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“Hey, Belle?”
“Yeah?”
“You said before that you’re here for me.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
“I guess I thought you’d be here for you. You’d get to compete at a high level again.”
“I’m both looking forward to and am terrified at the prospect.” She laughed a little.
“Terrified?”
“It’s been a while. I know I’m rusty. I guess I’m here for that, too, but mainly for you. I thought you knew that.”
Chandler shook her head and asked, “Why? I was a bitch to you when we were kids.”
“You weren’t at first,” Belle replied. “I don’t know what would’ve happened had those girls not walked in on us, but I like to think about it sometimes.”
“You do?” Chandler asked, looking surprised.
“Yeah. I guess I think we would’ve at least talked about it. You would’ve told me it was some experiment or a mistake or something because you don’t like girls. I would’ve been devastated, and we would’ve gone home for the day, back on the ice the next.”
Chandler looked confused and said, “Right.”
“My point is that it hurt a lot, what happened, but I get it now. Mob mentality. And we were teenage girls. I know how it can be, getting sucked into that.”
“So, I’m forgiven?”
“Yeah, you are,” Belle replied. “I’m here to compete again, but I won’t mess this up for you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Cat was.”
“I see.”
“I wasn’t. I spoke up for you; said you wouldn’t do anything to screw this up for me.” Chandler looked proud in that moment, which made Belle smile at her.
“Well, thanks for protecting my honor.”
“I didn’t do it back then, so it’s about time, right? Should we maybe pause this trip down memory lane and get to work?”
“Yes. The faster we get to work, the sooner I can get real coffee.”
CHAPTER 14
“Okay. Belle, you have to be able to lift her at the waist. We’re going to start with just the lift.”
“I can lift her just fine,” Belle replied to Catalina.
“On land, maybe,” Catalina argued.
They were standing on the padded part of the rink, which was at the back, beyond the ice, and it had thick padding on the floor as well as some up the walls to be extra safe. There was also an in-floor trampoline several feet away where they’d practice jumps and flips that Chandler was doing for the first time before they did them on the ice. Today, Chandler and Belle had skipped the run and the workout with the trainer and had, instead, woken at four, eaten a quick early breakfast, and had been told to deposit themselves on the pads by Catalina.
“If you can’t lift her on the ice, we’ve got a problem.”
“Then, let’s put her on the ice and see if I can lift her,” Belle suggested.
“How about we see what you can do off the ice first? Let’s just do a quick lift-up and then hold her for as long as you can.”
