Suddenly Dawson caught a citrusy scent as Mikala came up beside him. She leaned close so he could hear her above the music. “Your worry is showing. We’re all going to have fun today,” she said with enthusiasm that seemed sincere.
“From your mouth to my son’s heart. Let’s get those skates. I’m ready for a workout.” If he concentrated on balance and skating and staying upright, maybe he and Luke could both put aside their angst for an afternoon.
A half hour later, Luke was skating on his own around and around the outskirts of the rink. Dawson had been doing the same at a faster pace. When he stopped, he spotted a game room on the other side of the rental desk with a Plexiglas window. Peering in, he spied a pool table, a Ping Pong table and a couple of video games.
His thoughts shifted back to his son. Wasn’t that another kid racing with him? Maybe he really would make friends here.
When Dawson glanced around for Mikala, he was surprised to see her bending over, holding a little girl’s hands. The child looked to be about Abby’s age. Mikala was helping her keep her feet under her, skating backward herself, pulling the little girl along.
As he skated over to them, he asked, “Who’s this?”
“This is Riley O’Rourke’s niece, Colleen. She’s five and not too steady on her own. Riley asked me if I could keep an eye on her while he took her brother to the men’s room.”
“Does Riley come here often?”
“With his nieces and nephews. He says he can only handle two at a time, but that’s not true. When the town had a barbecue in the park last summer, he had them all around him. They think he’s the Pied Piper.”
“Is he still the bad boy in town?”
“Not so much. Since he returned to Miners Bluff, I think he leads a quiet life. Did you know he was in the Marines?”
“Really? I can’t believe it.”
“The year after graduation, he got into some trouble. From what I understand, he had a decent judge who gave him the direction his father couldn’t and told him to talk to a recruiter. He did, and he’s like a completely different person these days.”
“Riley O’Rourke, a Marine. There’s something I never thought I’d hear.”
A moment later Riley was there, his nephew beside him. His niece carefully let go of Mikala’s hands, one at a time, and took hold of her uncle’s, gazing up at him adoringly.
Riley looked down at her, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement, his black wavy hair tousled.
Dawson remembered Riley and some of the trouble he’d gotten into—stealing another team’s mascot, hiking out into the wilderness to binge-drink with friends…a rough crowd, not the same kids Dawson ran around with. It had taken guts for him to enter the Marines, and Dawson wondered what kind of man he was now.
Riley grinned and shook Dawson’s hand. “Hi, Dawson. We didn’t get to talk at the reunion. I hear you’re back in town for good?”
“We’ll see.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m still in a settling-in mode, too.”
“You’re Clay Sullivan’s partner now?”
“Yep. And enjoying the work.”
“Your family must be glad you’re back in Miners Bluff.”
“Oh, they’re glad all right. So I can be a babysitter. That’s what I’m doing today,” he said with a chuckle.
“Doesn’t look like you mind too much.”
“Taking care of them is a cinch after— Let’s just say it’s easier than what I was doing in the Marines.” He grinned as his niece tugged at his arm. “I’d better take them over to the snack bar. It was good to see you again. I’m sure we’ll be running into each other around town.”
Then Riley was skating away, his niece holding on tightly, as if she trusted him to take her anywhere.
“He’s good with kids,” Mikala said. “It just comes naturally to some people, I guess.”
“I found it was a learned skill,” Dawson admitted. “But then I was an only child. Riley had brothers and a sister. He helped with them when he was growing up.”
Even though they were standing on ice and cold seemed to imbue the whole room, he didn’t feel cold standing by Mikala. He had to wonder if she was experiencing the same sensation…the heat that seemed to invade a room when they were together. Only one way to find out.
“Skate with me,” he said, and it was more of a command than a request.
Her eyelashes fluttered and he knew that she was flustered by his invitation. Since he didn’t want her thinking about it too long, he slipped his arm around her waist and caught her hand.
She looked up at him with that dark brown gaze that asked so many questions. He didn’t have any answers. The only thing he knew was that holding her in his arms was a pleasure, and the idea of kissing her again kept him awake at night. Now, his arm around her, their bodies somewhat nestled together, their gazes held and locked.
“On three,” he said, not giving her a chance to back out.
They began gliding together, tentatively at first, then with more confidence.
There’d been a rink in nearby Flagstaff when he was a kid and his parents had signed him up for lessons there on Saturdays. His dad had usually driven him and they’d talked sports and anything else that had entered their heads. Those times with his father had made his parents’ cold tension more bearable. Dawson hadn’t much cared for the actual lessons, but he’d enjoyed the group skate and had dated some of the girls he met at the rink. He’d dated a lot of girls. He thought about the months he’d dated Kelly. When she’d gotten pregnant and he’d proposed, he’d dreamed of a home and family and a real marriage like his parents hadn’t had.
But when he’d been with Kelly, he’d never felt the easy familiarity he experienced with Mikala. He’d never felt as disconcerted by the sexual electricity, the desire to kiss her and pull her into his embrace—and never let her go.
Mikala’s hand gripped his tighter and he realized if he didn’t keep his mind on what he was doing, they’d end up on their butts on the ice.
