“No, you may not,” Ben toyed with her. “I wouldn’t want to get any gossip started.” Or anyone’s hopes up, he added mentally.
“Well, she’s a good age for you,” Candy insisted, unable to stop herself from playing match maker, at least a little. There was a time she had thought Cathy might have been interested in Ben, but the age difference would have always been an issue. “Professional, too. Obviously.”
“Yeah, I’ve met women before, Candice. I can handle it. If anything comes of it,” he cocked his head towards her, teasing her, “you’ll be the first to know.”
5
Let It Snow
Dakota awoke from his mid-day nap to bright white light. Flinging back his covers, he scampered over to his window and peered down at the front yard below. “Snow,” he breathed, his warm air frosting the pane.
Making a mad dash for the door, he descended the stairs while calling “Snow! Snow!” at the top of his lungs.
“Yes, it’s snow,” Caroline chastised when he reached the kitchen. “Inside voice, please.” Daks had been doing well with his manners, but there were times his excitement still got the better of him. Fortunately, Joylana had woken up first or she would really be angry.
In her highchair, Joy cackled and mimicked, “Snow.” Adding a few loud whacks to the tabletop portion with her spoon, she joined in her brother’s celebration.
“Outside,” Daks announced. “Jo’ana go play?”
“Not right now,” Carol countered with a giggle. “You need to eat, and you have to be dressed for outside play.” Placing his sandwich on the table, she returned to tidying up the dishes.
Clambering into his chair, Daks wasted little time finishing the meal as there was a winter wonderland outside begging to be spoiled with footprints and snow mounds; he hadn’t quite mastered the art of snowman building yet.
Peeking through the window in the back door, Holly shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s coming down pretty hard. This might not be a good time to be out in it.”
“Nonsense,” Lanelle slurred. Seated in her chair, she had been watching her grandchildren, as eager to be out of the house as they were.
“Now, Mimi,” Holly soothed. “You know you don’t want to catch a cold.”
Lanelle only glared at her with piercing steel-blue eyes.
“Outside,” Daks insisted, prompting Joy to bang more.
“All right, all right!” Carol shouted above the racket. “We’ll try it for a few minutes, but everyone eats and dresses warmly, first.” Catching her lover’s eyes, she grinned. “It will be, you know . We won’t let them stay out long.”
But that did little for Holly. It was her job to worry. Lanelle’s health was fragile at best, so allowing her to become chilled just wouldn’t work for her. “I’ll figure something out,” she reluctantly agreed.
Half an hour later, the requisite demands had been met and Caroline prepared to lead their group out to the back yard. In her wheelchair, Lanelle had been dressed in a warm jacket for her arms and torso, while a thick wool blanket covered her legs. Beneath it, a hot-water bottle added an extra degree of warmth.
Opening the back door, Carol escorted the children out first. Little legs pumping, Joy did her best to keep up with her older brother, and peals of laughter soon echoed off the large trees that spotted their large back yard.
Getting her wheelchair out through the doorway, Holly parked Lanelle near the railing for the best view. “Can you see?”
“Yes,” Lanelle rasped, drawing her jacket tighter around the neck. “Top half’s cold.”
Leaving her, Holly hurried back inside to retrieve another blanket. Dropping it over her charge’s shoulders, she observed the sparkle in the older woman’s eyes. Making one more trip, she located her own jacket and gloves.
“Where are you going?” Carol demanded when she returned donning the items.
“To play in the snow,” Holly quipped. “Lanelle can’t be out in it, but I can do it for her.”
Carol beamed at her lover, accepting the caring gesture. “Go on, baby. I’ll get anything she needs.” She was fairly certain her partner’s motives weren’t purely altruistic as Holly darted into the drifts and began helping Daks pack snow onto his mound.
Almost an hour later, a dark sedan cleared the back of the house and pulled up at their garage that took up the back left of the property. “Mommy!” Daks sang out when she had climbed out of the car.
Seeing her mother, Joylana squealed and began the arduous trek across the growing piles of snow behind him.
“Oh, my babies,” Candy exclaimed. Dropping to her knees, she hugged each in turn. Grasping at Joy’s mitten covered fingers, she asked, “How long have they been outside?”
“About long enough,” Carol called from the porch.
“Nooo,” Daks resisted.
“I’m afraid so,” Holly agreed, tromping over to help her employer coral the children. “We’ve been out at least forty-five minutes, and that’s plenty cold at one time.”
“That’s long enough, baby,” Candy soothed. Seeing her struggle, Ben used her left arm to help her to her feet.
“Let’s go in and have a warm snack,” he coaxed. “Momma and I need some lunch.”
“They ate just a bit ago,” Holly observed, “but it could be time for a snack after all our hard work,” she added, indicating the large pile they had manage to scrape together.
Ben cocked an eyebrow at the sight. “What’s that supposed to be.”
“Snowman!” Daks informed him loudly, quite proud of their accomplishment.
“You bet it is,” Candy added, scooping her daughter into her arms and adjusting her against her hip aside her round belly.
“You sure seem to be in a better mood,” Carol observed when they reached the back porch.
“Yes,” Candy replied airily as she climbed the steps. “The doctor visit was good news.”
Holly cut her a sideways glance before she began the process of moving Lanelle back inside. “Were you expecting it not to be?” What good did it do to have a full-time nurse on the premises if she was not kept informed about things?
“Oh, I just worry,” Candy replied flippantly, choosing not to spoil the rest of their day with her dark thoughts.
Removing their jackets and shaking off the snow, the small kitchen soon filled with the smell of grilled cheese, hot tomato soup, and whipped cream topped cocoa, along with the sounds of a happy winter’s day in the Ford family bubble.
“Well, the steaks smell delicious,” Holly offered as the group gathered around the larger dining room table.
“Indeed,” Roger confirmed, having had a hand in their preparation.
His co-chef, Ben only laughed, anxiously keeping an eye on his morning charge. Seated next to Gary’s empty setting, Candy rubbed her belly, obviously distracted. “Are you going to eat now or wait for the big man?” he teased.
“For what?” Candice only half joined them, her mind still somewhere else.