by Lynn Rush
“Hey, guys, Rita let me in. Didn’t you hear the doorbell ringing?” Preach said as he hurdled the couch and flopped onto the chaise part.
“Sorry, man. Too busy chasing this little turd down,” I said.
“What’s— Dude. You okay?” he asked Caleb.
“Stop asking me that.” He pounded the tabletop. “You should ask Brodie why he’s scoping a figure skater’s Insta.”
“You are—” I went to reach for Caleb, but he scrambled away, laughing.
“Rita. I need food,” he yelled.
“Manners,” Preach said to my little brother.
“Yeah, dude. Manners.” I shook my head and tapped my phone as I flopped onto the couch near Preach, breathless. That little kid was fast.
“Pleeeeeeeeease,” Caleb yelled.
Sure enough, Willow’s profile filled the screen. I had to find out more about her, so I’d Googled her. And there was a lot out there. She was big-time in the figure skating world. I wasn’t surprised, though, because she sure had looked at home on the ice.
“I knew you liked her.” Preach shoved my shoulder. “I still can’t believe she blocked one of your shots.”
“Shocked the hell out of me, too.” I scrolled through her feed. “Did you talk to Jessa? What’s the tea?”
“Yep, but if I tell you, you’ll be pissed.”
I glanced up from my phone. “What do you mean?”
“’Cause you’re gonna totally fall for her, and I know you’re—and I quote—‘never dating again’.”
“Can you blame me? I mean, damn, Sydney and Gretchen.” Just mentioning their names made my heart sting with phantom stabbing pains.
“True.” Preach nodded. “They messed with you hard. But Willow—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I waved my hands. “There will be no dating. No Ice Princesses. No…talk of dating. Nothing.”
“Fine. Whatever you say.” Preach’s face turned serious. “So how’s Josiah?”
The air whooshed out of my lungs, and it felt like a fifty-pound weight sat on my chest. “He’s done, man. He’ll be lucky if he can even try out for the regular season.”
Preach’s head fell back against the leather cushion, and he let out a labored breath. “What about Izan? You check in with him about filling in?”
“You and I both know he isn’t ready.” I shook my head. “Do you think the figure skater would actually be up for it?”
Preach arched his brow and eyed me for a few beats. “She was pretty awesome, huh?”
I gave a noncommittal shrug, scrolling through her Insta feed.
“But it’s a no-go anyway. She’s rehabbing to get back to figure skating. She’s not going to want to play hockey.” Preach stretched out and propped his feet on the coffee table as he focused on the TV screen. “Jessa said she’s heading back to her training center as soon as she’s strong enough.”
“And we don’t need another person coming in and getting everyone’s hopes up and then leaving again. Remember when Mitch did that? We were screwed for a right wing and almost didn’t have a replacement in time.” A flash of anger burned through my gut remembering how that had really hurt our team.
“She’s big-time out in Colorado, primed for the Olympics, right?” Preach said. “But she blew out her Achilles. That injury is serious. It’ll take her awhile to get better. It’s not like she needs to be doing triple axels to stand in goal.”
“Shit, she blew out her Achilles?” I said, sagging into the leather couch as if I suddenly weighed a million pounds. Achilles injury to a skater? That had to suck for her, yet when I saw her on the ice, she was strong. Sure, she hadn’t landed the couple of jumps she’d tried, but it seemed like she was close.
A car was bursting into flames on a glacier, and a sub shot through the ice. Best. Movie. Ever. But even cinematic genius couldn’t distract me from getting more info on Willow.
“Sure did,” Preach said. “She was out in Colorado, living at the training center. Got injured almost a year ago and was rehabbing on site, but then she lost all her sponsors and had to move here to finish.”
“Holy shit, her sponsors bailed?” Damn, that girl had suffered a lot, hadn’t she? “Sponsors…she must be really good.” I tapped my YouTube app to life and typed in her name. Now we were getting somewhere.
“Yeah, Jessa said it was her first day trying some significant jumps since the injury. And it didn’t go well.” Preach leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
“Until she got into the goal.” I bit back a chuckle at the image of her tripping over her goalie pads right into the net.
“Exactly! She’d be great on our Fall League Team.”
“She’s good, but really? A figure skater?” I scrubbed my face with my hands. “As a goalie?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I just can’t imagine she’d want to do it, and there’d be a learning curve, man. I mean, if she’s that big in the skating world, she’ll get back into it.” I held up my phone to show an article that popped up. “Google says she’s trying to be back in time for next year’s competitions.”
“Jessa just texted me.” Preach turned in his seat, his dark brown eyes serious, his jaw tense. “Willow got the news that her team cut her.”
My stomach churned. I couldn’t imagine getting dropped from the hockey team. Hockey was my life, and judging by the look of determination in her eyes, figure skating was the same for her.
“If she’s that good, another squad will pick her up,” I said.
“Sounds like the percentage is pretty low for figure skaters returning to that level of competition after an injury like hers.” Preach smiled. “But Jessa says she’s determined, so who knows? Still, wouldn’t having her for a few months be worth it?”
