Page 28 of Meet Me on Christmas Eve

I started slow and eventually gathered some speed. Soon I was flying across the ice, the wind in my face. This was the first time I’d been skating this year, and it felt glorious.

For a moment, I forgot about Terry. And it took him a moment to catch up, probably because he’d been caught off guard by my speed. But he did catch me, calling out, “Dark horse!”

I grinned and started skating backward, and he followed my lead as we circled the rink a few times. Belatedly I noticed Jane, Nina, and Hazel waving on the edge of the rink, and I called to Terry to let him know.

We skated over to them.

“That was crazy to watch,” Hazel said. “I was thinking, either Terry is an amazing teacher, or you two have skated together before.”

Terry chuckled, leaning on a post nearby. “Neither. She was a little rusty at first but then, well, you saw.” I’d almost swear his look hinted at admiration.

I was probably blushing, but the cold weather would make my cheeks rosy regardless, so it was fine. “He did save me from a few nasty falls.”

“You did make a nice pair,” Jane declared. “But just sitting around is making me cold. We’re going to get moving on to some of the other activities. You two can finish up and meet us at the sculptures.”

“Or they could keep skating if they’d like to.” Nina offered with a smile. “We’d be fine with Hazel.”

“Oh, I don’t want to miss out on any of the other activities,” I said quickly. “Terry and I can finish up and join you soon.”

Jane nodded. “Good. I need Terry for the sculpture viewing.”

I looked to him in question, but his expression was blank.

We skated over to the other side where the warming hut was, not talking at all.

After removing our skates and putting our boots back on, we returned our skates to the rental booth.

“That was fun,” I said, aiming for some more friendly conversation as we started the long path around the rink to where the other activities were occurring.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

What was that supposed to mean? “Didn’t you?” I tried not to sound too defensive.

“Sure,” he said, running a hand over his jaw.

“What does that mean?”

He looked at me with a strange expression then. “It means yes.”

“Well, I know ‘sure’ means yes, but—”

And then I was down. Face first in the snow.

Something had fallen on my side though.

I turned my head, unable to fully move my upper body. I winced, feeling a slight ache.

Terry’s body was half covering my own, braced slightly by one gloved hand. My eyes widened, snowflakes blurring my vision slightly.

“Sorry, I tried to catch you, but … well, you can see I didn’t,” he said, his lips twitching. He hadn’t face planted into the snow, but one side of him was covered in snow.

“No, instead you landed on top of me. Thanks for that,” I said with a glare, trying to suggest with my eyes that he move. But he didn’t.

“What’s up with you, Mariana? I don’t remember you being clumsy. But you are always falling down.”

“It’s … I don’t usually.”

“Oh, so it’s just around me?” Something glinted in his eyes. “Do I make you nervous?”

---