Page 105 of The Love Dare
“I don’t know why,” the driver states, his voice neither annoyed nor kind, somehow perfectly down the middle of each. “I don’t ask why. I get a location, and that’s where I go. But if you need to go somewhere else, I can call my coordinator and have them bill you the difference. Just tell me?—”
“No, no,” Winnie cuts him off, offering an apologetic smile. “Don’t worry about it. This is perfect. I’ll just get out here.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course.”
She gathers her things while he grabs her luggage from the trunk. Chances are, her father is inside anyway. He spends most of his time here, especially now that she and Alex have flown the coop. And even if he’s not, the staff are like family. Someone will be able to give her a ride home eventually. She spent half of her life camped out on the bleachers in this place. What’s one morenight? Besides, she’s got like three chapters left in her book, so really, what else would she be doing anyway?
“Thank you!” she calls over her shoulder as a car door slams. With one hand on her suitcase and the other holding open her book, she nudges the door to the rink with her hip, not bothering to look up as she shuffles inside. The path is so familiar she could walk it blind—which she kind of is right now, face buried in the pages. But it’s hardly the first time that’s ever happened. “Hey Stace,” she calls as she nears the counter. “Is my dad here?”
No response.
“Stace?” she calls again, half paying attention, eyes glued to the words. She absentmindedly plants her elbow on the counter, slouching down to rest her cheek against her fist after she turns to the next page, perfectly content to wait. A silly smile plays on her lips as she gobbles down a particularly fun banter-filled scene—her favorite kind.
“For fuck’s sake, Win, put the book down!”
“Alex?”
She looks up, surprised by the sound of her brother’s voice. But he’s instantly forgotten as she finally spares a moment to actually look at the rink. Beyond the front desk, everything is completely dark. And it’s quiet—eerily quiet. It’s only 11 a.m. so this place should be brimming with activity. There should be players on the ice, families in the stands, younger siblings running around. Scraping blades and snapping sticks should fill the air—yelling, laughing, conversation. But it’s still. Vacant.
A bead of dread trickles down her spine.
“What’s going on?” she calls out, searching the shadows for her brother. “Is Dad okay? Did something happen?”
“I’m fine,” comes a gruff response.
“Where the hell are you guys?” She steps forward, furrowing her brows. “Why are you hiding in the dark? This isn’t funny!”
“It’s not supposed to be funny.” She instantly recognizes the sarcastic drawl belonging to her best friend. “It’s supposed to be romantic!”
“Sam!?”What the hell is going on?
“I told you guys we should have gone to the arboretum,” Alex chimes in.
“Five Sixty would have been lovely, too,” her mother comments. “You can see the whole city from up there. Your father took me once and it was so beautiful.”
“What’s wrong with here?” her father defends. “Our rink is perfect.”
“Yeah, Dad, we know,” Alex says, then drops his voice in an impersonation of their father. “All our best memories are here.”
“They are!”
“Of course, dear.”
“I don’t know, I’m with Ty and your dad. This is exactly what Winnie will want.”
At the mention of his name, she straightens. “Ty?”
“Oh shit,” Sam mutters. “My bad!”
“Would you all just shut the hell up and give her one minute to find the fucking note?”
Winnie turns toward the sound of his voice, peering through the darkness, but she can’t see anything. Her heart thrums with his nearness. All her confusion and fear and hurt folds in on itself, turning to one burning feeling instead—anticipation. Butterflies swarm across her chest as she eagerly looks around the front desk for the aforementioned note. She doesn’t know how she missed it. Well…she does. Books have always had a way of making the real world disappear, but now that she’s thoroughly back in her own body, the massive bouquet of pink roses and blush peonies mixed with sage foliage and soft baby’s breath immediately snags her attention. Leaning against theglass vase sits a white envelope with a single word written in block letters across the front—Winnie.
She lunges for it and tears the seal open.
Dear Winnie, she starts reading.I’m all out of quotes and I’m?—
