Something Old (6 page)

“Her parents are always harping on stewardship. And it’s rubbed off on me, too. It makes good sense to take care of your stuff.” He beamed, and she relaxed her shoulders. “All I mean, is I understand. I like things sparkly, too. I clean houses, remember? I just never carried it over to my car in the winter.” She troubled her lip. “Maybe I should.”

“Maybe I should do it for you.”

She glanced over. It was a generous, flirtatious offer. “Ah. I don’t think so.” She snuck another sideways glance. But was this guy her clone or what?

He shrugged and concentrated on the narrow gravel road lined by low snowbanks and ditches. But the simple offer hung in the air. David Miller had ingratiated himself in only five minutes. She liked him.

He pushed a button and classical music flowed through the car’s speakers.

“Can I use your mirror?” she asked.

“Sure.”

She lowered the visor and pulled a soft beanie out of her pocket. Staring into a gleaming mirror, she placed it over her covering and pulled it snug over her ears. When she finished, she flipped up the visor and glanced sideways.

He grinned. “And a matching hat. Even more stunning.”

“I figured I’d ease you into it, you know, so I didn’t knock you off your feet or something.”

“You practically ran us into the ditch. Took my brute strength just to keep us on the road.”

Lowering an embarrassed gaze to the floorboards, Katy noticed her skates. “You’re pretty good on the ice, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

Katy sank back against the seat, listening to the music, enjoying the thrill of masculine attention that purred along her spine.

Ten minutes later, David turned into the lane next to the Stuckys’ mailbox and drove to the back of the property. Several cars were already parked there. He helped her out, and they trudged over the frozen clods of a dormant cornfield toward a patch of box elders that banked the Big Darby Creek. Lil wasn’t among the dozen other young adults already milling down by the ice, and Katy remembered Megan was home sick.

He pointed out a fallen log where the surrounding ground was littered with boots and shoes. “Shall we put on our skates?”

“Sure.” Katy dropped to the log, trying to hide the excitement that washed over her. She bent over her gray wool culottes and removed her quilted boots, quickly slipping her black stocking-clad feet into white skates. As she laced, she glanced at David, who was already finished. His elbows propped on his knees, he was watching the skaters. The rink was a wide patch of ice about 150 feet in length, most likely cleared by the Stuckys’ red snow thrower that now sat parked against the far bank.

“Ready?” she asked.

In response, his masculine grip warmed her hand through their gloves. At the bank, he glided backward and dug his toe pick into the ice, then skated forward. With surprise, Katy allowed him to clasp her by the waist and lift her down onto the ice.

“Easy. There you go.”

At first they stroked forward, hand in hand, and after one circle of the rink, he pulled her into a Kilian position. The back of her left shoulder pressed against the front of his navy jacket, and his hand rested at her waist. She didn’t feel uneasy at the intimacy of his touch because skating was one of the permitted group dating activities that allowed such familiarities. Several other couples skated in the group of teens and young adults.

Their skates cut the ice sending sprays of white shavings. The bumpy, air-pocketed river ice didn’t hinder their skating; it was all Katy knew. But relying on David’s superior skill, she quickly relaxed, their skates crossing in sync and bodies leaning and drawing across the ice as one, even when they dodged in and around other skaters.

When they’d tired of that, he drew her to the middle where a few skaters practiced spins. He twirled her, steadying her when she lost balance. Once she sailed into him, practically knocking his breath away. They laughed, visible puffs of air separating their faces. When she looked up, she saw Lil ahead on the bank, frowning at them. “Oh look, David. It’s Lil.” Katy waved. “Can we go talk to her?”

Whispering against her soft hat, he replied, “You can call me Dave.”

The suggestive tone of his voice sent a startled warning. No, she wouldn’t be doing that or anything else to lead him on unnecessarily. He drew her close again, and she felt a bit self-conscious as they glided toward the bank where some of their friends conversed around a big bonfire.

