Page 39 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
“Who’s ready for a snack?” Theo says.
“Me!” the kids shout in unison. I lead them back up to the house, and Theo and I help them out of their winter outwear. While Theo gets them seated in the living room, I get to work plating up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot apple cider.
While the kids chat and eat, Theo and I stand at the kitchen island and drink mugs of tea.
“You were pretty adorable out there,” I say to him.
He chuckles and quirks a thick sandy blond eyebrow. “Adorable, huh?”
I laugh. “I just mean that you were really great with the kids. Music conga line skate has become a favorite activity.”
“It was your idea. I owe it all to you.” He grins at me. There go my limbs feeling weak again.
Just then one of the kids stands up and looks over at us.
“You want another sandwich square, Parker?” I ask.
“Yes, please!”
Theo walks over and drops off another square for him. He asks what kind of hockey tricks they feel like working on after snack time, and Annabelle is the first to answer.
“I wanna do a spin holding two hockey sticks!” she says.
“Yeah, that sounds fun!” Parker says.
A couple of other kids complain that they don’t know how to do a spin.
“It’s okay, I can show you,” I say.
Theo squints at me. “Really? I thought you were terrible at those,” he teases.
I tilt my head at him. “I know when to mess around and when to get serious.”
“Well, damn. Show me up then, Coach Maya,” he says with a smirk.
“Coach Theo. You shouldn’t say that word. It’s naughty,” Sloane says in a low, scolding voice.
I bite back a chuckle as I watch Theo fight a smile. “You’re right, Sloane. I’m sorry. I won’t say it again,” he says in a sweet but serious tone. “How about when we finish up, we’ll head back down and Coach Maya can show us her spins?”
All the kids excitedly agree, which makes me happy. Maybe it’s silly, but it feels really good to have a group of kids look up to me who are so eager to learn.
Twenty minutes later we’re back at the pond, and I’m helping a few kids spin on their ice skates.
“Wow, look at you all go! Amazing job!” I cheer them on. I look up and catch Theo watching me.
“So cute,” he mouths to me, and I chuckle. I look over at the kids around me and he’s right, it’s pretty darn cute to see a handful of children spinning in their ice skates.
Camp ends that day in the adorable chaos of five little kids rotating like spin tops while holding and dropping hockey sticks.
“Incredible, guys! Stellar stick skills for sure,” Theo cheers.
Sloane’s twin sister wobbles on her skates, loses grip of her stick, and it goes flying, nearly hitting Theo in the leg, but he jumps to the side just in time.
I double over in laughter.
Theo chuckles. “Whoa. You almost took me out there, Emerson. Did you learn that move from your dad? You should think about taking up hockey.”
Theo and I cheer them on until the end of the camp, then lead them back up to the house to get them ready for pickup. A weather alert pops up on my phone, forecasting rain tomorrow.
