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“Caleb, I...”
“Are you two coming, or what?” Jack called from up ahead.
“If you’re too cold, you can have my jacket.”
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
He gave her hand a squeeze, indicating she should put the hat on. She did and he smiled at her. It felt like before everything got weird between them.
“Go on ahead. Catch up to Jack. I’ll be along in a minute.”
“You sure? I don’t mind staying with you.”
“I’m sure,” she said, smiling to encourage him to go and to hide the devious plan she hatched before leaving the barn.
Chapter Six
CALEB JOINEDJACKaround the bend and dismounted next to his horse. He tethered his horse to a tree limb and joined Jack in the middle of the road.
“Where is she?” Jack whispered.
“Why are we whispering?”
“Family tradition.” Jack held up a handful of snow. “Snowball fight.”
Caleb propped his new Stetson on the saddle horn. Like old times, Jack used hand signals for him to go left down a short embankment and follow the road back around the bend to come up behind Summer as she approached Jack. Caleb grinned and headed out, gathering up snow in each hand. He felt bad about ambushing her, but liked being part of her family traditions.
He made his way along the road inside the tree line. He had a moment of déjà vu, but shook off the demons that attacked him in the night, which he kept at bay during the day.
The spot he’d left Summer came into view and he stopped short, surprised to find the road empty. No way she got past him. He’d have seen her.
All of a sudden, two large snowballs pelted him square in the back of his head. Snow slid down his collar, chilling him. He held back a yelp and brushed it away and spun around to catch her with one of his snowballs. He didn’t see her. Cagey woman. So, she wanted to play. Well, he’d been trained by the best. No way she got away from him.
A twig snapped off to his right. She’d already passed him and closed in on Jack’s location. Caleb made a beeline for her and laughed when Jack grunted and yelled out, “Man, that’s cold.”
She got him, too. Impressed, he made a wide circle to come up behind her, but before he spotted her, she tagged him with another large snowball right in the chest. He looked down at the icy mess on his jacket and glanced up just in time to catch her jump down from a low tree branch and make a run for a clump of rocks.
He signaled Jack with a low whistle, caught a glimpse of him through the trees, and gave him a hand signal to indicate Summer’s direction. They smiled at each other. Caleb swore he heard Jack’s thought,Just like old times. Caught up in the game, they stalked their prey.
He couldn’t hide the crunch of snow under his boots, but neither could she. Ahead of him, he gathered icy ammunition. Snowballs at the ready, he came around a tree only to get pummeled by a barrage of snowballs. She laughed and launched another one when he chanced a look around the tree he hid behind. The snowball hit him smack in the face. He had to give her credit. The woman threw a mean snowball.
Jack whistled, signaling their attack. Caleb came out from cover firing. Jack did the same, twenty paces away. Summer took the high ground and stood atop a large boulder with at least a dozen snowballs at her feet. She launched one after the other at him and Jack as they advanced on her. Her laughter rang out in the forest, setting what few birds remained to flight. Jack laughed along with her and he joined in. The most fun he’d had in ... he couldn’t remember when.
He and Jack pummeled her. He got her in the gut and one to the chest. Shock widened her eyes when the snow went down her sweater between her lovely breasts. She shook it out, but Jack didn’t relent and hit her in the top of the head with another barrage. She stood to lob another at him and Caleb tossed another, hitting her in the thigh. She slipped on the icy rock, stood tall to gain her balance, but her other foot hit an icy patch and she fell backward, arms wind milling in the air. She disappeared off the back of the rock yelling, “Ow,” when she hit the ground with a thump that stopped his heart.
“Summer,” he yelled, and ran for her. He beat Jack and fell to his knees beside her. Without a thought, he wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her up to his chest and held her close, examining the gash on her head at her hairline. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
She grabbed his shoulders to steady herself and gave him a tentative smile. “I’m okay. A branch caught me on the head when I fell.”
“You could have been really hurt.” He crushed her to his chest and held her close, giving his pounding heart a minute to settle.
Summer wrapped her arms around Caleb and set her chin on his shoulder, loving the feel of him so close. She looked up and caught Jack watching them with a strange look on his face. Caleb’s concern for her touched her deeply, and she couldn’t hide how that made her feel.
“You sure you’re okay?” Jack asked, not coming any closer.
“I’m good.” Being safe in Caleb’s arms made her feel better than good. She felt loved.
Jack gave her a nod.
