Page 48 of Maid in Heaven

Ava held out her hands and smiled, the tip of her nose rosy. “You got this. Come to me. I’ll pull you for a bit until you get used to it.”

Stiff-legged and rigid,Will’s skatesmet the shallow grooves in the ice left by those before him, and he scuttled forward awkwardly until his gloved hands were in hers.

“See?You got this.” Ava teased, releasing his hands.

Several small children bundled up in puffy jackets whizzed past them.

“Pfft, show offs!” Will hollered.

Ava chuckled, gently dragging him along, legs weavingwith skill and precision.“See how I’m moving my legs?”

“Like a snake?”

“Yeah, try it.”

With unsteady knees and rubbery ankles,Will attemptedan awkward weave, mimicking Ava’s movements to the best of his ability.

“How are you sogoodat this?!”

“I played hockey for a little bit in highschool. I loved being on the ice, but I got knockedhardinto a wall during a game. Got a really bad concussion. Parents pulled me out after that.”

“A concussion? That explains a lot,” Will teased.

“Wow. What’s that? You wanna skate on yourown?”She let his hands go and skated backward away from him.

Will flailed, laughing “What? Wait a minute!No! Come back here!”

“Remember, weave, don’t walk.” Ava whooshed ahead, skated back, and executed aquick hockey stop, showering him in shavedice.

“Hey,” shouted the skate attendant, hollering to get Ava’s attention. He shook his head, knitting his eyebrows together.He wagged a finger at her as if scolding a naughty puppy.

Ava held up a hand. “Sorry!”

Will’s skates slipped. “Shit!” He grabbed the side rail to keep from falling.

“It’s alright. You got it. Just stay close tothe wall and grab on when you think you’re gonna fall. It will help you gain your balance.”

Will pulled himself along, lapped by small children who were chasing each other across the ice.

“Alright. I think I am getting it.How’s this?” He wove his feet slowly, fighting to keep his eyes off of his skates.

“Eyes up.Look at me, not the ground, okay?” Ava bellowed.

“Like this?”

“Yeah, you’re doing it!” She rejoiced, watching the smile fall from Will’s face all of a sudden.

“Ava, look out!”

The second that Ava turned to look, a skater slammed into her full force. Both legs slid out from under her, sending her smashing into the ice face-first.

“Oh God. Ava!”Will pushed himself away from the wall and used the momentum to skitter toward her.

“Well, this is… embarrassing,” Ava croaked as she held the cobbled-together excuse for an ice pack to her injured nose. Will had made her one on the fly with an old peanut butter and jelly sandwich Ziploc bag Starla left in thedoor’s pocket packed with fresh snow from the parking lot. Ava soaked up the warmth from his heating vents and subtly looked around. The interior of Will’s truckwas recently detailed and smelled like the new sandalwood air freshener that hung from the rearview.

“Don’t be embarrassed. Who cares that you biffed it? Inspectacularfashion,I might add. I mean, Ava… youcaught air.You’re like a superhero. I wasn’t aware you couldfly.”

Ava chuckled, voice nasally through the cold pack. “One of mymanytalents.”

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