Kenzie took several deep breaths. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Matching Bryce’s movements as he skated backward, still holding her up, Kenzie began to skate. Her movements were sloppy at first, with shards of ice splashing behind her, but she didn’t fall, not with Bryce’s strong hands around her. Thus, she could take risks and maneuver with more ease, conscious that she wouldn’t smack her face on the dark ice below.
“It’s easy with someone holding you up,” Kenzie said. “Why don’t those Olympic athletes have someone grabbing their waist all the time, just in case?”
“It would be the smart thing to do. Frankly, they’re idiots,” Bryce said, laughing. “But I guess you’d have to be if you committed your entire life to ice skating.”
“It seems you have. That, and to being an all-around woodsman,” Kenzie said, taking larger glides, leaving a single skate on the ice and tracing her route with a clean line.
“Can you blame me?” Bryce asked, gesturing toward the woods around them. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”
After several more strides, Kenzie stopped, clinging to Bryce’s firm forearms and catching her breath. She blinked several times, growing accustomed to the chill of the air. The stars twinkled above, mirrored perfectly in the black glass below. The snow-topped trees sparkled, looking Christmassy despite it being February. Kenzie had celebrated Christmas with Austin, eating cinnamon rolls next to the tree. He’d given her a glittering necklace, and she wanted to wonder what he’d gotten Tori.
But no. She wouldn’t allow her mind to reroute into Austin territory. The full moon appeared from behind a cloud, illuminating the snow. Kenzie shook her head, almost imperceptibly.
“I suppose I wouldn’t have left this place, either,” she said. “It’s a wonderland.”
Bryce took her hand, giving her more freedom, and the pair skated a few times in a circle inside the snow barrier he’d created.
“I used to come near here as a kid,” Kenzie said, feeling nostalgic suddenly, perhaps because of the lateness of the hour and the wine dulling her head. “My parents took me, when they were happier, when they were still trying to build something.”
Bryce parted his lips, looking uncertain. “Did you hike? Ski?”
Kenzie nodded. “We did all that, yes. But there was this one particular part that sticks out in my memory. There was a giant corn maze, somewhere near the border. I was seven, maybe, and fearless. I would dash into the corn maze, yelling for my mom to time me. But always, when I got halfway through, I would get lost and frustrated. I would come up on one dead end after another, until I would start crying. Seriously, this happened every single time.”
Bryce didn’t speak for a moment.
“But inevitably, my dad would run in after me, find me in about five seconds, and scoop me up. I was such a brave kid, until everything got messy.” Kenzie laughed. “But after that, we would drink hot chocolate and walk through the woods. My parents would hold hands as I ran ahead of them. It was a time I couldn’t get back later. But I keep the memory.”
“It’s beautiful,” Bryce finally said, sounding tentative. Kenzie remembered that he hadn’t spoken much about his past. Perhaps she could egg him on, try to leech information out of him.
“Was the corn maze about thirty minutes from here?” he asked, his voice deep. He appeared thoughtful. “With a pumpkin patch, and that big green barn?”#p#分页标题#e#
“The green barn,” Kenzie said, incredulous. “Yes! Have you been there? Is it still running?”
“I’m not sure,” Bryce said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I went there when I was a kid as well.”
Finally, Bryce had revealed something from his life. Kenzie simmered with excitement, but she didn’t want to give herself away. “Oh?”
“Sure. We would do the corn maze and drink the same hot chocolate,” Bryce said. “I was probably around seven, just like you. We would explore the orchard, pick out a pumpkin, and then go to the neighboring town, at the base of these mountains.”
“Your parents must share your love of the outdoors,” Kenzie said. Beneath her, her skates faltered a bit, sending her head forward. Bryce reached out a hand, catching her before she smacked the ice below.
Bryce’s face grew wistful. “Going on those trips to the maze, and exploring the town, were some of the happiest times I had as a kid. They’re some of the memories I cherish most. Some of the only times when I felt I belonged.”