Valentine's Dream. Carmen Green

her mother-in-law was totally wrong, Grace conceded. She and Carter had hugged after the memorial service, although Marjorie’s spin on the situation was pretty nasty. And yet, Grace admitted to herself, there had been a brief moment when she’d wondered, What am I doing? What is Carter thinking?

      It was equally disturbing to recall that when Benson had asked her to marry him, he’d said that he couldn’t wait for his best friend to meet his future wife. He’d told her that Carter was straight-up and dependable, worth going to the mat for. It was a very guy thing to say, and she’d found it funny at the time. Now she was finally coming around to seeing exactly what Benson had meant. What he’d said about Carter was true.

      Carter turned to find her sitting on the bench. He slowly approached and sat next to her. He glanced at her, with humor brightening his eyes. The rink lights created glare on the lenses of his glasses so that all she could see was his smile.

      “I bet your heart leaps into your throat every time you have to let them go off without you.”

      “I want them to do things on their own and have fun. But I don’t want them to get hurt.”

      “But they will. It’s part of going off without you. Why don’t you join them? Do you skate?”

      “Not if I can help it. To be honest, I’m a little afraid that I’m the one who’ll get hurt and then I can’t take care of them. I mean, there is my father or Marjorie, but...”

      “I think I’ll join them,” Carter suddenly announced. “Do you mind?”

      Before she could tell him that wasn’t necessary, Carter had dumped his coat in her lap and marched off to rent skates. He came back, sat down again and laced up the skates. Afterward, he stood, took off his glasses and silently handed them to her. As he made his way to the entrance gate, Grace was struck by how much taller he was in skates. Gigantic. They made him appear invincible. She also noticed that he stepped onto the ice with amazing confidence, although it was quickly apparent that he moved with the stiff, careful gait of an adult trying to overcome inexperience and lack of control.

      Grace got up from the bench to stand closer to the rink so she could observe through the Plexiglas barrier. She was curious and followed Carter’s progress. He seemed to be deliberately headed for her kids. She spotted Madison showing off as he awkwardly skated backward in front of his sister, teasing her, while she scuttled along trying to catch him. Carter caught up to them, stopping to speak. Grace could see Carter reintroducing himself and then holding out his hand to Madison. The boy listened and then looked to her for guidance. Grace raised her hand and waved, signaling her okay.

      Madison shook Carter’s hand. In the meantime, Becca, who unable to grab ahold of her brother, had nothing to help steady her as her arms flayed and she fell. Carter, not much more steady himself, nonetheless bent to lift her back to her skates and then released her. Grace raised her brows and grinned. How smart of him not to patronize the kids.

      It was hard for her to tell after a while if Carter was really keeping an eye on her children, or was out there having a good time himself. His ease and grace improved considerably with time. Only a few times did he engage Madison and Becca in brief conversation, mostly just leaving them to enjoy skating. Madison fell only once, and Becca several times, once close enough to Carter to wrap her small arms around his leg and pull herself upright.

      It was inevitable that Carter himself would end up on his butt. Madison thought it was very funny and laughed merrily at the grown man sitting on the ice, trying to figure out how to get up. Even Grace allowed herself to chuckle. Then she watched in amazement as Madison and Becca each took hold of one of Carter’s hands and actually tried to pull him to his feet. When that didn’t work, Madison turned his back and told Carter to use him for balance. And Carter didn’t hesitate to take the boy up on his offer. Bracing his large hands on Madison’s shoulders, he positioned one foot on the ice and quickly levered himself up, not actually putting any weight on Madison at all.

      Grace was not only glad but relieved when Carter indicated that he’d had enough and headed off the ice. Madison and Becca followed him. Madison was sniffling from the cold air of the rink. Becca’s nose was running, and the knees of her jeans were wet from her many falls. Grace gave her attention fully to her children, letting Carter take care of himself.

      “Mommy, I only fell down a little bit,” Becca boasted, wiping her nose on her sleeve before she could be stopped.

      Madison chortled. “You fell down a lot. I only fell once.”

      “You both were great,” Grace complimented them.

      “I helped Carter get up. Didn’t I?” Madison said proudly.

      “You sure did. You’re pretty strong,” Carter agreed.

      “Mommy? Did my father know how to ice-skate?” Madison asked.

      Grace glanced briefly at Carter, who was engrossed in pulling off his skates. “No, sweetie, I don’t think he did.”

      “Know what, Madison? Your dad was a pretty good soccer player, and he knew his way around a basketball court.”

      For just a moment Grace’s gaze met Carter’s. She didn’t have to smile her thanks but knew that he’d gotten her silent message.

      Madison thoughtfully considered that before asking, “Are you still going to take me to a basketball game? You promised.”

      “Absolutely,” Carter said and nodded smoothly. “I’ll check out the games for the rest of the season, and we’ll set it up, okay?”

      “I want to go, too,” Becca complained.

      “Mommy, tell her she can’t go,” Madison fussed.

      “We’ll talk about this later, Madison. Right now you can do me a favor and return the rental skates.”

      “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for something to eat,” Carter said as he stood to return his skates and get his boots.

      “I’m hungry,” Becca suddenly decided.

      “We’re going to the mall for lunch. I want to go to McDonald’s,” Madison called out as he raced to the rental desk.

      “No! I want Friendly’s,” Becca piped up in her tiny high voice.

      A final decision was postponed until everyone had made a bathroom run and they’d left the rink. Carter followed behind in his town car, which looked so out of place among the SUVs and suburban sedans. The local mall was the zoo that Grace knew it would be on a Saturday afternoon, but it suddenly didn’t seem so bad as she watched with interest the interaction between her children and Carter. What was even more pleasing was that he was effortless and totally comfortable when talking with them, and did not talk down to them. She was pleased with his ability to make both of them laugh; sometimes four-year-old Becca laughed only because Madison did. For the most part, Carter seemed to ignore Grace’s presence. His decision, conscious or otherwise, went a long way toward putting her at ease in his company.

      Grace wasn’t sure how Carter managed it, but he successfully, and without a fuss, persuaded the children to have lunch at a café and not a fast food restaurant. Madison and Becca were still able to have hamburgers and fries, and Grace was thrilled to be able to order Oriental Chicken Salad.

      A waitress brought the children each a coloring book and small boxes of crayons. They contentedly occupied themselves with coloring after eating their fill, while Grace and Carter talked.

      “I saw you fall on the ice,” Grace said.

      “Are you going to hold that over me?” Carter asked smoothly, eating a grape tomato from his pasta dish and putting aside the menu he’d been reading, which advertised Valentine’s Day special meals.

      “I thought you hurt yourself. I was a little worried.”

      His gaze was warm as he regarded her. “I’ll probably feel it later tonight or tomorrow, but I’m okay.”

      “I think