CHAPTER 22

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"You look beautiful, baby. Are you nervous?"

Tessa adjusted the gorgeous skating ensemble she was

wearing, knowing it was the most elegant performance cos-

tume she'd ever owned. The bright red was bold, and the el-

egant gold embellishments were classic. She was wearing her

favorite tan custom skates to complement the outfit.

She smiled at Micah. "Surprisingly, I'm not at all. I use

the atmosphere feels normal to me." She stopped as she fin-

gered her bracelet. "I wonder if I should take this off."

The jewelry was delicate, and wouldn't interfere with her

skating. But she didn't want to lose it.

"Leave it. It has a strong safety clasp, and I'll buy you

something else if it falls off."

Since she loved the comforting feeling of knowing she was

wearing something Micah had given her, she left it on. But she

wasn't as nonchalant as he was at the thought of losing it. "It's

almost time."

Earlier in the week, Micah had managed to get her ice time

at the same stadium they were in right now. It had given her

an opportunity to keep running through her routine. She was

nowhere near the Olympic-Champion-level skater she'd been

almost a decade ago, but she was also older, pretty much over

the hill for a female figure skater. She smiled, knowing that

for an old lady figure skater, she could pull off a respectable

performance.

The last several days hadn't been all practice. Once they'd

finally gotten out of bed, Micah had taken her to see the sights:

the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the 9/11

Memorial had been their first stop, Micah teasingly saying he

felt like a tourist instead of an actual New Yorker. She'd let him

feed her junk food from some of his favorite places to eat the

most memorable were Coney dogs from a street vendor.

In so many ways, it had been a magical week. Not only had

she enjoyed her trip to New York immensely, but she'd been

able to share all of those things with Micah.

"Ready?" he asked, looking more nervous than she was.

She reached for his hand and nodded, but she'd been

the existence of the small preparation room.

She couldn't hear the madness of the crowd as they ap-

preached the area where she'd wait her turn, but she knew it

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