Page 50 of Grinch Girl

It was more than that though. I hated to admit it, because she just didn’t deserve it. “And you’ve always been Bella’s. I’ve always thought of you that way.”

We made another excruciating half-circle before he spoke again, this time in a whisper. “I’ve always thought of myself that way too.”

A few feet ahead of us, Nate tugged Bella after him, her knees pressed together, her feet in a wide, awkward stance. Michael and I pretended not to look at them as we glided by.We are such a pair of fools.

Michael stopped skating a few feet later, gaping at something in front of me. “What in the actual hell are they doing?”

I followed his gaze and my own jaw dropped. “Oh Jesus.”

Diane and Tripp were about twenty feet away, and a small crowd had gathered on the sides of the rink around them. “Stand right here, darling,” she instructed Tripp with a firm pat on his bum. “You get those biceps ready. I’ll be coming in hot.”

Tripp beamed at her. “Just consider me your very own Patrick Swayze.”

Diane skated away, raising her hands to the spectators, encouraging cheers. “It’s been a few years since I’ve done this,” she announced.

“Diane!” I hissed, skating up to her as fast as I could. “Please tell me you are not attempting to do some sort of lift.”

She raised an eyebrow at me, unperturbed. “OK, I won’t tell you.”

“Ready when you are!” Tripp called, squatting a bit and holding up his hands.

Diane shook off my concern, pushing back her shoulders gracefully. “I’ve been skating for longer than you’ve been alive, Jane.”

“Yeah,” I said flatly. “That’s kind of the problem. We do not have any sort of insurance,” I warned her. “If you break a hip or anything else, you’re on your own.”

She flicked calm gray eyes in my direction. “You need to have more belief in the possibilities of the world.”

“You need to have more belief in gravity,” I retorted.

Diane did an elegant turn around this end of the rink, building momentum, and everyone in the crowd began to chant her name. “Di-ane! Di-ane! Di-ane!”

“Oh God,” I muttered as she sprint-skated to Tripp. I took a deep breath and held it, my hand going to the phone in my vest pocket. How long would it take me to ring through to 911?

Two feet in front of Tripp, Diane lifted her arms and leaped.

Really and trulyleaped. Like she wasn’t a woman in her sixties who could be hurt. Like there was a mattress of clouds in front of her instead of a harebrained twenty-five-year-old dude. She flew right off the ice, jumping as high into the air as her admirable thigh muscles could push her. She soared up, up, and then…

Tripp caught her.

His hands gripped her hips, and he raised her straight into the sky as she arched her back and spread her arms wider.

It was shockingly beautiful. Stunning. Joyful.

The ice rink exploded with cheers. I tore my eyes away from the spectacle to make sure that our cameramen were capturing it from multiple angles. I met Sean’s eyes, and he gave me a huge thumbs-up while mouthingwow.

Wow, indeed.

As Tripp carefully lowered her back to the ice, she murmured something in his ear, and then he swiveled and bent her backward in a low, dramatic dip. As her silvery-blond hair brushed the ice, he stared at her face as if he was mesmerized.

“You know,” said an increasingly familiar accented voice behind me, “I think that woman deserves a spin-off show of her own.”

I laughed and spun around to face Nate. “She’s certainly our breakout star,” I agreed.

I peeked behind his shoulders. “Where’s your date?” I asked.

“With yours,” he said, pointing to an opening of the rink where Bella and Michael stood together, noses scrunched as they pointed down at the skates on their feet.

“They’re terrible skaters, aren’t they?” I asked.

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