He smiled and let the ice breaking applause go for a moment, needing the time to calm the nervous energy that flooded through him. “We were talking about skating on lousy ice, weren’t we? Well, that’s been my life for a long while. Then several months ago, I was blessed to run into a woman whom I have loved from afar for a long time. She’s that rare sort of person that makes everyone’s life around her better.”
He waited for the hum of speculation to die down. “You’ve all waited quite long enough for my surprise.” Quinn skated to the open gate, and stepped off the ice. Benny turned off the house lights and pointed a single spot on Quinn.
“Ladies and gentlemen: Twenty years ago, Nashville called her the First Lady of Pairs’ Skating. Today, she’s come home. Isabella Landry.”
The ice went dark, and when Benny focused a small beam at center ice, Izzy was there, a lone sparkling star against a black sky. The audience gasped, then fell silent, as the first notes of “I Won’t Hold You Back,” echoed.
Alone on the ice, Izzy was mesmerizing. Quinn sensed the energy, in spite of the eerie hush settling around them, and he knew the crowd was as captivated with her as he was. Every element, every spin was flawless, fluid. She moved as if no more than a moment passed between that long ago night in the Twin Cities and this afternoon in Nashville.
Halfway through the routine, she waved to the tunnel where Quinn stood next to Collier. “Why is she waving?”
“She’s trying to get your attention.”
Izzy passed by them again, waving. “What? What does she want?”
“You still don’t get it, do you?”
She passed by them, third time. “She wants me on the ice?”
“Yes, you idiot. She wants you to do a throw.” Collier laughed and elbowed him. “She can’t fly herself, can she?”
I would drop her. I’m not strong enough. Her arm is still too tender.
“Get your butt out there or I will. And you won’t like where I put my hands.”
As Izzy neared, Quinn jumped out and caught her. His hands on her waist and arm, he let her lead him around the arena to thundering applause. “What are we doing?”
“A throw triple Salchow.” Izzy skated under his arm. “Ready?”
“Iz…”
“Don’t worry.” She forced his hand to her flat stomach. “Now!”
He tensed, lifted and let her go. The applause and cheers were deafening as she flew through the air and landed, like a piece of silk, fifteen feet away. Quinn stopped short on the ice, breathless at the sight of her.
The applause and cheers continued as the music ended and they skated toward each other and embraced.
“How did you know I wouldn’t drop you?” He shouted.
She pointed down. “We’re on fresh ice.”
Quinn was certain he’d never seen anything more beautiful. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her softly. “I’m glad you got to skate that routine in front of an audience, you know, without being pregnant.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Who says?”
“Who says what?” Trying to hear her over the crowd noise, he leaned closer.
“Who says I’m not pregnant?”
Quinn stared at her. It’s not possible. He shook his head, but she shrugged and nodded affirmatively, her eyes shining stars. “I’m going to be a father?” His words were lost in the din of the arena. So much better than a jersey with my name on it.
Overjoyed, he swung Izzy in a circle, set her gently on her feet, and kissed her.
The cheers faded away as he lost himself in her return kiss.
EPILOGUE
The check and the letter lay, side by side, on the table. Everyone sat in a circle, staring at the two pieces of paper as if they were magic.
“So,” Cat, sitting on Benny’s lap, tried to break the ice. “This is sort of ‘It Could Happen to You.’ You know, Bridget Fonda, Nic Cage? Cop, waitress, lottery money.”
“Yeah, we get it, Cat.” Izzy leaned against Quinn and stared at the papers.
“Only this is weird.”
“Yeah, we get that, too.” Jenna poured herself a cup of coffee.
The check, made out to Izzy, was the life insurance settlement from Jason’s estate. With Serena’s conviction for assault and attempted murder, Izzy was able to connect enough dots for the insurance company. While no one could officially pin Jason’s death on Serena, the insurance company ruled out suicide and paid the claim.
The letter, addressed to Quinn, was a job offer on official WNSH letterhead. WNSH, now lacking a station manager since Serena’s conviction, wanted Quinn to fill the position.
