A Very Special Delivery

down to Molly. “I need that chain saw. Can you hand it up?”
    She hefted the tool, then paused and glanced toward the front door. “You think Laney is still asleep?”
    “Positive. She naps for a couple of hours at a stretch.” He could see his response didn’t satisfy, and he continued to puzzle over why a woman who refused to hold his baby worried so much about her. “Why?”
    Molly made a twitching motion with one shoulder. “No reason.”
    She’d had plenty of chances to tell him what troubled her, but every time she’d backed away. Funny how that irked him.
    “I can take it from here,” he said, reaching for the saw.
    Hanging on to the ladder with one hand, she passed the saw up and then surprised him by ascending the remaining rungs. “I want to see what the world looks like from up here.”
    Being a pilot, Ethan loved the view from above the earth. Nice to know Molly wasn’t put off by heights. The fleeting thought drifted through his head that he might offer to take her up in a plane sometime.
    Feet wide to maintain balance, he set the saw aside and offered his gloved hand. “Ice is devastating, but beautiful, too. You can see for miles from here.”
    The safest place on the roof was where the chimney met the long, sloping porch roof. The constant heat had melted a good portion of the ice and the roof was a gentle incline. Situated there, Molly would be relatively safe.
    “I have pretty good footing. Let me steady you.”
    With easy grace Molly made the transition from ladder to overhang and settled into a corner of the eave. “Wow. You were right. This is awesome.”
    Pleased with her wide-eyed response, he hunkered down beside her and pointed. “Look in that big oak. See the woodpecker?”
    Molly followed the line of his arm, face brightening. “He’s huge.”
    “The largest of the species. A pileated woodpecker.”
    “Like Woody?” Her breath puffed small clouds into the frosty morning.
    Ethan grinned at her teasing tone. “Hear him?”
    The woodpecker’s rat-a-tat-tat echoed through the still morning.
    “The birds are everywhere today.” Her gaze scanned the sparkling ice-coated trees. “See those bright red cardinals? They look so pretty against the white-and-silver ice. And over there, jays and chickadees and a nuthatch.”
    Ethan didn’t bother to look. He was much more interested in watching her face than in watching the birds. Cheeks rosy from the cold and honey-colored eyes alight with interest charmed him. He resisted a totally unacceptable urge to smooth a finger over her soft-looking skin.
    “They’re probably hungry. The ice is covering up their food source.”
    Molly turned her head, caught him looking and blushed. He liked the way she did that, just as he liked the smattering of golden freckles across her nose.
    “I normally keep seed out for them.” She quickly shifted her eyes back to the wildlife. “But I suppose it’s covered up, too. We’ll have to put out more.”
    In an effort to turn his attention away from Molly’s sparkling eyes and wind-kissed cheeks, Ethan searched the vast horizon below them. Birds flitted about, singing as though the frigid temperatures and frozen landscape wouldn’t bring the demise of at least some of their kind.
    And then something else caught his eye.
    Index finger across his lips, he whispered, “Sit very still and look directly below us, near the edge of the front yard.”
    A white-tailed deer materialized, a spot of tan suede against the crystal forest.
    “Oh!” Molly breathed, gloved hands bracketing her mouth. “A deer.”
    In seconds a fawn clambered into sight, his slick hooves troublesome on the icy ground. When his front legs went in separate directions, Molly slanted a smile toward Ethan.
    Like co-conspirators they sat in hushed silence and watched the deer paw at the ground, digging for dinner.
    Ethan had work to do but was reluctant to break the beautiful spell the wildlife—and time with Molly McCreight—created. Who knew sitting on the roof in the frigid morning sun could be so entertaining?
    After a bit the doe stopped digging and ambled away. Her fawn followed along, white tail twitching.
    “Food is scarce for them, too,” Ethan said softly.
    “I wish we had some corn. It makes me sad to see them hungry.”
    That was twice now that she’d said we as naturally as if the two of them had been working together forever. The idea felt better than it should have considering his less-than-perfect track