Page 35 of Stay With Me

“Well, that’s nice of you, but you don’t need to help. I’ve got this.” He says nothing when I return to focusing on my task, my back to him.

After two more shovelfuls, I silently curse myself.Ugh. I should have taken the help.

A minute or two later, the sound of metal hitting metal, like a truck door closing disrupts the quiet. I turn around to wave, assuming Charlie is leaving. Instead, I find him positioning a snowblower in the apron of my driveway.

Charlie tosses up his hand and casually gestures to me to join him where he’s at. Sick of what I’m doing, I walk over to him to see what he wants.

“Sunshine, I skipped arm day during my workouts this week. How about you use this, and I’ll shovel? It’ll be good for my triceps.”

I chuckle at Charlie’s thinly veiled attempt to give me the easier task. Always the gentleman.

“I’ve never used a snowblower before. We have one, but I couldn’t get the stupid thing started. Show me?”

“You got it. Okay, first thing is you have to turn this key.” He points at a plastic key, and I roll my eyes at him. I figured out that much on my own.

He grins at me. “Hey, I didn’t want to assume you knew that.”

Over the next few minutes, Charlie teaches me how to prime the blower with gas, start it, and the basics of making the machine move forward, in reverse, and directing the snow.

Then, I’m off. I begin to clear the driveway while he heads over to attack the path. Since the parking area is wider than it is long, I don’t even have to adjust the chute. I just walk in straight lines, following the arc of the snow with my eyes as it shoots across the cement into tall piles on each side of the drive.

Damn, this is kind of fun.

In less than ten minutes, the driveway is free of snow. The problem is that now I’m not ready to stop. Maybe it’s the novelty of it being my first time doing this, but it’s addictive. I steer in the direction leading to the walkway, planning to help Charlie finish it.

When I’m about ten feet away from him, a flash of scarlet against the backdrop of the white flakes covering my yard catches my eye. I relax my grip, easing off the bars that control the speed of the snowblower and propels it forward, as I turn my head toward the color. I smile when my eyes land on a gorgeous male cardinal feasting at my bird feeder. It’s easy to get lost in watching him as he flits around, sampling the different seeds I’ve stocked for them to feast on.

When a loud voice yells, “Em!” my focus on the bird breaks and I’m startled, both of my hands clamping down on the triggers of the snowblower. And I look toward Charlie just in time to see a thick stream of snow fly at him and smash into his face and chest.

I gasp, pulling my mitten covered hands off the handles and cupping them over my nose and mouth, in shock. He stands perfectly still, not making a move to brush his face off for several seconds as I watch and wait for his reaction. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen Charlie mad at me, but today might be the day.

Finally, he reaches up and wipes his face, then dusts off the front of his coat with his hands, his eyes never leaving mine.

I reach down and turn off the snowblower so he can hear me.

“Charlie,” I say quietly. “I’m so, so sorry. I swear that was an accident.” I step toward him, decreasing the distance between us to about six feet.

He bends slightly and grabs a handful of snow in his huge hands, then packs it into the shape of a ball.

He wouldn’t. Would he?

I keep my gaze fixed on his hands until he tosses the snowball up into the air, then catches it. And does it again. And again. My eyes fly up to his face to find him watching me with a predatory gaze, a devious smirk on his face.

“Charlie?” I back up a few steps and he matches my movement, preventing me from extending the space between us. “What are you doing? I promise I didn’t do it on purpose. You startled me and I hadn’t turned the chute yet.”

The problem is that my words are telling him one thing, but I can sense the smile trying to break out across my face and it’s totally going to make him think I’m lying.

“Why do you look so nervous, sunshine?”

“Uh, maybe because you’re threatening me with that snowball when I made an innocent mistake.”

“I’m not threatening you. In fact, I was calling for you to tell you I’d finish clearing the path, that you could go in and warm up. You’re the one who assaulted me with a geyser of freezing cold snow.”

“How about I make it up to you? I’ll go make some hot coffee for us.” I give him my sweetest smile. “But only if you put down that snowball first.”

He grins at me before saying, “Deal,” and dropping the snowball into a pile next to the walkway.

“Okay. Good.” I nod at him and retreat toward the front door, walking backward for three large steps to keep my eyes on him while I make my escape.

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