“We should start with the easy one first.” Quinn draped his left arm around Izzy’s shoulders. His simple wedding band, the twin to the one on her finger, glowed in the yellow overhead light.
“Yeah, let’s talk about the job offer.” Benny nodded agreement, before returning to nuzzling Cat’s neck.
“No, the check.” Cat said. “The job offer is going to take debate.”
“I’m with Cat. What are you doing with that cash?” Mikayla sipped her coffee.
“I’d like to know what Quinn’s going to do about the job.” Jenna’s soft tone barely broke above the noisy conversation.
“Collier could break this tie.”
“Yes, Cat, but he’s not here.” Izzy looked at each face in the circle. Collier was on the road with his band. Izzy knew there was more to it than that. In spite of his convincing words at the fundraiser, Collier needed time to come to terms with losing her again. She hated the gap between them, but was willing to wait until he was ready to come home and be her best friend once more. “We are going to have to figure it out without a tie breaker.”
“Okay, Mom, Quinn, who wants to talk first?”
“I’m not taking the job,” Quinn said quietly.
Izzy smiled. They hadn’t talked about it, but Izzy knew the minute she saw the offer, Quinn would never take Serena’s old job.
After the general uproar around the table subsided, Quinn continued. “I’m not management. I like talking about sports.”
“So you’ll still do color commentary?” Benny asked.
“Not for away games.” Quinn shook his head. “I spent too many years on the road. I’ve got a family now, and I’m not spending one minute away from the baby…or the baby’s mother.” He hugged Izzy close. “I don’t mind giving my opinion on the radio, hanging out at Preds games here in town, but I won’t be flying out of town in the middle of the night and I certainly will not sit in the manager’s office ever again.”
Only Izzy saw the shadow of a dark memory pass over Quinn’s face.
“Oh come on! I was going to use your place to impress my lady when you were on the road!” Benny kissed Cat on the cheek. “Seriously, all I’ve got going for me is the fact that my best friend is a former NHL player with a super cool apartment I can break into. Now you’re staying in town all the time? I’m doomed!”
Everyone laughed.
“Benny, you possess the one thing I find irresistible.” Cat giggled. “You have the ability to recite every line to ‘The Princess Bride.’ With the correct accents. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t need anything else.”
They started kissing, and there was jovial groan of disapproval.
“Okay, so you’re not taking the job. But there’s still that sweet check, Aunt Iz. What are you going to do with all that?”
Izzy gave Quinn a soft smile. “The day of the charity event, Quinn talked about skating on fresh ice. I think a lot about how easy it would be if Quinn and I just kept the money and lived like rich celebrities.”
“So easy,” Benny murmured. “I get calls every day at the station, people wanting to book you for interviews, for exhibitions.”
“Right. But the thing is, we know what makes us happy, and it has nothing to do with a big time job or having our names in the papers.”
“We’ve been there.” Quinn’s voice was low.
�
��So, after talking it over with Jenna, a third of this we’ll split between Make-A-Wish and Aubri Brown. A third of it,” she patted Jenna’s hand, “I’m keeping aside for Jenna. I want you to have everything you need to be exactly what you want to be.” Izzy gave Jenna a one-armed embrace.
“And the rest?” Mikayla leaned forward. Cat and Benny followed suit.
“We happen to know the coffee shop could use a new roof.” Quinn nodded to Cat.
“And we’ve arranged with Collier to buy out his partners at the rink.” Izzy smiled. “That happiest I ever was when I was a kid were the hours I spent in that place. I’d like to buy it, fix it up a bit, and Quinn and I can give lessons. Not big coaching for future Olympians. I want to give all kinds of kids the same love of the ice that we have. I think it would be a good place for a little one to grow up, too.” She patted her stomach. She wasn’t showing, yet, but the flutter of life within her was undeniable.
There was a smattering of applause around the table.
Quinn cleared his throat. “Benny, there is one other thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Izzy and I are going to be traveling for about a month, maybe two. I’ll need you to house sit my place. Starting now.”
With a loud whooping cry, Benny pushed Cat off his lap, leaped out of his chair, and, taking her by the hand, ran out the door without saying goodbye.
“Um, are they coming back?” Mikayla watched as Benny’s car skidded out of the parking lot.
