Homefront Holiday by Jillian Hart

askin’ me because you figure of the two of us, I’ll be the one to say yes.”
    “Ye-ah.” Ali dragged out the word, his eyes rolling upward as he thought. “But I still wanna go fast. Like him.”
    A teenaged skater whizzed by.
    “Ready?” Mike was saying to the boy. “Just scoot your right skate forward. C’mon, give it a try.”
    Sarah dug in with her left skate, keeping her place in the ice as Ali hesitated. He gulped and stared down hard at his toes. She dug in with her tip, waiting for him to gather his pluck and take that first startling slide into the expanse of the ice. Whatever happened, she was going to hold him steady. She would make sure he didn’t fall. It felt good knowing the man on Ali’s other side felt the same way.
    Mike didn’t have to say it—it was in his stance, protective and strong. It was in his steady patience as he waited for Ali to shift his weight on his skates. For a moment the boy wobbled and then his left skate went back as his right skate went forward.
    She moved and Mike moved and together they kept him upright, flawlessly. Safe and secure, he was laughing. “I’m skating fast!”
    “You sure are, buddy.” Mike’s rumbling chuckle was the dearest sound to her. Still.
    Sarah tried to keep her eyes focused clearly on Ali as he scooted his left skate forward, in danger of each skate going a different way. But as she pushed off to keep up with him and used her toe pick to stop and hold him steady, she saw the faint image of her lost dreams so clearly. Maybe her lost hopes were not gone, after all.
    “Right foot.” Mike’s amused instruction was punctuated with his low rumbling chuckles. “That’s it. You’re gettin’ it, buddy. Left foot. Right foot.”
    “Good job, Ali.” Sarah cheered as they turned a shaky corner. The length of the ice rink spread out before them, glossed with light and shimmering as if with hope. There were the remembrances of her dreams, images she could see once again. Of how she had once envisioned being with Mike, teaching their son to skate one day, just like this, side by side with a child between them. With love between them.
    Did Mike feel this way, too?
    “We can make it all the way to the wall down there, don’t you think, buddy?” Mike’s confidence was tempered by his affection for the boy. The man she loved so much looked transformed, as if he could see his buried hopes.
    “Y-yeah.” Ali clearly tried to be as confident. “I’m a good skater.”
    “Yes you are.” Her voice was thick and laced with emotion, but she didn’t bother to hide it. Adoring the boy, adoring the man, she held on tight. Patiently she skated one choppy glide at a time, her heart so full it hurt.

Chapter Five
    F or a while there, Mike had almost forgotten that the last year had passed. As they skated like the amateurs they were around the public rink, he had almost forgotten that the woman laughing with him was the same one who had devastated him. Now, as he took a bite of the pizza, he took a good look at the woman who had torn him apart.
    She sat across from him, looking as pretty as ever, with the fall of light on her red hair and flawless complexion. She took a napkin from the dispenser on the table and gave Ali’s face a few swipes.
    “Sarah!” The boy protested. “I like pepperoni juice.”
    “But you’re wearing it.” She bit her soft bottom lip to keep from laughing. Love radiated from her. It was plain to see that the match was as good for her as for Ali. She was one lucky lady, getting to love and raise the boy.
    He knew there was no place for him in their new family.
    You promised me, Mike. He could hear the pain vibrating in her voice crisp and touching in his memory. You said this was your last tour. That you were getting out.
    That’s what I thought, but I was wrong. In memory, too, he could still feel the conviction of his words and the weight of his decision. There are still threats to our country, and this is my duty, Sarah. I