Page 13 of Hearts on Ice
Colby narrowed her eyes. “Of course I do.”
“Hey, we tried to warn you,” Meghan said with a shrug. “Tristan has a sensitive stomach.”
Colby didn’t think she’d ever get the taste out of her mouth. “What do you feed him?”
“Oh, that was probably his afternoon snack at school. I think it’s cheese and crackers and fruit snacks.”
Colby made a face. “What a disgusting combination for a kid with a sensitive stomach.”
Meghan shrugged as she passed a rough towel to Colby. “He likes what he likes. I guess I didn’t take into account that he’d be spun around like a top on the ice today.”
Colby mopped her face and pressed the towel to her hair to absorb some of the water. She did not want to undress right here in front of everyone, especially since her clothes were plastered to her, but she supposed she had no choice.
At least Meghan turned away, and no phones were allowed in the locker room as she struggled out of her wet sweats and underwear, and slipped into the soft fleece sweats Meghan had given her. She tied up her long hair and wadded her clothes into a ball. She didn’t want to put them in her equipment bag to smell that up.
“Do you think I can get a trash bag or something?”
Meghan widened her eyes. “You’re not throwing them out?”
“No, of course not, just sealing them up until I can get to a laundromat.”
Meghan’s mouth twisted and she held out her hand. “Give them to me, I’ll get them cleaned and back to you.”
Colby tightened her grip on her best sweats. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m accustomed to cleaning puke off of stuff. I have the best detergent for that.”
Colby considered a moment longer, then handed over the wet suit. Meghan grimaced, then turned to her daughter, who had remained quiet and wide-eyed the whole time.
“Go ask Uncle Declan for a plastic bag. Or Delia at the counter, if he’s still cleaning up Tristan.”
Colby got a very clear picture of Declan tenderly cleaning up his nephew in the locker room on the other side of this wall. He was a good man, and she’d treated him so badly. Nothing she did could make up for that.
“You’re Colby Martin,” the little girl said. “You’re a gold medal winner.”
Colby looked at the child for a moment, frowning. She would be this child’s aunt if she’d stuck around. She certainly wouldn’t have waited until now to get her out on the ice. “Your uncle is, too.”
“Yes, but you’re famous.”
“So is Declan.”
“But you’re TV and movie famous.”
“Nicole, go get the bag,” Meghan prodded. “Hurry, please.”
The little girl nodded, and pivoted away.
“Great way to meet her,” Colby muttered, twisting her wet hair up into a bun. She didn’t have a brush, didn’t have makeup, and she was going to walk out into the lobby looking like this. Yeah, that would be all over social media, too. “Do you have a hood or something I could put over my head?” She looked into the mirror across the room and grimaced. “A paper bag will do. Or maybe another plastic bag to put me out of my misery.”
“Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Meghan said, exasperated.
“It’s going to be on the entertainment shows tonight for sure.”
“So what?”
Colby turned to face Meghan full-on. “Just because you never cared about what people think of you, doesn’t mean I don’t. And a lot more people pay attention to me.”
Meghan’s mouth tightened. “Hey, I’m being nice to you. Get over yourself. Honestly, I want to see you walk out that door and never come back, leave Declan the hell alone. Why did you have to show back up here? Did you track him down? Did you know these kids were his students when they approached you?”
