“Of course you do.”
She tried to let go of the wall but nearly fell. “No, no, I don’t have this!”
In a second, Connor’s strong arm was around her waist, supporting her. Her ankles were still feeling wobbly, but she dared let go of the wall, trusting in Connor’s strength and balance. He skated around the rink with her, as slowly as she needed while she worked to find her balance and figure out how to move her legs. The further they went, the more she figured it out, and the more Connor loosened his arm, turning control over to her.
During their second time around the rink, she was doing so much better that he dropped his arm from her back and slipped his hand into hers. She grinned at him as she found that she could do it. She could stay upright and skate forward with only his hand as a failsafe.
The third time around, she was so proud of how well she was doing. It hit her that relationships were about helping each other. Supporting each other. Not feeling like she needed to be so independent that she pushed him away. It was about finding that beautiful interdependence where they helped and supported each other as they both fully became who they were supposed to be. She hadn’t really understood the concept until now.
By the fourth time around, she had gotten to where she could skate a bit faster. As they went down the long straight part, she tipped her face up, feeling the wind from their speed blowing across her. She closed her eyes for a moment, knowing that he had her hand and would keep her going in the right direction. She felt free. Like a bird flying down low to a lake, skimming just above its surface.
As they reached the curved part of the rink at the end, Connor grabbed her other hand and spun the two of them in a circle before coming to a stop. She laughed at the joy of it. “I can see why you love this.”
He grinned at her. “It’s pretty great, isn’t it?”
She grinned right back.
“Are you hungry?”
“Why? Are we going to walk to the nearest restaurant, find a hidden key, and go inside? Are there hidden keys everywhere? Do you know where they all are?”
Connor laughed an unrestrained laugh that she loved. “No, but Knox, the man who owns the rink, called a bit ago to see if we made it safely and to make sure that we are doing well. He said he keeps snacks in his office and told me where. Do you want breakfast?”
“I sure do,” she said, realizing how hungry she was.
As they took off their skates and headed back to the office, he said, “Oh, and I texted your parents to let them know where we are.”
Her eyes widened. “Thank you! I didn’t even think of that— they’re probably waking up about now.”
In the office, Connor gathered protein bars, snack-sized bags of crackers and chips, and a couple of little cups of mandarin oranges. Biscuit woke up at hearing them, so Katie bent down and gave him a good rub on the sides of his cute face. She turned to Connor. “Do you think it’s still snowing?”
“It stopped a bit ago.” He put the snacks into the middle of her blanket, added three water bottles, then gathered the edges of the blanket up and put it over his shoulder. “Come with me.”
Katie scooped up Biscuit, and then she walked with Connor along the aisle that separated the ice from the bleachers, and around to the front doors, which were in the middle of an area that made a big half circle with floor-to-ceiling windows.
The view beyond the glass was incredible. Deep snow covered everything, making it a sea of white. The sun was getting close to rising, and the sky was turning a beautiful pink that reflected on the snow below. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” she asked.
She felt his eyes on her as he said, “Yes, I have.”
Connor spread out the blanket, and the two of them sat down on it and ate a Christmas breakfast that wasn’t exactly the traditional cinnamon rolls that her mom made, but it was now her favorite Christmas breakfast. They ate and played with Biscuit and chatted as the sky changed from pink to a light blue.
The moment the sun poked its head over the mountain, it lit up the snow, making it shine like it was made of silvery-golden glitter. She wasn’t sure she’d seen anything so incredible.
“Katie?”
She looked over at him.
“Merry Christmas,” he said and kissed her on the cheek.
twenty
CONNOR
Connor and Katiestayed in front of the big windows for a long time, just chatting and hanging out with Biscuit. The lack of sleep during the night was catching up with him, so Katie was sitting on the blanket, and he was lying with his head in her lap as she played with his hair. It was the most relaxed he’d been for as long as he could remember.
“Wouldn’t a little Glacier’s jersey look so cute on him?” Katie asked.
He chuckled. “It would.” Biscuit yipped in a way that he was pretty sure meant that he agreed.
