AllFreeNovel
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“So, tell me more about you,” Chandler said.
“Me? Don’t you already know everything about me?”
“No. I don’t think anyone can know everything about another person.”
Belle nodded and said, “Okay. Well, what do you want to know?”
“We said we’d catch up if you didn’t agree to this whole partner thing, so let’s catch up.”
“In more detail than we already have?”
“Yes, Belle.”
Belle wiped her hands on a napkin and reached for the bacon maple doughnut.
“Okay. Take a bite of this, and you can ask me anything you want.”
“I only eat turkey bacon.”
“Because you don’t eat pork?”
“Yes.”
“Because Cat told you not to, or because you don’t like it or don’t want it yourself?”
Chandler shook her head and took the doughnut from her. Then, she took a bite and chewed.
“Happy?” she asked as she finished.
“Yes. Are you?”
“Yes. Bacon is delicious. And now, I get to ask you anything I want.”
“Go for it. I’m not really all that interesting.”
“Did you really not think about competing after you left? Just because you weren’t in the program anymore doesn’t mean you had to quit.”
“I did, though.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t happy skating anymore. I told you that. After what happened… happened, I needed some time away from it.”
“But you’d put so much work and time into it.”
“Yeah, but even at fourteen and, I guess, fifteen, I knew that it wasn’t worth it if it wasn’t making me happy. My parents taught me that much. Plus, you know my mom was sick. I needed to focus on her.”
“What did she have?”
“Cancer. She got sick right before I left. Before our kiss. Actually, I’d just found out. They told me the weekend before, I think.”
“Jesus, Belle. I did that to you right after you found out that your mom was dying?”
“She wasn’t dying then.” Belle took another bite of her doughnut. “I guess she was, but we didn’t know that yet. She had a treatment plan, and the doctor was optimistic in the beginning. After I left, we moved to be closer to the hospital where they were treating her, and that’s when things got worse. It wasn’t long after that. When she died, Dad and I only had each other. He was aimless for a minute until he found the Ice Park, which was in foreclosure and literally falling apart. He took out a massive loan that I’m still not sure how he got approved for, but he’s worked hard, and it’s doing great now.” Belle took a drink of her coffee. “I guess after I lost my mom, I finished high school at an actual school and not with tutors. I got into a few colleges but decided not to go because I had a job already. A career, really, because I technically own part of the park, thanks to my dad, and I’m going to run it myself whenever he decides to retire. So, I didn’t need school. That’s my story.”
“Not the whole thing,” Chandler said and took another bite of her own doughnut.
“What did I miss?”
