On Thin Ice

by Bernadette Marie

  “Oh, I plan on taking her on one.” He wrapped his arm around Maggie’s shoulders and she slid him a smile. It gave Malory’s heart a pleasant squeeze.

  “That’s what we wanted to talk to you two about.” Maggie interlaced her fingers with Harvey’s. “We want to take a trip to Hawaii this February.”

  “I think that sounds very nice.” Malory smiled. She couldn’t remember her father ever having taken a vacation, and no one deserved it more than he and Maggie.

  “Well, the reason we’re telling you now is that we would like you two to go with us.”

  Christopher blew out a breath. “That’s three businesses in town that would have to close up.”

  “Not necessarily.” Harvey exchanged looks with Maggie. “Since we’re giving you this much notice, we figured you could hire someone on. It would only be a week or so. Maggie has the restaurant covered, and I’m sure Mac would take over the rink for the week. We can find someone to help with the bakery, even if we call in Esther.”

  “I suppose that would work.” Malory felt an uncomfortable twitch in her stomach. Calling Esther back wasn’t her idea of moving forward with the business.

  “Well, since the two of you have been part of this since the beginning, we figured you should be there for it all,” Harvey continued.

  Malory and Christopher exchanged glances.

  “Dad, what are you talking about?”

  Harvey smiled sweetly at Maggie, who touched his face.

  “Whether you know it or not, Harvey and I have been together since the pair of you were about ten.”

  “Mom!” Christopher straightened. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. We just felt it was better to keep it to ourselves. Besides, when the two of you became an item and had your falling–out, we thought neither of you would take it too well. So, now we’ve decided.” She exchanged another glance with Harvey, who smiled and nodded. “It’s time to get married, and we plan to do that in February in Hawaii.”

  Malory’s and Christopher’s mouths gaped.

  “Wow. Wow,” Malory repeated. “I’m so happy for you both.” She reached across the booth and took hold of both their hands. “I . . . I can’t believe it.”

  “Are you happy for us?” Maggie lifted her brows and bit down on her bottom lip.

  “Maggie, I’ve never been happier.”

  “Good. Now that the two of you are here, and you’re together”—she watched them for a confirming nod, which Christopher gave her—“I think we should be a family again. Just as we were from the time we moved here.”

  “I think that sounds nice, Ma. I’m really happy for you both. Really I am.”

  It wasn’t long before Malory had to head back to her deliveries and Maggie had a delivery at the back door she needed to sign for, leaving Chris and Harvey staring at each other across the table.

  Christopher leaned back.

  “Any reason you decided to propose to my mother only three days before I was going to propose to Wil?”

  “You have that all wrong.” Harvey pressed his coffee mug between his hands. “I’m kinda slow when it comes to love and marriage. It made sense not to say anything to you both when you were younger. We did a lot of sneaking around when you were teenagers. Probably as much as you did. Then when you both moved away I decided it had been that long, why move on. Still, I guess I felt the same. It just seemed more natural not to openly acknowledge our relationship. But last night that all changed. Here I am mopping the floor and Maggie starts in on me about what we have and what she wants.” Harvey let out a shy laugh. “By the time she was done telling me what she wanted and needed, she’d asked me to marry her.”

  Christopher shook his head. That certainly sounded like his mother. He guessed she’d been patient long enough.

  Harvey took a long sip of his coffee.

  “If you’re worried that Wil will think that you’re just following suit, I wouldn’t fret about it. She knows it’s already on your mind.”

  Sure, she knew it was on his mind, but was it in hers? He’d seen the way she looked at LeBlanc at the bakery and he surely hadn’t been very good company as of late. How could he be when all he could think about was the game he’d planned to save the town, and the contest with Quincy LeBlanc that was sure to unfold?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Malory had the radio up loud as she mopped the floor of the bakery. She’d tried to occupy herself with the moment, but all she could think about was the news that her father was getting married.

  Her tears fell freely.

  She wasn’t sad, mad, or upset in any way, which made the tears a mystery to her. She was happier than she’d ever imagined she would be if her father remarried. And of course she couldn’t think of anyone she’d want him married to more than Maggie Douglas.

  The implication of that event slipped through the tears and laughter took over. By the time the door to the bakery opened her tears were because of the laughter that tightened her belly.

  “You look half crazy in here crying and laughing by yourself.” Christopher turned down the radio as she spun toward him.

  “Sorry.” She wiped her cheeks. “I didn’t even see you come in.” She let out a sigh and set her mop against the wall as Christopher walked to her and pulled her to him.

  “What’s amusing you?”

  Laughter rolled through her again. “The funniest thought hit me while I was sitting here thinking about my dad getting married to your mom. It occurred to me that you will be my stepbrother.”

  Laughter surfaced again, but she let it settle in her heart as she lifted her arms around Christopher’s neck. He rested his head against hers and just smiled.

  “Sounds like we’re being really naughty now, doesn’t it?”

  “Hmm, well maybe that changes things.”

  Christopher lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. “It better not change things.”

