AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How ominous,” she says lightly.
I don’t snark back only because we’re taking the last turn and the lake—well, really, it’s morepondthan lake, otherwise it wouldn’t be cold enough to freeze over—is right in front of us.
“Oh,”she whispers.
Out from beneath the cover of the trees, I see the snow is still falling, but not as rapidly as before. It’s like a romantic movie spewed to life as the picture-perfect sprinkling floats through the air, clinging to her beanie, her coat, the ends of her hair as she moves forward and lifts her camera.
It’s beautiful, one of my favorite places.
The reason I bought this property in the first place, even though it’s risky to set down roots when my career can send me anywhere.
I was visiting Mack, whose property backs up to mine, and he conned me into helping him clear some trees. A wrong turn, stumbling onto this piece of land…
Now I have roots.
And a place to settle when all the rest of it is over.
Nova moves forward, camera clicking, putting all those skills of hers to work, and knowing I have some time, I move over to my typical boulder.
Empty the backpack.
And wait.
“I’m sorry,”she says about ten minutes later, whipping around, eyes wide, mouth pulled into a grimace. “Shit. I totally forgot you were there.”
“What a compliment,” I quip.
She glares at me, plunks her hands on her hips. “Seriously?”
“Come here, butterfly,” I say instead of engaging, patting the boulder next to me.
“Why?” she asks suspiciously, even as she clomps over, kicking up snow with each step.
And it’s fucking stupid, but I won’t ever forget the look on her face when she sees the skates in my hands.
Not calculated. Shocked. And then her expression goes gentle.
For me.
My heart does that thing again.
“What did you do?” she whispers.
“Nothing,” I say, taking her hand and nudging her down onto the boulder. “Sit down.”
“I don’t know how to skate.”
I grin at her. “Luckily, I’m a hockey player.” Her face goes soft again, and I hold up the skates. “So, you game?”
That soft surprise again but she stays sitting on the rock as I tug off her boots, as I pull on one of the spare set skates I keep at the house, tighten them. They’re a little big, but not by much, especially when I tie off the laces.
“Am I going to end up under the ice?” she asks as I start pulling on my own skates.
My lips twitch. “The pond is solid,” I tell her. “It’s been frozen through for weeks now.”
“Still,” she says. “Just out of curiosity, how deep is this lake-slash-pond?”
“Come on,” I say instead of answering, holding out my hand and helping her up, guiding her to the edge of the pond.
