Page 32 of Christmas on Ice
“You’re welcome. Hey, Suz, will you be here later for the public skate?”
“Oh yeah. My family is going to be here till the fireworks!”
“That’s great,” I said. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”
She leaned her head closer to mine. “Oooh, is it a girlfriend?”
“No,” I said too quickly. Although I liked the sound of calling Kami my girlfriend, it had been a long time since I thought of anyone in that way. I hadn’t wanted to invest in anyone who didn’t want to invest in me. “Just a friend and her little girl. I don’t think Ryleigh—the little girl; she’s only three—has skated before, and I thought you could give her some pointers.”
“Oh! Yes, of course!”
“Cool.” I tapped her skate. “All set.”
When the session was over, I dropped her off with her parents in the lobby. I grabbed a couple of slices of pizza from the concession stand and debated waiting around or heading back to the basketball gym. That would make it obvious I was waiting for Kami, though. I didn’t want to spook her.
* * *
Susieand I waited by the benches near the skate rental for Kami and Ryleigh. “There they are,” I pointed to the automatic doors. “Pink coats.” Both were bundled up in puffy pink jackets.
Kami and her mini-me. It surprised me when I found myself getting choked up.
“I’m on it!” Susie, skates on and all, rushed up to them and began talking emphatically with her hands and pointing to her feet. Kami glanced up, and I waved. She raised a brow and bent down to talk to the girls. Susie took Ryleigh’s hand and led her to the counter, presumably to get her skates.
As Kami approached, I could feel my smile getting wider.
“Are you sure about this? Susie told me she has a prosthetic?”
“One hundred percent. Ryleigh’s in good hands. Do you know Ginny Kriz?”
She nodded. “Alexei’s wife? She was an Olympic skater, right?”
“She was. Susie took private lessons with her before Alexei got traded to Montana. She wants to be a paralympian.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. Are her parents here? I’d like to meet them.”
“They’re in the bleachers. Susie says they make her nervous if they’re on the ice with her. They’re a little overprotective.”
“Can’t blame them.” She turned back towards the counter as the girls headed over. Susie held Ryleigh’s hand and her skates.
“Mr. Tiggerman! Susie is going to teach me, so you don’t have to. Right, Susie?”
“Right.” She grinned and handed the skates to me. “You can teach her mom.” She gave me an overexaggerated wink.
I snorted and knelt down in front of Ryleigh. “Looks like you need to get some skates, too, Kami.”
Kami frowned. “I was planning to watch. I’m soooo bad. I think you hockey players would call me a bender?”
I chuckled as I slid Ryleigh’s foot into a skate and pictured Kami trying to skate with her ankles bent. “I’m sure you’re not that bad.”
“Southern girl, remember?”How could I forget?
I looked up at Kami. “I got you.”
Our eyes locked for a second before she nodded and walked away to get her skates. I exhaled a long breath. “All right, Ry. Let me help you stand up.”
She slid off the bench and leaned from one foot to the next, her face screwing up into a pinch. “These feel funny.”
“You’ll get used to it, Ryleigh,” Susie said. “Trask, can you carry her onto the ice? I can take it from there.”