I could see that about Willow, and I’d only known her for about five seconds. She radiated determination and talent. But hockey? She’d never be satisfied with anything that wasn’t figure skating, would she? She’d leave as soon as she got the chance.
“I saw her at the shelter today,” Preach said, pulling out his phone. “She didn’t mention getting cut from the team.”
That caught my attention.
Serving at the Helping Hands homeless shelter was pretty impressive. So she was a phenomenal athlete, good-hearted, and the way she bantered with me made her seem pretty laid back.
“She’s nice. Hana, the director, was all up with the praise for Willow for blocking your shot.”
Dang, the whole town was in my business again. It was like they didn’t have anything else to do other than watch us play hockey. “It was luck.”
“Yeah, right.” Preach chuckled.
I pulled out my phone and checked her IG feed again.
Looked like she had lots of friends back at the training facility, but almost all the pictures were of her on the ice or at an ice arena. No boyfriend from what I could tell. Not that I should be thinking about that anyway.
It was my senior year; I’d been decimated by my last two girlfriends. I was not going down that road again to get all attached to someone, then have them ditch my ass when things got tough or a better offer showed up.
Gretchen had been like a puck cracked through my chest and had pulverized my heart. And right after Mom. That was messed up. And then Sydney. She was a figure skater, and supposedly we’d had a lot in common, but she was only interested in me because my name was on the Ice Den.
“Earth to Wind…”
“Huh?” I sat up.
Preach looked at me, his head bobbing and his hand up as if he was waiting for something.
“What?”
“Willow’s got family in town. Used to live here as a kid.”
“Yeah, she used to play hockey on Heron Lane. I heard her mentioning that.”
“Her family moved in w
ith her grandpa.”
Scents of spicy fajitas rolled in, and my stomach growled. I needed to curb this Willow discussion because potential hockey player or not, I couldn’t afford to have another girl on my brain.
Preach huffed. “She was coordinated, even in that oversize goalie stuff.”
And really cute, though I didn’t admit that to Preach.
I tossed my phone to the couch and stood. I wasn’t really sure where I stood on the idea of Willow playing hockey with us. If she even wanted to. “I’m hungry.”
“Hello!” Dad’s voice echoed through the hallway. Sounded like it came from the kitchen.
“Daddy!” Caleb screeched.
I glanced at Preach, and his eyes were wider than I’d seen them in a long time. “I thought your dad was in London?”
“Me, too. You better go.”
Preach nodded, and I hustled down the hallway. He’d find his own way out, and I needed to see what Dad was doing home. The ping of shattering glass rang from the kitchen, and I picked up the pace right along with my heart.
Shards of jagged glass covered the floor. Dad stood in the middle of the kitchen, holding Caleb with one arm and a pizza box in the other. He was balancing it like he would a serving tray.
“It’s okay!” Rita scurried out of the kitchen. “I’ll get the broom.”
“What happened?” I grabbed the pizza box from Dad, and he settled Caleb on the countertop beside the fridge, but Caleb didn’t let go of him.
“Brought some food…” He stumbled to the side slightly and palmed the counter beside Caleb. “To have dinner with my boys.”
Shit. He’s drunk. And Dad wasn’t a particularly nice drunk, either. Never physically violent or anything, but venom often laced his words when he’d had too much alcohol.
“Rita already cooked,” I said. “I thought you were in London for a week.”
“Canceled.” He planted a kiss on Caleb’s forehead, then peeled out from my brother’s embrace. “Let’s eat!”
He made his way to the kitchen island I’d set the pizza box on, glass crunching beneath his shoes. He was tall like me, but his brown hair had sprinkles of gray throughout. His normally tanned skin was wan and a little pasty beneath the lights.
“Here, buddy.” He handed Caleb a slice of the pepperoni.
Rita rounded the corner, holding a broom and dustpan, but I met her and grabbed them. “Thanks, Rita. I can do this.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you sure?”
“I can take care of things the rest of the night.”
She nodded, then glanced at my dad and back to me. “Call if you need me.”
“Thanks, Rita,” I said and gave her a one-armed hug. She didn’t need to take care of Dad when he was like this. “You’re the best.”
I faced the kitchen, prepared to clean up the broken glass, when I saw Dad sitting on the barstool at the center island, pouring himself a tumbler of vodka over ice.
It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Willow
“I think it’s great that you’re getting more skating time in.” My mom checked over her shoulder before switching lanes.
It’d been three days since Gramps had given me Dr. Nolan’s devastating news, but I was done sulking. Yesterday’s time at Helping Hands really put things into perspective. It helped me formulate a plan, too, and that meant as much time on the ice as possible.
The car slowed as we approached a stop sign. “I’m sorry I can’t watch you practice today.”
“I understand.” No one needed to remind me about my family’s financial situation. Taking off more than two days wasn’t an option for my mom; she could lose her job. Her contract work as an ER nurse had kept our family afloat when the Woodhaven Hospital had closed and she lost her job, but it also meant she had to live more than two hours away for months at a time, and the distance and time apart messed with my parents’ relationship. They bickered constantly.
