Pritchard Farms, all bundled in our warmest clothes. Mom and I had filled Thermoses with hot chocolate, some spiked with Bailey’s, and we’d brought extra blanketsfor the sleigh ride. I’d changed the booking to the sleigh big enough for ten people, since my romantic sleigh ride for two had turned into a family affair.
The temperature was relatively mild, and it even started snowing as we glided through the forest, bells jingling on the two horses pulling the sleigh. Big fluffy flakes drifted down around us and I turned my face up to their cool, delicatetouch.
“Let’s sing Christmas carols,” Mom suggested.
“Yeah, let’s not,” pretty much everyone else said.
Connor started telling us about a woman they’d brought in for public drunkenness last weekend. “We patted her down for weapons, but that was it,” he said. “We were just citing her and releasing her. So she leaves, and comes back in a few minutes later saying someone was harassing her. She’sstanding there straightening her sweater, and a bag of cocaine falls out.”
“Oh my God!” I laughed along with the others.
“You charged her after that?” Andrew grinned.
“Hell yeah. First she looked around and started to bend down to pick it up, but then realized we were all watching her. Then she tried to walk out, leaving it on the floor.” Connor shook his head. “Needless to say, she didn’tget far.”
“I guess you felt stupid for not searching her better,” Jon said.
All eyes turned on him and silence prickled for a few seconds.
“Well, I didn’t actually do the pat down,” Connor said easily. “And we were more worried about weapons. Shit happens.”
“Remember the time I had to arrest a clown?” Dad asked.
“Yeah.” I smiled and focused on Jon when I told the story, since everyone elseknew it. “Dad got called out when someone reported a disturbance over on Elm Road. He got there and this clown had a baseball bat and was smashing in all the windows of a car.”
“I thought it was a joke,” Dad said. “Thought I was being punked. Dispatch kept asking for a description of the suspect and I just ignored them because it was so ridiculous. Then the guy started running, so I chased him.I tackled him and got him cuffed and all the kids in the neighborhood were watching and started booing and yelling at me because I was arresting a clown. One little kid came up and kicked me in the shin before his mom could stop him.”
Everyone was laughing at the old story and I caught Andrew’s gaze on me, his smile wide and white, his eyes warm. For a moment, our eyes connected and I felt thatsizzle run over my skin again. His smile made me warm on the inside.
I held my cup of hot chocolate in my mittened hands and took a sip. Ignoring him was impossible. In fact, the harder I tried to ignore him, the more my eyes kept drifting his way. I wanted to watch him. All the damn time.
I snuggled deeper into the blanket wrapped around me, my insides tightening. I was afraid to examine whatthis meant.
After our sleigh ride, we all went into the restaurant and had sandwiches and coffee. Mom and Emily stayed inside while the rest of us donned skates and hit the frozen pond. Jon decided not to rent skates and elected to sit inside as well.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I can teach you how to skate. I taught little kids to skate for years.”
“I’m not a little kid.”
I shook my head. “Iknow, silly. It’ll be fun.”
“Don’t really feel like humiliating myself in front of your whole family, including an NHL hockey player.”
“They don’t care if you can’t skate!”
But I couldn’t convince him, so I headed out to join the others on the ice. Christmas music played from speakers mounted on posts at the edge of the pond. Stepping onto the ice gave me a thrill of pleasure. I loved skatingso much.
This wasn’t the best ice surface in the world, but hey, it was snowing lightly and music was playing and my family was there. I
The temperature was relatively mild, and it even started snowing as we glided through the forest, bells jingling on the two horses pulling the sleigh. Big fluffy flakes drifted down around us and I turned my face up to their cool, delicatetouch.
“Let’s sing Christmas carols,” Mom suggested.
“Yeah, let’s not,” pretty much everyone else said.
Connor started telling us about a woman they’d brought in for public drunkenness last weekend. “We patted her down for weapons, but that was it,” he said. “We were just citing her and releasing her. So she leaves, and comes back in a few minutes later saying someone was harassing her. She’sstanding there straightening her sweater, and a bag of cocaine falls out.”
“Oh my God!” I laughed along with the others.
“You charged her after that?” Andrew grinned.
“Hell yeah. First she looked around and started to bend down to pick it up, but then realized we were all watching her. Then she tried to walk out, leaving it on the floor.” Connor shook his head. “Needless to say, she didn’tget far.”
“I guess you felt stupid for not searching her better,” Jon said.
All eyes turned on him and silence prickled for a few seconds.
“Well, I didn’t actually do the pat down,” Connor said easily. “And we were more worried about weapons. Shit happens.”
“Remember the time I had to arrest a clown?” Dad asked.
“Yeah.” I smiled and focused on Jon when I told the story, since everyone elseknew it. “Dad got called out when someone reported a disturbance over on Elm Road. He got there and this clown had a baseball bat and was smashing in all the windows of a car.”
“I thought it was a joke,” Dad said. “Thought I was being punked. Dispatch kept asking for a description of the suspect and I just ignored them because it was so ridiculous. Then the guy started running, so I chased him.I tackled him and got him cuffed and all the kids in the neighborhood were watching and started booing and yelling at me because I was arresting a clown. One little kid came up and kicked me in the shin before his mom could stop him.”
Everyone was laughing at the old story and I caught Andrew’s gaze on me, his smile wide and white, his eyes warm. For a moment, our eyes connected and I felt thatsizzle run over my skin again. His smile made me warm on the inside.
I held my cup of hot chocolate in my mittened hands and took a sip. Ignoring him was impossible. In fact, the harder I tried to ignore him, the more my eyes kept drifting his way. I wanted to watch him. All the damn time.
I snuggled deeper into the blanket wrapped around me, my insides tightening. I was afraid to examine whatthis meant.
After our sleigh ride, we all went into the restaurant and had sandwiches and coffee. Mom and Emily stayed inside while the rest of us donned skates and hit the frozen pond. Jon decided not to rent skates and elected to sit inside as well.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I can teach you how to skate. I taught little kids to skate for years.”
“I’m not a little kid.”
I shook my head. “Iknow, silly. It’ll be fun.”
“Don’t really feel like humiliating myself in front of your whole family, including an NHL hockey player.”
“They don’t care if you can’t skate!”
But I couldn’t convince him, so I headed out to join the others on the ice. Christmas music played from speakers mounted on posts at the edge of the pond. Stepping onto the ice gave me a thrill of pleasure. I loved skatingso much.
This wasn’t the best ice surface in the world, but hey, it was snowing lightly and music was playing and my family was there. I
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