Nick folded his hands together on the tabletop, glanced at Elissa. “No, sir.”

“Soon enough, I’d bet, and who knows when you’ll be back, or if. But Elissa’s mother told me I had to get used to the idea that she’s eighteen now and has the right to make her own decisions, so you’re here. But as long as you’re under my roof, we’re going to have some rules.”

“Yes, sir,” said Nick. Elissa stayed silent, while her father dug in his pocket for his list.

When the waitress brought their lunches, Elissa was too distracted to eat, only picked at her food and cast sidelong glances at Nick, while her father reviewed his rules.

“Elissa will have a curfew of ten o’clock tonight. You will have dinner at Elissa’s grandparents’ at six. Nick will be staying there tonight. You both will attend church tomorrow morning. You will not be allowed to use the car.” On and on he droned. Elissa finally stopped listening.

The ordeal of lunch complete, it was off to the house so Nick could meet Elissa’s mother, Mary.

Mary seemed to like Nick right away, greeting him with a gentle smile and strangely bewildered eyes. For his part, Elissa thought, Nick was utterly charming. But she was impatient to be alone with him—if there was an all-encompassing rule stating they were not to be alone in any circumstances, she hadn’t heard it—and suggested they go ice-skating. Though Jack objected, Mary was all for the idea, and jumped up to get JJ’s old skates from the back porch. While Elissa went upstairs to change into her snowsuit, Nick tried the skates on and pronounced them a perfect fit. “I’ve never been on skates before,” he was saying, looking up at Mary from his seat, as Elissa came downstairs.

“Mary, I told you I didn’t want them going off by themselves,” Jack said.

“Jack,” Mary snapped. “Just let them go. You kids be at Grandma’s by six for supper, all right?”

“All right, Mom.” Elissa quickly gathered her skates, hat, gloves, and put on her boots. She could feel the tension between her parents, her mother silencing her father with a glare, but she didn’t look at them. She and Nick went out, suddenly, blissfully free.

Pine Rapids was postcard-still under a snow-colored sky, houses and trees bearing up under heavy loads of snow, lights burning in windows. Only an occasional car purred past on the white-frosted streets. The sidewalks were mostly clear, and their boots made no sound as they walked.

Elissa apologized right away about her father, but Nick told her he didn’t mind. “Sweetheart, you’re worth it,” he said. “Besides, he’s not wrong. I don’t know where I’m going, and I don’t know when I’m coming back. That’s not fair to you.”