As they passed other skaters, Mikala seemed determined not to lean into him. If she did, his chin would brush the top of her head. Again thoughts of their kiss and how perfectly she’d fit against him came to mind. His imagination ran wild with the other ways they would fit together perfectly if they were naked.
No. Shouldn’t happen.
As he held her left hand in his right, he could feel her arm loosely surrounding his waist. Her hair, thick and glossy, brushed his chest. Her citrusy scent teased his senses and he felt a surge of arousal that was damn near impossible to will away.
As they moved, a breeze rushed by them, ruffling her hair and pushing it against his cheek. He practically groaned. He could feel Mikala’s hand against his jacket and he suddenly realized how much he’d missed touching and being touched.
Mikala is just a friend, he warned himself. But as one song segued into the next, he held her just a little tighter. To his relief she seemed to relax more.
Dawson bent his head and spoke into her ear. “We do this well together.”
Mikala turned toward him, her lips not far from his. “Skating with you is as easy as dancing.”
He wouldn’t call it easy. He’d call it something quite different from that. Her breath hitched a little and he was satisfied to see she was affected by their closeness, too.
Close and enjoying it. That had to be enough.
Watching where they were going, he reinforced his resolve to put Luke first. After all, he’d failed as a dad for years. As Mikala had suggested, he’d made the choice to put work first on too many occasions. Maybe if he hadn’t, Luke would be able to trust him enough to confide in him now. Well, he wouldn’t fail again. He would put his son first.
Besides, Dawson wasn’t looking for a serious relationship—and he wasn’t sure he real
ly wanted to get married again. He just wanted to deal with his life the way it was and be a better father to Luke.
Having Mikala in his arms just for a skate wasn’t a temptation he should invite in. Yet it was damn hard to let her go. He slowed their pace and guided her toward the side of the rink. “I’d better check on Luke.”
As she slipped from his hold, he felt an emptiness he couldn’t deny. Their gazes held for a few moments and then she looked away, spotting Luke, who was still on his skates standing over by one of the long windows. He was gazing up at Moonshadow Mountain, its snowcapped peak purple in the dusky light.
“Let me talk to him,” Mikala offered. “Maybe I can find out what he’s thinking.”
Dawson figured that was probably the better way to go for the moment. And later, in the privacy of their suite, maybe he and his son could begin to communicate again.
* * *
As Mikala skated toward Luke, she watched Dawson glide toward Riley. He could fit in here again if he wanted to. Hopefully, Luke could too.
As she stopped beside the boy, she didn’t try to start a conversation right away. She gazed up at the mountain with him. “It’s something to see, isn’t it?” she commented after standing there for a while. “I think you’d enjoy hiking up there. Your dad did that a lot with his friends. Hopefully you’ll get to meet Clay Sullivan and Zack Decker soon.”
Luke just frowned. “I don’t know anybody here.”
“But you will, especially after you start school.”
His scowl became even deeper. “I miss Granddad.”
“Did you spend a lot of time with him?”
“On weekends. I wish he was here.”
“Maybe he’ll come for a visit. And maybe, after you’re settled in, your dad will take you to visit him.”
“He won’t. He doesn’t want to go back to Phoenix.”
“He wants what’s best for you.”
Luke didn’t respond to that and she watched as he blinked fast to keep emotion at bay, emotion he didn’t want anyone to see.
Just like his father.
* * *
When Dawson entered the kitchen at the B and B with Mikala and Luke, he was surprised to see Anna sitting with Zack’s dad at the kitchen table. Silas Decker was one of the richest men in the state. He’d built up his horse-breeding ranch, the Rocky D, to be nationally renowned. He’d lost weight since his heart attack in the fall. His hair had thinned into a gray halo, and his black mustache was streaked with gray, too. But he looked healthy.
“How was ice skating?” Anna asked the group of them, but focused mostly on Luke.
“It was okay,” Luke said.
Anna introduced Silas to Luke as if he were a grownup rather than a ten-year-old. Luke nodded to the older man and started to cross to the counter and the cookie jar.
Silas said, “Your daddy used to ride at my ranch with my son. Darn good rider, too. You ride?”
Luke shook his head. After a moment’s hesitancy, he asked, “So my dad was good?”
“Could hold his own. He and his friends rode to Horsethief Canyon and camped there.”
Interest shone on Luke’s face. “It’s a real canyon?”
“Yep. Has a couple of levels and a great floor for setting up a tent. Maybe in the spring you and your dad would like to go there.”
“I’ve never been camping,” Luke admitted, glancing at Dawson.
“There’s no reason we can’t go,” Dawson assured him, liking Luke’s interest in the idea.
“My friend Jenny gives riding lessons at the Rocky D. I’m sure she’d take you on if you want to try it,” Mikala suggested.
“I’ll think about it,” Luke said, as if he might. Then to Dawson he asked, “Can I be excused?”
“Sure.”
After taking another biscotti from the jar, Luke left to go up to their rooms.
“Fine boy,” Silas said. “Looks like you.”
“He’s got his mother’s smile,” Dawson said in a quiet voice. He missed Kelly even though their marriage hadn’t been perfect, even though growing apart had been painful.
