Hearts On Ice

Hearts On Ice Part 1

Nate Taylor looked down from under the wide canopy of his parachute at the undulating beauty of the North Yorkshire Dales and let out a whoop of joy.

The rising wind from the north quickly whipped the sound away.

He'd come out later than he'd wanted after his final couple's mediation session with Sally had run over, but he'd been damned if he was going to miss out on a paraglide before the predicted storm hit. From the moment he'd escaped the stuffy, soulless room he'd been desperate to be up here, craving space and calm in order to clear his head and take stock of his life before the New Year kicked up its heels.

It was just under a year since he and Sally had moved to the Dales from Manchester and, even though he'd tried to settle here, the city had never released its grip on him. He'd felt useful there, needed, but this part of the country was so sedate he felt like he was wasting his time.

That bothered him.

He'd joined the police force in order to be part of the action—to make a difference to people's lives—and that just wasn't happening any more. After the harrowing experiences of his youth, which had left him feeling powerless and vulnerable, being able to put on the uniform, get to the heart of a problem and do something to fix it had empowered him.

Unfortunately, that same focus had also been the catalyst for the implosion of his relationship.

He'd thought he'd be able to adapt to this kind of lifestyle. He'd been willing to try for Sally's sake—had even thought he was ready to settle down and find the security he'd not cultivated up till this point—but, to his horror, he'd found himself feeling suffocated.

As the months rolled on it had become starkly clear that the two of them wanted very different things, and guilt about not being able to give her what she wanted had weighed heavily on him. He'd struggled on for a while, agreeing to go to mediation sessions to try and find a happy medium, but it seemed there wasn't one.

He'd hated seeing frustration and blame appear day after day on the face of the woman that he'd once cared about so deeply. Their love and respect for each other had limped along—then died under the pressure of their mutual discontent.

And so now here he was, alone but free, three thousand feet up in the air, looking down on the place that had driven them apart like an indomitable lover.

Being one of the few police officers who had no family to celebrate Christmas with this year, he'd worked all the holiday shifts to give people with kids a chance to be with them, so this was his first real break in a while. What with the split with Sally and the mind-numbing boredom of too much sedentary overtime, he was definitely due some fun.

Letting the parachute ride the currents, he twisted in slow circles, adrenaline roaring through his veins as his stomach flipped and rose.

Levelling himself out, he glanced back in the direction he'd come. The once bright winter sky was now ominously dark with the brooding storm the weather people had been predicting for days. He'd have to land soon so he didn't get caught out in it. There was supposed to be hail as well as heavy snowfall and it would settle on the frozen ground, making the small winding roads out impassable pretty damn quickly. He was already ten miles from home and couldn't rely on public transport in such a remote area: he needed to be able to walk back if he found himself stranded.

Looking around, he chose a suitable field for his landing and, fighting against the wind, started to make the turn. At the speed he was going he'd be coming in pretty fast, but he ought to have enough room to run once he touched down, taking the momentum out of the landing before the parachute fell to the ground.