Page 16

Usually, I’d have grown annoyed by someone in my space, but Tommy wasn’t just someone in my space, he was someone I’d found space with, created it together from the fort, which was now a little worse for wear in the light of day. Tommy’s spirit seemed lighter now, after telling me he was here to reset himself and get out of a funk.

After breakfast, I helped Tommy actually dress for the weather. He was unable to do it himself, dressing in layers that barely kept the heat in. It was no wonder he’d gathered those bruises on his legs. I don’t think he was in any rush to get back on the horse, but we still had a little while together, and I’d do my best to convince him it was worth it.

The two foot of snow in front of both the front door and porch as well as the backdoor had been the next issue to tackle. It wasn’t compacted snow, thankfully, and with Tommy’s help, we managed to shovel our way out to the path. Sully’s grit had made the world of difference, or at least two feet of snow difference. The dogs were unphased by it, jumping around and chomping through the fresh snow.

“Could you imagine if I had my shoes on in this?” Tommy asked.

“No,” I told him. “Because I wouldn’t have let you out here without them on.”

“Really? Even if we hadn’t had that moment?”

“Yes, because those sneakers you had on would’ve gotten you some serious case of frost bite,” I said. “And I don’t think I’m equipped to take care of someone going through that.” That was a small lie. I definitely could’ve taken care of someone in need, especially if they were sick, but only if I was pushed to it.

“So, did you give me the boots because you didn’t want to deal with the frost bite, or because you actually wanted to take care of me?”

I laughed, turning back to him as he was busy whacking a shovel into the snow, flattening it into shapes. “They’re the same thing,” I said. “Keep up. We need to conserve that stretch to get into the barn.” I noticed it, a little further up, the snow had banked higher up in front of the barn from where the wind had been hitting it.

“When are we getting the Christmas tree?” he asked, catching up with me.

“A couple of days,” I said. It would take that amount of time for most of thick snow to clear. “But don’t worry. I said I’d get one.” I didn’t know if I’d actually said it, but he definitely could’ve coaxed it out of me last night while cuddled up against my body.

The snow up against the barn wasn’t as thick, the heat from inside had melted the thickness of most of it. The rest was scraped away to give us access. I did most of the work, I had a larger arm reach for it. Tommy was rolling snow up in balls.

“It’s gonna be a snowman,” he said, scooping snow and smacking it onto the ball.

Pip pawed at the smaller balls he’d already balled up, knocking them around and then acting surprised when they moved. Rusty stayed mostly at my side, getting underfoot with every time I tried to step back and scope out the remaining snow to shovel.

“And you said you didn’t have the upper body strength,” I noted.

“You’re gonna help,” he whispered. “But they’re only small right now. When they’re bigger, they will need help.”

I nodded, unable to control the smile on my face. “You need to help me first. I can hear those chickens already.”

Tommy showed me his gloved hands covered in snow. “I probably shouldn’t milk the goats this time.”

“Are you still annoyed about the teasing yesterday?”

“No, I just think I’ve milked enough in the last twenty four hours,” he giggled. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“I wouldn’t want you making any more messes on the sheets,” I replied with a wink. “You can collect the eggs then.” I tugged on the wooden plank used as doorjamb at the bottom of the barn, used to reinforce and keep the heat inside. “And remember to take those gloves off inside.”

He nodded, dusting his gloves off on each other. “You keep the cats on your side then.”

There was no controlling the cats. They ran that barn, and they’d get used to him eventually. They were a bit like me at first, not welcoming to strangers.

All the animals were lively, screaming in their unique ways. It was a frenzy of sound and sight as all the animals came up to the fence the moment we walked inside, bleating, clucking, and even hissing when Tommy walked through the door.

“They hate me,” he said.

“They don’t—” Midnight’s action cut me off, standing proud on the fence, he went to attack Tommy and failed. I chuckled to myself. “Oh, look, at least Snowflake isn’t mad.” By his feet, Snowflake rubbed herself up against his leg and the snow.

