She closed her door and walked to Ana, crouching and helping the girl zip her coat; she couldn’t manage it on her own thanks to the gloves. Ana’s pink hat was jutting from her coat pocket. Gabby plucked it out and pulled it into place on her daughter’s head, making sure to get it down over her ears.
“Thanks, Mom” Ana said.
Gabriela smiled and pressed a kiss to Ana’s forehead before rising.
The driver’s side door slammed shut. Snow crunched under Mason’s boots as he walked alongside the truck bed, pausing to reach inside and lift an axe from within. He proceeded around the back of the truck until he was standing just ahead of Ana and Gabby. “Ready?”
Ana grinned up at him. “Yes!”
Gabriela pulled her gloves out of her pocket and tugged them on as she walked toward Mason. “Lead the way, oh faithful leader, and we shall follow.”
They trudged into the forest single file—or at least Gabby and Ana trudged. The snow that slowed them down seemed to offer little hindrance to Mason, either because he was so big, because he was so strong, or a combination of both. But he glanced over his shoulder regularly to check on them, often adjusting his pace so they could keep up.
And Gabriela was grateful that, if nothing else, he was breaking a path for them that made it easier to walk. She could only imagine how difficult it would be for her and her daughter to traverse this snow on their own. When they did hit deeper patches—some of which almost came to Gabriela’s waist—Mason helped them through, lifting Gabriela as easily as he did Ana.
Thankfully, those times were few and far between.
Reaching down, Gabby gathered some snow and formed it into a ball. She glanced at Ana, grinned, and brought a finger to her lips. Ana grinned in return and nodded.
Gabriela turned toward Mason, drew her arm back, and launch the snowball at his back. It struck with a dull thump and exploded, splattering snow across his coat.
Mason halted mid-stride, shoulders slightly hunched.
Ana erupted into a fit of giggles. Gabriela laughed, and was already forming another snowball when he turned around.
That crease was back between his eyebrows, and his mouth was downturned in a frown that seemed more confused than anything else. He met Gabby’s gaze. “Did you throw sn—”
She threw her next snowball, hitting him square in the chest with another thump.
He blinked and flinched his head aside as bits of snow sprayed up into his face.
Ana was giggling so hard that she lost her balance and fell onto her knees, but she used it to her advantage, gathering a big handful of snow.
“Come on,” Gabriela said, “you have had a snowball fight before, haven’t you?”
“Snowball fight!” Ana threw her snowball at Mason. It flew a little too far to the right, only clipping his thigh.
He glanced down at the bit of snow left behind on his pants, tilted his head, and looked up at Gabriela again. His lips spread into a wide, wolfish grin.
Gabriela’s heart sped. Mason’s expression was sinful and just a little frightening, and it made her warmer than the truck’s heater ever could.
But it also meant they were in trouble.
“Ana, run,” she said, and darted toward a nearby tree. Just before she was behind its cover, she saw Mason crouch, standing the axe straight up beside him, and scooped up some snow.
Ana laughed and ran in the opposite direction.
Gabriela bent and made a couple haphazard snowballs before peeking around the tree. She barely had time to widen her eyes before Mason launched a snowball at her. It hit the tree trunk and burst apart, spraying her face with snow. She started, retreating into cover, where she shook her head and wiped the snow out of her face.
“Mason, you can’t get me,” Ana taunted.
He growled, and Gabriela eased around the trunk just enough to see him give chase to Ana. Gabby grinned and followed. It wasn’t easy maneuvering between trees and the deep snow when her legs were so much shorter than his, but she was patient. And her patience—along with the fact that he wasn’t moving anywhere near as fast as she knew he could—allowed her to catch up just as Mason was throwing a snowball at Ana. Her daughter ducked to avoid it with a giggle.
Gabby launched her own snowball. It struck exactly where she’d intended—Mason’s ass.
Mason spun to face her, and only then did she notice that he still had snow in one hand. That wicked grin returned to his face, accompanied by a heated gleam in his eyes, and for a second it was hard to tell whether he meant to throw the snowball at her or lay her down right here and have his way with her.
He raised the snowball.
“I’ll save you, Mom!” Ana plunged both her arms into the snow and swung them up, sending a geyser of powder into the air—and all over Mason.
He tensed, momentarily obscured by that cloud of snow, and was left covered in white—his hair, his coat, his pants. He looked like he’d just awoken from a nap in a snowdrift. “Ah, that went down my back,” he grumbled.
Ana threw her hands in the air. “We did it! We—”
Gabriela’s next snowball struck her daughter in the chest.
Ana turned shocked eyes toward her mother. “We’re supposed to be on a team!”
Gabby stuck her tongue out. “I never said that.”
Laughing, Mason bent down, scooped up some snow, and rose to charge at Gabriela. She screeched and ran, though she wasn’t sure whether she truly wanted to escape him.
They played for some time, their laughter filling the forest, until they were exhausted and covered in snow. Even though Gabriela knew they’d all be freezing pretty soon, she felt good. She didn’t feel like she’d just lost everything—she felt like she’d found the piece of her life that had been missing all this time.
Both she and Ana dropped back into the snow, panting, and stared up at the trees for several seconds. Gabby’s cheeks, nose, and chin were so cold they were partially numb, and her legs burned with exertion, but she didn’t care.
Ana swept her arms and legs in wide arcs over the snow, making a snow angel. How the girl still had the energy to do that, Gabriela did not know.
With a gentle smile on his face, Mason leaned back against the trunk of a tall tree, his eyes shifting back and forth between Ana and Gabriela. If he was tired, he wasn’t showing it, even though he’d run around just as much as Ana had.
Gabby met his gaze and smiled. “I guess we should find our tree before we all freeze.”
His eyes darkened, and his expression grew serious. “I’ll warm you, female.” His eyes roved over her. “All night long.”
He warmed her all right. That seductive look, combined with his words, sent a burst of heat straight to Gabriela’s core, and her skin flushed.
“Gross,” Ana said, putting her gloved hands over her ears. “There’s a kid here!”
Yup, The Talk is coming.
Mason laughed, pushing away from the tree, and strode over to Gabriela. He held his hands out to her. He didn’t need to say anything for her to know what he was thinking—and she had a pretty good idea that he knew her thoughts were similar.
Gabby placed her hands within his, and he helped her rise, lifting her easily out of the snow and keeping an arm around her until she gained her balance. She looked up at him and smiled. His tousled hair hung all about his face. She reached up, intending to tuck his hair back, but he caught her wrist and gently halted her arm.