Page 35 of A Winter Thaw

“I know what a feather duster is.” He shook his head and went back to shoveling. “But what I don’t understand is why you would bother dusting a tree.”

She grinned. “It’s not really the tree I’m dusting, it’s the ornaments. We have all those beautiful antique ornaments on the trees and they look so much better if they’re clean and shining. I always like to dust them off when the rooms change over so that they look their best.”

“No wonder you’re tired.” Theo laughed. “You’re an over-achiever.”

He’d meant it as a compliment, but Michelle’s expression fell a little.

“I just like things to be done well,” she protested. “I don’t think there’s any harm in that.”

“I don’t either.” He paused in his work to offer her a sincere smile. “I think it’s impressive that you know how to do a job really well. Most people don’t care about things being as good as they could be, and you always seem like you do care. I think that’s great.”

Michelle blinked, smiled shyly, and then looked down at the snow for a few moments. Theo continued to shovel, thinking to himself that going out of his way to walk past The Birchwood House was the best decision that he’d made in a month.

Before long, he’d finished the entire driveway. Michelle had lain down in the snow at that point, and she was staring up at the swirling snowflakes with a dreamy expression.

“You’d better go inside before your coat gets soggy,” Theo said, leaning on the shovel and gazing at her.

She sat up. “Well, once you want to tap out, I’ll have to finish—oh!” She blinked in surprise at the finished driveway. “You did it! Thanks, Theo. Wow.”

He grinned and bowed. “You’re welcome.” He almost added, “My lady,” but then he stopped himself and felt suddenly shy.

“You want some hot cocoa?” Michelle asked, standing up. “I’m starting to feel chilly. Hot cocoa is perfect on snowy days like this.”

“Hot cocoa sounds incredible,” Theo agreed.

Spending time with Michelle sounded even more incredible. He could hardly believe his luck—she’d invited him to stay and hang out with her in the mansion again.

They walked up to the kitchen door together. Theo wanted to come up with something funny to say, but for some reason he couldn’t think of anything amusing.

Michelle heated up some warm milk on the stove for them, and Theo got packets of cocoa from the snack table.

“You know there’s milk in the hot cocoa packets, right?” he told her as he set the packets down on the kitchen counter. “You can just use water.”

“I know.” Michelle opened one of the cupboards and got out a pair of mugs. Ordinarily, a comment like that would have brought out her sharpest sass, but she seemed strangely nervous. “But the milk makes it taste even better. I mean, the original milk. I mean, the milk in the pot plus the milk in the cocoa packet makes it taste better.” She clapped her hand to her forehead, her cheeks turning pink. “Oh my gosh, I can talk, I promise.”

Theo let out a laugh that sounded like a mix between a snort and a giggle, and then they were both embarrassed. “The more milk the better, I guess.”

Once the milk was hot, Michelle poured it into the mugs and Theo helped her stir in the cocoa.

“We should add some whipped cream and chocolate syrup,” Michelle said, opening the refrigerator. She took out a can of whipped cream and started to spray it on top of the first mug. “Oh my gosh, that’s too much.” She squeaked as whipped cream started sliding down the side of the mug and she wiped it up with her finger. “Um, this one can be mine.”

“Hey, don’t give yourself more whipped cream than me,” Theo teased.

“Okay, you got it.” Michelle dramatically topped the second mug with a mound of whipped cream so high it started to lean precariously to the left. “And then some syrup for both of us.” She squirted chocolate syrup across the whipped cream on both mugs, and the effect was similar to a Jackson Pollock painting.

“Um, now—hmm.” Michelle reached for her mug and realized it was too full to lift without spilling the contents. “Uh…” She bent down and sipped from the mug without using her hands. She got a dollop of whipped cream on her nose. “Oh gosh.”

“Is this a contest?” Theo asked, bending down and sipping from his mug. He got whipped cream on both his nose and his forehead.

Michelle snorted in amusement and sipped more cocoa and whipped cream out of her mug. Theo followed suit, and they both kept sipping their cocoa in a ridiculous way. Finally they were able to pick their mugs up, and they carried them over to the kitchen table and sat down side by side.

Theo was trying to think of something to say when Puddle raced into the kitchen, yapping happily.

“Killer!” Theo said, reaching down to pet the puppy. “You came to see me. Thank you so much.”

Puddle jumped up and down, looking as though she was trying to hop up onto the table.

“Nope, sorry, no cocoa for you,” Michelle said, looking down at the fluffy little animal as she wagged a finger. “It’s not good for puppies.”