Come Rain or Shine (20 page)

She smacked his arm playfully and laughed.

“You have a pair of pants, Emmie?” Ava asked curiously. “What kind of pants and how does Silas know about them and I don’t?”

“It’s a long story. I made them to wear with Bo in the woods and it turned into this big deal. Silas has an odd affection for Ronnie’s old tailored denim pants,” she said, laughing.

“Yes, tightly tailored denim,” Silas added.

“Emma Rose, how scandalous,” Ava laughed. It was good to see her in such good spirits.

“I had no idea old work denim could be so scandalous, but apparently it is,” Emmie laughed.

Silas stopped as they passed through a wooded area. He turned again and pointed for the girls to look ahead. In the distance Emmie could make out about six small flames. The fires formed a large circle. She could barely hear the voices of the people gathered around them. She frowned and looked at Silas, but it was Ava who spoke first.

“He’s already there, right?” she called, walking faster. She was already several feet ahead of them.

“Yes. Gabe, Trick, Jemma, and a few of your friends should already be there,” Silas said.

Emmie turned to Silas. “We’re meeting everyone in a field in the middle of the night?”

“No, we are meeting them at an ice rink in the middle of the night.”

“And you think the Johnson barn parties are strange? At least it’s not freezing in the barn.” Emmie laughed and turned to follow Ava.

“Oh, don’t worry sweetheart, we’ve got ways to keep warm.” He reached his arm out and pulled her back into his chest.

Emmie felt his lips on her neck, leaving a soft wet trail of kisses. His warm breath traveled slowly from her neck to her ear. His arm tightened at her waist pulling her as close as their layers of clothing would allow. Silas spun her around. He watched the distance behind her for a moment; she turned to see what had captured his attention. Out of her peripheral vision she vaguely caught sight of Ava joining the others. How sweet that he had watched to see that she made it to them. She opened her mouth to tell him so but never got the chance. She felt the leather of Silas’s glove on her chin. He pulled her face back to face him. His grip was firm and strong. As his eyes bore into hers he walked her backward a little deeper into the woods, so they were out of eyesight from the others. Her heart pounded in her chest at the sight of him coming toward her. She stepped backward until she reached the heavy base of a large tree. She felt the bark scrape her back through her coat. His mouth met hers with a force she hadn’t felt from him in a long time. Maybe since that day in her kitchen when she’d worn the pants they discussed earlier. He kissed her until her lips were numb. His hands rooted in her hair and pulled her nearer to him. Silas pulled away only an inch or two and licked his lips. He ran a hand under her coat, touched the silky material of her dress and rubbed his hands gently along her ribs.

He swallowed hard. “How do they feel?”

Emmie had a hard time finding her voice. She only nodded to indicate she was nearly pain free.

“You promise me this doesn’t hurt,” he said, lifting her until her heels barely left the ground.

“I’m good,” were the only words she could form.

Silas licked his lips again then applied more pressure, lifting her a little higher. Even if it hurt, she would have never told him. Some things were worth the pain. He picked her up higher off the ground and balanced her against the tree. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her hand weaved through his dark hair. His kiss was so urgent, so eager. There was a fire in him tonight.

Two minutes, twenty minutes, two hundred minutes. She couldn’t say how long he’d kissed her. But when they separated it felt like too soon. She leaned in for one last kiss. He obliged and laughed.

“Are you all warmed up?” he asked with a devilish grin.

Emmie smoothed her hair down. She attempted to calm her rapidly beating heart and her trembling limbs before she said, “I think my insides have melted.”

Silas leaned his head back and laughed.

A quiet moment surrounded them again as Silas wrapped her in his arms. He leaned back and looked at her. She was surprised to see him look so serious when she pulled away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Emmie, do you like it here?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s a little cold but you’ve taken care of that,” she said, making an attempt at a joke. It came up a little short.

“No, I mean here. Near Ava’s family and mine. Here in Chicago,” he said.

