Page 26 of Evergreen Christmas
Roxie, who was patting down a fresh layer of snow on their snowman, glanced up at Nate in surprise. “Who’re you talking about, Daddy?”
Nate grimaced. “No one, sweetheart. That was an awful thing to say about someone and I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Sometimes calling people names is necessary,” Tucker said, bending swiftly to the ground, packing together a snowball and propelling it across the town square at another team. “That Chester Stone has hit Jordyn with more snowballs in the past five minutes than I’ve thrown during this contest altogether over the past two years. That kid deserves a taste of his own medicine.”
With that, Tucker scooped up another hefty handful of snow, packed it into a snowball and hurled it in Chester’s direction as the boy bent over for another armful of snow. Tucker’s snowball smacked him square in the backside.
Chester, the little devil, rubbed his backside and frowned, ceasing his attack on Jordyn momentarily to yell at Tucker. “Hey! You can’t do that.”
Tucker, undeterred, made another snowball and threw it at a team nearby. “I can do whatever I want, kid. There are no holds barred in this competition.”
A slight grin spread across Chester’s face at the prospect of a new confrontation. He bent over, patted together another snowball and, aiming with precision, hurled it, smacking Roxie on the arm.
“Ouch! That hurt,” Roxie said, dropping the snow in her hands and rubbing her arm.
“Hey, kid, you watch that,” Nate said, narrowing his eyes at the boy. “Roxie is a builder, not a fighter.”
“Ain’t no difference between the two during a Snowman Fight,” Chester yelled. “Anyone’s fair game. Like Tucker said, I can throw my snowballs at whoever I want!”
Drake Stone, Chester’s father and big-bellied bartender in downtown Noel, stopped adding snow to the family snowman and took a moment to pat Chester’s back instead. “That’s right, son. You tell them!” He glared at Nate and Tucker. “You mess with the bull, guys, you get the horns. I put some snow in my boy’s hand, and he can take down any man. Can’t you, son?”
Chester puffed out his chest. “Sure can, Pop!”
Nate dragged his hand over his face and groaned, the frigid dampness of his glove against his cheek making him shiver slightly. This was all they needed. The Stone family’s snowball attack on Jordyn was within the competition’s rules, but it was certainly dishonorable—and at the very least, rude—to target her, considering she was participating as a one-woman team. But the last thing Nate wanted was for Roxie to become the Stones’ target instead.
“That’s some real chivalry you’re teaching your son there, Drake,” Nate shouted over the laughter surrounding them. “Can’t say I’d be proud if I had a son who relished throwing snowballs at females. It’d do your son good to take on a male for a change this year. Far as I’ve seen, he only attacks girls and women.”
“Stop your whining, Nate!” Drake picked up a snowball in his beefy hand and threw it at Nate, who ducked, the snowball missing his forehead by a mere inch. “You don’t want none of this.”
Nate glanced down at Roxie, who still rubbed her arm with one hand and struggled to pat down a new layer of snow on their snowman with her injured arm. Then he glanced to his right where Jordyn had risen from her hands and knees to a standing position. She’d managed to form the bottom foundation of her snowman and was feverishly adding her second layer, shooting anxious glances at the Stone family in between motions.
She darted a glance Nate’s way and the hopeful gratitude in her eyes as she held his gaze stirred indignant anger within him at the thought of the Stones taking advantage of her vulnerable state.
It was unconscionable, really. Lighthearted contest or not, it had never been in Nate’s nature to stand by and leave a woman defenseless to the whims of a stronger attacker.
But stepping in on Jordyn’s behalf was against the rules. Cross-conspiring was a huge no-no on the Nanas’ list of rules, and one team aiding another—even if the other team was comprised of one vulnerable individual at the mercy of many—would be a breach of honor according to the rules.
The choice was clear. Either he turned his back on Jordyn, refocused his efforts on building his own team’s snowman and secured a win, or he would have to act inconspicuously on Jordyn’s behalf.
Nate glanced at Tucker, who paused in his efforts to defend their snowman, glanced over his shoulder at Nate and nodded firmly. “Let ’em have it. They deserve it.”
“Yeah, Daddy.” Roxie, forming the head of their snowman, looked up at him with fierce encouragement in her eyes. “Help Miss Jordyn. Give them some of their own medicine. I won’t tell.”
Grinning, Nate bent and kissed her cheek. “Good girl. But only this once and only because it’s a question of honor.”
Roxie nodded solemnly. “Like you said, we’re always supposed to help others when they are hurt or in need.”
“There are five minutes remaining,” Carol Belle announced over the microphone.
The flurry of activity across the town square increased as each team doubled and tripled their efforts. Most of the teams surrounding them had already finished their snowman or were close to finishing. Jordyn was the only participant who had yet to form the second sphere of her creation.
Five minutes wasn’t much, but five minutes less of being pummeled by snowballs might give Jordyn a fighting chance in the contest and would be worth the effort.
Ducking behind his team’s snowman, Nate gathered a pile of snow at his boots, packed together several snowballs, then leaned around the snowman, waiting for Chester to turn his back and project another snowball at Jordyn.
“Let it loose,” Tucker said in a hushed voice over his shoulder.
And Nate did just that.
