Grace’s eyes dropped to the skates and widened. “Are those yours?”
“Vintage,” Alix said gravely. “Limited edition. You, me, the pond. I will go easy on you and only do a triple axel if the spirit moves me.”
“I cannot feel my heels and you want me to do what amounts to dancing on knives,” Grace said, but she was laughing already. “You are out of your mind.”
“I will push you in a chair if you’d like,” Alix said, and felt briefly, painfully transparent because all she wanted was to make this trip good for her. She held out the bowl to display her offering. “My mom’s pecans said I could bribe you.”
“Oh, well, if the pecans insisted,” Grace said, accepting one and closing her eyes for a second as she chewed. “These aren’t weed pecans, right?”
“Unfortunately not. My mom made them this morning and alas, she did not coat them in marijuana.”
Grace chewed, lifting a brow as if considering Alix. “How is your mom so sweet, and you turned out like this?”
“Must have been some kind of genetic mutation,” Alix said.
Grace’s gaze moved from the skates back to Alix’s face, and something tender passed over it. “Hey, you okay?”
Alix felt the answer open in her chest like a window. “Um, yeah. We talked for a moment this morning,” she said. “She told me something about a cancer scare she had in the summer. She’s okay now. But it changed her. I think it changed me a little just hearing it.” She swallowed. “I am glad I came.”
Grace’s hand came out from the blanket and found Alix’s wrist for a second. It was a light touch, careful and steady. “I am glad you did too.”
“And I’m glad you’re here, too.”
“Me too.”
There was a pause that felt like a held note. Alix let herself look at Grace openly, at her pillow-lined cheek and the full curve of her mouth. She wanted to lean down and press her lips to that place where the blanket met Grace’s collarbone, wanted it so much she had to laugh at herself to break the spell.
“All right,” she said, stepping back, cheerful again because she had no choice if she wanted to keep her heart inside her ribs. “Breakfast, bandages, and then the pond. I found a scarf that will make you look like a very chic snow elf.”
“Sold,” Grace said and pushed the blanket aside to swing her legs over the bed, gingerly setting her feet on the rug. She hissed once, then grinned through it. “I can do knives if you can do patience.”
“I can do patience,” Alix said and was surprised by how true it felt. “Come on. Coffee and kindness await.”
The pond looked like something out of a snow globe — glassy, untouched, the morning light spilling gold over the surface. The air had that thin, clean bite that made Alix’s lungs sting in a way she kind of liked. She breathed it in and tried to memorize the sound of Grace laughing nervously behind her.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Grace said, bundled in Alix’s scarf and gloves, wobbling on her borrowed skates. “I just want to be very clear that if I die, my ghost is haunting you forever.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Alix said.
Grace snorted. “Oh my God. You’re insufferable.”
“Accurate,” Alix said, standing up and testing her balance. “Also, it’s perfectly safe. Matt apparently checked the ice this morning. It’s like six inches thick.”
Grace’s eyes widened. “Is that… enough?”
“Plenty,” Alix assured her. “This isn’tLittle Women, Gator. You’re not about to go crashing into an icy grave while I dramatically cry and get consumption.”
“Okay, first of all, Beth March is an angel.” Grace still looked unconvinced, peering at the frozen surface as if she could see the depth of it. Her breath puffed white. She was beautiful — all soft layers and wary eyes — like some city girl who’d wandered straight into a postcard. “Second of all… I’m not sure I have enough health insurance for this.”
“Come on,” Alix coaxed. “You trust me, right?”
Grace hesitated. “That feels like a trick question.”
Alix held out her hand anyway. “Then it’s a leap of faith.”
With a muttered, “God help me,” Grace took her hand.
Her fingers were cold even through the glove, but the squeeze was warm, grounding. Alix guided her one slow step onto the ice. Grace’s legs wobbled instantly, arms flailing for balance.
