Page 47 of Christmas on Ice
“Yeah, Trask, why?” Marsha grinned from behind her brother.
“Don’t you start, Marsh. Because… Because I like your mom a lot, Ryleigh.”
“Hmm.” She turned to Mylee. “I don’t know about this.”
Trask’s lips twitched. “Well, I do, and I think it’s great. And I think you’re pretty great, too.” She beamed back at me, and her approval meant everything.
Mylee began jumping and pulled on Trask’s sleeve. “Uncle Trask! Listen! It’s our song! You can’t dance with Ryleigh’s mommy toour song!”
“That would not be a good idea.” I winked at him, familiar with New Kids on the Block’s “My Favorite Girl.”
“Pick me up, Uncle Trask!”
I took Ryleigh back to the table as Trask danced with his niece, singing the words to her. He was full of surprises.
“Mommy, your purse is wiggly,” Ryleigh said.
I opened it to find my phone buzzing with a call from Bonnie Spencer. I swiped to turn it off. I checked my messages. Three missed texts from Sutton and two from his mother.
No, thanks. I’d read them tomorrow. Maybe. I let Sutton ruin enough of my day already.
I put my phone back into my purse and pulled Ryleigh onto my lap to watch Trask and Mylee, who were now the only people on the dance floor.
“I fixed it. Are you getting tired, Ryleigh?”
“No.” After she said it, she yawned.
I hugged her close, and we just sat there, content, until Trask, Mylee, Marsha, and Chad returned to the table.
“Ryleigh! They’re going to cut the cake!” Mylee said. “Auntie Brooklyn said we can help!”
Ryleigh jumped from my lap. I smiled shyly at Trask, and he lowered himself into the seat next to me. “New Kids, huh?”
“My mama’s a Blockhead.” He shrugged.
I giggled. We watched the cake-cutting, and I ignored the buzzing coming from my purse. When I saw Kassidy heading toward our table with a troubled expression, I was suddenly filled with a sense of dread. Her face was tight, and I knew it was somehow related to the calls I wasn’t answering.
She sat down next to me in Ryleigh’s vacant chair. I felt Trask lean in behind me, and his hand found mine. He must have felt it too.
“What is it?” I whispered, bracing myself.
“Um, I just spoke with Graham. The fire department just pulled Sutton’s old truck out of Shaftesbury Pond. He was racing Scooter Hodges, and he went off the bridge…”
I stared at her and gripped Trask’s hand as tight as I could. My marriage and love for Sutton ended long ago, but he gave me Ryleigh. He was still her father, and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. “Is he …is he…?”
She shook her head. “He’s alive, but he swallowed a lot of water before Scooter could get to him and pull him out. A few broken ribs. He’s at the hospital … in a coma.”
My free hand flew to my mouth as my stomach roiled. I couldn’t believe this was happening. What happened if he died?
And what was I going to tell Ryleigh?
25
Trask
“Tell me how I can help. Can I bring you to the hospital?”
Kami shuddered and didn’t answer.
