A Dream of Ice Read Online Free

mouth with one hand, but she was visibly shaking. Jacob, unaware, was laughing and clapping.
    Nancy O’Hara, who noticed everything, said to Jacob, “Now you get to put them out, the way I showed you.”
    Gleefully, he dipped his fingers in a small dish of water hidden under a napkin. He pinched each candle out with a ssst , the smoke wafting upward in tendrils.
    Nancy occupied Jacob with helping her pull out the candles andthen cut the cake into slices while keeping an eye on her daughter. Caitlin was breathing slowly, purposefully, through her nose, with her hands clasped in front of her face. She closed her eyes, checked her hands to see if they had stopped trembling, and took a few more shallow breaths.
    Gradually, Caitlin normalized, nodded thanks to her mother, and sank a fork into a proffered slice of cake. With Jacob safely occupied by his own slice, Nancy murmured to Caitlin, “You’re not done with that previous case?”
    Caitlin didn’t answer, and that was answer enough.
    â€œBut you’re not going to be traveling anytime soon.” It was pointedly a statement from Nancy, not a question.
    â€œI—I don’t know,” Caitlin said quietly. “I never know.”
    â€œDon’t do something dangerous and make me play the mother card with you, Caitlin. Grandparenting is enough.”
    â€œMom, you didn’t want me going to Thailand after the tsunami. What if I had listened to you? I wouldn’t have met Jacob’s dad, and you wouldn’t be a grandmother.”
    â€œI was worried about your safety. You knew it was a dangerous situation and went anyway. And after your recent experiences, I am still concerned.”
    Caitlin sighed wearily. “Mom, you run a bakery—”
    â€œMeaning what, exactly?” the older woman asked. “That I shouldn’t have an opinion about how my daughter conducts her life?”
    â€œNo, I meant that our worlds are different.”
    â€œCaitlin, I meet more people every day than you do in a week—”
    â€œI know. And you should be proud, Mom. I am, of you and Dad. I just mean that—”
    â€œYou think you know what’s best for you, I know. I’ve heard it before,” Nancy continued. “But here’s my take. You’re world renowned. You’ve ‘made it.’ What I’m saying, with a mother’s pride, is, why can’t you stop fighting so hard and enjoy that?”
    â€œEnjoy? Mom, that’s a word I apply to stepping in cat vomit becauseit makes my son laugh. Beyond that? I need to understand things, not just fix them. Sometimes that means going where the challenges are. Knowledge is worth the risk for me. Sometimes, like a week ago, things end without being tidied up or understood. Am I satisfied? A bit, sometimes. But I get no real peace or enjoyment. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I can’t run my practice like a bakery.”
    Nancy raised one eyebrow, took another bite of cake, and for a second everyone just chewed. Then she said to Jacob, “Don’t forget the other surprise, kid.”
    â€œOh, I almost did!” he exclaimed, crumbs flying from his overstuffed mouth.
    Jacob leaped toward the silverware drawer and pulled out a tiny gift with an enormous pink bow and more tape than wrapping paper. As Caitlin struggled to open it—enjoying the moment, and proving it to her mother with a genuine smile—Jacob stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder, jiggling up and down. At last she got it open and found a key chain with a thin brass circle. There was a maze etched into the brass.
    â€œIt’s a labyrinth,” Jacob said, saying the word like he owned it. He pulled it from her hands and brought it close to her eyes. “It’s medieval, Grandpa said. There’s only one path.” His pointer finger traced around the whorls of the maze. “See? You can’t get lost. Whichever way you go, it