Once Bitten, Twice Shy

She squealed and bent over to collect more snow. As she straightened, his snowball was already in the air. She ducked and the ball of ice grazed off her hood. Again she lobbed a snowball at him, but in her haste she missed him by a wide margin.

Not to be outdone, he already had another one formed and raised his hand to throw it at her. She turned and ran, her laughter muffled in the waterlogged air. From the corner of her eye she saw the gray truck pushing a trail down the drive and dodged out of its path, completely forgetting about the stump hidden under the snow.

Her knee hit the solid chunk of wood with a nauseating thump. She dropped to the snow, clutching her knee and moaning. A truck door slammed and strong hands plucked her out of the snow.

"Here now Shorty. What are you doing running around here like a chicken with its head cut off?" Josh lifted her into his arms and started for the house.

"Put me down," she managed on the end of an agonized moan.

"Is she all right?" Alex asked as he caught up with them.

Josh turned his head sharply and snorted. "I should have known." He released her abruptly and she staggered on the injured leg, nearly falling in the snow again.

Alex reached out to steady her and grinned. "Maybe you should have stayed where you were."

"In the barn?" she asked innocently, and glanced up in time to see the poisonous look Josh was shooting at Alex.

Fortunately Alex didn't notice. He laughed and tousled her hair. With a rush of blood to her face, she realized the hood had slipped off her head. She tugged the hood back over her head and glanced at Josh.

"You're just in time for breakfast. Come on in and join us."

She limped toward the house, pushing away the helping arm Alex offered. Josh had left childhood behind long ago and this little frolic in the snow probably looked anything but innocent to him.

Katie met them at the door. "There you are, Alex. What took you two so long? Oh, hi Josh."

"He was asleep," Carmen answered. "I had to wake him up with a snow ball." She grinned up at Alex as she hung her coat. "I've got to go comb my hair. I'll meet you guys in the kitchen." She could shower and change after the chores were done.

In her room she ran a comb threw her curls and stared back at the violet eyes haunting her from the mirror. It was time to give Josh some kind of answer. It wasn't only her life that had been on hold. He was ready to start a family as well - had been for a long time. It was unfair to string Josh along this way. If she was having this much trouble making a decision, he couldn't be the right man.