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He ran back to the grove of trees, breathing hard, his cheeks flushed and a smile on his lips. And he looked as beautiful as I’d ever seen him.
Ugh. Double ugh.
“Ready?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he said, still smiling.
We headed up the hill after snagging a second inner tube from Cletus Rucker in the same fashion as the one we’d taken from Dell Walker. Kyland led me up the hill to a spot he promised was the best sledding hill on the mountain. He wasn’t wrong.
When we stepped through a forest of pines, we were standing at the top of a hill that dropped off in a perfect slope, one that was steep but long, and ended with plenty of time to come to a stop on the flat surface at the bottom before a new forest started.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, looking down at it. “Marlo will die when she sees that we missed this one all these years.”
Kyland shook his head. “Uh-uh. You’re not allowed to disclose the location of this sledding hill. It’s top secret. Classified.”
I laughed. “Okay. But how’d you find it?”
He set his inner tube down at the top of the hill and I followed suit, setting mine next to his. “My brother found it. He loved these hills. We explored every inch of them, I swear.” He didn’t smile, but something in his expression looked tender. I took his hand and his eyes rose to meet mine, almost shyly, as if he was remembering being a little boy.
“Let’s hold hands as we go down.”
“Okay.” We both sat down on the inner tubes and positioned our bodies.
Kyland looked over at me, a look that I loved on his face—and one I’d never seen before—one of breathless anticipation, like something really good was about to happen. His expression made my breath catch in my throat. There was something so pure about it, so completely unexpected. Time seemed to melt like the snow eventually would under the warmth of the sun. I’d thought I saw him for the first time when I witnessed him swiping food that day. But no. That was just something he had to do to survive. This, this was me seeing him for the very first time. No pretense, just unabashed delight. And I was part of it. I didn’t want the moment to pass before I’d committed it to memory.
“Ready?” he asked softly.
No. “Ready.”
I looked out over that hill, the trees below us and the town of Dennville even farther below those, smoke rising lazily out of the chimneys, the tobacco farms just dots on the horizon. From up here, there was only peace, only freedom and beauty. I sucked in a huge breath as if I could capture the feeling of that moment in my lungs and hold it there forever.
We both leaned forward and grasped hands, our inner tubes gliding faster and faster down the hill, gaining speed so quickly that I threw my head back and screamed and then laughed uncontrollably. The wind whipped through my hair and Kyland’s hand held mine tightly, even through the thick socks and plastic bags. Normally, the inner tubes would spin in circles, but with our hands grasped together, we went down straight. Next to me, I could hear him laughing too.
We came to a slow stop right before the grove of trees below, our feet dragging in the snow.
Kyland looked over at me, his cheeks flushed and a huge grin on his face. “Again?” he asked.
I laughed and nodded, and we made the slow trek back up the side of the hill.
All that afternoon, we played like kids, spinning down the hill as I shrieked and Kyland’s deep laugh echoed through the quiet hills. We made snow angels, pointed out three bright red cardinals, and saw a couple of deer nibbling on some twigs at the edge of the forest. It was the best Christmas of my whole life.
When it was lunchtime, we sat at the top of the hill on our inner tubes, eating the smashed bologna sandwiches Kyland had wrapped up in wax paper and stuck in his pocket before we left.
As the sun started to fade just a little, Kyland suggested we should get going. I was wet and cold, but I’d been willing to ignore it for the fun we were having.
“One more time down?” I asked.
“Okay.” He laughed.
“Let’s make it a good one.”
“All right. I’ll give you a push and then I’ll be right behind you.”
I nodded, grinning. I positioned myself on the inner tube and looked back at him to let him know I was ready.
“This is going to be fast.”
“Good!” I said, laughing.
Kyland put both hands on my inner tube, and with one giant shove, he sent me flying down the hill, spinning in immediate circles, the cold air whipping at my face and causing me to shriek again and again.
