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Noah blinked up at the sky, and he heard Mindy calling out his name a moment before her face became silhouetted against the streetlight above.
“Are you all right?” she blurted, and even though he couldn’t fully make out her features in the shadow that had been cast over her face, he could definitely hear the concern in her voice.
“I’m fine,” he grunted,chuckling as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. “Just my pride is bruised.”
Mindy took a few steps back, extending a hand to him to help him up, which he gladly took. But before she could pull him to his feet, she slipped on the same patch of ice he had, ending up falling onto the snowbank right beside him. She yelped, and he laughed, going up onto one elbow to look down at her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, echoing her question from a moment ago as he tucked a bit of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah. This was much less painful than falling on the ice rink would’ve been.”
She rose up onto an elbow as well, and their gazes met as silence descended between them for a moment.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Noah finally offered. “About what was bothering you? You don’t have to, but I’d like to know.”
Mindy hesitated, biting her lip. Then she nodded, sending her blonde curls bobbing.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets as they both sat up side by side on the snowbank. Her shoulder brushed against his, and even though they were each bundled in coats, he swore he could feel the warmth emanating from her.
“I’m sorry,” Mindy whispered. When Noah cast a glance sideways at her, her brow was creased with worry.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” he reassured her quickly. “But what got you so upset in the first place?”
She paused, and he could tell from the way her jaw was flexing that she was chewing on the inside of her cheek.
“Do you remember the last time we went ice skating together?” she asked.
Noah nodded, but the question didn’t do anything to alleviate his confusion. All he remembered was the fact that she’d beaten him while racing, just like she had tonight.
“And do you remember what happened just a few daysafterwe went ice skating?” Mindy prompted, her voice growing softer. “That was when we broke up, Noah.”
The words hit him like a ton of bricks, a small rush of air escaping him as he realized she was right. In his head, the two events had never been conflated. There had been such a difference in the moods between the two things, the happiness and laughter that had happened on the rink and then the heartbreak of ending his relationship with Mindy. His memory hadn’t been able to keep the two things closely connected.
But now that Mindy had pointed it out, he could see why the smile had dropped away from her face so suddenly back at the rink.
“I’m sorry,” he said, grimacing. “I wasn’t thinking when I brought that up. I honestly didn’t put the two together. I should have…”
“It’s okay.” Mindy cleared her throat, the blush in her cheeks flaring once again. “I’m not upset anymore. It’s just that being reminded of it all caught me off-guard. Water under the bridge.”
She waved her hand dismissively, but while Noah nodded, he was also hit with a pang of hurt. He didn’t want to forget about it. He didn’t want it all to be ‘water under the bridge’ as she’d just said. Their past had meant something to him, and he didn’t want it to be so easily dismissed.
But he was grateful that tears were no longer shining in Mindy’s eyes, and that the tension between them seemed to have dissipated for the moment. So he gave a small cough to clear his throat of the lump of emotion that had risen to it.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Water under the bridge.” Then he offered her a smile. “You know, you might not have been thrilled when you found out that I was in Snowy Pine Ridge, but I’m happy that our paths have crossed. I’m glad it brought us back together, even just for a little while.”
Mindy tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, resting a hand on his arm. “Me too.”
He offered her a hand and helped her up, careful not to let her slip on the patch of ice again. And although neither of them commented on it, he didn’t release her hand as he walked her all the way back to her house, the two of them striding side by side in companionable silence.
CHAPTERTEN
Valerie glanced down at her ring, watching the way the emerald glinted in the lights as Clark drove them both home. They’d left her car in the lot at the rink, with Clark promising to pick it up tomorrow, because she hadn’t wanted to be apart from him even for the few minutes it took for them to drive home.
He pulled into the driveway, and the light beside the front door glowed invitingly as she gazed out the passenger side window. The party at the ice rink had gone well into the night, and by the time everyone had left and she’d helped Rudolph clean up—despite the older man’s protests—she was absolutely exhausted.
Clark climbed out of the truck, telling her to stay put while he came around to the passenger side and opened up her door. Valerie grinned at him as she stepped out, pausing for a moment to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.
“I love you,” she murmured, her words muffled as she pressed her face against his chest.
