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"We should take Hazel," she said. She had her chin in her hand, her eyes bright from the wine and the food and the warmth of the room. "To Europe. She'd lose her mind."

"She'd want to see every castle on the continent."

"And every ice rink."

"We'd never make it past the first country."

She laughed. Then she looked at me.

"We still owe her a piggy bank."

"Let's get her one. And we'll start putting money in it."

Janine smiled. "Okay."

After dinner, we walked across the Common.

The Frog Pond was lit up, the ice glowing under the lights, the city skyline rising above the trees. A few couples were skating slow laps. A group of college kids were bunched near the boards, laughing and shoving each other. The cold had thinned the crowd to the people who wanted to be outside on a December night, and the air smelled like ice and woodsmoke from somewhere nearby.

Janine saw the skate rental window and stopped walking.

"No."

"You told me you'd never been on the ice in your life."

"And I told you I wasn't falling on my face in front of people."

"I promised I wouldn't let you fall."

I handed her the rental skates. She looked at them.

"You planned this."

I smiled.

She fought the laces for a full minute before I crouched down and did them for her. She put her hands on my shoulders for balance while I tightened each one, and when I looked up she was watching me with her lip caught between her teeth.

"If you laugh at me, I'm driving home without you."

"I won't laugh."

She stepped onto the ice and her feet went out from under her in the first second. I caught her around the waist before she hit the surface and pulled her upright against me.

"I've got you."

Her hands found my arm and locked on. She was pressed against my side, breathing hard, her fingers digging into my jacket.

"Don't let go."

"I won't."

We moved along the boards together, her weight against me, my arm holding her steady. Every few strides she'd tense and grip harder, and I'd slow down and wait for her to settle before pushing off again. The rink was nearly empty. The city skyline rose above the trees, lit up against the dark, and the cold air turned our breath to vapor between us.

"I'm really glad I moved to Boston."

I watched her face in the glow off the ice. Her dark hair against the collar of her jacket, her breath rising into the cold, her eyes on the skyline like she was seeing the city for the first time. She looked like she belonged here.

"I love you, Janine."