I turned toward the window and let out a long exhale.
My mom’s phone buzzed. She slid her finger across the screen and brought it to her ear without looking. “Hello?” She let out a frustrated sigh. “I told you I couldn’t take any more time off.”
Speaking of bickering about her job and money…
“Hal, we’ve already gone over this.”
She shot me a quick smile, as if she was trying to reassure me everything was fine. A fake smile couldn’t settle the unease creeping into my gut at the sudden shift in mood as Mom talked to Dad, though.
“Listen, we can revisit this later. I’m about to drop Willow off at the rink, and then I’ve got to hit the road.”
A knot formed in my left shoulder, and I realized I was squeezing the door handle with all my strength. I released my death grip and let out a breath. Digging into the tightness in my left shoulder with my fingers, I shifted my focus to the scenery instead of listening to Mom. Tall aspen trees towered over the road, blocking out the sun, which was trying to peek from behind dark rain clouds. It almost felt as if we were driving through a tunnel. I sure had missed the green trees of the Midwest.
My phone buzzed with a text.
ERICKA: Hanging in there?
ME: Barely.
ERICKA: Your Colorado coaches are a bunch of jerks!
ME: Thanks.
ERICKA: Seriously, as soon as you’re landing your jumps again, they’ll come calling.
ERICKA: Mom and Dad haven’t touched your room.
ERICKA: We know you’ll be back before the end of the year.
ERICKA: It’s a given!
ME: I totally needed to hear that.
ERICKA: ((heart emoji)) Love you, sis.
ME: Love you more!
I rested my head back and let out a long breath, the heaviness in my chest almost too much to bear. Ericka really was like a sister to me. I missed her so hard and would kill for one of her hugs.
“I said we’ll talk about this later.” Without another word, Mom pulled the phone from her ear and chucked it in the backseat. “Sorry, hon.”
“It’s okay. I know how important this job is to you, for us.” I cracked my knuckles. A habit my coach in Colorado used to get on me about. My gut twisted at the thought of my coach. Who wasn’t my coach anymore. She’d abandoned me. Didn’t have faith in me.
Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. I was done crying. I was about action now.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart. I hate that I can’t stay longer, but remember, you can call me at any time if you’re feeling down or need someone to talk to. I’m always here for you.”
My fingers slid over the handle of the skating bag propped on my lap. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too, honey.” She smiled, as if the fight with my dad had never happened. “So, what are you going to work on at the rink today? Will you join another one of those hockey pick-up games? Gramps said you did a great job at the last one.”
“Not sure. Those guys are pretty serious.”
“That they are. This town’s all about hockey.” Mom shook her head. “They’ve won State a few times, I think.”
Holy crap. Mom even knew about hockey. “Yeah, so I hear. I was just helping them out the other day. I’m sure they have a stellar backup.”
“Okay, but be careful if you do decide to join them. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“No worries, Mom. Goalies wear tons of pads. It’s the safest position on the team.”
“All right, just as long as you’re safe.” She smiled.
The arena parking lot came into view, and I said, “Oh, hey, you can drop me here. I’ll walk through the parking lot to the front door. It’ll help loosen things up before I start.”
“Have a good prac
tice session, honey,” my mom said. “I’ll be home again soon.”
After one more hug and a kiss on the cheek, I stepped into the muggy summer air and watched her drive away. She really was working hard for our family; I understood that. But I missed her. I’d been away in Colorado training so much, I didn’t get to see my parents a lot. For some reason, I thought that since I was back, I’d see them more, but I didn’t. All they did was work…or fight.
The taillights of her car faded from my sight as she drove away, and I faced skyward and closed my eyes. The thick, damp air stuck to my skin like a wet blanket. I drew in a long breath, then turned around.
The rink stood before me.
I will fully heal.
I will land my jumps again.
I will get my spot back on the team.
My phone buzzed.
JESSA: What are you up to?
ME: Heading into the rink.
I started the trek along the outskirts of the lot toward the front doors.
JESSA: Nice!
JESSA: You sticking around to watch the hockey scrimmage?
ME: When is it?
JESSA: In about a half hour or so.
Crap. I thought open ice time was for the next two hours. Well, a half hour was better than none.
ME: You coming up here to watch?
JESSA: Totally.
Might be fun to hang out with Jessa and watch the game. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do for the next two hours. Dad wasn’t scheduled to come get me until then anyway.
ME: Yeah. I’ll stick around.
JESSA: Maybe you should play with them.
ME: Yeah, right. LOL
JESSA: You did good out there the other day!
JESSA: Like you were having fun.
Fun?
While playing hockey?
Never thought in a million years those words would have been used to describe me. Well, not since I was eight.
JESSA: See you soon!
ME: Sweet.
A fat drop of rain splattered against my nose. I glanced up to see dark gray clouds hanging low in the sky. I tucked my phone back into my pocket just as the sky totally and completely opened up, drenching me as I headed toward the front doors of the rink.