The snow ball hit Cat in the face and dripped onto Noah’s.

“Hey!” Cat shouted, but Sara was running in the opposite direction laughing like a loon.

Cat jumped to her feet and dragged Noah up. “Pardon me, I have to murder your daughter.”

He watched the woman who saved his life chase then tackle the girl who grew his heart.

“Happy Snow Day, Noah!” Paige, balancing a pink bundle on her hip, waved cheerily. Gannon, in sweat pants and a ski jacket made faces at the baby in his wife’s arms.

“Happy Snow Day,” Noah answered, tromping down to meet them.

“I see my sister is asserting her dominance over the youth of Merry,” Gannon said dryly, jutting his chin in Cat’s direction.

Noah watched her push Sara face down in the snow and then fire a warning snowball at a group of pre-teen boys that had declared war.

“The kids seem to like her,” Noah observed.

“That’s because she is one,” Gannon said dryly. “They recognize her as one of their own, don’t they Gabby Girl?” Gannon grabbed the baby out of Paige’s arms and tossed her into the air.

The delighted squeal made them all laugh.

“Good lord, Gannon. Please don’t drop her,” Paige said, shaking her head.

“I’ll never let her fall,” Gannon promised. And Noah knew exactly what the man meant. There was something about being a father that had opened doors in his heart that he didn’t even know existed. And sometimes, when he couldn’t sleep, he wondered just why those same doors didn’t open for his own father.

“No work today?” Noah asked Paige. The TV crew seemed to be working 24/7 since arriving in town.

Paige shook her head. “Snow messed with our shooting plans. The trades are all doing the stuff that no one likes to see on TV. We’ve got a few cameras out shooting B-roll. But we get the day off. And we’re going to enjoy it since we probably won’t have another one on this shoot.”

“Well, welcome to Merry’s Snow Day,” Noah said, waving his arm at the growing crowd on the hill. Parents with toboggans and kids with disc saucers zoomed down the hill in a delighted cacophony of laughter and screams.

The igloo fort was almost done, and the stock pile of snowballs was being distributed to key points on the hill.

“Looks like Merry knows how to celebrate,” Paige grinned. “Do you mind if I have a camera come over and shoot some of this?”

“Did Cat orchestrate this just so you could film it?” He guessed it wasn’t that bad if everyone was having so much fun. And how many of them would really mind being on TV? But still, it lost a bit of the magic thinking that it was orchestrated to look good on TV.