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And then I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing, the ridiculous object just sitting in my hand. Tenleigh laughed too, tentatively at first and then harder as we both stood there cracking up. Finally I gathered myself enough to walk over to the kitchen window and place it there. Perfect.

I returned to Tenleigh, smiling. “Thank you. Seriously.” And I meant it. She hadn’t set out to give me a homemade piece of whittled wood. She’d set out to make me laugh. And she had. And for me, that was the best gift of all.

“I brought a ham too,” she said, nodding to the paper bag. “Al gave one to all the full-time employees. My sister got one. Maybe we can heat it up later?”

“Sure, that—”

Before I even had time to fully answer, she clapped her hands together and I startled, my words cutting short.

“Sledding!”

“What?”

“Sledding. That’s what we could do today. Marlo and I used to find a couple tire inner tubes in someone’s front yard and go up the hill a ways. I know some of the best spots.”

I stared at her. “I bet I know some better ones. My brother and I used to do that too.”

She grinned. “Really? I’m surprised we never ran into each other.”

I laughed softly and shook my head. Only Tenleigh had the ability to turn my mood from one extreme to the other. How had it been that I was just telling her about one of the most traumatic things I’d ever experienced and now I was laughing?

“I guess it’s as good an idea as any. What else are we gonna do?”

The question hung there for a few heavy beats. “Right,” she said. We stood looking at each other for a minute until she shrugged and said, “So…let’s go.”

“Okay.” But I stood frowning for a minute. “I’m gonna have to get you some of my brother’s snow stuff. You’ll have to roll it up and we’ll have to improvise on a few things, but…I only have one set for myself.”

She nodded, but her eyes looked wary as if she was trying to read whether I was okay with that or not. Truthfully, I didn’t even know. I’d spent so long trying not to even think about my family because it hurt too much, and now I was openly talking about them with Tenleigh. Remembering. And somehow…wanting to for reasons I couldn’t even explain to myself. I sighed and went and got the clothes. In the span of fifteen minutes, this day had turned into something completely unexpected, and although I was filled with uncertainty, I was also filled with happiness.

This girl.

CHAPTER TEN

Tenleigh

Fifteen minutes later, we were bundled up as much as possible, hiding behind some trees next to Dell Walker’s trailer. Trash lay strewn around his yard, half covered in snow.

You’d think we could just stride onto his property and take what we wanted, with it being trash and all. But mountain folk were strange about their stuff, and Dell was likely to come out with his shotgun if he saw us rooting through his garbage. And if we asked him if we could have it, he’d likely realize it had some value and try to charge us. Plus, Dell was a mean old bastard. A mean old bastard with a shotgun. And a penchant for consuming copious amounts of liquor.

Kyland pointed to an inner tube lying half-submersed in snow a hundred feet from where we hid. He put his finger up to his lips and shot me a wink. Butterflies started flapping their tiny wings in my belly and I gave him a nod. Then I watched as he ran quickly to a small shed to the right of us and ducked behind that. A few seconds later, I saw him emerge from there and sprint through the snow to the inner tube, swooping it up and hanging it on his shoulder as he ran back. He ducked behind the shed again. I laughed softly into my hand, covered in a thick sock with a plastic bag over it, tied around my wrist—makeshift waterproof gloves.

As I waited for him, my mind moved to what he’d told me back at his house. I’d been horrified, stunned, when I’d considered it back at my trailer. But somewhere inside, I’d known it was true. When he’d confirmed it, though, it shocked me all over again. Poor Kyland…living alone for all that time…grieving his whole family—all by himself. No one at all to help him through it. And then, the loneliness. How had he survived it? I suddenly understood his need to get out of Dennville. I understood his need to make a life for himself somewhere that didn’t remind him of the deep pain he must have lived with all these years. And it made me want to love him. Which wasn’t good. At all. Because he wouldn’t love me back. He wouldn’t allow himself to love me back even if he wanted to, which he might not. And that had to be okay. I couldn’t even really blame him considering what he’d told me about his family. He avoided commitment but not girls, while I avoided boys completely—both of us tarnished by abandonment.