Page 47 of The Christmas Lodge
“Sorry, er… I guess I was lost in my own thoughts.”
Lacy’s smile dropped away as she studied his face, her eyes searching his now. “Is something wrong?”
Derek mustered up a smile but even he could tell it probably didn’t look genuine. “Why would something be wrong? I’m with the one and only Lacy Preston tonight.”
“Hey, I’m being serious,” she chided gently. “You looked so…” She trailed off, and it was her turn to look a little embarrassed.
“A little what?”
“I don’t know, there was a sadness in your eyes,” Lacy finally said, then quickly waved a hand as though to swipe her words away. “Don’t listen to me, I’m probably just reading into things.”
Derek caught her hand then, unable to help himself, stilling her movement. “You’re not reading into things,” he admitted, his voice lower then. “I keep thinking about the fact that you’re going back to St. Louis in the morning.”
Lacy’s eyes softened and she threaded her fingers through his. “You know I’m coming back, though.”
“I know.”
“So…?”
Derek almost spilled the truth right then and there but, as he opened his mouth to tell her how he felt, it was as though his throat closed off, leaving him unable to speak. He hesitated, his mind swirling.
Just tell her. Now is the time,one part of his mind screamed.
The other side of him, however, voted for caution. What if he told her how serious his feelings for her were and it scared her off?
He couldn’t very well come out and say, “Hey, Lacy, don’t move back to St. Louis. I want you to stay in Snowy Pine Ridge. Forever. With me.” That was unlikely to go over well. It was too much, too soon, and he knew it, even if he also knew that what he felt for her was the real thing.
“So there are things we still need to do before you leave,” Derek said, an idea coming to him and giving him an out for the moment.
Lacy laughed. “Okay, I’ll bite. What things?”
“Well, for starters, we haven’t been ice skating yet and you specifically said you wanted to.”
“I’m pretty sure I said that to get out of dogsledding.”
“I’m serious,” Derek protested, and he realized in that moment just how serious he was about it. All he knew was that he couldn’t let the date end, not yet, not when he hadn’t found the courage to open up to her. “You’ve got to go ice skating before you leave.”
Lacy cocked her head to the side, her brow wrinkling a little. “You are serious, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am! Come on, the ice rink is only a few more blocks down the street.”
Laughing a little, Lacy gave in. “I see I have no choice in the matter, Mr. Morse. Lead the way.”
“That’s the spirit,” he teased back, tugging her hand playfully as they began walking again.
Up ahead, Happy Glacier Rink hulked on the corner ahead, its paint peeling and all the lights off. It was a gloomy looking building on the best of days, but the darkness did nothing to make up for its lack of charm. Lacy paused in front of it, pursing her lips.
“Not to be a wet blanket, but the rink looks very much… closed,” Lacy said.
Derek wiggled his eyebrows. “Good thing I know a way in.”
“A way in… Derek Morse, are you talking about breaking and entering??”
“Nothing like that,” he assured her with a grin. “Think of it like… creatively choosing our own hours, even when the rink isn’t technically open.”
“Well, when you put it like that…” Lacy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling now too. “What about the owner? Randy? Randolph? What was his name?”
“Rudolph.”