  Malory caressed his cheek. “The only thing that has changed is… I don’t hate you anymore.”

  “I guess that’s something.”

  “In fact”—she pressed her lips to his—“Mr. Douglas, I’m fairly sure I’m head over heels in love with you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her tighter. She smiled, her face buried in his hair. She loved him so much, her life would never be whole without him in it.

  The town closed down early to accommodate the pageant. After all, it was a long-time tradition. Once the winner was chosen the people of town—those who called it home and those who came to feel its magic—would convene in the streets. Choruses would sing on street corners, stands would sell hot chocolate, and Santa’s house would have a line around it even in the freezing cold. This was December 22 in Aspen Creek.

  Malory had missed the community the few years she hadn’t returned at Christmas. Though even in the fifteen years she’d been away, she’d been back most Christmases. Even Alan had enjoyed the festivities, and he wasn’t one for tradition. But walking down the street, among the tourists and her neighbors with Christopher’s hand in hers, she felt as though everything in the world was right.

  Christopher nudged her. “You’re thinking too hard again.”

  “Sorry.”

  “You’re not thinking about us being siblings again, are you?”

  Malory laughed. “No. That thought was terrifying enough the first time.”

  “You’re not dwelling on the fact that our parents have been sleeping together since we were of single-digit age.”

  “You are seriously ruining my evening.” She tugged his arm and wrapped herself closer to him as they walked. “I was thinking about how many times you and I have walked down this street during the Christmas season. How many times did my dad oversee that pageant? How many times did your mom send us on our way with five bucks in our hands to buy hot chocolate and leave her to selling slices of pie to tourists?”

  “Lots of memories here for us.” They watched as Madison Fitzgerald walked across the street still carrying her p
restigious trophy from the pageant. “Do you still have all of those? All your trophies.”

  “They’re in a box in my closet.”

  “The closet at your dad’s house?”

  “Um, no. In my closet on my side of the wall.” She tucked in her smile when he slid a stare her way. “Yes, they moved to California with me and were prominently displayed in our den.”

  “Well then, I suppose when you move to my side of the wall, I’ll have to find you some space to display them.”

  Malory stopped walking and Christopher turned to her. “I’m glad I left home and got married.”

  Christopher shifted his stance and Malory could see he was reacting too quickly to what she was trying to convey. She ran her fingers through his hair and settled her hand on his cheek.

  “I’m glad I found out what living day to day felt like, never planning for the future or what could be. I’m glad I made mistakes I can’t take back, because it all led me here. It led me home to start over, and the bonus of it all was here you were when I got here, starting over.”

  He let out a breath that carried on the frozen air. “I wasn’t sure that was going in my favor.”

  Malory moved in even closer. “I think some of my marital problems stemmed from the fact it was always in your favor.”

  The air stirred around them. The bitter cold from the lake froze the air around them, but Malory wouldn’t have noticed. She was burning from the inside. Lust, passion—love. It was a fiery mix and her blood ran hot and furiously through her body.

  Christopher lowered his head to hers and slid his lips softly over hers.

  “Things haven’t even started in town tonight, and all I can think of is going home.”

  “Hmm.” She let the moan escape her throat as Christopher brought his hand into her hair. “Well, we can have a clear conscience. We’ve seen pageant night many times. Would anyone miss us really?”

  “You’re right. A warm fire and a warm woman in my arms sound better.”

  “Good, because by the time we make it back to our cars, we’ll be frozen.”

  He rested his head against hers. Thoughts of the evening that lay ahead zipped through her mind. Making love to Christopher would never grow old. Waking to him lying next to her every morning made all the years of hurting melt away.

  She smiled to herself as they walked back toward the bakery to get her car. It had been the truth. Neither Alan nor the man she’d had an affair with lit a spark in her the way Christopher did. They never had. He’d been what she was searching for all her adult life, and she’d been the one to walk away from him, never forgiving him for having been a horse’s ass.

  Everyone was allowed to make mistakes. Some people made those mistakes at seventeen; some waited until they were in their thirties and had more to lose. She and Christopher had made mistakes and they had hurt each other. And how dumb was that? They had hurt one another so much, and really all they ever wanted was to always be together.

  Yet she wouldn’t have been the same person if she’d stayed in Aspen Creek or if she had been the wife of a professional hockey player. And he wouldn’t have played with the heart he did if he’d had anything at home to lose. It had hurt like the devil, but it had worked out in the end. After all, he’d asked her once to marry him, though she was stupid enough to say no. And he’d asked her to move to his side of the wall.

  But she knew now that living with him wasn’t going to be enough. She wanted the whole package. Marriage, a house of their own, and the one thing she’d stopped wanting with Alan. She wanted children. And she wanted them with Christopher.

  They were out of breath by the time they made it to the bakery and to her car.

  “You can just drive me into town tomorrow.” He wrapped her into his arms and kissed her gently. “It’ll keep me from stressing out if you have to be there with me the whole time.”

  She smiled. She was so in love with him that even standing enveloped in his arms, she wasn’t close enough to him. “You’re going to do great tomorrow. Everything is going to be great.”

