Page 151 of Ice Darling
Then it hits me.
My eyes fly to his. “Did you…”
“I’ve stayed out of it for years, but Sasha is all the family Cordelia has left. At some point”—he presses the key into my hand—“she has to stop running.”
I curl my fingers around the key and frantically dash through the house and out the door. The lights thrown from the porch expose a tiny woman manually pushing her motorcycle down the driveway.
My footsteps pound the concrete path as I make a beeline for Cordelia. She hears me coming, and instead of stopping, the stubborn woman quickens her pace.
Unfortunately, the bike is bigger than she is. She probably could have gotten farther in her escape if she’d left it behind. But clearly, she’d never do that.
I grab the bike handle to stop her forward grind. “You’re taking off without telling anyone?”
“I planned to send a text,” she says tightly.
“How thoughtful of you,” I answer with a touch of sarcasm.
Her eyes flare like I just lit a match and dropped it over a gas keg.
She whirls on me. “Look, if you want to list your complaints about how rude, selfish, and grumpy I am, grab a number and get in line.”
“Cordelia, that’s not what I meant. I don’t think you’re rude and selfish.” I walk easily beside her bike. “Grumpy? Maybe a little…”
She scoffs and keeps pushing her motorcycle.
I keep up with her. “That was a joke. A poorly timed one, I’ll admit.”
She stares straight ahead, her eyebrows cinched.
I jump in front of her bike and throw my arms wide, forcing her to stop abruptly. “Cordelia, I’m onyourside.”
“There isno oneon my side.” She laughs bitterly. “And I deserve it. I deserve to be alone.”
My voice climbs to just short of yelling. “What are you talking about? No, you don’t! You’re amazing and sweet and kind. Your character, who you are deep in your bones, is what drew me to you in the first place.”
“You have no idea.”
“Even if I don’t,” I insist, “even if I’m totally clueless about everything else in this world, I know one thing—I trust you. I trust that pure heart of yours.”
“You shouldn’t. You have no idea who I am. I’m a coward. I’m the worst.”
“If you’re the worst, then so am I.”
Her eyes narrow.
“All my big dreams of playing hockey straight out of college went up in flames. My ex-wife left me. Gordie almost died as an infant because I had no idea what I was doing?—”
“That’s not your fault. You did the best you could.”
I drop my arms. “Why give me so much grace if you can’t even give yourself a little?”
She turns her face away as she white-knuckles the bars on her bike.
“Do you still want to run?” I ask in a more gentle tone.
She nods.
“Then let me take you. You’ll go farther and faster with me than pushing that bike all the way back to Lucky Falls.”