“Yeah.” Emmie nodded, thinking aloud as she answered the question, “I like it. I mean it’s not home but it’s nice here.”

Silas’s face fell. He looked down at the ground and nodded.

“What? What did I say? I like it here.”

He gave her a smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Nothing, I just wondered is all. Come on, they’ll be anxious if we don’t show up soon.”

With that he grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the clearing. In silence they walked together, down the path and toward the fires.

Chapter Twenty-nine

E
mmie had never before seen two people so happy to see one another. Gabe and Ava were alone, away from the others. They were standing about ten feet from the small fire on the far side of the rink. She saw Gabe rest his hand on her abdomen as he said something. Emmie turned away from them. Their moment was too private to watch, but her heart warmed for Ava. Of course it was silly for them to be out here sneaking around when tomorrow Ava will give the rest of her life to him, but Emmie also thought it was romantic. She turned to Silas as something dawned on her.

“You set up this whole party just so Ava could see Gabe?” she asked.

Silas nodded and shrugged. “It’s no big deal. We would have met here sooner or later anyway. It’s a tradition.” He pointed to the right. “See the house way off in the distance? It’s dark but if you look closely you can just see the smoke coming from a couple chimneys.”

She frowned and squinted in the darkness. After a moment she could just see the darker outline of a house. Emmie thought it looked more like a mansion than a house. She looked back at him confused.

“It’s Old Man Dan’s house. He built this rink when we were teens for his grandchildren but they rarely come around. He keeps it ready for them though just in case. We sneak out here but part of me thinks he knows. I’ve only met him a time or two. He’s practically a hermit, the way he keeps to himself in that house,” Silas explained.

“It’s a tradition to come out to some ice rink in this old man’s field and freeze your rear off in the middle of the night?” Emmie teased, trying to make him smile.

He did give her a crooked grin as he spoke but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Do you need a warm up again?”

Emmie laughed. She wished he didn’t look so tense. He’d been so relaxed a few minutes ago. She went back over their last conversation in her mind.
I like it but it’s not home . . .
That’s what she’d told him. Sometimes words flew out of her mouth before she had the chance to think of their meaning.

Emmie looked up at Silas. He was taking something from Trick. Some sort of black shoes. When she looked down at Trick’s feet she noticed he had on the same strange boots. He squeezed her shoulder after passing off the boots.

“You giving it a try?” Trick asked with a grin so wide that showed his dimples.

Emmie looked back out to the rink. Nearly everyone was making their way out on the ice. Men, women—they were all wearing the same shoes. They were ice skating. She’d heard Ava mention it but she’d never seen a pair of the crazy shoes.

“Umm. I don’t have any of those shoes,” she answered him. They both knew she was just making excuses. Sliding face first across a cold sheet of ice was not on her to-do list tonight.

“Surely, our little ball of trouble hasn’t become a scaredy-cat on us?” Trick shouted as he stepped onto the ice.

She watched the people glide along the rink. Their balance was amazing. A few of the boys were showing off, jumping, turning, and skating backward. The girls were holding their own. Emmie spotted Jemma turning in close circles like a dancer. It was amazing. There was one person out there wobbling but the rest made it look easy.

“I wouldn’t call it scared. I’d call it knowing your limitations,” she answered.

Trick laughed to himself as he skated away from them toward a group of guys near the center of the rink. Emmie turned to face Silas. He was tying up his last skate. As he rose to his full height he seemed massive. The blades on the bottom of the skates gave him an even greater height advantage and he towered over her.

He took his coat off and laid it on a blanket. He was wearing a charcoal colored sweater. In all the time Emmie had known him she had never seen him wear anything but dress clothes. It fitted tightly to his body, showing the curves of his shoulders and arms. She reached out and touched the wool.

“Silas you’re gonna freeze,” she said, forcing herself to look away from his arms and chest.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek before whispering, “I’m still feeling warm but if I get cold, I know where to find you.” As he pulled away he gave her a devilish grin.

