup of cocoa, but he smiled as he continued. “We’d get some major snowstorms up there. Sometimes the snow would be so high we couldn’t open one of the doors. Those days were pretty boring, but we got by.”
Marie nodded before she spoke, “For us, it was flooding that would trap us. Luckily, Mom’s house was built on higher ground, but the water would come up around the sides sometimes, up to the steps, and all the animals outside would try to swim in. Which can be dangerous when it’s snakes, spiders, and animals scared out of their minds.”
“I bet that was scary,” Anton agreed. “I’ve seen it on television, the way it floods down there. I think I’d want to build my house on a hill.”
“There aren’t many hills in southern Louisiana,” Marie laughed. “You can build the ground up, but you have to let it settle for a really long time before you build on it or put another layer on.”
“I’ve heard some people reclaim land from the swamp. Wouldn’t that just get all soggy again eventually?”
“Not if you do it right.” Marie frowned but carried on. “I don’t know a lot about how they do that, but the engineers have found ways of doing it.”