“I’m not sighing.” Nichole knotted a scarf a little too tight around her snowman’s neck. “I’m simply checking out the competition. I already cooked breakfast this morning. I don’t want to clean up too.”
“It’s okay if you are daydreaming about him.” Brooke leaned around her snowman and lifted her eyebrows up and down. “He is your husband.”
Except he wasn’t. Nichole smashed a carrot into her snowman’s head and glanced over at Wesley and Chase, their competition in the snowmen challenge. Wesley and Chase had laughed, plotted and planned the past hour. Then laughed even more. Heads always together and sharing more high fives than she could count. The only break Wesley took was to rub his glove under his nose. Chase never tired. Never lost his patience. Never stopped listening to Wesley.
But Nichole was Wesley’s team. Chase was only temporary. Their arrangement short-term. If she started relying on Chase, then expectations developed that Chase could be something more permanent in their lives. Her heart would start to believe again, and there’d be no going back. Then Wesley would get hurt. Chase had to remain on his own team.
“Time,” Dan shouted. “Hands off the snowmen.”
And Nichole had to keep her mind off Chase, off repeating stolen kisses, and off imagining that something more real existed between them. Something that could last past contract notarizations and app sales. The head on her snowman listed to the side as if doubting her resolve.
Dan called the teams together. Wesley spread his arms wide and shouted, “May we present Zombie Snowland.”
More than a half dozen snowmen covered their Zombie Snowland in various stages of formation from full bodies to heads only. Broken twigs served as arms. Their rock eyes drooped into their half-formed mouths. They’d added a sports drink to stain the snow of their zombies’ bodies bloodred. And even wrapped one poor normal-looking snowman up in a rope, held by a zombie. Nichole granted them high points for creativity, despite wanting to split up their team.
“It’s an infestation of zombie snowmen.” Chase grinned and high-fived Wesley. Their rapport natural, genuine and growing stronger. “It was all Wesley’s idea and it was awesome.”
Wesley nudged closer into Chase’s side. Chase’s praise straightened his thin shoulders. Nichole frowned into her scarf. She complimented her son often. But next to Chase, Wesley looked even more confident. Even more sure of himself.
“Cool.” Ben’s awestruck mouth dropped open. “You guys totally win.”
“But you guys have the tallest snowmen ever.” Wesley smiled and pointed at Ben’s snowmen.
Ben and Dan had built two extra-wide bases and then kept stacking more snow mounds one on top of the other. Dan had retrieved a ladder at the halfway mark and tapped in Chase for assistance. The effect was two massive, towering snowmen that looked ready to stomp all over Zombie Snowland.
Wesley continued, “They’re giants and almost reach the sky. That’s even more awesome.”
Complimenting the rival team. Had Wesley learned that from Nichole or Chase? It shouldn’t matter. But those pesky connections that could turn into deep bonds kept interfering. She had to be responsible for Wesley’s life lessons. Chase had to be responsible for keeping his distance.
“What about ours?” Nichole set her hands on her hips. “If the giants and the zombies take each other out, our snowmen are the last ones standing.”
“Clearly we should win just for outlasting everyone else.” Brooke nudged a carrot nose back into her snowman’s face.
Wesley shrugged. “But yours are just plain snowmen.”
Ben’s eyebrows drew together, and he nodded. “Yeah. They’re really plain.”
Dan stepped beside Chase. The pair made an effort to pretend to consider Brooke’s and Nichole’s snowmen. Then they nodded in unison, their expression as grim as the boys’. The foursome completely united.
“That was the challenge,” Nichole argued. It was a snowman challenge, not a team building exercise. “To make snowmen. We did that.”
“Ours even have hats and sweaters.” Brooke buttoned the sweater on Nichole’s snowman. “And we absolutely met the challenge to build the best-looking snowmen.”
Brooke and she were also a great team. Brooke had even helped Nichole make breakfast that morning. Chase had kept his distance and played video games with the boys. And she hadn’t been the least bit disappointed. Nichole frowned; tallying her lies was becoming harder and harder. “The challenge wasn’t to build the best zombie attack.”
“You think it’s the best zombie attack.” Chase grinned.
“She did say the best,” Dan pointed out.
“Boys win.” Ben and Wesley high-fived. “Can we go explore before lunch?”
“We should’ve expected this.” Brooke groaned beside Nichole. “We know they like to gang up on us for every challenge.”
“We have to come up with a better plan before game night this evening,” Nichole whispered. She’d lost her bet last night with Chase. The boys had eaten most of Chase’s casserole themselves, especially after Chase had helped himself to a huge portion of the baked pasta and finished every bite. Nichole had clearly underestimated the Chase factor in more ways than one.
“Not so fast.” Dan caught the boys by their jackets before they sprinted off to explore. “I’m coming with you and you won’t argue about it.”
The boys rounded on Dan and listed off the places on the property they wanted to check. Dan finally raised his hands and said, “Just lead the way. I’ll follow.”
The trio bounded off toward the back of the château.
“I’ll go in and start washing the dishes.” Brook headed for the stairs.
Nichole gathered the extra clothing they hadn’t used for their snowmen.
Chase picked up a scarf, shook off the snow and set it gently on the pile she held. He asked, “Want some help with lunch?”
She wanted help remembering their kiss had been a mistake. She wanted help putting a wedge between him and her son. She wanted help reminding herself this was all pretend. “We’ve got it. Don’t you want to go explore with the boys?”
He tugged her hat over her forehead. “We never talked about that kiss. Or our options.”
There were no other options. But she’d lain