Tommy squealed in surprise seeing the cat appear at his feet out of nowhere. “Has she always been there?”

“Cats are sneaky,” I told him. “You never see cats until they come atcha. Relax around them.”

Snowflake bolted the moment Pip spotted her.

I inspected all corners of the barn. It was still warm, but I didn’t want to see anything compromising the integrity of the wood. This cold could devastate all the animals in here. Tommy was quick to take care of the task he’d been assigned, collecting the chicken eggs, his job made easier since Snowflake followed him around and kept all the chickens away. He was eager to get back out and continue making his snowman. I couldn’t blame him, he was having fun.

“All done?” I asked before I’d even started on the goats.

“Yep,” he said. “Do you ever hatch the chicken eggs?”

“Not sure if you’re aware of how all that works, but chicken eggs need fertilizing,” I said. “If you need, I’ll happily give you the birds and the bees talk. Or I can demonstrate, if you’re a different type of learner.”

“Oo what would a demonstration involve?”

“Me and you in a nice, warm bed,” I started, “and our bodies would be all tangled up together, back and forth until the excitement gets a little too much, and then pop . An explosion.”

Tommy was putting his gloves back on, laughing. “It makes that sound as well?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to see.” It had been a while since I was all excited like this.

“Thank you for the invite, but I’ve got a man to build outside,” he said, strutting his walk back out of the barn.

“Well he better not be a Daddy,” I called after him.

“A snow Daddy,” he giggled. “Now that’s an idea.”

I took the time Tommy was outside building the snowballs and rolling them into larger balls, to clean some of the animal mess from the barn. I replaced the hay bedding for the goats and made sure they had enough water and feed accessible. I’d planned for the storm doing more damage, but it must’ve passed right over us, just throwing down an extra thick blanket of snow over us.

“I need your help now,” Tommy called out.

A large ball of snow was knee high on him. He patted more snow onto it and then attempted to move it with his feet and groaned.

“Come on now, you’ve got more strength than that,” I told him.

“But my legs still hurt.”

“You weren’t saying that this morning,” I said. “And I’m not rolling that thing all the way back to the house.”

He pushed out his lip into a pout. I was a sucker for his facial expressions. “But what if I asked really nicely?”

“Ask really nicely and we’ll both see.”

“Pretty please will you—”

“No.”

He scoffed with a little sniffle. “That’s actually really mean. I’ve never build a snowman before.”

“Fine, I’ll help you roll it, but stop adding snow,” I said. “It’ll collect more when it’s being rolled. And we’ve still got to check on the horses.”

I wouldn’t have said Tommy was demanding, but he definitely loved getting his own way. It was difficult for me because I had a schedule I followed and I rarely deviated from it. Tommy was full of deviations. I wasn’t going to complain about it though—not outwardly anyway.

The horses were more vocal than usual, which was to be expected since they’d probably heard the winds rattle the doors and thought someone was coming in. I gave them all some reassurance with head pats and sugar cubes. Tommy went into full conversation with them, acting like they were responding to him. It had been so long since I’d been around someone who was so happy to play pretend like he did. Littles were truly a blessing to a Daddy mentality.

“What else do you want to do today?” I asked, giving Scout a nose pat.

“What would you usually be doing?”

I hummed. “If you weren’t here.”

“Actually let me guess. You would be talking a long walk around the ranch and then you’d go back to the house, drink your tea, and read one of those books you told me weren’t yours.”

“I never said they weren’t mine.”

“Are they?” he asked, biting his bottom lip a little.

“Not all of them,” I said. “Some of them belong to people who’ve stayed here before, books they’ve left behind.”

“Oh, and I just thought you were a big romantic.”

“Who said I’m not?”

He giggled. “I just wanted you to admit it.”

It wasn’t like this information was getting out to anyone. I didn’t have to be the image of a stoic cowboy around him. It was nice to keep up the appearance because I knew I was the first cowboy he’d ever met, and even that seemed like something as make-believe like Santa.

