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presents from Santa. Padding across the floor, she grabbed her sweatshirt and sweatpants from the calico chair by the window and shrugged into them over her pajamas. Then she pushed the curtain aside to look outdoors and gasped.
    “Snow!”
    Georgie could hardly contain herself as she grabbed a pair of heavy socks she’d shoved into her suitcase and then dropped down to the chair to pull them on her feet. Sometime during the night it had snowed and a fresh layer of white covered the ground like frosting on a birthday cake. It was still snowing and she couldn’t wait to see it up close.
    She’d left her boots by the door and wasted no time running down the stairs, through the kitchen and to the mudroom.
    “Where’s the fire?” she heard Joan ask.
    “It’s snowing!” Georgie said. She slipped into her boots and ran out the door.
    “It usually does that around here,” she barely heard Joan say as the door closed behind her.
    Once outside, Georgie lifted her face to the sky and let the snowflakes fall against her warm cheek. Jumping off the porch, she dropped to the ground and let her boots get buried in the snow. She kicked and laughed and kicked some more as she made a path by dragging her feet. By the time breakfast was finished, someone would be out here shoveling a clean path that people could actually walk on.
    She turned to the sound of the door opening and closing again and saw Julian. His jacket was unzipped, showing his wheat colored Henley top. In his hands, he held two pairs of thermal gloves and the red jacket Julian had insisted she get before they made their journey north.
    “My mother is afraid you’re going to catch pneumonia and miss the wedding.”
    She lifted her hands palm side up to catch snowflakes. “It’s snowing.”
    He chuckled. “So you’ve told us.”
    “Isn’t it exciting?”
    “I’m trembling, I’m so excited,” he said deadpan.
    She couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Julian’s face. “I know I probably look ridiculous. But I’ve never seen snow. Not like this anyway. The few times I ever saw snow where I grew up, the snow was gone as soon as the snowflakes hit the ground.”
    “Well, we sure do get snow here in South Dakota.”
    She reached down and took a clump of snow in her hands and balled it. The ice crystals stung her skin.
    “Take these before you freeze to death,” he said.
    “I’m fine.”
    “If you don’t want my mother at that kitchen door yelling at you for being out here unprepared, you’ll just do as you’re told.”
    Georgie glanced back at the house and saw Joan was standing at the window, looking out at the two of them.
    Georgie waved. Joan smiled and waved back. She genuinely liked Julian's mother. Something about her reminded her of her grandmother. Her grandmother had died when Georgie was just a little girl, but she remember her well. The two women had lived such different lives and were so different. But Georgie could already tell that Joan had that big heart her grandmother always had. She never turned anyone away. Her door was always open to someone in need, no matter how little her grandmother had.
    Georgie dragged her boots in the snow again as she walked over to Julian and took the jacket. As she shrugged into it, she saw Joan smile. Then she dropped the curtain she’d lifted up to peer outside back into place. Georgie took the gloves from Julian and slipped her hands inside. The warmth that enveloped her freezing skin was immediate and she was thankful for Joan’s urging Julian to bring her protective clothes.
    Julian took her gloved hands in his bare hands, rubbing them over the fabric. “Better?”
    She sucked in a deep breath of cold, fresh morning air and nodded.
    Julian’s gaze met hers. She saw the smile pulling at his lips but she could tell he was holding back. “So who was that snowball meant for,” he asked.
    “What makes you think it was meant for a person?”
    His eyebrows lifted. “You mean it