Quinn laughed out loud. “Probably not. Remind me to burn the mattress and the couch, when we get home.”
“So, Mom, where are you going?”
Izzy shrugged. “Here, there. We’re going to visit some of Quinn’s family.”
“Mend some fences.”
“We don’t know if everything is going to have a happy ending,” Izzy closed her eyes, trying to shut out the image of her parents, “but we are going to spend the next several weeks trying.”
The girls left the coffee shop an hour later after the conversation and coffee had run out. Izzy locked the front door behind them, and turned out the lights while Quinn waited for her on the stairs.
Backlit by the hall light, Izzy could only see Quinn as a dark outline. She knew he was watching her, as he always did. He watched over her, and that simple thought was enough to make her tingle.
As she crossed the darkened coffee shop to his waiting embrace, Izzy knew she was skating on a sheet of unending, perfect ice, toward a partner who would never let her fall. She didn’t need any applause or judge’s score to tell her everything was perfect.
Acknowledgments
I have to thank Linda Schmalz, my dear critique partner, who made me tear this book down to the foundations and build it back the right way. Thank you to Kelly Moran, whose critiques gave me “fresh eyes” on the project. (And I still haven’t stopped laughing about that.) Thank you to Kelly, also, for the magnificent cover art!
Thank you to my cousin Jill Frick, who insisted I have a hockey player in one of my books. Thank you to former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, for answering the phone and giving me Quinn Murray. Thank you to my coworker and friend, TJ Noll who only thinks he grossed me out with his tales of shoulder dislocations.
Thank you to the New Minstrel Revue, whose song “Thank You for Asking” inspired more pages of the book than I can count. For more information on this fantastic, talented, group of musicians, http://www.jbradleycollier.com/pages/newminstrel.html.
Thank you also, to Amy and the rest of the team at 52 Novels, for the gentle guidance through the mysterious waters of e-publishing!
Finally, I’m a writer, but I’m also a mother and the research I did for this book touched my mother’s heart. For more information about how you can support the magnificent charities mentioned in this book, here are the web addresses:
Aubri Brown Club http://www.theaubribrownclub.org/
Make-A-Wish http://www.wish.org/
About the Author
Sarah J. Bradley
SARAH is a lifelong Upper Midwest girl who lives with her husband, her two children, and her four rescue cats in Wisconsin. When not writing, Sarah follows both the NFL and the NHL religiously, searches for restaurants with great soup, and attends Rick Springfield concerts. “Fresh Ice” is her third novel.
ALSO BY SARAH J. BRADLEY
“Dream in Color”
ASIN: B003I84N04
ISBN-10: 1601545622
ISBN-13: 978-1601545626
Ramona Simms is in a rut, her life at a standstill. She is single and over the hill according to her overbearing mother. Her job is beyond tedious and the boss is a tyrant. Instead of a husband, Ramona comes home to a dog with gas. The closest candidate for Prince Charming is Neil, the guy from around the corner and someone she’s known her whole life. When Ramona discovers her childhood rock heartthrob Jesse Alexander is coming out of retirement for a summer tour, she decides to change her life to reach for the dream of love and music. Can Ramona turn her nightmare into the stuff of dreams, and make those dreams a reality?
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ASIN: B0056VBVH4
ISBN-10: 1463695187
ISBN-13: 978-1463695187
Shara Brandt doesn’t know how she wound up, beaten and exhausted, on a creek bank behind a school in rural Rock Harbor. She has no idea who murdered her grandmother. What she does know is she has one chance to learn the truth about Lydia’s murder, to clear her own name, and to be safe from a past that haunts her. That chance is to live a borrowed life under the alias “Bethany Elias.”
Emotionally bruised after his ugly divorce, Bryan Jacobs doesn’t believe in trusting anyone with his heart. He certainly doesn’t trust the newcomer, Bethany. He is convinced she could be the heiress wanted for murder. Most of all, he doesn’t trust the faint stirring of something deep in his soul each time he sees her.
It is their search for truth that will bond them or shatter them, but only if they are willing to take a chance.
Fresh Ice Page 28