Page 48 of The Santa Rules
“What’s wrong?” I ask, trying to keep the panic out of my voice as I keep my eyes on the road.
“Isaac, sit back and keep your seatbelt on,” she barks, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickle with her tone. Something’s wrong. And then I remember. Her mom, the accident. I put my hazards on and pull to the side of the road.
“Why are we stopping?” Avery whines.
“What are you doing?” Bella asks, sounding out of breath.
“I’ll be right back,” I say as I hop out of the cab and walk around the truck, pulling a bag of salt out of the covered truck bed. I sprinkle it in front of me as I walk until I’m fifty feet away from the vehicle throwing salt over the rough patch we just hit. I hustle back to the truck and throw the last of the salt down in front of the vehicle for good measure and climb back in, shoving the empty salt bag under the seat.
“Didn’t want to hit the same patch on the way down,” I explain.
She gives me a watery smile, and I merge back onto the road. We pull into a wooded area a few minutes later. It takes entirely too long to get Avery bundled up. Isaac’s no better, insisting that he’s fine in a hoodie.
We walk down to the edge of the pond, and I remove several pairs of skates from a duffle bag I stowed in the truck bed. She looks at me in confusion as I pass them out. “How did you?—”
“Know your sizes?” I smile as she bends to help Avery strap her tiny skates on. “I texted Isaac, and he told me your size and where I could find skates to rent locally. That kid’s a whiz on the computer.”
She finishes tying the skate and then walks over to me, pulling my ear close to her mouth. “You have no idea how bad I want to bang you right now.”
“Because of ice skates?” I ask.
“Because you made magic happen. For me and my kid.” Sheleans against me to pull on her skates, and I watch as Avery toddles toward Isaac and he helps her onto the ice. Meanwhile, I try to slow my beating heart. “I was starting to think you were having second thoughts about us. I probably could’ve just asked you point-blank, but sometimes that’s not how my brain works.”
Her honesty pierces through my armor and I loop an arm around her waist, pulling her against me. “I’m so consumed with thoughts of you it’s become a problem,” I admit. Then I release Bella, remembering Avery’s words. “There was something I didn’t tell you last night.”
“About Lydie?”
I shake my head. “About something Avery said the other night when I was tucking her in. I asked her if she would be okay with me having a girlfriend, and she asked if that meant she’d have to share me with someone like she shares me with the firehouse.”
“And? Was she okay with it?”
“I… I don’t know. I kind of shut down when she said that and didn’t ask any follow-up questions.”
“If I’ve learned anything about that little girl over the past few months, it’s that she asks alotof questions. But it’s because she’s curious about how the world works. I don’t think she was saying that she wasn’t okay with it. I think that was her way of processing what could be a big change in her life. You should talk to her about it.”
Lacing up my skates, I mull over her words, but I don’t have much time to think before Bella’s tugging me onto the ice with her. “I’ve never done this before,” I admit as she grips my hands and skates backwards in front of me.
“I can tell,” she says with a laugh, and at this point it’s more her pulling me while I glide along, trying my best not to twist an ankle.
“There are death blades strapped to my feet and I’m freezing my ass off. Not to mention the fact that I’m terrifiedany one of us will fall through the ice. But I’m doing it anyway…for you.”
Her face lights up in the widest smile. “Aww, you’re grumpy even when you’re being nice. Don’t worry, the lake is shallow, so it doesn’t take much to freeze it solid. And I’ve lived here most of my life and have never heard of anyone going through the ice.”
“Is this where you planned to take us skating?” I ask. I nearly slip, but she stiffens her arms to steady me. It feels good to lean on her for support, as natural as a spark taking to kindling.
“Careful there, big fella. Actually, I’d forgotten about this place until you mentioned it today. I haven’t been here since I was a kid. My plans would’ve had us driving out to Denver to go to a local rink.”
I look up as the first snowflake hits my nose and pinch my brows at the darkening sky. Suddenly, the lake is illuminated by strings of Christmas lights hung on posts around the perimeter.
When I look over at Avery, she’s grinning ear to ear, pointing at the lights as Isaac skates behind her, hands on her shoulders, steadying her each time it looks like she’s going to fall.
“This is magical, like something out of a movie,” Bella says, awestruck as she takes everything in.
I clear my throat. “You deserve someone to make magic for you considering how much you do for everyone else.”
Her gaze connects with mine and her eyebrow arches in challenge, so I speak before she can turn it into a dick joke. “I know you think your life’s a disaster and you joke about being a hot mess, but that’s not what I see.”
“What do you see?”
