Don't Promise (Don't 3)

“Good morning, honey.” My mom placed a stack of pancakes on the table.

Grayson was covered in syrup, but looked happy with his breakfast. I walked over and pulled him into a hug. “Hey, buddy.” I kissed the top of his head.

“Good morning, Mom.” I marched over to the coffee pot and retrieved two mugs for Cole and me.

“How did you sleep, Cole?” Mom asked.

Cole cleared his throat. “Great. Thanks for letting me, eh—us stay in the guesthouse.”

“Of course. We thought you’d be the most comfortable there instead of Kaitlyn’s old room.” She circled back with butter and syrup. “And with a child in the house it made sense.”

I realized they were trying to protect Grayson from our decisions, but I think they forgot we lived together under one roof in South Padre. I wasn’t going to argue with them.

My dad walked in the room. “Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, sir.” Cole’s posture seemed to straighten as soon as my father entered the kitchen.

I stifled a giggle. I handed Cole a cup of coffee. He smiled as he took it from me.

“Mom, what else do you have planned today before the church pageant?” I asked.

She settled into her seat. “Nothing, but baking and wrapping. Was there something you wanted to do?”

I looked outside. The sn

ow covered the ground. We had to have gotten at least eight inches. “I don’t think I want to drive around in this if we don’t have to.” I turned to Cole. “Unless there’s something you wanted to do.”

“This is all you, darlin’. I’m just along for the ride.”

I thought about our options in my small town. If we were going to be snowed in for the day, there were a hundred things I thought we could do together, but adding my parents into the mix complicated the options.

“Actually, I could use some help getting more wood loaded in the garage.” My dad rustled the newspaper.

“I could help with that, sir. No problem.”

“Thank you. Between the two of us, it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

“Have you ever seen snow before?” I asked Grayson. Clearly, it never snowed in South Padre.

“It’s his first time.” Cole cut into his pancakes.

“We could go for a hike later after you’re done with the firewood. Maybe pull Grayson on the sled.”

“All right. Sounds fun.” He smiled over his coffee.

After my father and Cole stacked two rows of firewood in the garage, my father set him on the task of moving boxes over the garage door. It hadn’t occurred to me that maybe Dad was having more trouble doing things now than when I was younger. He was in good shape. He and Mom walked a few nights a week, and he wasn’t a heavy man, but he was almost sixty. Maybe climbing to the top of the ladder with a load of boxes wasn’t the piece of cake it used to be.

I had pulled out all my snow cold-weather gear from the back of my closet. I had snow pants, boots, and extra insulated gloves for our hike. Mom had gathered a few of Dad’s and Ryan’s extras out of the utility room for Cole to borrow. Other than a deep collection of flannel shirts and a coat, he didn’t have clothes for snow weather.

“Where are you going on your walk?” Mom asked while she stirred potato soup on the stove.

“I thought we could head out on the trail at the end of the cul-de-sac. The one that leads to the park.”

I hadn’t planned a full route. I just wanted to get out of the house. Grayson needed a chance to play in the snow. He seemed to have made a full recovery from his fever.

“Leave a trail of bread crumbs so I can find you.” Mom giggled.

“Funny, Mom.”