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It was a great moment, just sitting there embracing her father along with her siblings, all except…
As if of one mind, the three of them all turned and looked at Billie, but she didn’t seem like she was in any rush to join the group hug.
“Thank you for this,” she said, holding up the recipe box. Ashlynn heard the slight tremble of her voice. “I appreciate what you’re saying, Dad, but…”
“You need more time,” he finished for her, and all Billie did was nod. “And that’s okay. I know I’m asking a lot of the four of you and…well…it means a lot that you’ve opened your home to me. So…thank you.”
Things got a little less serious after that as they moved into the kitchen and began going through the recipe box. Ashlynn couldn’t speak for everyone, but she thought this was a good start for them as a family.
And right now, it was pretty awesome to have something positive going on, especially when there was something potentially dark still looming over her head.
It was rare for them to get snow this late in the season, but several days later, snow was gently falling. Reid held Ashlynn’s hand as they walked around the courtyard of their apartment building. She had mentioned wanting to build a snowman and at first he’d thought she was kidding. But once she dragged him outside and began planning where she wanted to set up, he quickly got on board.
“So your father left today, huh?”
“Yeah. Patrick and Marissa really wanted to get back home because they have to figure out how to handle a temporary move here.” She bent over and began rolling a large snowball. “I feel bad that none of us have enough room for them to just crash with us, but Marissa was pretty emphatic about them needing a place where they can go to at the end of the day and just…I don’t know…decompress.”
He nodded. “Well, they are basically taking on a lot of stuff here in Sweetbriar. It’s still a little bizarre to me how no one who lives local was willing to step up and take some action to bring this town back to life. If your brother hadn’t taken the initiative…”
“I know. And that is crazy to me. I mean…Levi used to avoid coming home at all costs. So to have him be the guy who saved the town?” She laughed. “Crazy.”
“Did your cousin find a house or apartment to rent?”
“They’re actually going to rent one of the apartments right here. There’s a two bedroom on the first floor and they worked out a deal with the landlord for a short-term lease.”
“Wow!” He began rolling his own giant snowball into part of the body for their snowman. “That’s going to be great for them—having you so close by.”
She rolled her part of the snowman closer to him and took a minute to contemplate something. “Maybe. I don’t think they really need me. They’ve got a great team of people they’re working with and they’ll be super busy trying to get everything done with renovations and all that. Plus, with Marissa being pregnant, I don’t think they’re going to be staying as long as they originally planned.” Pausing, she bent back over. “I think this needs to be bigger.”
They worked together getting the bottom part just right before Reid added his piece on top of it.
It still felt a little surreal to him that he was back in Sweetbriar Ridge and standing here making a snowman with Ashlynn. It didn’t matter that it had been almost a month already; it still boggled his mind a bit. Whenever he envisioned coming back here, he figured he’d eventually run into her and apologize and…then it was sort of anyone’s guess where they landed. Obviously, he could have come back and realized that what he had was just a high school crush, or she could have been dating someone or married, or she could have moved away and he never saw her again. But to have this turn of events and end up dating her? Yeah, it still sometimes felt funny.
“I love that you have two full days off again,” she was saying as she placed the head on the snowman. “What would you think about catching a movie tonight? Maybe we can call Leo and Avery and have a double date?”
“That sounds great.” Taking a step back, he examined their handiwork before taking off his scarf and wrapping it around the snowman. “Do you want to see if they want to grab dinner out somewhere before we go?”
“Oh, I actually started a batch of beef stew in my crockpot this morning. I just figured we’d eat at home, but that was before the whole movie and double date thing came to me. It’s not a big deal. Leftover stew is still awesome.” She took off her hat and placed it on the snowman’s head.
Then they both stood back and stared.
“He needs a face,” she whispered before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a carrot, two Oreos, and a pipe.
Reid couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wow. You really came prepared!”
“It’s not my first snowman,” she said teasingly before putting all her props on the snowman’s face. “There!” Taking a giant step back, she slid into his arms and sighed happily.
“We made a very impressive snowman.”
“Yes, we did!”
He paused for a moment. “Can we go inside now and make hot cocoa?”
Ashlynn laughed as she began jogging toward their building. “Oh my goodness, yes!”
Reid playfully chased her up the stairs until they were practically tumbling through her front door. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her thoroughly before letting her go. “Do you want me to text Leo or do you want to text Avery about tonight?”
“I’ll make the cocoa and you text Leo.”
