Skating on Frozen Ponds
911 Words
The smell of coffee and cinnamon rolls wafted through the Bennett kitchen, warm and familiar, though Natalie felt anything but at ease. Her mother’s invitation still rang in her ears—“Marcus, stay for breakfast!”—and here they all were, crowding around the old oak table as if nothing about the morning was strange.
Except everything about it was strange.
Marcus Carter sat across from her, shoulders relaxed, flannel shirt rolled at the sleeves. He looked like he belonged, and that unsettled her most of all. His easy laugh mixed with Jamie’s chatter, his baritone blending with the clink of forks and the scrape of plates. He even reached across the table for the maple syrup like he had every right to.
Natalie picked at her cinnamon roll, trying to keep her expression neutral. Every time her eyes slid toward him, she caught him in some small gesture that was far too familiar—passing her mom a dish without being asked, teasing Jamie about his appetite, listening intently as Aunt Sylvia rambled about the choir.
“Marcus has been a godsend around here,” her mother said brightly, catching Natalie’s glance. “You wouldn’t believe all the repairs he’s done. He even built that shed in the backyard.”
Natalie forced a polite smile. “That so?”
Marcus shrugged, casually. “Just a shed.”
“Don’t let him undersell it,” Aunt Sylvia chimed in. “It’s sturdier than a garage. The man’s handy with his tools.”
Jamie snorted. “He beat me in an arm-wrestling contest last week too. Twice.”
Natalie sipped her coffee, letting the warmth hide the burn in her chest. Since when had Marcus Carter become so entrenched in her family’s lives? He was everywhere, in every story, woven seamlessly into the rhythms of Evergreen Falls. She had been gone, and he had slipped into the space she’d left behind.
“So, city life,” Marcus said suddenly, his gaze locking with hers across the table. “What’s it really like?”
The way he asked, half-teasing but with something sharper under it, made her bristle. “Fast. Demanding. Exactly what I signed up for.”
“Still working eighty-hour weeks?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Still wasting time skating on frozen ponds?”
A slow grin tugged at his mouth. “You never did get over losing that race.”
Her fork clattered against the plate. “I didn’t lose. You shoved me.”
“You tripped yourself,” he countered, too smoothly.
“You skated into me.”
“You were blocking me.”
“Because I was ahead,” she shot back, heat rising in her cheeks.
The table erupted into laughter. Jamie’s eyes gleamed. “Wait, wait—this is about the Lake Evergreen race, right? Mom told me that story. Nat, didn’t you—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Natalie warned, glaring.
Marcus leaned back in his chair, utterly unbothered. “She ended up face-first in the snow.”
Natalie’s cheeks flamed. “Because you knocked me off balance.”
“Or because you didn’t know how to handle the pressure,” he said, voice low and edged with amusement.
Their eyes clashed, a spark flaring in the air between them.
Aunt Sylvia fanned herself with her napkin. “Mercy, you two haven’t changed a bit. Just like high school all over again.”
Natalie swallowed hard, trying to ignore the way her pulse skipped. She hated that he could still rattle her so easily.
Marcus leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping into that familiar drawl. “Remember the pumpkin carving contest?”
Her stomach sank. “Don’t.”
Jamie perked up. “What happened?”
Natalie folded her arms. “He stole my design.”
Marcus chuckled. “Borrowed inspiration.”
“Copied it,” she corrected.
“And still won.”
Her jaw tightened. “Because you bribed the judges with extra pie.”
He grinned unabashedly. “Resourceful, not dishonest.”
Jamie laughed so hard he nearly dropped his fork. Aunt Sylvia shook her head fondly, while Linda Bennett looked on like she was watching a Christmas movie unfold at her table.
But for Natalie, the banter wasn’t harmless nostalgia. It was a reminder of every time Marcus had pushed her buttons, every time she’d sworn she’d outdo him, every time he’d somehow walked away with the upper hand.
He had been her rival. Her foil. Her… almost everything.
And now he was here, in her kitchen, acting like no time had passed.
Marcus rose, setting his mug in the sink with a clink. “Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. Bennett. Best cinnamon rolls in town.”
Her mother beamed. “Glad you could stay, Marcus. Evergreen wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Natalie’s chest squeezed at that.
Marcus shrugged into his coat, his movements easy. At the doorway, he glanced back at her, his eyes holding hers just a beat too long. “See you around, Nat.”
Her throat tightened. She gave a short nod, unwilling to give him more.
When the door closed behind him, the kitchen filled again with chatter, but Natalie barely heard it. She stared down at her half-eaten roll, heart thudding against her ribs.
Marcus Carter. Still infuriating. Still impossible. Still, the one person who could unravel her without even trying.
And worse—he seemed to know it.
- Writer
