Twelve Dates of Christmas by Charlee James

Author:Charlee James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781954894723
Publisher: Tule Publishing Group, LLC
Published: 2022-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

Owen and Grace were flying. That was the only word suitable for the rate of speed at which their inflated tube rocketed down the steep hill of glazed snow. The evergreens lining the slope blurred past, a green curtain ruffling on either side of the mountain. Wind rang in Owen’s ears and slipped down the neck of his winter jacket. Grace let out a cheer as they hit a bump, the momentum lifting them up, up. He stiffened, Isaac Newton’s iconic quote on the brain, and prepared for the hard whack when the tube hit the ground. As expected, nature’s slide slammed into his backside, and he held on to Grace, who was sitting between his legs. She raised her hands above her head like one might on a roller coaster, a machine that was equipped to defy the physical properties of gravity. The inertia from the sled wouldn’t be stopped by an engineer’s wheel design.

“This thing should have seat belts,” Owen called over the air whipping around them.

Her laugh rang out, and he was sure if he saw her face, there’d be a huge smile stretching over her lips. This was a new experience for him. His parents were wonderful, but he and his sister had a sheltered upbringing. Any activity they engaged in had called for multiple layers of protective gear. He was positive they’d never made mud pies. Bouncy castles and trampolines had been strictly off-limits. Sage did a mad sweep of her house every time their parents stopped by for a visit, putting all teeth-rotting sweets into a secret container. She always missed one or two things and got the dreaded disapproving eye.

As the slope evened out, their tube slowed, and Grace planted her heels into the snow like brakes.

“If we go too far, we’ll have to walk all the way back to the rope tow.” Grace put her hands on her snowsuit-clad knees and stood up, turning to offer her hand to him. The pulley system was in varying stages of use with riders attaching their tubes at the bottom for a lift all the way back to the top, while others had reached the peak and were buzzing down the hill. An attendant helped hook their tube to a safety latch, and they jumped back in to relax on the ride up.

“What’d you think?” They were both sitting with their legs crossed, facing each other. Their knees overlapped in the small space, and every shift or bump made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up with renewed awareness of their proximity. He was still hanging on to the handles, gloves covering his knuckles, which were probably blanched with effort. Grace looked like she was sitting on a cozy couch, leaning back with her elbows propped behind her on the edge of the tube.

“Fast. It was fast.” His heart lifted when Grace beamed back at him. Being with her gave him a special kind of lightness, similar to the coming of Christmas as a child.

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