Touch by Touch (Riggins Brothers #4) - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,15
calling for this much snow. I’m surprised we haven’t heard from anyone at home asking about it.” He turns off the stove and plates our food. “We have a company we use to clear the drive, but we can’t call them until it stops snowing. Removing the snow now won’t do a bit of good with it still coming down like it is.” He places a plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and bacon in front of me. “Eat up, and we’ll get some warm clothes on and go check it out.”
Not needing to be told twice, I dive into my food, Conrad doing the same as we clear our plates. “I don’t know if I brought warm enough clothes for all of that.” I point out the kitchen window after I finish washing the dishes. It was only fair since he cooked. Besides, he stood next to me the entire time and dried as I washed.
“Mom has this place stocked for the winter. Come on. I’m sure we can find something that will fit you.” He grabs my hand and pulls me to a room off the back of the kitchen. There he opens a door that leads to a huge closet that’s more like a bedroom than a closet. The walls are lined with shoe racks and closet organizers. “Told you.” He chuckles. “Mom likes to be prepared. We have winter gear on this wall and summer gear on this one.” He points at each wall as he tells me what they hold.
“Your mom is a superhero. I want to be like her when I grow up.” My words cause his chuckle to turn into all-out laughter.
“Come on, crazy girl. Let’s find you something to wear.” We shuffle through the winter racks, and within fifteen minutes, I’m in snow pants, a jacket that makes me feel like the abominable snowman, and snow boots that fit like a glove.
“Now, we need a scarf and some gloves. What about a hat? Are you good with the one on the coat?” he asks.
“Yes. This should be fine. I’m actually burning up. Can you get with the program?” I tease.
“Hush it, woman. I’m making sure you don’t freeze to death.”
“We’re just going to check out the snow.”
“Oh, no, we’re doing more than that. It’s been too damn long since I’ve had a snow day with snow like this. We’re making the best of it.”
“I’m afraid to ask what that means.” He grins at my comment and winks. “Get dressed,” I tell him. What I don’t say is that I’m excited to spend the day with him frolicking in the snow. It’s been ages. I was a kid the last time I’ve done anything like this.
Ten minutes later, we’re on the front porch looking at all the snow. It’s still falling hard, and I send up a silent prayer that this doesn’t stop my sister’s wedding.
“What are you waiting for?” Conrad asks.
I pull my attention to him, and he’s now standing at the bottom of the porch, his deep footprints in the snow that comes to his knees. “How tall are you?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Six three.”
“I’m five-three.”
“Okay?”
“I’m a foot shorter than you, and the snow is to your knees. I can’t walk in that. And how did this happen? How did the weatherman not know this was coming? Aurora is going to freak the hell out when she finds out about this.”
“I think you’re doing enough of that for the both of you. It’s Mother Nature, Aspen. It happens. I promise you this won’t stop the wedding. As long as it stops,” he adds. “And as far as the snow, you’ll be fine, and I’ll be right here with you. I’ll go grab the shovel and make a path for you, but we are going in that.” He points to the side of the cabin. “And we are going to build a snowman. Hell, we might even build an igloo with all of this snow. My brothers and I did that plenty of times growing up.” His eyes light up with happiness at the memory.
“Yeah, Aurora and I did too. It’s been years since we’ve had this much snow.”
“And we’re making the best of what we are given. We can’t do anything else, not until the snow stops, so we might as well have fun and enjoy it.” He points to me. “You stay there. I’m going to grab the shovel.”