Page 43 of The Christmas Tree Farm
‘Just be careful out there, Iris. There’s a lot of kids.’
Iris nudged her with a laugh and Kira had to hold onto the half-wall around the rink in order not to tip over. ‘Ha. Ha,’ Iris said. ‘I’m glad you came anyway.’
They’d quickly become friends, or trauma-bonded over providing what felt like the entire Christmas-crazed town with their trees in the course of three days, but either way, Kira was happy to have someone to joke with again.
‘Yeah. Me, too,’ Kira admitted, begrudgingly. Iris had convinced her to come skating at the ice rink after closing up the farm for the night, to celebrate their early success. And while Kira was incredibly pleased with their sales since the grand reopening, she could think of a million other places she’d rather celebrate. But Iris had insisted it was a Christmas-season-in-Dream-Harbor-must-do. So here she was.
Iris glided onto the ice like some kind of winter Olympian, or at least like someone who was unlikely to fall on her ass.
‘I’ll give you a few minutes to work up the courage, but then I’m coming back for you,’ Iris warned as she skated away backwards.
Backwards! Show off.
Kira just waved her off. There was no way she was getting out there on the ice.
Should her feet be hurting already? Even though she hadn’t skated a single step?
She shifted a little as she watched the skaters. The outdoor rink was full of people happily skating like it was the easiest damn thing in the world. People of all ages sped past her, but it was the tiny kids with hockey helmets she was particularly afraid of. She had been teasing Iris about her dislike of children, but these kids looked seriously dangerous. They moved fast and apparently had no fear. She could very clearly imagine one taking her out at the knees.
This was a terrible idea.
She caught a glimpse of Iris across the rink; she had stopped to lean against the partial wall that lined the rink and was chatting with a small group of people.
A small group of people that just so happened to included Bennett Ellis.
He hadn’t taken her up on her offer to walk the dogs at the farm, but now here he was reappearing in her life where she least expected him to. Damn it. The last thing she wanted was for Bennett to see her sliding across the ice on her face. She needed to get out of here, but she didn’t want to bail on Iris, not to mention she could barely walk in these damn skates.
Oh, shit. And now Iris was pointing to her from across the rink and Jeanie was waving and Bennett was skating toward her with complete confidence, like he was born wearing skates and there was nowhere to run.
He was heading straight for the wall she was leaning on like he might crash into it but instead did that hockey stop thing that sprayed ice into the air. It was obnoxious. And hot. And more obnoxious that it was hot.
‘Hey,’ he said, only slightly out of breath, his cheeks rosy from the cold.
‘Hello.’ Was she feeling a little prickly with him for not stopping by the farm in the past few days? Absolutely not. She was just cold and her feet hurt. And she was not looking forward to being embarrassed in front of him again.
His mouth tipped up in the corner. ‘Are you planning on skating?’
‘No. I just came for the ambience.’
‘The ambience?’ Bennett glanced around at the racing children and the tinny music blaring over the loudspeakers.
‘Yep. Just soaking in that Christmas cheer.’
‘Sure.’ His smile grew. ‘Do you want help?’
That question should not have been so loaded. She shouldn’t want to yell at him that she didn’t need his help with anything. She shouldn’twanthis help so damn much. No, not his help, justhim. Just his proximity made her feel better. And it shouldn’t. She was independent now. Perfectly fine on her own.
‘No, thank you.’
‘Kira…’
‘I don’t need your help.’
‘Just like you didn’t need my help with getting that tree onto the car?’
‘Exactly like that.’
‘Kira.’
