Page 129 of Fireworks

He had a point. There was no way she would have let him use that as a destination. It brought back too many memories, none of which were fond ones.

You could only see the edge of the lake from the gated entrance of the park. It had been a long time since I had been here. After my accident, my mother wouldn’t let me ice skate unless it was at an indoor rink. Hanging on the post was a large envelope, twice the size of the others I had already opened. Pulling the paper from inside, I read it carefully.

Katie.

We have been through a lot, and although things haven’t always been easy,

I’m glad that you’re my little sister, even if saying it’s cheesy.

I’m sorry it took so long to take you under my wing.

I have a big surprise, but you must agree to wear a blindfold so you can’t see a thing.

Sitting on the edge of my seat, I regretted agreeing to wear the blindfold. I couldn’t think of a single thing that Asher could have possibly gotten me or set up that would require this much of a production. He usually enlisted my mom to buy all the gifts for me over the years, so the thought that he spent so much time setting this up made my heart flutter. I knew he had been worried about me lately, but eventually I would be okay again. Just going out to the party the other night felt like a step in the right direction.

“You’re not going to even tell me where we’re going?”

We had been driving for what seemed like fifteen minutes, but without the ability to look at a clock, it could have been three minutes for all I knew. I tried my best to focus on how many turns he was taking to evaluate where he could be headed.

“Nope. You have to wait and see. I promise you will be blown away. It’s only two more minutes.”

The car jolted forward as Asher shifted into park.

“We’re here.”

Relying only on sounds wasn’t much help. I could hear Asher’s door close and moments later, mine opened. His hand grasped onto mine to help me out of the car. Leading us to our final destination, my heart was racing. This wasn’t like him at all to set something up like this. I would have to ask Bridget how much she contributed to his entire scheme, because this didn’t fit his normal behavior.

He instructed me to take steps up as we reached a set of stairs. Silence followed the creak of the door. This was the worst kind of torture. Not being able to see where you are or what was right in front of you. Walking completely blind and relying on someone else to keep you safe was difficult. Not that I didn’t trust Asher. He was my brother, and I knew he would keep me safe, but I also knew he would be the first one to laugh if I tripped and fell.

I wasn’t completely confident he wouldn’t forget to tell me about a step or to not hit a wall. He had played so many practical jokes on me over the years, I was a little skeptical about what this was going to end with. It could very well be a pie in my face.

His hands rested on my shoulders as he stopped me from moving further into wherever I was. Turning my body around, I felt the pressure of his hands lessen.

“Stay right there.”

I could hear the soft sound of Christmas music and it definitely smelt like food cooking. Putting my hands on my hips, I was getting impatient.

“Seriously, Asher, can I take this thing off yet?”

No sooner had the words fell from my lips than I felt fingers slowly tugging the blindfold off my eyes. Having been in complete darkness for what seemed like an eternity, I blinked, adjusting to the light. Focusing in front of me, my entire body froze, unable to do anything. My head spun as my legs felt like jelly beneath me.

“Breathe Katie.”

His lips were moving, and I knew he was speaking, but I couldn’t understand what the words were. Nothing made sense. I wanted to turn and run as much as I wanted to grab him and not let go. Opening my mouth to speak, everything went black.