Annie and Jay came up beside him, skates in hand, and took in the scene. The tempo of the music changed as Kate picked up speed, throwing in little twizzles and turns. He knew she wouldn’t be doing anything like the jumps that almost got her to the Olympics, but from what he could see, the years hadn’t affected her skills all that much.
She did land an elementary jump and based on her smile, she was pretty proud of herself.
“Wow,” Annie said. “She’s incredible. I’m going to look like a spaz out there with you three.”
Jay smiled. “That’s why we bring you along. You’re fun to watch.” His smile dropped away when his wife punched him in the shoulder.
Carol of the Bells started to play, and Kate skated to the music in perfect time. Her moves were fast, sharp, and dynamic. David could see every step, every spin, came straight from her heart. Against the dark sky, with the lights of the bridge in the background, he was genuinely moved. He’d seen skaters before, girls who practiced until their feet bled, and none had her inborn grace or ability. This wasn’t just a sport to her; it wasn’t just something to win. It was her soul, and now she had it back. When the song ended, she came to where he was standing and threw her arms around him.
“Thank you for this. It’s amazing.” Kate stood on her toes and kissed him. Seeing her so happy was all the thanks he needed.
“Come here for a second.” He led her to the side of the rink and introduced her to his friends as Jay was pushing Annie onto the ice.
“Don’t be a baby, Annie,” Jay said. “Nice to meet you, Kate. Don’t mind her.”
“I’m going to fall!” Annie clung to the side of the rink and her eyes pleaded with Kate for help.
Just as Kate extended a hand, David pulled her away and held her hand as they skated around the ice.
“David, we should help her.”
“She always starts out this way and gets going pretty quickly. Don’t worry.”
Jay called out to him across the rink. “Padre? Wanna bet on how many times she lands on her ass?”
David smirked and shook his head. Poor Annie. If he didn’t know that they would be wrapped around each other and cooing like teenagers in a few minutes, he’d feel bad. Kate was the one who sobered him up.
“Do you guys bet on everything?” When he looked down at her, Kate’s eyes were narrow and she was glaring.
“Damn, I thought I’d dodged that bullet.” There was a smile tugging at her lips, so he knew he wasn’t really in trouble, but he did have to explain. “The answer is probably yes. We do. And I’m not sorry I took that bet involving you.”
“What was the bet? I mean, I know what Chelsea said, but tell me the truth. You had to get me to say yes to dinner or a drink?”
“No, I had to get you into bed. Which, I did.” He smiled because the shock on her face was priceless, but he knew it was time to tell her the whole story. “Everyone assumed that something happened between us because I was out all night, but I never said anything. On our next road trip, I paid up and took everyone out for a very expensive steak dinner and drinks.”
“Really? You didn’t have to lie.”
“I didn’t. But after we’d been together and I realized how much I liked you, I just felt…” He hesitated, and squeezed her hand.
“What?”
“What happened between us was private. It wasn’t anyone else’s business.”
Taking advantage of the waltz, David turned and faced her, sweeping her into a slow dance on the ice.
“Thank you for that,” she whispered.
“Don’t thank me. You make me a better man, Kate. I should be thanking you.” His mouth grazed over her cheek and Kate’s breath shuddered, almost like she was going to cry.
But then she seemed to regain her control and gazed into his eyes. “I should be furious, but the truth is I wouldn’t be this happy without that stupid bet. So I don’t care why you approached me, I’m just glad you did.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “I love you, David.”
Those words were magic. For the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to be lost to someone. He kissed her again, softly, slowly, and held her close as they moved through the cold air. Kate looked up and smiled. “This song,” she said. “Do you remember?”
He grinned at the memory. “Santa Monica. It was playing at that bar on the beach we walked past.”
David remembered everything about that night; because it was the first moment his heart started beating for someone else.
*
Annie had caught her stride; she and Jay held hands and circled the rink while Kate and David danced. He took the opportunity to give her a little twirl and impress the people who’d stopped as they walked by the rink to watch them skate. Not content to keep it simple, she arched her back and lifted one of her legs into a graceful extension.
“Show off,” he whispered. He propelled them along while she balanced on one skate. Two people pointed, one of them taking pictures with a cell phone, and he figured he and Jay might have been recognized. David didn’t care.
Kate noticed too. “I’m surprised you didn’t find a rink that was more private. We have a bit of an audience.”
“Whatever. I hope the pictures that one guy took end up on the front page of the newspaper.”
Kate smiled, closed her eyes, and laid her head on his chest, trusting him to guide her around the ice.
She loved him. David thought about all the women he’d dated, including Chelsea, who supposedly wanted to marry him. No one had ever said the words to him. No one was willing to take the chance until Kate.
The music changed to something upbeat and quick. Kate wiggled away from him, and skating backwards, issued the challenge. “Think you can catch me, Burke?”
He kicked up his speed when she zipped away and knew his long stride alone would overtake her, but she was weaving in and out. He slowed simply so he could watch her move.
Sadness always hung in the background with Kate. She’d put on her best face, but as David got to know her, he could see the shadow behind her eyes. However, now, with her arms extended over her head, Kate looked like she was praying to the winter goddess. The ice, the snow, and the cold awakened her sleeping spirit. David caught her, spun her around, and in her eyes all he saw was joy.
*
Laura hated that she’d gone right back to lying to her mom, but she didn’t see any other way if she was going to spend the night with Jack. She said she wanted to try to make things better with Dad. That wasn’t a complete lie. She hated all the crap her father pulled, but he did love her, and that had to count for something, right? Her mom didn’t like that she came back here, but she understood. At least Mom understood.
Her father had promised not to pump her for information about Mom, and she guessed after the conversation David had with him, Dad would be on his best behavior. She’d been a Flyers fan for as long as she could remember and she’d rarely seen David fight; but when he did, his opponent left the game bloody. There was no way her tweed-wearing, Pilates-toned father was going to match up against one of the NHL’s biggest forwards. Mom had nothing to worry about.
And Mom was so happy. Since she’d decided to let her guard down, everything with David had fallen into place. He’d hit it off with the whole family, and Laura had to admit she really liked him. He treated her with respect and he expected the same from her.
Right before David left her house the other night, he’d found her fiddling at the piano in the library. The family was still in the den, but her father had done a pretty good job of making her feel detached from all of them. Even though Mom, her grandparents, and Aunt Trish and Uncle Greg kept trying to get her to interact, she felt guilty for all the years she treated them so badly. Especially Aunt Trish, she’d been horrible to her.
David found her on the verge of tears while she was thinking about her family and Jack. He surprised her when he put the little gift bag on the bench next to her and smiled. He’d gotten her a gift. She felt her face flush when she pulled the little blue box from Tiffany’s out of the tissue paper. In the box was the prettiest necklace she’d ever seen. It was a perfect, square sapphire, her birthstone, hanging from a delicate white gold chain. It was beautiful, and she still smiled when she saw it hanging around her neck.