Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 6

SERENA

My mouth dropped open as I shuffled toward the coffeepot. Outside the window: white. Everywhere. Mother Nature had dumped the first major snow of the year while we slept. Sadie would be ecstatic.

Me. Not so much.

I loved snow, especially if it meant a white Christmas. But a huge dumping like this meant I’d have to shovel not only my driveway, but the sidewalk at work. And with the town pretty much snowed in, business would be slow. I still needed to be there, though. There were orders to fill, even if they may not get picked up today. A slow day would also give me time to catch up on the administrative end of things, which tended to slip to the back burner because it wasn’t what I enjoyed.

Thank goodness, my mom would be watching Sadie today, and she lived just a few blocks away, within walking distance. One less thing to worry about. Hopefully, Mom was prepared to play in the snow and was stocked up on hot cocoa. If only I could take the day off to play with them.

“Whoa! Look at that!” Sadie ran to the window with her eyes wide, jumping up and down with excitement. “Do you think Elsa visited while I was sleeping? She must have used her magic all over. It looks just like the movie outside.” She hopped onto the couch, singing “Let it go” and flicking an invisible magic wand at every tree and snowbank.

I chuckled at my sweet girl’s enthusiasm. “It’s possible this was Elsa’s doing. I don’t know. Maybe you can make your own Olaf today.”

“Can I? Let’s do it right now, before it melts.”

“It’s not going to melt. You have plenty of time. First, you need to get dressed and eat breakfast. I have to go to work, so you’ll be spending the day with Nana. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help you make a snowman.”

As if on cue, the door blew open and in stomped my mom, brushing the snow off of her hair and boots. “Merry Christmas! Or at least it looks like it.”

“Nana!” Sadie ran up to her and hugged her snowpant-covered legs.

“Did you see all that snow out there, Sadie? It’s a winter wonderland, for sure.”

“I did. And I wanna make a snowman. But Mom says I have to get dressed and eat first. Will you help me?”

“You bet. But we’ll have to dress warm, so we don’t turn into snowmen ourselves.”

Sadie giggled. “But we’re not men.”

“Snow girls then? Or snow grannies? Is there such a thing? There should be.”

“We should make a snowgirl and a snownana.” Sadie hopped and swung my mom’s arm back and forth like a swing. The girl was in perpetual motion. “And a snowmama, too. Don’t want mommy to feel left out.”

“Good thing there’s lots of snow. We’ve got our work cut out for us today. First off, you need to change clothes. This nightgown is not appropriate clothing for creating a snow family. You’d freeze to death.”

“Okay. I’ll get dressed super fast, so we can go outside.” Sadie rushed off to her bedroom.

“Guess I don’t have to wonder what you two will be doing all day.” I took one last swig of my coffee and put the mug in the sink, then went to the closet to pull out all of my snow garb. Most years, we eased into winter with bits of snow that melted before more came. Not this year. “And I’d better get shoveling if I’m going to get the store opened today. Though making snowpeople sounds lots more fun.”

“It wasn’t easy walking here. Pretty deep out there, and nothing has been plowed yet. Hard to tell even where the street is.” Mom said as she hung up her coat and snow pants to dry.

By the time I bundled up in all my winter gear, only my eyeballs were showing. I grabbed my shovel and trudged out to the driveway. The snow was almost waist deep. I didn’t remember ever getting so much snow in one night like that, especially not this early in the season.

After working for almost an hour I had cleared a path from my door to the street, just wide enough for me to walk through. I was sweating under all my layers, and ready for a nap. The plow came through to clear the street while I shoveled and made the pile at the end of the driveway even taller and harder to get through. I had propped my shovel against the snowbank to catch my breath when my neighbor from across the street came out with his snowblower.

I really needed one of those. But it was definitely not in my budget, or high on my priority list.

Mr. Benton crossed the street with his amazing machine and paused the blower to talk to me. “Good morning. Would you like some help? Sure is a lot of snow. Too much to shovel by hand, that’s for sure.”

Normally, I was someone who insisted on doing everything myself, and would rather be the helper than the helped. But it would take me all day to shovel this by hand, and I really needed to get to the shop. I couldn’t turn down this kind offer. “You’re an angel. I would love the help. I’ll bring home some flowers for you and your wife, as a thank you.”

