His head bobbed, and he gave his chin a thoughtful rub.“That’s what I suspected. So, you’ve never really been here in the wintertime?”
I shook my head, little pangs of nervous energy building deep inside. However, I was more curious than scared, excited to see what was planned. I popped the last segment into my mouth. “Ready.”
“Wear a warm jacket and mitts.”
We were going to be outside, which was fine by me. The sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds and with the heat, the nip in the air was long gone.
“Let’s go.” Jesse put on his baseball cap and woolly jean jacket, the keys to his truck jingling from his fingers.
After a quick drive, we were parked at the base of Roden Fields, a panoramic hillside withan impressive view of the airport. Normally, it only snowed for a couple of days in the Cheshire Bay area, but this year, Mother Nature had been unusually cold: a bonus for the residents scattered up and down the hill with toboggans.
“Are we going sledding?” I wasn’t sure I was adequately prepared for this kind of outing.
“No objections?”He pulled on his thick gloves and adjusted his jacket.
Noneto mention, except… “Isn’t this for kids?”
“It’s for the young at heart.” He gave a weak shrug. “Could be for any age really.”
Without another word, he exited his truck and Ihopped out too, scanning the area to see if we were in fact the oldest ones here. We were not. The laughter and squeals filled the air as dads, it was mostly dads, rode down the hill with a younger child in front. I had to double check as I was sure an old man of a grandfatherly age was slipping down the hill on a saucer, his smile wider than the sheet of plastic separating him from the ground.
“Unbelievable.”My words fell out as whisper. However, I couldn’t make myself move. It looked fun, and yet, they were all moving so fast.
“It’s more funparticipating than actually watching.” A charming smile spread across his face as he stood beside me.
I inhaled the crisp air and stared into hisdark brown eyes. I wasn’t a coward and could do this, even if I had to force myself a little. “Fine, let’s do it.”
We grabbed an old-fashioned wooden toboggan, complete with the curved front, rope handles, and a plaid blanket to give our butts a bit of a cushion. Standing at the top of the hill, slightly breathless from the long climb, we looked down, the incline was much steeper than I expected.
“Are you ready?”Jesse dropped the sled onto the snow and set the blanket upon it.
“You goahead.”
He shookhis head. “Ladies first.”
I settledmyself on the blanket. My feet went on top of the curved part, and then under and finally off to the side. How was this fun? Tossing my gaze to my left, I spied a dad on a saucer and mimicked his posture – I crossed my feet under me like I’d seen him do.
Jesse hunched down beside me. “Have you never done this?”
The idea of seeing pity on his face was too much tobear, so I instead stared at the frayed yellow rope.
“Really?”
“There were nonearby hills, but I can skate and ski, so all winter activities are not out of the question.” I planted a weak grin as I lifted my head and looked over his shoulder, watching in amazement as fearless kids ran and launched themselves onto their boards, flying down the hill without a care in the world.
“You’re cute, you know.”
My focus adjusted;I could’ve stayed there forever locked onto those eyes, and my heart skipped a beat as I stared.
“Maybe I should join you, and show you the ropes?”Beneath his toque, an eyebrow rose, and a low chuckle filled the space between us.
Before I could answer, Jesse huddled in behind me, his boots digging into the snowto hold us in place. “Your feet need to go under that.”
He pointed to the curved part, but my mind was focused on thefirm wall behind my back. Our bodies were pressed together, and it felt so natural. There was zero weirdness.
“What about your feet?”I playfully rolled against him.
“Well, I can put them over your legs…” He demonstrated with his left, keeping the right firmly cemented. “Like this. Or I can hold them up.”