Page 39 of The Forever After Bet

“There’s not a cloud in the sky today. I need some sunglasses.”

“You still have a pair in my car. The pink ones. They’ll match your outfit.” I arch an eyebrow, looking her up and down.

“At least you won’t lose me.” Hannah gives me a cheesy smile.

I laugh, shaking my head. “Come on, let me help you down the stairs. They can get slick. Then I’ll grab our sunglasses.” I take Hannah’s hand, and we go down the stairs together.

I pull out two snow blowers. Gramps bought an upgraded one a couple of winters ago and planned to sell his old blower. I talked him into keeping it. We could finish clearing the driveways twice as fast.

It looks like he recently had them serviced. I fill them with gas and get them started. I give Hannah the newer one. It’s self-guided and easier to maneuver. I give her a five-minute lesson on how to use it, show her where to start, and let her loose.

I keep an eye on her, but she’s doing great. She catches me watching her, gives me a thumbs up, and tries to twerk in all her snow gear. I laugh, giving her a thumbs up. I put my headphones in and hit play on my phone. It’s cold and monotonous work, but I like it. I don’t have to think. I just walk back and forth along the driveway, clearing the snow. I turn around at the end of the driveway, and I’m pelted with flying snow. I cover my head and face, but it’s gone. I turn in a circle and find Hannah behind me, laughing hysterically.

“That was low, Clark!” I holler, trying not to laugh.

Hannah holds her hands out, shrugging. She takes a step backward and slips, falling on her ass. I run across the driveway to her. When I get to her, she’s lying flat on her back, still laughing. “That was awesome!” She yells.

“Yeah, spectacular.” I hold out my hand and help her up. “Are you okay?”

“I think I bruised my tailbone. Will you kiss it better for me?”

“The bruise is from you trying to twerk.”

“Hey, I’ve got mad twerking skills.” Hannah sways her hips back and forth.

I pull my hat off, shake the snow off it, and laugh. “You’re a natural.”

“I’m glad you see it.”

“We’re about half done,” I say, looking around.

“Sweet. This is fun.”

“You’re so easily amused.” I laugh.

“That’s a good quality.” Hannah winks.

We go back to work. Hannah cleans around my car and up toward the staircase to the apartment. She has her back to me, so I lean over, grabbing a handful of snow and making a snowball. I wait until she’s a little closer and throw it, aiming for her back. Unfortunately, my aim is high and hits her smack in the back of the head. “Oh, damn!” I exclaim.

She stands there for a second and then falls face first into a pile of snow. I sprint over to her, sliding the last couple of feet on my knees because of my snow pants.

“Hannah, I’m so—” I roll her onto her back. She’s smiling at me and breaks into laughter.

“You scared the crap out of me, woman!” I crawl over her, pinning her to the ground between my knees.

“You hit me with a snowball!” Hannah pouts.

“You hit me with ten times that.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Weren’t you scared of falling face first like that?” I ask.

“Nope. I do a free fall move in my dance routine. It was hard when I was first learning it, but it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

“Well, it scared me.” I grab her hands, pinning them above her head.

“I’m sorry,” she says in a sweet voice.

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