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He gave us a friendly smile before suspiciously looking over our shoulders. “Anything down there?”
“Another clue,” Theo said, clapping a hand on Austin’s shoulder as we squeezed by him. “Just don’t get lost in the maze.”
“A maze? How did Zane and Enzo turn this place into a holiday Disneyland?” Austin asked, starting down the creaking steps.
“They’ve got the magic touch,” Theo answered. We walked down a snow-covered hallway and through two wide double doors that opened out to the frozen lake. No one else seemed to have come this way judging by the untouched snow that dusted the ground, covering the tall blades of green grass from the rolling lawn that dipped down toward the picturesque lake. Theo and I walked hand-in-hand to the edge of the lake, where the reflective water appeared like a perfect painting of the puffy clouds that dotted the clear blue sky.
“I don’t think I ever want to leave,” I said, taking a moment to appreciate this. I lived in New York City, where the snow stayed white for approximately twenty-seven seconds before it turned slush brown or piss yellow or a combination of both. I loved living there but didn’t mind these quiet moments, either. Not at all.
Especially when I got to share them with Theo.
“Maybe we can make this a yearly thing?”
“Maybe,” I said, trying not to focus on the fact that he was already planning the years to come, and those plans included us.
Was it the holiday season that was making me this boy crazy? Or was it really some unseen spiritual bond between us, stronger than anything else I’d ever felt?
“You two love birds found anything over here?” Penny asked, one of the detectives from Miami. She held her thin coat closed with one fisted hand, another one holding what appeared to be a clue. “I found this note that talked about sleighs and skates and shit. Figured the lake was where I should check.”
“We found the same clue,” Theo confirmed, taking the folded up piece of paper out of his pocket. She reached for it, a tattoo on the inside of her wrist flashing for a brief moment.
“Is that new?” I asked, chin-pointing at her hand. “The tattoo? Those colors are so bright.”
“Oh this? Yeah, I got it a couple weeks ago. It’s my grandma’s favorite flower.”
She held her hand out, giving us a clearer look at the rose tattooed on her wrist, the reds and greens of the flower appearing to be done in water-colors, the edges blurring and spreading over the sharp outline.
“I love it,” I said, Theo echoing my statement.
“Thank you.” Penny held her hands to her chest and dipped her head, smiling.
Snow crunched under the boots of another detective joining us. This time it was Alejandro Santos, a detective from New York, and his husband, Griffin Banks, both of them grinning in matching red Christmas sweaters, fluffy multi-colored lights stuffed with cotton wrapped around them.
“You guys found the clue, too?” Theo asked.
Griffin lifted their clue, nodding toward the lake. “Are we supposed to go out there?”
I used a hand to shield my eyes from the sun and looked out at the center of the lake. “I’m not seeing anything out there, and I doubt the clue would be under the ice.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, “plus, I don’t think Zane and Enzo paid all that much for insurance. If that ice breaks—“ He tsked and shook his head. He made a valid point, so the clue likely wasn’t out in the middle of a frozen lake. But it still had to be around here somewhere or we wouldn’t have all been led to the lake.
“I’m going to check over this way,” Penny said, shuffling toward the side of the lake with less tree-coverage. There was a boat shed that did seem slightly suspicious, but Theo grabbed my hand and tugged me in the opposite direction, toward the side of the lake that was covered thick in trees. Alex and Griffin followed Penny, the three of them fanning out as they reached the boat shed. I noticed a wreath on the door but Theo seemed convinced the clue wouldn’t be somewhere so obvious.
And he was right.
Lettering in the snow caught my eye. It was faint but still legible. “Check this out, Theo.” I waved him over, keeping my voice low so the others wouldn’t hear me. Theo kept his cool as he walked my way. No one noticed as he crouched down next to me, reading the words written in the snow.
“It’s time to see who can stand the heat, or they’ll have to get off this sleigh ride.”
Leading away from the letters were horse-shoe shaped prints.
“Heat?” I asked. “Is that another Miami reference?”
“Possibly. The phrase also sounds familiar to me. If you can’t stand the heat, what do you usually get out of?”
