His eyes reluctantly opened, just a hair at a time, and he tried to bring the numbers on the clock into focus. It was nearly noon. He turned over, expecting to find her curled up next to him, but she was gone. A cold alarm shot through him. She wouldn't just leave. He knew that in his heart, but convincing his mind seemed something else entirely. He leaped out of the bed, the cool of the room a rude interruption from the warmth of the down cocoon he'd been in seconds before. Her car was still in front of the cabin when he looked out the window, and his breath began to slow. He shook his head at himself and picked up the coffee she'd brought in earlier. His face contorted in disgust as a sip of the icy liquid hit his tongue. Grabbing his jeans from the floor where she dropped them the night before, he pulled them on and grabbed his bag before heading into the bathroom.
It didn't take long before he was standing in the kitchen with a cup of hot coffee in his hand. He still hadn't seen her, and it puzzled him. Through the front windows, he looked outside at the blanket of white on the ground and saw them. There were footprints in the snow, little footprints.
When he finished his caffeine fix, he pulled on his jacket and opened the front door. The small porch was drifted with the snow, a thin valley running through the middle where she had made her way through. He followed her path across the front and around the side of the cabin, enjoying the silence of the cold, crisp air and the sunlight sparkling off the crust of the snowfall. He called her name, but only silence met him.
"Hey," he yelled out when the force of the first snowball hit him in the back, squarely between his shoulders. He wheeled around just in time to see her duck behind a carefully constructed wall of snow. Her laughter carried through the trees. He took two long steps toward her hideout before his chest caught her second shot.
"You have had it now, girl." he tried not to laugh, but that was a hopeless effort.
"Hu-uh," she called back. "You have to catch me first!"
She darted out from behind her protective wall, several more rounds of ammunition in her arms, and ran through the trees, only occasionally turning to fire another cold shot. He scooped up snow as he ran, molding balls in his hands and throwing them roughly in her direction. He was quickly closing the gap on her when she fired her last shot. No longer needing to duck for cover, his stride lengthened and his pace quickened until he was within reach of her. He grabbed at her, catching her in his arms. Their laughter mixed with the labored breath from the chase, and she collapsed on the ground taking him with her.
"I heard you come out," she giggled. "Been waitin for ya!"
"Yeah, I noticed." He tried to sound stern with her, but her giggling was contagious. "How long have you been out here, anyway?" He touched a finger to her bright red nose, and he cupped her flushed cheeks in his hands.
"Oh, I don't know. A while. I came out to walk through the snow and got sort of sidetracked." She looked toward her ambush cover.
"You're ornery, you know that?" he laughed.
She laid back spread eagle, moving her arms and legs to make a snow angel. "Uh-huh, I know, and you love it." When she was satisfied with her creation, she sat up and looked at him. He saw a spark of something different in her eyes as they softened. She smiled.
"Yeah, I do." He stood and took her hand, pulling her up beside him. "Come on, let's get you inside and in front of a fire." He took a step toward the warmth of the cabin.