“I’m sorry about your wife,” Silas said. “I know what that feels like—to have someone you love suddenly taken away.”
Dawson guessed there was a long story there, and he only knew parts of it. One thing he was certain of—Zack hadn’t come home for eight long years after his mother’s funeral because he’d blamed his dad for her death. But now the two of them seemed to be at peace, and Dawson was glad for them. Their reconciliation made him hopeful that his relationship with Luke could heal.
“It’s a harsh deal for Luke to handle and he’s having trouble with it,” Dawson responded. “But Mikala is working with him and helping already.”
“I haven’t done anything,” she protested.
Dawson knew better than that. “You’ve done more than you know. Do you think I would have been able to convince him to go ice skating with me today? And when he finally hooked up with those other boys in the game room, he actually seemed to be enjoying himself.”
“That wasn’t my doing, Dawson. Luke’s finding new things to interest him. I can’t take credit for that.”
Silas rose from his chair. “I think you’re all thinking too much. I learned from Zack, you can’t force change. Luke will find his way. You’ll see. Could be a rough and rocky road, but that’s life.”
Anna stood with Silas now, looking up at him as if he were someone very special in her life. “I’m going with Silas to the Rocky D. We’re watching old movies tonight—Casablanca, Camelot, maybe even the original Pink Panther.”
“Zack tells me you have a home theater now,” Dawson remarked.
“I do. I got it built and set up for Zack’s first big movie. He uses it now when he’s working and wants to screen rough cuts of his project. You coming over soon?”
“After we get settled in,” Dawson promised. “I know Zack just got back from his honeymoon and I don’t want to intrude.”
“I’m sure he and Jenny would love to see you. We have a rescue horse that they’re gentling. Luke might be interested in the process.”
“Some weekend when the weather holds. We’ll come over and take a look around.”
“Luke could pick out a horse he thinks suits him. We’ve got some great trailblazers.”
After Mikala’s aunt and Silas left, Dawson asked, “How long have they been dating?”
With her smile, Mikala easily told him she was happy about the idea. “Since Thanksgiving. Jenny asked us over for dinner and we had a great time. My aunt and Silas didn’t stop talking. He was still weak then after his heart attack, but seemed to perk up with Aunt Anna there. They went to high school together.”
“Then I guess life intervened.”
“Yep, sure did. Silas was hell-bent on building up the ranch, getting it back into good financial footing, and then he met Olivia. But now he and Anna are friends again, maybe more.”
“Maybe more.” He was beginning to realize he and Mikala had always been more than friends. His gaze found hers and held. A charged atmosphere filled the kitchen. “Common history is good foundation to build on.”
The pulse at Mikala’s neck fluttered and his own heart rate sped up. “You mean like Jenny and Zack built on theirs?”
“And Clay and Celeste.”
Breaking eye contact and the magnetic pull between them, Mikala went over to the counter. “Can I get you a snack?”
“Mikala, you don’t have to get me anything.”
They studied each other again…almost warily. Then she said, “I know I don’t have to, but you’ve only been here a day, so you still feel like company.”
In spite of good intentions to keep his distance from her, he went over to the counter and stood face-t
o-face. “I’m not a guest. Luke and I will change our own sheets and keep our rooms straightened up.”
“I usually do the cleaning,” Mikala responded with amusement in her voice. “Do you want to run the vacuum, too?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I can’t give a vacuum a good spin around a room?”
The smile she gave him this time was wry. “I think it’s probably on the bottom of your to-do list.”
He gave in to her desire to take care of everyone. Her aunt must have handed down the trait. Or else Mikala had decided caring for others was a way to garner approval and respect. “All right. I can see you think it’s part of your job. But you have so many jobs, who can keep track?”
He pulled a glass from the cupboard and went to the refrigerator for chocolate milk. Nostalgia? Maybe.
Meanwhile Mikala went to a deacon’s bench sitting beside the kitchen door and pulled out a pair of slippers from the inside compartment. Her leather boots came almost to her knees and he imagined they were too warm for indoor wear.
They made her legs look great, though.
He walked over to her. “Need some help?”
She looked flustered. “Oh, I can do it.”
“I’m sure you can.”
Their eyes met and in that instant, he saw her need for independence battling with another, more elusive emotion. But this time, she smiled up at him. “But I’ll let you be chivalrous again,” she joked.
He laughed and got down on one knee before her and took hold of the heel of her boot. Then he yanked gently but firmly, pulling it off. She held on to the top of her long sock, decorated with music notes in various colors. They made him smile.
“What?” she asked.
“So many things about you are a surprise.”
“It’s surprising that I don’t like dull socks?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “Lots of women do.”
“I’m not lots of women.”
That stopped their conversation cold. The air in the kitchen seemed to crackle with the tension between them. There were sparks there that they’d never acted on in high school.
Now, however, they were trying to deny them, trying to act as if they were still just friends. They weren’t doing a very good job of it. He took hold of her other boot and pulled, then he set both of them on the floor beside her. She really did look like a teenager in her leggings and colorful socks, with her hair tousled from skating and her cheeks still flushed from the cold.
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