Page 23 of Flown in for Christmas

Next in line, we gather our skates and head to the covered area beside the rental booth with direct access to the rink—and somewhere dry to keep our boots. We walk toward the bench where Leah is perched with a steaming cup between her gloved hands, while her husband ties his skates.

“Not joining us on the ice this year, Lee?” Nick asks, gesturing for me to take a seat. He kneels on the chilly rubber floor, loosening the laces of my skates as I take off my boots.

“Pregnant and clumsy. Not a good combination,” she replies, giggling as Rich attempts to stand. He wobbles, his arms darting out to either side for balance.

“And…I’m off,” Rich says, making his slow, inching way to the entrance of the rink. “I’ve got a max of three falls this year!” he calls over his shoulder.

My brow furrows. “A max?”

Nick grins, handing me one skate at a time to put on. “He tries to fall less and less every year. Last year he fell four times. This year, he’s aiming for no more than three.”

Oh. I suppose falling is a part of the learning process with this sort of thing, right? A spike of nerves floods my belly at falling flat on my butt in front of so many people. “Is it hard? For a beginner, I mean.” I ask quietly, leaning down to tie my laces.

“Tighter,” Nick tells me, brushing my hands aside to take over. He peers up at me as he pulls the laces as tight as they’ll go. Near painfully so. How am I supposed to move my feet when they’re this snug? Reading my mind, he says, “The tighter the better. Trust me. You won’t roll an ankle and slice open your pants like a certain someone…” He side-eyes his cousin-in-law.

Leah huffs. “Three years ago, Nick. Three! And that kid pushed me. You saw.”

Nick chuckles, glancing up with a pat on my locked feet. “It’s not hard once you get the hang of it,” he says, sitting down to put his skates on as well. “And I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

I nod, the tension in my shoulders easing at his promise.

“There you are.” Darcy bounds in our direction. Pristine, pearl white skates on her feet—the complete opposite of the tattered tan rentals I’m wearing. She’s walking with an ease I can only assumecomes froma lotof practice. “Beautiful day, isn’t it, Nicky?” She eyes me from head to toe. Her left eye twitches.

A cloud of steam puffs from his lips as he spares a glance from tying his skates. “Where’s your boy toy?” he asks bluntly, pushing to stand before turning back to take my hand.

“Busy,” she says, her chin raised. “Business stuff.”

Nick snorts. “Sure.”

I opt to take both of his extended hands to help steady myself on the thin blades.

“He’ll be here later for the light show,” she adds. Nick ignores her.

My feet wobble as I take a tentative step forward. I can see why he made them so tight. The control is better. “You got it,” Nick encourages, releasing one of my hands that I end up using the same way Rich did—outward for balance. He leads me across the rubber flooring to the rink and we wait patiently while a father and son duo step out ahead of us. The dad goes first, turning so he can help his son. The transition was seamless, and I let myself get excited again. If a kid can do it, surely so can I.

“I’ll go first,” Nick says. “Hold the sideboard and we’ll go one foot at a time.” I watch his feet as he glides onto the ice, angling his toes to turn and face me.

I gape. “You made that lookwaytoo easy.”

He grins. “It is. Now, come on.” He holds out his hands as if I’m a child, but I don’t care. My pulse is thrumming with excitementat watching everyone skating in circles and laughing. It looks too fun not to try.

I take Nick’s hand in mine, the other clutching the short wall as I put one foot on the ice.So far so good. It’s slippery, of course, but my confidence is already building. I bring my other foot out and—

My first foot flies out from under me. I yelp.

My knees hit the ice and my face collides right into Nick’s, ahem, crotch.

“Woah—” Nick is quick to correct me. Strong arms slide under mine and hoist me to my feet. I cling to him while I try to get my feet to face forward.Notan easy task.

When I finally do, I look up…and burst into a fit of laughter.

A grin splits his bristled cheeks and he chuckles. “Let’s try that again, angel.”

Eleven.

Nick

I can’t remember thelast time I had this much fun ice skating. Joy is giggling her pretty little head off and I haven’t stopped smiling for the last forty-five minutes. She’s trying her hardest, but the woman has zero balance whatsoever. It’s adorable.

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