“I’l give you pruney,” I warned, dipping my foot and splashing him lightly.
“I could not be more comfortable. Seriously, I literal y could not feel more cozy right now if I were actual y inside a marshmal ow,” I mumbled
through a thick tongue coated in Bailey’s and coffee. I had curled up on top of about fifty pil ows next to fireplace—a fireplace with a hearth almost
ten feet wide and a chimney almost three stories high. Made out of stone quarried nearby, it was massive. It was the focal point of the entire house,
with rooms radiating out from its center. And it gave off massive heat.
We were chil ed to the bone when we final y made it back inside. One by one, we al got too warm in the hot tub, so we hoisted ourselves out to
cool off a little. By the time we realized how cold the night had gotten, we were shivering and puffing, and wanting nothing more than to curl up next
to the fire. As we had yet to pick rooms, I soon learned, the girls snuck into the master bedroom to change into our pjs and rejoin the boys, who
were now al decked out in T-shirts and pajama pants. We made a quick pot of coffee, and I sliced up some of the additional cranberry-orange
bread I’d wisely hidden from Simon. A couple shots of Bailey’s in the coffee cups, and we were al relaxing by the fire like an ad for Currier and Ives.
Simon had reclined regal y by the fireplace and patted the stack of pil ows next to him. I dove in and a few stray puffs of feathers swirled around
our heads. We’d discovered that each boy had a different method of starting a fire—kindling, newspapers, kindling and newspapers—when final y
Sophia stuck her head up there and declared that the flue was stil closed. Brought back down a few pegs, the guys at that point deferred to Ryan, if
for no other reason than that he was the one holding the matches. But within minutes, they had a fire blazing, and we were now al seated around the
fireplace, sleepy and content.
I breathed deeply. There was nothing like the smel of an actual fire—not a gas fireplace, not a bunch of candles, but an honest to goodness
fireplace with snaps and crackles and funny little whizzing screeches when the steam came out of a crack in the wood.
“So, Caroline, have you asked Simon to teach you how to windsurf yet?” Mimi asked suddenly from her perch on the arm of the couch. We’d
been quiet for a while, drowsy and almost dreaming, and I started a little when she spoke.
“What? I mean, what?” I asked, startled out of my pil ows and back to the present.
“Wel , these boys here al windsurf. You want to learn to windsurf, and I bet Simon here would show you, wouldn’t you, Simon?” She giggled,
polishing off the last of her coffee and sliding off the arm of the chair into Ryan’s conveniently placed lap. They smiled at each other for a moment
before they realized what they were doing and Ryan jokingly launched her off his own lap and into Neil’s. He’d not been awakened by her earlier
question, but he now seemed wide awake with a lapful of Scheming Mimi.
“You want to learn to windsurf?” Simon asked, turning toward my pil ow pile.
“Actual y, yes. I’ve always wanted to try it.”
“It’s tough—not gonna lie. But total y worth it.” He smiled, and Ryan nodded from across the room.
“Sure, Simon’l show you. He’d love to,” Ryan chimed in, earning a wink from Mimi and an eye rol from me.
“We can plan something for when we get back to the city,” I suggested.
“No more talk tonight. This girl has had it,” Sophia said. “I’m pooped. Where are we al sleeping?” She poked her head over the back of the
armchair where she’d been curled up.
“Wel , how many rooms we talking about?” Simon asked as I sat up and yawned.
“There are four bedrooms, so take your pick,” Sophia answered, then wisely drained an entire bottle of water.
“Are we doing boy-girl, boy-girl?” I asked, laughing when I saw Simon’s surprised face.
“We can, sure,” Mimi answered, looking a little nervously at Neil.
I stifled a giggle when I saw Sophia and Ryan trade a similar spooked look. Simon caught it as wel .
“Yeah, sure! Don’t let Caroline and me stand in the way of the lovebirds! Mimi, you and Neil pick a room, Sophia and Ryan can pick a room,
and Caroline and I wil take the rooms that are left over. Perfect. Right, Caroline?”
“Sounds perfect to me. I’l just rinse out these mugs. Now, off to bed with you al . Scoot! Scoot!” I cried. Simon and I scurried about cleaning up
while sneaking peeks over our shoulders at the four of them. They looked like they’d just begun a death march.