River shrugged, but a blush began to spread over his cheeks. “What’s wrong with that?”
Aries patted River heartily on the shoulder, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Enjoy it, River! Nic doesn’t know what it’s like to be motherless.”
“Well, that certainly is practical,” Nic snorted with barely contained mirth. He shook out the publication with a theatrical flourish and bellowed, “River, listen to this! Since you want a woman in your life... Widow in White Wood seeks husband. Must be able to sire children. Experience farmer preferred.”
“Oh, that rules me out,” Lekyi said, roaring with laughter.
“Which part?” Collin asked, unable to stifle his own amusement.
“Must you read that awful column?” Hadria growled disapprovingly.
Nic ran a hand through his hair as he doubled over with laughter. “Here’s one for you, Hadria! One-legged man seeks wife under forty for laundry and cooking—bonus, still has all his teeth!”
The room exploded into wild laughter. Not even River could bury a chuckle.
“Speaking of leg,” Hadria said pointedly, which only caused the volume of uncontained laughter to increase. “You can’t go ice fishing with those crutches!”
“Thank you, Hadria! Exactly what I said.” River threw his hands dramatically in the air. “We ran into him on our way here and he insisted on coming along, but I said—”
“I was going crazy shut up in the house, studying nonstop. I just needed out.”
“When are you getting rid of those crutches?” asked Collin.
“Wish I knew. Fol says I’ve got a lot of soft tissue damage, and that takes the longest to heal.”
“You really shouldn’t go,” said River. “What if you slip and cause more damage? Or you end up cracking the ice with the crutches?”
“Riv, ease up—Lekyi’s not made of glass.” Nic tossed the crumpled paper onto the table, clearly pleased with how thoroughly he was irritating Hadria. “If the man wants to risk frostbite for a fish, let him. God, you’re all acting like we’re planning a siege.”
He shot to his feet with sudden purpose. “All right, gents! Enough heartfelt chatter. Time to fulfill our noble quest.”
Then he rounded on Collin and shook him by the shoulders like a man trying to restart a broken clock.
“You lot go find enlightenment on the ice,” Collin said, batting Nic off. “I’ll stay here and commune with the broom.”
He kept his tone light, but his eyes lingered on the book and the colored shards scattered across the table. A few hours without Hadria hovering, no banter, no performance—that was the dream.
“I’m not going,” Hadria declared, cocooning herself in a blanket. “I’ve never ice fished in my life, and I have no plans to start.”
Collin suppressed a sigh.So much for solitude.Of all the people to be snowed in with—it had to beher. Prodding, forever perched on the edge of a question. He could already feel her watching him, like she was trying to crack him open with pure concentration. Any minute now, she’d pounce—the emotional ambush was inevitable.
Nic already had one hand on the door. “Get up, Collin. You can sulk later. We’re going to freeze our asses off and pretend it’s recreational.”
“I really should—”
“Do chores? Please,” Nic scoffed. “What could possibly be more exciting than frozen fingers and the scent of fish guts?”
River chimed in gently, “The lake is beautiful this time of day. You’d enjoy it.”
Collin hesitated, his gaze drawn to the frost-covered window. Beyond it, the snow glistened under the winter sun, untouched and beckoning. He imagined the sound of snow crunching under boots, the silence that only winter could create, the sharp cold in his lungs that made him feel somehow more awake. The frozen lake called to him like a half-forgotten dream.
Then came Hadria’s voice—soft but unmistakably pointed. “You probably need a break from me anyway.”
He turned toward her. She met his gaze without blinking.
That decided it. He wouldn’t win staying here. And the thought of fresh air, of laughter, of temporary escape, suddenly felt like salvation.
“Fine,” he muttered, standing up. “But only for a little while.”
