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Instead, she said, “I’d like that.”
“Has ’Melia been ice-skatin’?”
Smiling, Alice shook her head. “She’s never gone. Should I invite her?”
I wanted Alice there. I wanted to watch her doing something she hadn’t done in a while. Would she get frustrated, or would she have fun? I wanted to see her let go and laugh. She seemed so reserved. “This is our first time. Let’s learn how to do it first, then we can invite Amelia next time.”
That seemed to pacify Maggie. I didn’t want to share Alice with her sister and niece. I wanted to spend more time like we had at lunch. Just the three of us. My brain was going to dangerous places. I was putting us together in my mind. It was reckless and a little stupid. I should pull back, but I didn’t want to.
Alice smiled at Maggie. “I can’t wait.”
I wanted her to smile at me like that.
Maggie took a large bite of her taco, the meat dropping onto the floor.
Alice moved to clean it up, but I told her to sit. “I’ll get it.”
“What else did you do when you visited here as a kid?” I asked her, wanting to keep the conversation going.
“We stayed at the ski lodge. So we did whatever teenagers did, skied, played games, had fun.”
She hadn’t mentioned doing anything with her parents. I wondered if her parents let them have free rein.
“Have you gone since you moved here?” I finished cleaning up the fallen taco meat with a napkin and threw it in the trash.
Alice shook her head. “There hasn’t been time.”
I didn’t believe that for a second. “You have friends here?”
Too late, I realized how bad that sounded. Of course, she had friends. I should have worded it a different way.
Alice picked up a fork and picked at the meat and cheese that had fallen onto her plate. “Not really. I keep to myself and don’t go out much.”
“You haven’t even been out to grab a beer?” I couldn’t stop my line of questioning. Everything she said made me want to delve deeper.
“I only know Elle, and she was a new mother when I moved here. Besides, when she goes out, it’s with her friends, Piper and Colin, Kelsey and Henry. I’m the only single one. And they’re older.”
“Not that much older.”
“They’re in committed relationships, married; two of them have kids. They’re into different things.”
I finished chewing and drank some water before I asked, “What are you into?”
“I like to read,” she said simply before getting up to clear her plate.
I should have taken that as a hint to stop asking personal questions, but I was too curious. “What do you read?”
She put her dish into the dishwasher before closing it. “Nonfiction books and Hallmark kind of reads. Books that make me feel good.”
“No thrillers or mysteries for you, huh?” I asked lightly.
She smiled over at me. “No.”
I couldn’t stop pressing her, needing to know more. “What about movies? You have a favorite?”
Alice pursed her lips. “I don’t watch TV.”
“You have to watchFrozen. It’s so good,” Maggie insisted.