Emmie felt herself blush from her toes to her hair.

“Put those on. My girl runs moonshine. She isn’t scared of a little ice.” He pointed toward the blanket.

When Emmie looked down she saw a small pair of skates. Her heart pounded at the thought of stepping on the ice in those torture contraptions.

“No, I’m perfectly fine watching right here by this warm fire,” she said, shaking her head. “You go have a good time with your friends.”

Silas walked over to her, grabbed her hands, and pulled her to the blanket. He gently pushed her down to the ground and knelt down in front of her. His hands wrapped around her calf and slid down her leg, pulling off her shoes. He repeated the same slow removal of her other shoe. She was pretty sure this wasn’t supposed to make her warm but that didn’t change the fact that it did. The only other time Silas had ever touched her legs like this . . .

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his laughter. “What are you thinking about Emmie?”

“Nothing,” she replied too quickly.

He finished tying her skate and helped her stand. The minute she came to her full height her ankle buckled under her. Silas helped her find balance again.

“If I can’t even stand here on the frozen ground, how do you expect me to stand on that ice rink?” she asked. “People aren’t supposed to walk on water, Silas.”

“Trust me,” he said, pulling her to the rink’s edge.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she gripped tightly on Silas’s hand. With tiny scissor-like motions she made an attempt to skate but was horribly unsuccessful. Silas tried to give her tips but she couldn’t focus on him. She could feel the cool breeze of people passing her. When she passed Ava and Gabe, who had now sat down on a pile of blankets near their fire, they clapped for her. She wasn’t sure if they were cheering or mocking her. About halfway around the first lap she felt someone come up on her other side. She had expected it to be Trick but it wasn’t. It was a blond guy she didn’t recognize.

He turned and skated backward in front of her with a grin. He was younger than Silas, early twenties at most. The boy reached out and grabbed her free arm.

“I think this one needs more than a one arm hold, Silas,” he said.

He put his other arm out in an attempt to take it from Silas.

“No, boyo, I’ve got her,” Silas answered his unspoken question.

“I can work with her a bit. It’ll be easier on her if she has a sturdy support from the front. If I’d known we were going to have new legs out here tonight I would have brought some crates for her to push,” the guy said, looking down at her feet. “Bend your legs a little, sweetheart.”

Emmie frowned at the man but did what he said. For just a second it was easier but with one arm out to the front and the other to the side it threw off her balance. They steadied her on her feet.

“Sorry boys, I’m a hopeless cause. Let’s find some grass, what do ya say?” she asked, gripping onto their arms tightly.

“Silas, I can work with her a bit, if you want to go skate,” the guy offered.

Interestingly enough, he didn’t sound like he was coming on to her. He just sounded like he wanted to help. Sort of like a coach.

“Emmie, this is Elijah McKee. He’s another Bell House boy like me, but he moved away last year. Elijah plays hockey up in Canada. He quit playing on ponds and thinks he knows it all now,” Silas said with mock annoyance. From the corner of her eyes she thought he was grinning as he spoke. She couldn’t be sure though because she was afraid of what would happen if she turned to look at him straight on. Bell House boy, McKee—he was obviously from Irish immigrants too.

“
Boyo
here, is just sore that I beat him three to nothing in our last hockey game,” Elijah said with a grin, still looking at her feet. “You’re going to have to bend those knees a little. You’re skating like you’ve got a stick stuck up your—”

“Elijah,” Silas warned.

The boy laughed.

Silas let go of her hands for just a second. She grabbed onto Elijah tightly until she felt her feet leave the ground. The other man let go as soon as she was cradled in Silas’s arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. When he had her weight balanced he took off. Emmie squealed as they passed couples. Her short hair blew backward into his chest. She couldn’t stop laughing. Excitement trumped any fear she might have been feeling at being carried around the ice. He finally slowed to a stop in front of their starting point, near the blanket where her shoes were. She turned to see his face. His cheeks were chapped and red but he was smiling too.