Page 23 of The Twelve Months of Christmas
The following day Reggie was back in the post office, mailing a card, and stopped by her window to say hi. “You’re looking happy,” he observed.
“I am happy. I have a Christmas-in-January party coming up. Some of us are taking our families to the rink over in Lynwood to go ice-skating.”
“A good activity for January,” he said. “Do you like to skate?”
“I haven’t skated since I was a kid. No way I’m getting on the ice. I’ll break my tailbone,” she said.
“You could bring along a pillow,” he teased.
“I don’t think so. Some things you just shouldn’t try.”
He cocked his head. “Really? I think you should try everything that comes your way. Otherwise, you might miss out.”
Another customer had come in so he moved on, his parting words, “Never say never.”
“I’ll remember that,” Molly joked.
Later, as she was on her way home, she did remember his words. She’d had a good life so far, of course, but she’d also missed out on a lot of things over the years. Widowed young, she’d told herself she’d never fall in love again, so she hadn’t bothered to see if she could. She’d told herself she could never afford to take Ava to Disneyland so she’d never made it a goal and saved for it. She’d never taken dancing lessons because, well, she wasn’t going to fall in love again so what was the point? Hmm. Maybe it was time for a new pattern. They were all going skating. Why did she want to sit on the sidelines? She’d take along a pillow for her bottom and break that pattern...and, hopefully, not a hip.
The day of the party, Travis and Sunny loaded up the kids and headed for the rink. Dylan was excited. Bella was apathetic and spent the entire car and ferry ride texting her friends.At least she’s here, Sunny told herself. It was a beginning.
The rink already had several skaters on it. Some were gliding along the ice effortlessly; others were stumbling along. One or two pros were at the center of the rink, practicing the kind of fancy moves Sunny loved to watch on TV when there was any kind of skating competition. She’d always wanted to learn to ice-skate. Now she had the chance. And to do it with...well, one of the kids.
But lo and behold, what was this? Bella had gotten skates and was actually lacing up. Would wonders never cease? Travis already had his skates on.
“Come on, babe, let’s go for it,” he said.
She finished lacing up and then handed her phone to Molly, who was waiting to get out on the ice until she’d taken pictures for everyone. “Get a video of all of us if you can, okay?”
“Sure thing,” Molly said.
“Then I’ll take one of you when I’m done.”
“Take your time,” Molly said.
Sunny pointed to the sofa pillow Molly had brought. “No backing out, not when you came prepared.”
“No backing out,” Molly promised.
Arianna and Sophie were already on the ice, Sophie holding Arianna’s hand and Arianna holding the rail at the edge of the rink. They were both laughing. It was too bad Mia hadn’t felt well. She’d have loved seeing her daughter and granddaughter out there. Ah, well, that was the beauty of technology. Molly shot a short video and texted it to her.
Sunny took Travis’s hand and they hobbled their way to the ice. Whoa, that was one thin blade she was supposed to balance on. She was barely on the ice before she went down.
“This is harder than it looks on TV,” she said with a laugh.
Jock that he was, Travis was almost balanced. “You can do it.” He held out a hand and she took it.
“Glide into it,” Molly called. “Push your foot forward.”
Glide into it. Sunny took a glide and then a slide. Ow! Ice was not very forgiving.
“Don’t give up,” called Molly.
“Not me,” Sunny called back. This had been her idea. She was going to skate before the day was over.
Travis helped her up and they began to wobble their way around the rink. Hey, she was still upright. She hoped Molly was recording this. Sunny was going to show it to her sister and brag.
Dylan was in front of them, beginning to smooth out of his own wobbles. Where was Bella? Sunny didn’t see her ahead of them but she didn’t dare look behind her. If she looked over her shoulder, she knew she’d go down. They made it around once with only one spill, Sunny losing her balance and taking Travis down with her. Ow again!
