Kay practically had her face pressed to the glass to see everything. I pulled into the first parking spot I could find about three blocks from the festival. She hopped out before I could round the hood and open her door. She met me in front of the truck and grabbed my hand, dragging me down the street.
A few people I’d met over the years waved and tried to get me to stop, but Kay would not be deterred. By the time she stopped, we were in the middle of the square and I had two different versions of “O Holy Night” filling my head.
Kay’s face was bright with happiness and her cheeks were flushed with high color from the cold wind off the water. I jammed my hands into my pockets when she wandered off to one of the vendors. No one else seemed to notice it was hovering around twenty degrees.
Children were racing around from the arcade to the rink and a few eateries in between. When I got caught up in a Victorian stroll of carolers, I caught Kay laughing at me from a hot chocolate stand.
By the time I’d extricated myself from the hoard of evil singers, she was in the center of the rink on her knees in front of a little girl with blond pigtails. She’d wiped out and fat tears rolled down her face as she tried to get up. Kay was infinitely patient and ice shavings dotted her skirt and sweater as she helped the little girl back to her feet.
My heart stalled in my chest.
Old hurts raged to the surface. The child was a few years older, but she could have been my daughter. The one I’d lost before I even had a chance to know her.
Another woman in a red coat glided over to them and scooped up her daughter, brushing away her tears. The little girl ducked her face into her mother’s neck and curled her hand against her chest.
Kay brushed the ice off her skirt and tights and waved at the two of them before making her way to the edge of the rink. I’d unconsciously made my way to her. She spotted me and gave me a helpless shrug. “I lost my cocoa.”
“I’ll get you some.” I glanced at her hands. They were ruddy from being on the ice. Add in the subzero temps and I had to tamp down the irrational anger growing inside me that she’d been uncomfortable for even a moment.
I turned to a kid who had to be around twelve beside me and held out a twenty. “Get me a large hot chocolate and keep the change.”
The kid zipped away with the twenty in hand.
“You didn’t need to do that. Linc, I’m fine.”
I took her hands between mine and rubbed them. “You’re frozen.”
“It’s okay. Wasn’t she cute? She had the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.”
Like Kay’s. Pigtails and her eyes. Christ, the gods were especially cruel tonight. Especially since I could picture the child so fucking clearly.
She flipped her hands around so they were holding mine. “Linc, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Where is that kid?” I glanced over my shoulder, but didn’t spot the red hat. Kid probably rabbited with my twenty.
She dragged me out of the throng of people trying to get on and off the ice. “Seriously, your face is nearly gray. Did you eat anything? We should go—”
“Here you go, Miss.”
Kay turned to the boy. His cheeks were flushed and a steaming Styrofoam cup filled his hands. She took the cup and wrapped her fingers around it with a sigh. “Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”
The boy’s eyes darted from her to me, then back to Kay. “Yeah, no problem.”
I rolled my eyes. “Put your heart-eyes back in your head, kid.”
The boy blushed and dashed away into the crowd.
“Really?” she asked.
I curled my arm around her shoulder and steered her toward one of the four heating towers at the edge of the square. “Let’s get you warmed up.”
“I’m fine. Linc, stop dragging me.”
I ignored her and settled her on the bench by the tower, transferring her cup to the stone ledge. “Here.”
She sighed and held her hands up. “Okay, that is kinda awesome. I need one of these on my roof.”
“Done,” I said.