Page 57 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
Her eyes widened. “Andrew, I don’t think I can drive the truck with that huge trailer attached.”
“We may be stuck here then.”
“Yay!” Greyson cheered. “I love it here and never want to leave.”
Morgan’s gaze went from his to Greyson’s. When it returned to his, he grinned and as he saw enlightenment dawn, he yelled, “Now!”
Giggling and immediately changing sides, Greyson threw handfuls of snow at her. But it was the handful of snow that Andrew palmed her face with that had her eyes go wide.
“Oh, that’s cold!” she declared then took off to hide behind the snowman as he and Greyson teamed up, getting snowballs in where they could when she’d jump out from behind the snowman. Greyson had a blast.
Based on her laughter, so did Morgan.
“We brought out the carrot if you want it for the snowman’s nose,” Frank said, as he and his wife joined them, admiring the snowman.
“Can I feed Ralphie another one, too?” Greyson asked.
“Absolutely. It’ll make loading the reindeer much easier if we bribe them with carrots,” Frank said.
His wife added, “Why don’t y’all come in and warm by the fire first? Then y’all can get Frank’s babies loaded.”
Andrew glanced toward Morgan to see what she wanted to do. He was in no hurry so long as they got off the mountain by dark.
“That would be great,” Morgan said.
“You have such a lovely family. Before we go in, would you like a photo by your snowman?”
“I...we aren’t a family,” Morgan corrected the woman. “Just friends.”
“Good friends, and we’d love a photo,” Andrew added as the woman’s face fell at her faux pas. “Like I mentioned to your husband, this guy here is Greyson’s first snowman. The moment definitely needs to be captured forever.”
Not that he’d need the picture to remember.
He’d never forget this day with Morgan and her son.
A soft snore from the back of the truck sounded over the music Morgan and Andrew listened to on low. Morgan twisted in her seat and smiled at where Greyson’s eyes were closed. He looked so peaceful.
And happy.
Straightening, she leaned back against the headrest. “He’s out like a light. I doubt he’ll wake up until we get back to Pine Hill.”
Andrew glanced in the rearview mirror at the sleeping boy. “I’d say not. He burned a lot of energy playing in the snow and helping me round up reindeer.”
She laughed. “You make it sound as if you had to work to get them into the trailer. They were sweethearts.”
Greyson had helped, but only until they got near the trailer, then Andrew and Frank had handled loading the animals themselves in case the animals got spooked. Morgan hadn’t even had to remind Andrew to keep Greyson safe.
Greyson had loved petting the reindeer and feeding them. She imagined this would be one of those days that would always stand out in his memory. It wasn’t every day a five-year-old got to pick up eight reindeer to pull a sleigh on Christmas Eve. Today had been a bit magical, almost as if they’d travelled to the North Pole and were picking up Santa’s real steeds. The fluffs of sparkly white snow dancing in the air had just added to the magic.
And so had the man driving the truck.
Why did he have to be so wonderful?
Not that she didn’t appreciate wonderful, but she didn’t want wonderful for herself. She didn’t want anything. Especially not with the kind of wonderful man who was into motorcycle riding, airplane jumping, and running into burning buildings. Who also had a big heart, a ton of patience, and could be a perfect gentleman when he wanted to be. John from the assisted living center would be pleased to hear that Greyson had gotten to spend the day with such a great role model.
“They do seem tame, and were quite friendly, but I worried that they might startle and stampede when we were trying to load them, that’s why I wanted Greyson safely behind the gate with you,” Andrew admitted. “Just in case.”
Morgan had known exactly what he was doing when he’d asked Greyson to handle the important job of making sure the reindeer didn’t get out the gate or near his mom. Thinking he was protecting her, Greyson had been all serious expression as he’d complied and told her to stay back.
