Chapter 17 #2
“There are many types of joy. A snowflake on your tongue. Sunlight through a window on a chilly day, surprising you and making you laugh. Those are small joys, but joys nonetheless.”
“I suppose.”
“You know, you spend a lot of time smiling but it doesn’t always reach your eyes. When it does, you take my breath away,” he said.
He seemed to have taken hers away with his words. A small smile started at the corner of her mouth and gradually took over her whole face. It made Nick’s heart leap inside his chest.
“See?” he said. “I can barely breathe. You’re killing me!”
The sound of her laugh was like music to his ears.
He parked around the back of Frosty Jack’s and turned off the engine.
They both got out and he immediately pulled her into his arms, bringing his mouth down on hers and taking the kiss that he’d wanted to last night under the mistletoe.
Today had cemented the decision he’d made about Cora.
He couldn’t imagine spending eternity with anyone else.
She was the woman he wanted and there was no going back from that.
He wished he had a better plan than just to take her to bed, but sometimes the simplest ways of starting were the best.
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. “I like who I am with you.”
His heart stuttered. That hint of vulnerability got him every time. She was the one, he just knew it.
“I do too.”
He led the way to the portal where all the realms entered Frosty Jack’s. Luckily, no one was in there. If he’d run into Pete just now, Nick wasn’t entirely sure what he’d do. He opened the door to his world and walked through it with her by his side.
As they stepped outside, she noticed the sky tonight was clear, like dark velvet filled with stars, much the same as it had been when he’d walked her home from Calvin’s—the very night she’d started to see Nick in a different light.
“I’ve never noticed this path before you showed it to me. Not that I’ve spent a lot of time up this way,” she said. It was odd that there was a workshop and then beyond it an unincorporated area. The buildings resembled the facades that Nick had built for the toy village at the festival.
“We don’t get a lot of outsiders up here. The residents like their privacy so it’s one of those places that unless you know where it is, you won’t find it.”
“Interesting. This is where you grew up?” she asked him as they walked on a stone path past an ice rink. “Do you play hockey there?”
“As often as I can. But this time of year I’m really busy so don’t get to do that much,” he admitted. There was a hint of longing in his voice that she wanted to explore.
“Want to play now?” she asked.
“Can you skate?”
“I grew up in Vermont.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Yes, I can skate.”
“Say no more.”
He led the way to a shed that had skates of all sizes in it.
There were hockey skates and regular ice-skating ones.
She found a pair her size and donned them while Nick took his time.
She left him to go out on the ice. As soon as her blades hit the ice, she felt transported.
It had been years since she’d gone ice-skating but tonight she remembered the escape it had offered her when she’d been a girl.
It was the one thing her mom had always had money for.
She’d drop Cora off at the rink on Saturday morning and pick her up late in the afternoon—an entire day of gliding around on the ice, where she felt graceful. She could build up speed and feel the wind whipping around her, making it easier for her to daydream that she was someone else.
Being around Nick reminded her of all that her success hadn’t given her, and it hurt. Coming here tonight wasn’t what she’d expected. Being horny for him had blinded her to the reality of how Nick made her feel.
She hadn’t been lying when she said she liked who she was with him. But that woman was new and not fully formed. A version of herself that she wasn’t sure she was ready to embrace.
At that moment, Nick caught up with her. He also wore regular skates. Catching her hand in his, he held it as they made lazy loops around the rink. “After a long day inside, this feels so good. And I’m so glad I’m here with you.”
She had no response to that. She was all in her head, remembering her teenage dreams and wondering what it was about Nick that made all her emotions bubble to the surface. Normally she could keep everything tamped down, stuffed in a box where she pretended they didn’t exist.
But not with him.
Nick made everything different. The life that she’d known suddenly didn’t make sense without him next to her. It was as if she’d been standing behind a window watching the world go by and now with Nick at her side, she was out there in the world. Living it.
Today when she’d been in the toy village with all the vendors and visitors she’d felt … alive. In a way she hadn’t before. Like ever. There was no need to straighten garland or fixate on how to make things better. She’d just vibed with the crowds, feeling the joy and excitement.
It touched her. She’d created this, but for the first time in the five years that she’d been running Winter Wonderland she’d actually experienced it.
If she thought about it too much, she’d cry.
She’d accomplished that secret wish she’d wanted to long ago.
She’d created a Christmasy world that was accessible to everyone.
Little Cora wouldn’t have felt left out or odd if she’d visited.
A tiny bit of sadness seeped in knowing her mom would never have brought her, but maybe she would have attended with her class. The way that she hoped every child in Pine Falls would. More than anything she wanted that.
“Why’d you bring me here? I thought it was to sleep with me but now I’m not sure.”
Nick turned to skate backward, taking both her hands in his. He slowed their pace. He was direct, making eye contact with her and giving her no place to hide.
She liked him. Really liked him.
Not just his hard ass and strong arms. She liked the way he laughed easily and crouched down to talk to children. She liked the way he helped out Hannah Waters and ensured that all the other vendors were comfortable and had a chance to succeed at the Winter Wonderland too.
This was a man she could fall for.
Maybe was already falling for.
And that should be setting off warning bells for her. Maybe that’s what this emotional knot in her throat was. A loud alert that she was on thin ice.
But then his lips turned up in that smile that made her want to return it, as he slowed to a stop and let her body bump against his. He lowered his forehead to hers. There was no hiding from his gaze which bore straight into hers.
“I brought you here because I didn’t want the day to end. Being with you, Cora, is something of an addiction at this point. And I never want to stop.”