Far From Home

“I’ve never told anyone this but…” She released a long breath and tried again, this time with a little more success than before. “I fell through the ice a few years ago. Fortunately, I was still close to the bank but…” she trailed off and shrugged.

Oh god. My heart jumped into my throat as I took her in my arms. “This entire time, the whole time I’ve asked you to skate, this was in the back of your mind?” I shook my head.

“Why didn’t you say anything? If I’d known, if I’d realized your hesitation was more than that, I never would’ve pushed you as hard as I did.”

She was already shaking her head before I could finish, leaning into me once I was through. “But I wanted to,” she said, her voice heavy with tears. “I was stupid. I was young, had too much hard cider, then went onto the ice once it started to thaw. It was a stupid mistake and something I haven’t done since.”

But it could’ve been worse. A lot worse.

She didn’t have to say anything else. I could see it in her eyes and in the way she held herself then. This place haunted her, and no amount of reassurance would change that so I didn’t even try.

Instead, I stood in front of her and held out my hand.

“Come on.”

“And go where?” She hesitated a moment, then took my hand in hers, getting to her feet with my help.

“Back to the cabin,” I said, breathing a little easier when she squeezed my hand. “This isn’t your only surprise.”

Relief washed over her as we walked away from the pond, leaving her new pair of skates behind. We can get them later.

But if I didn’t get her inside, under the covers, and in my arms soon, I’d lose my mind.

“Do we really have to do this again?” Her eyes were closed much like they’d been before, her grip on me tightening when we walked around another corner.

“I promise this surprise will be even better.” I did my best to ignore the fact she hadn’t told me she loved me back. It isn’t something you say unless you mean it.

But I did mean it, and deep down, I hoped Taylor would as well.

“Can’t be any worse,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“I deserved that.” Even if she’d never told anyone, I knew how she felt about the ice. How she used to feel.

Still, just because she was okay with skating at a rink, that didn’t mean she’d be okay when it came to doing the same thing on a pond, even if it was man-made. With a ball of lead sitting in my stomach and my nerves probably just as bad as Taylor’s, I walked her in front of the cabin, stopped, then let go of her hands.

While getting everything set at the pond had taken some time, this had taken the most planning.

So when Taylor opened her eyes again, she stepped back, walking right into me as she admired the warm lights hanging just above the front door. “Christmas lights?”

I shrugged. “You didn’t decorate it for the holidays, and it looked kind of lonely out here without them. There’s more inside.” I couldn’t hide the smile in my voice as she unlocked the door, leaving me to open it a moment later so I could go in before she did.

All around the room, on the mantelpiece and counters, were a series of candles I hadn’t had the chance to light. Then, hanging over the back of the sofa, was a brand new, extra-wide blanket which I hoped would alleviate our endless tug-of-war in the mornings with the one we already had.

“I thought you said it was better than the ice,” Taylor teased from her place in the doorway.

I glanced back over my shoulder at her as I grabbed a fresh box of matches from the kitchen. After lighting each of the candles, I removed a cake from the fridge along with some sparkling cider and two narrow glasses I’d borrow from Sue.

When Taylor finally joined me, her expression changed.

Her eyes still looked tired from the tears she shed back at the pond, but her bright smile slowly pushed the weariness away.

“What are we celebrating?” she asked once I handed her a glass of cider.

“Who says we need to celebrate in order to have a bit of fun?” I headed back into the main room with my drink, leaving the cake behind. “We have one week left before we go back to school, so I figured we should do something nice.

Something we normally wouldn’t get the chance to do.”

She followed after me, pausing once she closed the door to look at the cake. “And the dessert?”