Page 74 of Hearts on Ice
Colby didn’t care. She wasn’t giving up.
“Twenty seven times, Colby, really?”
“Were you just sitting there watching the calls rack up?”
“I was in the shower if you must know.”
“Getting ready for another day of betrayal, is that it?”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. You’re talking about Xavier, right? He knows how to open doors for you that had been locked up tight.”
“You didn’t ask me if I wanted those doors open.”
“The last time we talked, you did. You’re telling me things have changed since then?”
“I’m absolutely telling you things have changed since then. We were back together, Mom. What did you think you making this decision for us was going to do to our relationship?
“Well, I just assumed he knew you had talked about getting a crew.”
“I hadn’t. You talked about it. You and Xavier. I never even talked to Xavier, and now he’s here, and Declan’s pissed.”
“I’m doing what is best for your career.”
“Mom, I’m thirty-three years old. I’m making my own decisions now.”
“That’s worked so well for you in the past.”
Okay, that stung, coming from her own mother. “I’m making different choices now. I want different things.” Her motivations were different. “And I will say it’s showed me what is important. What I really want.”
“What’s that?”
“Declan.”
When Colby walked backinto the lobby, Julia was waiting for her.
“Declan left these for you.” Julia passed over an envelope.
Colby’s heart thudded as she took the envelope and looked inside. At least he hadn’t gone home, packed her clothes and left them here.
“He said he left your car in the lot.”
Colby nodded, not looking at the woman, hoping she would get the hint and move away so Colby could read the note in private. But she didn’t. Colby unfolded the paper, willing her hands not to tremble.
“You can stay in the apartment,” Declan said. “I’ll be at Evan and Meghan’s for a few days. But I’m coming in to work with the kids tomorrow. You can take the rest of the week off.”
He wanted distance from her. She got that. But the pain hit her bone-deep. She supposed it did the same to him, and he needed the time to figure things out. She hated that he was staying with his family, though, since they hated her and would advise him to keep his distance. She wished she could think of just the thing to say to make him talk to her.
But she had no magical fix. She’d broken his trust, again. She just had to think of a way to rebuild it.
And she was going to miss time with Josh and Lexi, when their competition so close. She loved being part of their team, loved watching them improve. She could only imagine how proud Declan was of them, watching them grow since they were eleven, because she was so proud of them after only a couple of months.
So of course she would step back, let him take over. She’d use the time to court other clients, work on other routines. She had already adapted a rejected routine into something she thought could be magical for a more advanced pair. This was going to be her job now, and she needed to focus on it to make her life a success.
Finally.
And while she did that, she would figure out how to make this up to Declan.
CHAPTER 29
