Chapter Five
B urke sighed and unzipped his backpack.
Why had he said yes to ice-skating? There had to be a better way to distract Darby Jane from her back-to-school jitters.
He could’ve let her eat popcorn for supper and watch another animated movie together.
Much less stressful. They wouldn’t have to leave the cabin.
But she’d begged, and against his better judgment, he’d agreed.
“Come on, Daddy. I want to go.” Darby Jane shoved her feet into her boots. “It’s going to be dark soon.”
“There are lights at the rink,” Burke said, taking as long as humanly possible to stuff wool socks, two extra sweatshirts, and water bottles into his backpack.
“Why are you bringing so much stuff?” She zipped up her jacket. “I thought you said we can’t stay long. I have to go to bed early. Right?”
He smothered a sigh. Why did she always use his words against him at the most inopportune time? “Darby Jane, here’s the thing. I don’t know how to skate.”
She lifted one shoulder. “That’s okay.”
“I’m nervous about trying.”
“I know.” She reached up and tugged on his hand, melting the frigid exterior of his heart. “I’ll show you, ’cuz I’ve already learned.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “When did you learn to ice-skate?”
“I went to lots of skating birthday parties.” She turned and reached for the cabin’s front door. “It’s fun once you get the hang of it.”
Skating birthday parties? And when did she learn to say get the hang of it ?
Must’ve overheard Charlie. Burke studied her intently, trying to make sense of the fog that had been the last two years of his life.
Not a single memory came back to him of taking her to or picking her up from a party at an ice rink.
Mary Catherine had handled all those details.
Or maybe he couldn’t remember accurately because Darby Jane’s tone, the way she tossed her hair over her shoulder, everything about her reminded him once again of his late wife and all he’d lost. The grief and the memories nearly stole his breath.
Even thousands of miles from Charleston, the death of his wife and their baby boy still permeated his existence.
“Come on, Daddy, you promised.” Darby Jane stood on the top step of the cabin’s porch. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“I know. And I’m keeping my word. See?” He shouldered his backpack, plucked the keys from the hook by the door and followed her outside. Lois’s truck had proven to be reliable.
Charlie had even been kind enough to make sure it started and that the oil had been changed recently.
The cabin still didn’t feel like home, and it needed a ton of work.
But he and Darby Jane had managed to make the place livable over the past three days.
Hopefully, once their shipment of household goods arrived and they’d unpacked familiar belongings, he’d find his groove.
Darby Jane climbed into the passenger side of the seventies-era red pickup truck, tugged the door shut with a grunt, then reached for her seat belt. “It smells like peppermint in here.”
“Yep.” Burke slid behind the wheel, then reached across the cab and opened the glove compartment. A stash of plastic-wrapped candy with the Evergreen Candy Company logo greeted them.
“Candy.” Darby Jane flashed him a wide smile. “How did that get there?”
“Charlie gave me a package when he was here the other day.”
“May I have one, please?”
“Absolutely.” He handed her one, then took a piece for himself. As he backed out of the driveway and drove the short distance to the rink, he savored the sweet taste of the soft peppermint candy.
Darby Jane’s cheek was plump as she tucked her candy out of the way, squirrel-like, and turned her inquisitive face toward him. “Why can’t we skate over there?”
Burke looked out the window and caught a glimpse between the tree branches of the vast snow-covered lake. Although he’d visited Evergreen during his holiday breaks from school a few times, his aunt and uncle had discouraged him and his brother from venturing out onto the ice.
“Maybe it’s not safe.” Burke shifted his attention back to the road since he hadn’t had much experience driving in the ice and snow. “You never know if the ice on the lake is frozen all the way through. Probably best for all of us if we stick to a well-maintained rink.”
She nodded, and his shoulders hunched toward his ears as he dreaded her follow-up questions.
Because there would definitely be more questions.
What a wise, old soul dwelling in a five-year-old’s body.
His stomach bottomed out at the thought of her starting school with strangers in the morning.
He tried his best to mask his fear. He wanted her to feel confident. Brave.
When he’d registered Darby Jane, the teacher and principal agreed that easing her in and attending two days this week, then only four next week due to having Monday off for teacher in-service, would be good for her.
Selfishly, he wanted to homeschool her, but that wasn’t what she needed.