With ease, David jumped to the low bank and pulled her up with him. Then they tiptoed to the fire. “Hi, Lil.” Katy beamed. Lil’s hands were stuffed in her coat pockets.

“I’ll get us some hot chocolate. Want some, Lil?” David offered.

“Sure.”

“What’s wrong?” Katy demanded. “You’re looking at me like I have broccoli stuck in my teeth or something.”

“You usually do.” Lil chuckled. “Looks like you’re having a ball.”

“Why not? He’s a good skater. Want him to take you a couple spins?”

“Don’t you dare pawn off your date on me,” Lil snapped.

Katy felt her face heat when David stepped up behind them with steaming drinks in Styrofoam cups. Had he overheard Lil’s remark?

Lil thanked him and took one of the cups. “Good thing Megan’s not here to see these.”

David shrugged a brow. “Because?”

Katy explained. “These are not easily recyclable.”

“Oh. Usually we use the thick paper cups, don’t we?”

Katy frowned at Lil before she sipped the warm chocolate. “Anyway. This is good.”

As they finished drinking and mingled with the rest of the group, Katy felt self-conscious over the curious glances she and David provoked. At least he hadn’t hovered or marked his territory. Instead, he’d been considerate and chummed with some of his friends, giving her a chance to visit with Lil. When he asked if she was ready to skate again, Lil waved her away.

When they returned to the ice, he asked, “What’s up with Lil?”

“I’m not sure.” Katy glanced back at her friend and saw her tapping away at the buttons of her cell phone. Must be preoccupied over her new toy—the elder board had been divided over the issue of allowing its use. With disgust, Katy asked, “You have a cell phone?”

“Yep. Why?”

She shrugged and was saved from getting into a debate when her blade hit a root protrusion. She tripped and David caught her. But the minor incident left them skating face-to-face, with David skating backward.

“Here, put your palms flat against mine,” he urged. Then she forgot all about Lil. He even taught her to skate backward, and Katy felt more happy and carefree than she had in months. Within another half an hour, however, her ankles grew tired and her toes frigid. She glanced toward the bonfire, and David was instantly perceptive of her need. “Ready to go in?”

“I am.” She scanned the bank for Lil and found her talking to some tall, well-built guy who sent an odd flutter through her stomach. A warning flashed through her mind, and she looked closer. Her stomach clenched. Jake Byler? How on earth—at that instant, her world spun. Her skates tangled, too. David tripped and skidded on the knees of his jeans, pulling her down on top of him. With a grunt, her breath was forced from her lungs, and her elbow slammed the ice. When finally they quit sliding, she rolled over on her side with a groan.

She felt David scrambling out from beneath her, then leaning over her, his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She tugged at her culottes, but only wanted to curl in a ball and escape the humiliation, escape Jake.

She stared into David’s concerned hazel eyes. He apologized, “I don’t know what happened.”

She did. She also knew she needed to get up before they drew even more attention than they already had. She saw his mouth quirk. “This isn’t funny,” she warned. “You get up first.” Surely his knees were bruised, if not cracked.

With a grimace and some clumsy movements, he was soon standing on his blades. Then he grabbed her under the arms and pulled her to her feet. All his concern was directed at her, and he even brushed awkwardly at her snowy coat.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, rubbing an aching elbow.

“Guess we should have quit sooner.” He draped a supportive arm around her waist, and they skated toward the bank.

Feeling guilty for snapping at him, she admitted, “It was my fault. I tripped you.” She drew in a quick breath. “Is he still over there talking to Lil?” As David glanced over his shoulder, she felt his body tense.

“So
he’s
what happened.”

“Sorry.”

“So you want to talk to them? Or shall we slink off to the car in our humiliation?”

“Definitely slink.”

“Sit down then, and let me help you with your skates.” She lowered herself to the log. With another grimace, David went down on his knees.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “You’re in pain. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine. Now smile. Pretend to have fun.” He winked. “That’ll get him.”

