Free Snow Falls by Gerri Hill Page A

yes, that does have an effect on it. But I just find it odd that I don’t have that same anxiety with you.”
    “The first couple of nights, you weren’t exactly bounding into bed,” she reminded her.
    Jen laughed. “The first night I think I was more worried about you hacking me into little pieces than I was sleeping with you.”
    “And you’re over that now, I hope.”
    “Yes. It’s actually kinda nice sleeping with someone.”
    “We’ll see there. When you get back home, maybe you can give Brad another try.”
    Jen only sighed and rolled again to her back. “Maybe.”

Chapter Twelve
     
    “I can’t believe how warm it is,” Jen said. She turned in a circle, arms held out from her sides. “I mean, clear skies, nothing but sunshine.” She smiled and tilted her head. “Listen. You can actually hear the snow melting.”
    “Yes. The wonderful signs of spring,” she said. They’d left their coats at the cabin. She had a sweatshirt on over her shirt. Jen wore one of the two sweaters she had.
    “Are you sure a storm is coming?”
    “Spring blizzards aren’t uncommon,” she said. “Twenty-four hours or so of a winter blast, then this again. The sounds of it all melting.” She eyed Jen who had a wistful look on her face. “It shouldn’t delay you getting out of here,” she said.
    Jen turned to her. “Oh, I wasn’t worried about that. I was thinking about sledding.”
    “Sledding?”
    “All this snow. It’s like a giant playground.” Jen reached down to pet Sierra, who was leaning against her leg. Kia was normally the more affectionate dog, but Ryan had noticed that Sierra had taken a liking to Jen. “I’ve never played in the snow before,” Jen said.
    Their daily hikes had taken them all over the mountain and never once had it occurred to her to play. Jen had been here four weeks now, going on five, and while she never mentioned leaving, Ryan assumed she still counted down the days. She still wrote in her journal, in great detail of their daily activities, Jen said. She wondered how long she had been harboring the desire to play in the snow.
    “I don’t have a sled,” she said. “But I think we can find something to use.”
    Jen’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
    “Yeah, sure. Let’s bring enough firewood inside to last through the storm. Then we’ll go out to the shed and see what we can find.”
    Jen smiled brightly. “Thank you. That’d be fun.”
    A little over an hour later, with the sun still shining brightly, Ryan looked skeptically at the piece of plywood she’d commandeered for their sled. She’d drilled two holes in the front and slipped a rope through, but still, it was rudimentary at best.
    “Maybe I should take it on a test spin and make sure I don’t kill us,” she suggested.
    “Oh, it looks fine,” Jen said, grinning like a child. “Besides, this is a little hill. If it works, I want to go on a really big hill.”
    Ryan laughed. “Don’t forget, you still have to climb back up that really big hill.”
    She sat down on the plywood and spread her legs, digging the heels of her boots into the snow. Kia licked her face and tried to lay down in front of her. “No, no, no. You don’t get to go,” she said, nudging her out of the way. She held her hand out to Jen.
    “I’ve never done this before,” Jen warned.
    “I know. You’ll do fine.”
    Jen settled down between her legs, scooting back tight against her. Ryan put her arms around Jen’s waist, feeling Jen grab them to pull them even tighter together. God . She took a deep breath, then took the rope, hoping to use it to help them stop.
    “Ready?”
    Jen nodded vigorously, and Ryan noted the anticipation on her face.
    “Okay. Hang on.”
    She wrapped her legs around Jen and shoved off. They were soon racing down the hill. Jen screamed with pleasure as she held tight to Ryan’s arms. The dogs, she was certain, had no clue as to their antics, but they ran behind them, barking joyfully as they tried to catch