AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mikayla was already heading towards the front door. She grabbed a pair of snow gloves off a stand near the entrance way and slipped outside, glancing at Leah as she came through the door behind her. Leah opened her mouth to talk but cut herself off abruptly as Mikayla urgently shook her head, then gestured for her to follow. She ran soundlessly to the car, crouching down next to it and waving at Leah. Doing the same, with a bewildered look on her face, Leah squatted beside her. “Right, this is a military maneuver. You’ve heard of Navy Seals, right?”
“Sure.”
“SAS? Marines?”
“Yes.”
“They’ve got nothing on us.” With her eyes dancing with merriment, Mikayla grabbed a heap of snow from the edge of the drive and rolled it into three neat balls, instructing Leah to do the same. Then she lifted her head slightly, quickly taking in the view of the yard before ducking back down. “Callum’s about thirty feet away, with his back to us. William and Rafe are about twenty feet further on, building the snowman.” She bounced up, checked out the lay of the land and ducked down again. “Yep, still the same. So, here’s the mission. Three snowballs. Three men. You do the math. We hit Callum now, then we make a run for it around the back of the house. William and Rafe will be on alert, so we’ll have to be super quick.”
“Mikayla, I am NOT throwing a snowball at Callum.”
Mikayla’s expression was intimidatingly stern when she said, “Kaplan, if you don’t help me with this, you’re dead to me.”
Leah sighed. “You’re lucky I love you.”
With a dazzling smile, Mikayla said, “That’s the spirit,” then, in a low voice, said, “On the count of three. One, two, three!” She bounced up, pleased to see Leah do the same and pegged the ball of icy snow as hard as she could at her brother. She grimaced when she saw that it flew wide, then barely restrained a whoop of glee when Leah’s hit him square in the back. “Go! Go! Go!” And they were off, dashing around the house before Callum even had a chance to look back. “Jesus, that was fabulous.”
“Fluke,” Leah panted from behind her as Mikayla scurried along the sidewall, rounding the northwest corner.
“Perfect!” Mikayla hissed as she slid down behind a knee-high hedge that grew perpendicular to the back porch. She poked her head up briefly to reconnoiter, reshaping her snowballs that had broken up a little as she’d run. “William has his back to us, but Rafe, the danger man, is side on so he’s a narrow target. You don’t get him first go, you won’t get another chance. We throw, then we duck down and wait it out. I don’t know about William, but Rafe won’t let it lie. He’ll come after us. Our best chance from there is to split up. You take out anyone you can on the way. You got it?”
Leah nodded, her face a picture of serious concentration.
“Good. May the odds be ever in your favor. One, two, three.” Mikayla felt a fierce surge of satisfaction when her ball hit Rafe on the side of the head, so she was too excited to take steady aim at William. Leah took care of that though, getting him on the left shoulder and ducking down as quickly as she could. She hadn’t been fast enough to throw both snowballs though, so she still had one in her hand. “Throw it!”
She bounced up, and with her eyes squeezed shut, swung her arm back and threw the ball as hard as she could. “Jesus Christ, you got him!” Rafe was advancing on their position, rolling a ball as he came, a wicked light in his eye. There were flecks of snow spattered across his jacket. “Oh shit, run!”
Mikayla pushed Leah towards the trees, scurrying back around the house, scooping up snow as she went. She gasped as she turned the front corner of the house and got whacked in the chest by a snowball just as she stepped onto the driveway. She flung her newly formed snowball at Callum and made a run for it along the front of the house, then across the yard. She barely managed to duck as William’s flying snowball sailed through the air. She sought refuge in a stand of trees that lined the side of the yard and cursed her lack of planning. She’d grabbed gloves before she’d left the house, but not a coat. Fully committed to her operation though, she quickly shaped five balls and made a pouch with her sweater to contain them.
With her back pressed against the tree, she cautiously peeked out from the trunk, just in time to see Callum catch sight of her as he scanned the tree line. He started advancing on her position, but was caught by Leah, throwing three balls in quick succession before dashing back behind the house. Laughing breathlessly, Mikayla darted to the next tree and scanned the yard. She saw William and Rafe standing not far from the back porch, heads close together as they discussed strategy. They had at least ten snowballs in a pile at their feet, with Billy studiously making more. Mikayla slipped between the trees to the lower edge of the yard, trying to figure out her best move. She had no idea where Leah and Callum had gotten to, so she didn’t know if she had backup, or if Leah needed her.
Her heart thudded hard in her chest as the men turned to look at the trees and she could swear Rafe looked directly at her. There was no option but to attack. She edged closer to the first line of trees just as they started advancing on her, then she grinned as she saw Juniper slip out the back door, down the steps, over the low hedge and crouch down at the corner of the house. Mikayla narrowed her eyes as she saw Juniper holding her finger to her lips and gestured to Billy. He came over, his head bent as he listened to his mother intently, his golden curls glinting in the pale winter light when he nodded.
Mikayla laughed soundlessly as Juniper and Billy picked up a snowball in each hand and threw them at William and Rafe. Juniper, as quick as a flash, then leapt over the hedge with her skirts held high, and was gone, leaving her son to whatever mercy the men saw fit to grant him. Cold-blooded, that was for sure, but Mikayla had to admit, she’d have done the same. With William running off after Juniper, that left Rafe for Mikayla. He was ignoring Billy, just standing there tossing a snowball from hand to hand, scanning the trees with narrowed eyes.
Seeing no other option, Mikayla burst out of the trees at a dead run, flinging all five snowballs one after the other as fast as she could. She ignored the hits she was taking as she dashed to Billy, crouching down behind him, blessing his little heart when he put his arms out wide to act as a shield for her. That stopped Rafe in his tracks. He wouldn’t risk taking a shot at her and hitting Billy.
“Hiding behind a child. You should be ashamed of yourself, Sinclair.”
“There’s no honor here, McKenzie.” Ignoring the icy wetness soaking through her jeans, she thew another ball at him, cursing under her breath when he sidestepped, avoiding it easily. She could see his mind turning, exploring the options of how to get to her. Should she run or wait it out? Then she saw something flicker in his eyes. Triumph. Shit. She bolted to her feet, taking only three steps before Callum’s snowy missile landed squarely between her shoulder blades. Without Billy as a shield, she was a sitting duck and Rafe took full advantage. He closed in on her fast, wrapping his arm around her waist and shoving a handful of snow down her back. She squealed, twisting in his hold and giving him the same treatment. Eventually, she surrendered when he kissed her. “God, I’m freezing.”
“Come on, I’ll run you a bath.”
“Mm, that’s a grand idea. Oooh, look at that.” With Rafe’s arm around her shoulders, they’d turned towards the house, just in time to see Callum reach out and brush a fleck of snow out of Leah’s hair. She had a bashful look on her face when she smiled her thanks at him.
Chapter 11
“It’s snowing!”
“We’re at a ski resort, what’d you expect?”
Rafe pulled Mikayla tighter against him as she tried to pull away to get out of bed.
“Don’t be like that, McKenzie. Open your eyes.”
“Timezit?”
She sighed with amused exasperation. “Seven o’clock.” She ran her hand over his chest. “Wake up. I’ll make it worth your while.”