“No need to thank me, but I know Jeannie would love some flowers.” He revved up the motor and engaged the blower. “This shouldn’t take long, and you can get on with your day.”

“Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver.”

Mr. Benton began expanding my path, shooting snow into tall banks on either side of the driveway. I tossed my shovel into the back seat of my car. This shovel was bigger than the one I kept at the shop, and I’d need it to get through all this snow in time to open my shop.

As soon as he’d cleared a path wide enough for my car to get through, I slowly backed out and crept down the street. Quite a few people were out shoveling and plowing, but not many cars on the streets yet.

The alley behind my shop had already been plowed, along with my parking spot. Hallelujah! I really hadn’t wanted to shovel that too.

I unlocked the shop from the back door. Thankfully, the storm didn’t take out the power, so everything was fine inside. I unlocked the front door from the inside and pushed it open. At least I tried to. It wouldn’t budge. I looked out the window to see what was stopping it and groaned. A chest-high snow drift was making sure no one came in or out of here today. Unless I cleared the way. Oof! This was going to take a while.

Where do I even start?

I turned the knob and pushed all my weight against the door, and only got it to budge a couple inches. Not enough to even poke my shovel through. I studied the door and wall of snow for a moment, trying to plan my strategy. I could keep nudging it inch-by-inch, or I could give it my all and see if I could break through. I glanced at the clock on the wall, telling me it was already past opening time. Not that anyone was waiting to get in, but I didn’t want to be at this all day. Might as well go for it.

Like a linebacker, I took a few steps back to get a run at it, tucked my head, and rammed my shoulder against the door, shoving it open. “Oof!” I landed in a heap on the sidewalk just below the front step, and so deep in the snow, all I could see was white. By the time I dug my way out, and made my way back up to the door, I was ready for a nap, or a hot bath, but that wasn’t happening. My day had hardly begun.

I shoveled off the step and shut the door. The next hour was spent tunneling my way down the sidewalk to the street. It was grueling work, but I just kept my head down and kept shoveling.

I was almost to the street when I heard a voice yell out from where I’d just tossed a scoop of snow.

“Hey!”

I peeked up over the snowbank to see what was going on. There was none other than the grump with my load of snow on the top of his head. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at the poetic justice in front of me. If only I could have buried him in snow while hiding on a balcony so he wouldn’t know it was me.

No chance of hiding now.

I rushed over to help, because that’s just how I was wired. “I’m so sorry. Let me help you brush that snow off.”

Just before I reached him, my boot hit an ice patch and my feet slid right out from under me, knocking Grumpty-Dumpty off his feet at the same time.

As if tossing snow on the man and falling in front of him wasn’t bad enough, I had to land flat on my back in the snow, with the gorgeous grouch right on top of me.

The fall had knocked the breath right out of me. My heart raced as I stared into his dark, intense eyes, so close to mine. They had little flicks of gold, like sparks amidst the dark brown. When I finally took a breath, I noticed his musky, woodsy scent—it was a combination I hadn’t smelled before, and it did something to my insides. I had to refrain from sniffing him to discern exactly what the scent was. My nose twitched, dying to figure out what made up the delectable blend that had my body already humming.

Don’t do it. Don’t sniff him.

Right. Because that wouldn’t make me seem weird at all.

My sense of smell was more discerning than most, which might be why I’d always been drawn to flowers. Storm’s scent was unique, though. Maybe whatever he used, morphed into something new when it combined with his essence. It wasn’t sandalwood or cedar, but I couldn’t quite pin it down.

I really needed to get out more.

As I laid there staring at him—like an idiot—I realized he was a staring at me, too.

Maybe he’d never seen a snow monster up close before. Was my nose running? I couldn’t even move enough to check. And sniffling would be really awkward in this moment.

Then he reached up and brushed some snow off my cheek, and my heart stopped. No breath, no heartbeat. Barely any brainwaves.

What would the coroner say my cause of death was? Fatal attraction? No, too creepy. Heart-stopping hotness? That tracks. Lethal lust? Possibly.

I should have known that ill-tempered Adonis would be my doom.

So much for poetic justice.