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Papy was coon, and Max didn’t want to bug him Dad and Valerie bustled around the barn, its doors opened wide He knew they’d be understanding, even though he was afraid of disappointing his dad But was he ready to tell the the any minute

Outside the barn, Jereer than thi theanized by variety, fro the cups by fractions so the roere exact He wore his new green toque and parka, and even from a distance, Max could see his cheeks were pink from the cold

It was only when Jerelanced up and did a double take that Max realized he was staring across the wide parking area That he atching Jere, dumb smile on his face This ho he wanted to talk to The knot of tension in his gut loosened

Tentatively, Jereave hi hi from the house?”

“Sure” Jeremy fell into step beside hiht looks a on the trees Reminds me of Whistler, without the mountains And it’s mostly maple trees, so not really like Whistler at all It’s just the only place I’ve seen this uess”

“Makes sense” Max had spent allto his knees the way he had last night—but Jere out

“The kids must love it Lots of snowmen and stuff”

“It’s not great packing snow right now—needs to be a little wetter But yeah, when I was a kid, I still loved it Any kind of snow can be shoved down your sister’s collar”

Jereuess that’s a brother’s job” His smile flickered

“You must miss Sean”

“Yeah” He shrugged tightly “But it looks like he’s having fun” He pulled out his phone and displayed a picture of his brother grinning at the railing of a cruise ship “My dad sent it We’re sending pictures back and forth now Hopefully that’s a good sign”