Besides, he was only kidding himself. He needed every free minute that he wasn’t working on the house to somehow wrangle words onto his laptop.
He’d made hardly any progress on his manuscript since they’d arrived in Evergreen.
But he had to keep trying. Time was ticking away, and the extended deadline loomed.
March 15. Less than eight weeks to pluck more than seventy thousand words out of thin air.
A ripple of unease shimmied along his spine.
Sidestepping the ominous thought, they arrived at the rink and parked in the lot.
Kids in hockey uniforms were skating back and forth.
“Oh, no.” Darby Jane groaned. “I thought you said we could skate now.”
“At four o’clock we’re allowed to skate. That’s only five minutes from now. By the time we’re ready, I’m sure those kids will be finished.”
She grabbed the new pair of skates he’d spent way too much money on at the local sporting goods store and scurried out of the truck.
Slowly, he followed her, carrying his backpack and the vintage pair of ice skates he’d found in Lois and Mac’s hall closet.
Hopefully, the parents mingling rinkside would disperse and there would be very few witnesses to his skating debut.
The standard wooden boards rimmed the rink, but it lacked a fancy plexiglass barrier and bleachers.
Maybe hockey wasn’t a spectator sport here.
Someone had provided a few basic benches and cleared the snow away for people to sit down and put on their skates.
Darby Jane claimed the end of one and quickly traded her boots for her skates.
The rumbling of an engine caught Burke’s attention, and he turned to see three food trucks pulling into the parking lot.
“Yay!” Darby Jane clapped her mittened hands together. “Can we have supper here?”
“Perhaps. Let’s see how long we last ice-skating.”
“Oh, I can skate a long time, Daddy.” Darby Jane grinned at him triumphantly. “And I’ll be nice and hungry for a slice of pizza.”
He sat down beside her. “How do you know they serve pizza?”
She pointed. “It’s painted on the side of the truck, silly.”
“Right.”
A whistle blew, and two men on the ice gathered the kids around. There was laughter and chatter, then a communal cheer before the kids skated toward the boards and filtered out through the open gate.
A few minutes later, only two other adults and three kids circled the ice.
Good. Hardly anyone to watch him make a fool of himself.
Darby Jane waited patiently for him to help her lace her skates and tie them.
“Why don’t you put on your mittens, and I’ll be with you in a second.” Burke still had to put his skates on.
Her little body trembled with excitement. “Can I skate? I know how.”
“Yes, you’ve mentioned that.” He smiled, then patted her shoulder. “Go ahead. Please be careful.”
She stood up and walked gingerly across the packed snow, then squeezed through the open door and glided across the rink.
He paused and watched, amazed at her courage.
If he wanted her to do new things, then he had to try as well.
But oh, how he hated to fail. He’d done plenty of that already.
On the other hand, feeling like an incompetent, grief-stricken dad was far worse than falling on his backside a time or two, right?
Sweat made his T-shirt stick to his back as he leaned down and finished lacing his skates. Then he tugged his hat a little tighter over his ears, slipped his gloves back on and tentatively pushed himself upright.
He made his way toward the boards. At least he’d have something to hold on to. Drawing a fortifying breath, he stepped onto the rink with his right skate followed by his left. Oh, this wasn’t so bad. The blades scraped across the surface, and the cold air nipped at his cheeks.
“Great job, Daddy!” Darby Jane’s encouraging words enveloped him as she slowly spun around him. “You’re doing it.”
He forced a strained smile and tried to hide his apprehension, but only managed to get three yards before his skate caught in an uneven patch. His body instantly flew sideways, and he hit the ice hard. Pain surged up through his right arm. Oh, no.
He ground his teeth to tamp down a yell. This couldn’t be happening.
* * *
“Help. Please!”
The pathetic yelp pierced the chilly air.
Jovi glanced toward the ice rink. Adrenaline spiked through her.
She pushed the bag of prepackaged marshmallows through the open service window of the food truck.
“Here you go. Jerry from the candy company asked me to drop these off, and now I need to help somebody on the rink.”
The guy working the mobile coffee truck ducked down and met her gaze. “No problem. Thanks for the delivery. These marshmallows are a crowd-pleaser around here.”
She gave an appreciative nod. “You’re welcome. Thanks for stocking our product.”