Page 50 of Sweet Surrender

“BecauseI’m in them,” he sang out, leaping to his feet and taking off into the rink.

“Wait up,” Cal yelled, following.

“Careful, boys,” Zane called after them, then turned to Becca. “I should get out there with them.”

“Go ahead,” she told him.

She was ready, but she didn’t want him feeling like they had to skate together or anything. She waited until he was already following the boys before getting out onto the rink herself.

It had been a while since the last time she skated, but it came back to her quickly. The air was fresh and cold, and everyone seemed to be laughing. It felt amazing to glide across the ice.

“Hey,” Zane had skated up beside her. He had a questioning look in his eyes, like he wasn’t sure if she wanted him skating with her.

“Hi,” she said, unable to keep herself from smiling happily. “This is really nice.”

“Sure is,” he said.

She looked around the rink at all the townsfolk with their pink cheeks and smiles. But when her eyes returned to him, he was only looking at her.

For the second time in ten minutes, she felt herself blush. She tried keeping her eyes on the ice ahead of her, and hoped he wouldn’t notice. Though it was probably hopeless.

“Miss Hawthorne,” Nick cried on his way past. “Look at meeeee.”

He was skating on one leg, the other held up at an awkward angle.

Cal whizzed past, trying to keep up, his other leg held up, a delighted expression on his face.

“Careful, guys,” Zane called to them. “Pay attention to the other skaters.”

“They’re so funny,” Becca said, forgetting her embarrassment.

“I’m never bored,” Zane told her, with a half-smile.

Just ahead of them, a man was skating with a tiny little girl, who couldn’t have been more than three or four years old.

“Aw,” Becca said. “She’ll be an expert by the time she’s the boys’ age.”

“They were out here when they were about that size,” Zane said thoughtfully.

“How about you?” she asked him.

“Probably about the same,” he told her. “And my dad might have been even younger. Back then, they used to skate on the lake.”

“They don’t anymore?” she asked.

“Little Bear Lake doesn’t reliably freeze solid anymore,” he said, shaking his head.

“I guess I need to learn more about the lake and the natural features of this place,” she realized out loud.

“You’re really trying to learn it all, huh?” he asked. But he was smiling.

“I love it here,” she told him honestly. “I want to know everything about Sugarville Grove.”

The boys flew past them again, laughing. But just as they whooshed by, the little girl up ahead moved away from her dad to skate on her own.

Becca held her breath and prayed that the boys wouldn’t hit her.

Time seemed to slow down as the two seven-year-olds bore down on the toddler, then noticed her at the same moment.

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