Tommy continued to playfully tease me on the books that were int eh house, and I enjoyed them. It was a secret of mine nobody else noticed about me, even June and Sully who’d seen those books so many times, even some left on the counter from where I’d been reading.

Once I was sure the horses were happy, we went to the garage shed. I’d made several comments about Christmas decorations being left in storage, and that was where all storage went. I rarely went inside because of how poorly kept it was. People just shoved what they weren’t using in here, and Sully never arranged it. The only things I went in there for were for the occasional shovel, and those had long since been with me from the first dropping of snow.

“Is there a sign on the boxes?” Tommy asked.

“Nope. You’ll have to check them all,” I told him, hoping it would keep us occupied for a little while.

The second box he looked inside, he found all the colorful tinsels, and boxed up lights.

“I guess now the tree has to happen,” I commented, although it was a certainty at this point. I was actually excited myself to have a tree, even if it was just to see Tommy’s face light up, or the way he’d look to repay me with his own affection.

“Look!” He waved a large plastic mistletoe above his head as he got close to me. “Now you have to kiss me.”

“That’s only real mistletoe,” I said.The second he started to pout, I leaned in and kissed him. “That’s a freebie. You’ll have to get some real stuff if you want to do it again.”

He shrugged. “I don’t even know where this stuff grows. Is it local to the area?”

“It grows on trees,” I told him. “I’ll see if I can find some when I go looking for a tree.”

“Soon?”

“No, I already said you’ll have to wait a couple of days until I can go out and get it,” I said. “You’re gonna have to be patient. Otherwise no tree.”

He gasped. “That’s mean. Oh, I know what will put your in the Christmas spirit!” He jumped around, going back to the box.

“If you say more hot cocoa, I’m gonna have to tap out, I don’t think I can consume anymore chocolate, or whipped cream for that matter,” I said, patting a hand on my stomach.

Tommy came back at me with a red Santa hat lined with fur and tipped with a puff ball. “You should wear this instead.”

I looked at him, slack jawed at the idea. “Sweet lord, I’m a cowboy, I’m not putting that thing on my head,” I said. “This thing is sacred.” I reached a hand on my head and tapped the top of my hat. “So, don’t be getting any idea of me wearing that thing.”

“What about if you wore it in the house?”

That was a possibility, but I knew I’d look awful silly in it. I didn’t know if my head was molded to just this hat, or my hat was molded to my head. Perhaps a mix of both, and I didn’t want a soft, fluffy Santa hat to make a mess of it. “How about you wear it for now,” I suggested. “Or better yet, save it for the snowman you’re building.”

He smirked. “I already thought of that. There’s another hat on the box. In fact—” he approached the box again and pulled out the second. “You’re not believe this. There’s more of them.” Quite a lot more of them. A stack.

And I knew exactly what they were there for. Several years back, the owners were taking family photos for the holiday season, and they needed about ten of those hats. “Oh lord, you best check them for mites too. You don’t want to be getting too close to them, they’ve been in that box for a while.”

Tommy wasn’t easily deterred. He dusted one off and gave it a little blow before replacing the beanie he had on with the Santa hat. It immediately went over his face and eyes being too big for him. “Oops,” he giggled. “I think I’m going to have to try them all on.”

“Let’s get your box of stuff and take it on down to the house,” I said. “Then I’ll help you build your snowman.”

After the first box, a second was uncovered behind it. He called it a Christmas miracle, and I called it Christmas tat, but it was going straight to the house for decoration.

Tommy started hauling the snowball down to the house, tiring halfway there since it had doubled in size. We switched and he struggled to carry both boxes. So, I took a box, and I carefully moved the ball with just my knees as the guide forward.

“What do you wanna do first?” I asked him.

There was a world of choice in front of him, and I secretly hoped he’d ask to put up some decorations because we’d forgotten the shovels back at the stables, and we needed them if we were going to continue building his snowman into the snow Daddy he was asking for.

“Snowman!” he said, jumping up and down, the Santa hat falling off his head. That was one down, several more to get rid of.