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I flicked the end away and rested my head against the wall. My hand found the length of rope I’d been tying and untying for the last week. It was a habit I’d picked up at a summer job at the marina a few years ago. Nautical knots. I liked to keep my hands busy. I pulled it out and tied a knot as Winter watched.
“You should know my father takes ransom inquiries by fax, but only during the last quarter,” she said after a moment.
I chuckled. “It’s just a habit. Idle hands and all that,” I said.
“Nautical knots? You’re not really living up to your jock reputation,” Winter observed.
“Yeah, well, maybe no one really knows me, either.” I held up the knot. “The real question is, can you name the knot, Your Majesty?”
“Figure eight,” she immediately supplied and held out her hand. “My turn.”
She tied a knot and presented it to me for inspection.
“Bowline. Basic.”
“Fuck you, Martino. Fine, show me something less basic if you can.”
I took back the rope, drew another end from my pocket, and started to tie. She watched me in silence. I held up the small, compact version of the two-rope knot. She reached out immediately and took it.
“That’s cheating. You used an extra rope.” There was no accusation in her voice, though. “Carrick bend.”
“Good girl.” My mocking tone sent her eyes narrowing.
She threw the knot at my chest. “Well, if you want to get my dad’s attention, you better be able to help out on the boat,” she muttered.
The pot was cracking the Ice Queen’s frozen fortress.
“Daddy’s a sailor?”
“At least once a year, when he remembers that he has a home here, a boat…and a daughter.” Her tone was bored, edging on bitter.
“Well, don’t get out the tiny violin for yourself just yet. Some of us have never met our dads, remember?”
She tilted her head to the side, considering, then nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. You’re far worse off than me.” She handed me something invisible. “You can have the tiny violin.”
I nodded. “Damn right.”
There was ease in the silence between me and this girl. I hadn’t expected that. Most people rushed to fill the quiet. Not Winter DeLaurie. It reminded me of that moment at Parents’ Day, when she’d been more interesting company than I ever would’ve imagined. She seemed like two people in those moments. The spoiled popular cheerleader and the quiet, jaded heiress who hated the world.
A buzzing intruded on the peace. Winter’s phone was vibrating in her bag. She took it out and sighed. She moved the screen away before I could read it.
“My mom’s ordering my return.” She sighed again. “They probably want to cut the cake or something. It’s my birthday,” she added with all the excitement of someone awaiting their last meal on death row.
Somehow, I wasn’t even surprised. That was exactly the birthday reaction I expected from this girl. I remembered the kitchen preparing a special cake hours earlier for someone with a severe allergy. I doubted there were two cakes going out into the private dining room tonight.
“That six-tier monstrosity the pastry chef spent all day on is yours?” I gave her a once-over. “Got a deadly allergy I should know about?”
“Why? Are you going to try and kill me? Death by cinnamon. At least it’d be a sweet way to go,” she sighed. Cinnamon. Something clicked. I’d helped my mom make her sweet empanadas enough times to know what went in the apple filling. Was there even the slightest chance that the picky princess wasn’t as terrible as I’d imagined for the last year?
I passed her back the Carrick bend knot, laying it on her thigh. “Happy birthday, Ice Queen.”
She stared at the rope, surprised by the gesture.
“Give it back, if you’re just going to throw it away,” I warned her. Why I was giving this girl a second chance to surprise me, after a year of ignoring her existence, I had no idea. Maybe it was the pot, making me generous. Or maybe it was the way the stars seemed to collect in her eyes when she smiled at me, alone together on the rooftop, hidden from the world.
Her fingers traced the shape and then she tucked it into her bag.
“You gave it to me. No take backs. This is the only homemade present I think I’ve ever gotten. My dad gave me a new Amex for a gift.”