She removed her hand. “I was having fun. Now I know why Lil was acting all weird on us. But until he ruined everything, I was having a blast.”

David grinned and squeezed her hand. “Me, too, Katy.”

A few minutes before the spill, Lil had explained to Jake Byler, “She doesn’t really like him, but David’s crazy about her.”

Burning with jealousy, Jake Byler glanced down at his cousin, then back out at the ice where David maneuvered Katy around like some ballerina. Her slim form and fine-boned features gave her a fragile appearance, but Jake knew from experience a man couldn’t force her to do anything, unless she allowed it. And it hurt to see the way she moved in sync with David. “Since when?”

“I didn’t notice until he asked her out. Now it’s obvious.”

The Miller guy was younger than Jake, and they’d never been close. They’d played some basketball and hockey together. David’s brothers were older than Jake so he’d never hung out with them, either. He didn’t know what made the guy tick. Except for Katy, that is. And why wouldn’t she?

She’d captured his own attention long before he’d acquired any skills to fend off female charms. Katy was younger than Jake, too, but at recess he let her cut in line just because he was intrigued with her bouncy ponytail. After he’d touched it, she’d reeled him in with her black flashing eyes.

Jake had always loved to watch her hands dance when she talked, admiring her tiny wrists and long feminine fingers. But her greatest asset was her face. There was an intensity in her dark eyes that could move mountains. They were deep, dark, and expressive. Her nose was thin and long, merely a gentle slope that drew the eye down to her best feature, those full, sulky lips. The combination of lethal eyes and pursed lips stopped a guy in his tracks. A man instantly sensed the stubborn spirit behind the face. Lesser men shrank back. She wielded her feminine weapons without chagrin, swathing her path through life, unawares that most people did not have such natural charms at their command. She had a hauteur about her that warned others she wasn’t used to losing. She probably didn’t realize that she could get her way without uttering a word.

As if reading his mind, she turned her brown gaze toward him. Her eyes were naturally so dark that they almost smoldered, causing a man to want to read something sexual in them, when really they were unfathomable. But it caused Jake to feel jealous now that it was David’s arms around her.

His stomach clenched when recognition hit her expression and that smoldering gaze riveted upon him. His gaze pleaded with hers. But she denied him. Her eyes glittered, and her expression darkened with repulsion. Her entire body reacted. She actually stopped skating.

David toppled forward, and Jake watched helpless as the couple wiped out on the ice, Katy tumbling on top of David.

Jake lunged forward, but Lil caught him by his coat sleeve.

She grimaced. “Ouch. That had to hurt. You see how both his knees smacked the ice? At least he cushioned Katy’s fall.”

His jealousy reared again as David untangled himself from Katy and hovered over her. “You sure this is their first date? They seem mighty cozy.”

Lil waved a glove through the air. “It’s the skating. He’s had his hands all over her. That’s why I called you. So what are you going to do?”

He knew now this group setting had been a mistake for his first encounter with Katy. He should have waited and gone with their original plan. Lil’s plan. She’d hired him to modernize the doddy house. He’d be there when Katy came over. He would apologize in privacy. Beg, if he had to, for her forgiveness.

“Well?”

“I can’t go rescue her. I didn’t bring any skates. But it looks like they’re coming in off the ice.” He glared at David. “I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

She put an elbow in his gut. “You deserve it, chump.”

“Hmph.” He glanced away from the irritating scene where David was now unlacing her skates. Lil had one glove on her hip, looking miffed. She never should have told him all those years ago that Katy meant to marry him. Maybe it wouldn’t have made him so confident she’d always be there. Maybe it wouldn’t have scared him away. But Lil had meant well. They’d always been close as if she were his sister. In fact, when the family got together, she hung out with him instead of his younger sister Erin. That’s probably how he noticed Katy. She and Lil and Megan had always been together.