Part 16 (1/2)
Chapter 17.
Ian clapped his hands and rubbed them together. ”Well, most things that matter cannot be bought. Merry?” He gestured toward the crate.
Excitement replaced her irritation. Meredith half ran to the tree, stooped beside the crate, and rose. ”We've saved the best for last. Here, Tucker.”
His jaw dropped as she pressed a new Bible into his hands. He cleared his throat, then cleared it again. Emotions flashed across his features. ”How?” he rasped.
She'd antic.i.p.ated his worrying about the cost and had a ready answer. ”Ian offered to have his mother shop for me. Things are economical in Oregon, and keeping the secret from you has been fun.”
Ian slapped Tucker on the back. ”A Bible-now you can't get a more essential gift than that.”
”And Ian gave you the chess pieces, so he upheld the Rafferty Christmas tradition- though I have to say, I think having you play chess is practical for me. You'll be too busy with the game to try juggling rocks. I'd rather spend time st.i.tching a sampler than dodging stones.”
Tucker held fast to the Bible and cracked a smile.
”While he pores over that,” Ian said, ”why don't you and I go skate?”
”You have skates?”
He smiled. ”My dad sent them to me. They're my impractical gift.”
Within minutes, Ian had set several lamps on the bridge. The bridge always floated just a few feet off the water. Meredith looked at the sight and smiled. ”It's hard to remember the bridge is frozen in place. The way the lanterns glow on it makes it look like a shooting star.”
”I'd not thought of it that way, but you're right. I noticed instead how they set everything to sparkling-especially your eyes.”
Meredith's heart skipped a beat. Could he be feeling more for me than just brotherly love?
He chuckled. ”Don't be so surprised, Merry. You're a comely la.s.s.” He started lacing on his skates. ”Fiona always complains 'tis hard to get her skates on tight enough once she's bundled in layers to skate. Braden or I help her. Would you care for some help?”
”Why, yes. Yes, please. Thank you.” Meredith couldn't figure him out. He'd complimented her and then compared her to his sister. What did that mean?
A few minutes later, he took her hand in his and helped her step onto the ice. ”Ready?”
”I'm not sure. How do I balance on these?”
He gave her an astonished look. ”Haven't you ever skated?”
Meredith shook her head.
”You'll do fine. You're always so graceful; it won't be hard at all. Wait here a second and watch my feet. You don't step. Simply glide one foot a little from the front to the side, then the other.”
He slid across the ice. ”One foot, then the other.”
”You make it look easy.”
”It is. Here. Hold on to my arm.”
Meredith scooted off the bridge and onto her feet. As Ian threaded her hand through the crook of his arm, her legs started to wobble and her feet started to slide. ”Oh no!”
”It's okay. I have you.”
She clung to him for dear life.
”See? You're doing fine. You're staying upright.”
But for how long? She didn't ask.
”Standing is hardest.”
”If I can't stand, how can I move? I-I...whoa!”
”Here.” He transferred her right hand into his right hand and wrapped his left arm about her waist. ”How's this?”
Wonderful. Just as quickly as that reply flashed through her mind, Meredith felt her left foot betray her. ”I'm like a newborn foal. All wobbly and awkward.”
”Not for long.”
”Ian?” She held to him in desperation. ”If I fall, you'll fall.”
”So what? I've fallen hundreds of times.”
She jerked away. ”That's hardly rea.s.sur-ah! Ah! Ohhh!” Her shriek echoed in the air as she tumbled.
Ian sat beside her on the ice. ”Not half as bad as you feared, was it?”
”Twice as bad,” she whispered.
”Are you hurt, honey?”
Honey. He called me ”honey.” Warmth rushed through her.
”Merry.” He tilted her face up toward his. ”Are you hurt?”
She blinked then ducked her head. ”No. Just embarra.s.sed.”
His finger tickled her cheek. ”It's only me. You don't have a thing to be embarra.s.sed over.” He stood and helped her up. ”It gets cold down there, doesn't it?”
She nodded and clamped both of her hands around his forearm. ”What if the ice isn't thick enough? I could fall and make us crash through.”
”A dab of a la.s.s like you?” His laughter rang in the nippy air. ”There's no danger of that. Come now.”
He made it look so simple. He skated backward and let her hang on to him. Knees and ankles locked, she allowed him to tow her out a ways.
”Merry, you're stiff from the middle clear down to your toes, but the top half of you is bobbing like a washerwoman at the scrub board. Shoulders back. A little more. Yes. Excellent!”
Eventually, she tried to glide her feet the way he did. She plunged down onto the ice and yanked him down along with her. ”I'm going to break your neck.”
”No, you won't.”