26. A Princess-Cut Diamond, Twinkle Lights, & Books #3
Two chandeliers lit the room with soft, warm light.
I had never imagined having chandeliers in my room before moving in, but Willow had insisted I would need them when they’d learned that I would be coming.
Why she thought I would need chandeliers in my room I would never know, but after living there for nine years, I couldn’t imagine the space without them.
The floor was hardwood, but I had a beautiful rug to keep my feet warm every morning when I got out of bed.
The bed was in front of one dormer, and my desk the other one, and each provided me with a front-row seat to the life of the city, as the house was one of the fortunate few that opened right up to the city square.
In the summer, there was a beautiful green square park in the center of the space, surrounded on all four sides by the courthouse, Town Hall, the library, the police station, the fire station, small businesses, and a few old Victorian houses like ours that, after more than a hundred years, were still standing.
Right now, though, in the fading light of the late afternoon, every light, fence, tree, and bench had been covered in either colorful lights, Christmas bulbs, or wreaths, and the rest of it was quickly becoming covered by a soft, powdery white.
In addition to the decorations, much of the green square had been covered by the temporary ice rink the city brought in every year so people could skate.
A few years ago, the fire department had gotten tired of pulling people out of the semi-frozen lakes in our mountains, and had begged the city to create a safe skating zone.
And now, thanks to their efforts, children and couples skated around the oval rink.
The children often raced or did their best to learn to skate backward, and the grownups who were with them often helped.
But the skaters that always caught my eye were the couples.
Every night, there were couples who went out on the ice, hand-in-hand, basking under the colorful lights.
Sometimes they were excellent skaters, and other times they were awful.
Often, one individual was better than the other and had to support his or her date for the vast majority of their time on the rink.
My aunts couldn’t know it, of course, because I had never told them, but my heart longed to skate under those colorful lights as well.
Not that I couldn’t go skating if I wanted to. I could go skating any time. But skating as a couple? My chest hurt as I looked down now on the figures twirling below.
Prince, who had made himself comfortable on the bed as well, poked me with his nose and let out a whine.
“Aurora?” Aunt Marie’s voice was muffled by the door. “Can I come in?”
I sighed and pulled away from the window. “Sure.” I tried to put on a smile as she walked in, but her sharp eyes narrowed when she met my gaze.
“Aurora, what’s wrong?” she asked, coming to sit on the edge of my bed. “Was it something we said? Was it because Willow brought up that woman?”
I drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “No, it’s not because of her.” I paused. “I mean, it kind of is, but…” I shook my head. “I just wish things were different. If they were, I could go on dates. I could–”
“You can go on dates anytime you choose, just so you know,” Marie interrupted. “You just choose not to.”
“Because what man wants to live in the mess I’m dealing with right now?” I asked, shaking my head. “Because no matter how you look at it, all the rules and safety precautions… It’s a lot.”
I fully expected her to launch into a diatribe about how I could live my life freely if I chose.
She’d said it all before. But we both knew I wasn’t free.
There was a good chance I never would be.
Not when every celebrity gossip personality would give their left arm to break the story about what had happened to the beloved child star who had disappeared nineteen years ago.
My aunt continued to study me for a moment before getting a strange glitter in her eye.
“Don’t lose hope, love,” she finally said, standing.
“It’s Christmas, after all. No better time to hope for better things than at Christmas.
” She paused. “Would you mind running to Enchanted Endings for me? I pre-ordered a book, and Margaret called this afternoon to tell me it’s in.
Getting my new murder mystery will be good for me, and getting out into the fresh air would be good for you. ”
I smiled, and this time, it wasn’t forced. I was always ready for a visit to the bookshop. “Sure. Come on, Prince. Let’s get your boots on. It’s time to go for a walk.”