Baby, It's Cold Outside by Jennifer Greene, Merline Lovelace, Cindi Myers Page B

against a couch cushion, delighted. Beyond delighted. Laughter lit up his face, his eyes, took away the shadows. He was wearing bulky layers, as she was. Double wool socks, as she was. Their picnic feast was on the gnarled coffee table, as casual as she’d eaten since she could remember. And she’d made him laugh.
    She couldn’t get over how…smug she felt.
    She didn’t make men laugh. Most men she knew liked her. Respected her. A few had been scared off by her IQ, but no guy, since she could remember, thought she was funny. Or just… had fun with her.
    “ What are you looking at?” he demanded.
    “I can’t believe how hard you’re laughing at me.”
    “Of course I’m laughing at you. At your letting out your closet pig. Sounding so happy about it. Honey, I don’t think you’ve got a messy bone in your entire body. I hate to be the one to tell you, but you’d flunk the pig course.”
    “I certainly would not. I…” Her voice dropped off. She frowned, without having a clue why.
    Something was different. Completely different. Startlingly different.
    His head shot up at the same time hers did. “The storm,” he said, and leaped to his feet.
    She got it then, too. The wind had stopped. Except for the short lull when they’d worked on the roof, there hadn’t been a moment without that incessant, screaming wind in days now.
    The sudden crash of silence was the most peaceful thing she’d ever heard.
    She scrambled to her feet as quickly as Rick, beat him to the closest window, fumbled with the catch on the shutter. The generator and fire were still making background noises, but outside…
    Her breath caught. After all that awful wind, all that sharp, mean snow and slashing, bitter, killer-cold…outside, there was a sea of diamonds. The white landscaperolled and tucked in waves and more waves, all lit by a full silver moon and sky full of stars. The reflections were so brilliant that the snow glittered brighter than jewels.
    She looked at Rick.
    He looked back. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
    Simultaneously they scrambled to their feet. Although their outside clothes were still damp from before, it didn’t matter. The lodge had a closet full of serious parkas and boots—although most of them were sized for the men of the family. But getting suited up in fresh, warm gear was easy enough.
    They tussled like puppies at the door, Rick chuckling as he let her go first—although he also stopped her long enough to retie a long woolen scarf around her nose and mouth. The moment they stepped out, he tugged her in front of him, pulling her back against the warmth of his body.
    It was beyond cold. So cold her lungs felt as if they were trying to breathe ice, even tucked against Rick, with his arms wrapped around the front of her for extra warmth. But the cold didn’t matter anyway. She didn’t need to breathe, didn’t want to breathe.
    She’d never seen anything more magical, never imagined it. The whole landscape was diamonds and crystals and sky. It was like music, a world so soft and pure that it hummed wonder in her heart. As fearsome and frightening as the blizzard had been, now she felt engulfed by an extraordinary feeling of peace.
    She felt Rick’s chin tuck on top of her head. “I just realized what day it is.”
    She hadn’t. But his mentioning it made her swallow fast. “Christmas,” she said.
    “Might just be the most special Christmas I can remember.”
    She lifted her face. “For me, too.”
    “We can’t stay out, Doc. It really is too cold to breathe.”
    “Just a couple more minutes,” she pleaded.
    He catered to her. By the time they’d both turned into icicles, she caved and admitted it was time to head inside. Realizing it was Christmas turned her quiet for a while. She puttered around, cleaning up, straightening up. Rick did the same, checking the generator for fuel, stacking enough firewood for another day.
    By accident more than attention, she found herself standing