Page 75 of Thin Ice

"I hope she surprises you."

I sat there looking at Liam's room around me.

"James."

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Just don't wait six years to call again." Something in his voice warmed. "And bring your boyfriend next time you're out west. David will cook. He's terrible at it and thinks he's amazing."

We laughed together.

"I'd like that."

"Merry Christmas, Alex. Late."

"Merry Christmas, James."

I hung up. Sat on the bed with the phone warm in my hand.

Liam opened the bedroom door.

"Hey. How'd it go?"

"Good. Hard. Good."

He sat down beside me. Didn't ask for details.

He put his arm around me. I put my head on his shoulder.

I thought about my mother. Did she still love me? Would I ever see her again?

I needed to see my mother. Not the house, not him — her. Liam didn't need to know. He'd read it wrong and think that I was leaving him again. Or that I was trying to go back to my family's money. I would never want that again.

Liam gave me more than anything money could buy.

Chapter 21: Liam

The rental smelled like pine cleaner and someone else's summer. A-frame cabin on the south shore, cedar siding, a dock pulled for winter, three bedrooms and a kitchen with a coffeemaker from 2009. Eighty bucks a night off-season. Noah had booked it over the phone, and the owner left the key under a ceramic frog by the steps.

Alex was inside. He'd been inside for twenty minutes, opening every door and cabinet like he'd been handed a present. I could hear him through the window.

"Liam, there's a hot tub," and then two seconds later, "there's a woodstove too!" Then a drawer opening, and then "there's a deck of cards in here."

He'd been like this since we pulled up. Grinning. Bouncing on his toes in the gravel. The same guy who'd been staring at the ceiling doing tuition math four days ago was now excited about a ceramic frog planter.

I was on the porch. Waiting. The lake was frozen and flat and the sky was white and the air tasted like January was coming whether we were ready or not. Soon, all of our friends would pull up, and this place would be full of people who cared about us.

I wanted that. I wanted it badly. I was standing on the porch in the cold, watching the lake road because sitting inside and waiting felt like wasting it.

Alex opened the screen door behind me. "There's a fire pit out back too."

"I saw it."

"We should use it tonight. S'mores or something."

"Sounds like a plan."