“I brought my laptop,” Hawkins volunteered. “Nobody said I couldn’t,” he said defensively, as five pairs of eyes bored into him. “Look, I’m just as sly as the next guy so think about this…. I know how men do things!”

Olivia sniffed. “I wouldn’t go around bragging about that if I were you, but we’ll keep it in mind. Now, in your spare time, see if you can find out who those other four Mrs. Rainfords are.” She gave him a high five to seal the deal.

“Hey, guys, let’s get dressed again and go play in the snow. When was the last time any of you made snow angels or a snowman?” Olivia asked.

The others needed no second urging as they pulled on their thermal winter gear.

Outside, they pelted one another with snowballs, squealing and shouting like ten-year-olds. They carried their exuberance to the Omega Five building and started to taunt their adversaries. “Come on out, you wusses!” Hawkins shouted. Olivia and Kayla took their exuberance to Pappy’s quarters, while Zoe attacked the staff building with wild shrieks and catcalls. Sam started to roll a ball into what would be the base for a snowman.

Within minutes it was instant bedlam as Team Five and the staff hit the compound running, scooping up snow as they went along. Somehow or other, the group broke up into pairs. To her chagrin, Sam saw she was partnered with Pappy. Is this good or what? she thought.

The instant Pappy bent over to scoop snow into his hands, Sam’s foot shot out, hooking around his ankle. He went down, face forward into the snow. He was on his feet within seconds. Head back, mouth wide open, he roared like a lion. Unable to resist what she was seeing, Sam took careful aim and scored a perfect hit with a small snowball. Pappy ate snow.

Pappy roared again as he started after her, his intent clear. He tackled her and she went down. Sam struggled, but his body weight was impossible to topple. After several seconds of furious struggle, she allowed herself to go limp. Then, with one mighty upward thrust of her rear end, she flipped him over. Quicker than lightning, she had him straddled and pinned to the ground.

Sam stared down at the man she was straddling. In the blink of an eye, she lowered her head and kissed him until his teeth rattled. Either with fear or shock she wasn’t sure. Was she out of her mind? Obviously. Like a jack-in-the-box, she jumped up and looked down at the man in the snow. She gurgled with laughter. “For a mountain hillbilly, you kiss pretty good. You also need to stop being such a stiff.” She was off, running to join her teammates, her lips on fire. Oh, God, I think I’m in love.