  “I love your optimism.” He let go of her and walked around to the passenger side of the Jeep. “But once it’s over, we have a lot to discuss.”

  Christopher climbed into the Jeep and Malory stood still in the cold. Lots to discuss. Could that be his way of saying he had something to ask her? Did he dare to try it again? Oh, she hoped so.

  She’d give him until midnight on Christmas Eve to ask her to marry him before she would resort to asking him herself, just as Maggie had done to her father.

  It was only six in the morning and he was wide awake and pacing the house. The main hockey game wasn’t for twelve more hours, and there were only three smaller games earlier in the day. He’d have to be at the rink by noon for all the press and interviews, but in the silence of the morning he fought against the nervous energy that pulsed through him.

  Wil slept soundly as he watched her from the doorway, a cup of coffee already in his hands. She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

  She’d always been beautiful, even when he didn’t care that she was. Now, asleep in his bed, her dark hair fanned out over his pillow and the silky smoothness of her shoulder peeking out from beneath the cover, she looked at peace.

  He had packed the ring in his bag to take to the rink later so she wouldn’t see it. Harvey and his mom would make sure he had it when he needed it.

  His mom had helped him pick it out in town. It was simple, perhaps bordering on plain, but Wil didn’t need fancy. The proof in that was her truck. He smiled to himself. But he’d buy her the biggest and best ring he could find if she decided the one he’d picked wasn’t just right.

  He paced the house a few more times, wishing he’d gone back to the rink to get his truck. There had to be something he could be in town doing. Instead he walked to the couch, sat down, and sank into the cushions.

  He heard the shuffling of bare feet on the wood and looked up from his comfortable position on the couch, feet on the coffee table, to see Wil wrapped in his sheet. Her eyes were sleepy, her features soft, her hair a tangled cascade of the previous night’s curls falling around her shoulders.

  His heart slammed and his breath hitched. Oh, could she get any more beautiful? “Did I wake you?”

  “I got cold. You weren’t there cuddled against me.”

  “Come here.” He raised his arms, and she settled in next to him on the couch. “I can keep you warm here.”

  “Why are you up?”

  “I’m just thinking about tonight.” He brushed his hand over her hair. “Harvey said we’ve cleared the taxes on the building for the next two years with what we sold in tickets. Not to mention the amount that was dropped in the community for the past week. Mom did two weeks’ worth of business the other night when the guys bused tables. It’s been good so far, and we haven’t even gotten to the main event, but I don’t know if I could do it again.”

  She snuggled up even closer to him, letting the sheet fall a bit. “If it would help, I could drive you down now. Dad used to get that way before the pageant. I know how you ice boys are.”

  Christopher ran a finger down her throat and traced her collarbone. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer later. But right now I’m really feeling the need to go back to bed.”

  Malory gave a shrug and stood back up. The sheet fell to the floor.

  “Oops,” she said, covering her mouth with her hand and leaving everything else bare for his admiration.

  Christopher stood and scooped her off her feet. “Oops,” he repeated and carried her back to bed.

  Malory held good to her word and took him back into town so that he could mill around the rink and relax himself. Though she wasn’t sure he could relax; she’d never seen him so nervous in all her life. Christopher was usually cocky and full of himself. She hadn’t known he could be nervous. It wasn’t a feeling she enjoyed. If she could, she’d take off with him and they would just drive.

  “I’m going to g
o down the bakery and get the baked items for the concession stand. Can I get you anything while I’m out?”

  Christopher pulled his fingers thorough his hair and shook his head. “A time machine to take me to tomorrow. I think I know for a fact things will be better tomorrow.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” She nipped his nose with a kiss and headed toward the bakery.

  Malory kept the lights off in the bakery, since it was closed on Sundays. She collected the boxes of cookies she’d set aside and the muffins and breads she’d made. The bell over the door rang.

  “I’m closed,” she hollered.

  “I’m not looking to buy anything.”

  The accent straightened her spine. She walked to the front of the bakery to find Quincy LeBlanc in a pair of jeans and a Detroit jersey.

  Malory sucked in a breath. “What can I do for you, Mr. LeBlanc?”

  “Run away with me to the Bahamas.”

  Her eyes flew open. He had some nerve to come back to the bakery.

  He walked closer to her. “Chéri, don’t you want to spend Christmas on a nice warm beach?”

  “Mr. LeBlanc, you should leave.”

  “Oh, I will.” He stepped closer to her until he stood only a breath away. “I would love to have you leave with me, eh?” He trailed his finger down her throat, but she stood solid. She wasn’t going to let him scare her.

  “I can assure you I wouldn’t leave with you.”

  “No, I do not suppose you would.” He ran his hand over her hair. “You are foolish to think you change him. At least you know what you get with me. I show you a good time, you know?”

  Malory felt the vile warmth of hate rush through her veins.

  He touched her cheek. “Well then, beautiful, run away with me. We make love on the beach before sunset.” He pressed his body close to hers, and this time she jerked back. “You got a head about you. You said no to his proposal, no?”