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“So bossy,” I mumble, making the girls laugh as I look over and realize that he’s the only one who really expects nothing from me. Eddie expects me not to talk bad about his son. He expects me to protect his reputation. Everyone expects me to be okay and be my old self. But Christopher doesn’t expect me to be anything or say anything. He just wants to know if I need help and what he can do to help me. I then look at my flowers and put something on my list for myself.
CHAPTER NINE
christopher
“Did I do good?” Rain asks as we get off the ice. The doors to the Zamboni open for it to take the ice, and I see a couple of kids waiting to get on the ice. “I didn’t fall a lot,” she says, proud of herself.
“You didn’t,” I agree with her. “You were born to skate,” I mumble as I help Luna step up to go to the changing rooms.
“Me too?” Luna asks as she walks to where Koda sits.
“You too,” I answer her.
“Mommy, I was born to skate,” Luna repeats to her as she smiles at her. She sat behind the bench the whole time while we were on the ice. It took Luna about twenty minutes before she felt confident enough to release the metal bar. Then she fell four times in a row and took it back, but Rain got better every single time she got back up.
“I know,” she says, getting up, “the both of you did so good.”
“Next time, you could come with us,” Luna invites as we walk toward the changing room.
“Umm,” Koda hesitates, “I don’t know.”
“Can we come back,” Rain asks when she takes off her helmet, “tomorrow?”
“Whenever your mom says it’s okay.” I throw it back to Koda, who stares at me, and it looks a little like a glare.
“Let’s check our schedule,” she deflects before she squats down in front of Luna, helping her untie her skates. Rain already has hers off and is drinking the Gatorade I got them as soon as I got into the rink.
We walk out of the rink with me holding the bags while Koda holds the girls’ hands. When she called me on the phone and asked where to take the girls skating, I knew exactly where to take them. I called up Guy, who owns the place, and he said to come right in, but I would have to leave by seven because the ice was rented. It’s the same arena I train at in the summer with my family. “Buckle in,” Koda states while I put the bags in the trunk. I slam the trunk at the same time as she closes the back door. We head back to her house, and Luna is practically sleeping by the time I unbuckle her.
“In the bath and then bed,” Koda says to her, and she just mumbles as she walks into the house, heading for the stairs. “Say thank you to Uncle Christopher.”
“Thank you, Uncle Chrissy,” Luna mumbles, not even looking over her shoulder as she holds the railing to the stairs, lifting the other hand to say goodbye.
“Thank you, Uncle Christopher,” Rain says to me, hugging me around the waist. I bend to kiss the top of her head before she skips off.
“Thank you again,” Koda adds, and I nod to her and walk out the door. I wait an hour before I text her to see if she’s up.
Me: Hey, are you up? I want to ask you something.
Koda: No.
I laugh at her dry humor, and instead of texting her, I call her. I don’t even know if she will answer me, and I’m more than a little surprised when she does. “Wow, she answers.”
“But did I?” She laughs, and I can hear the television in the background playing from her end, and I wonder if she’s watching another Sandra Bullock movie. “Maybe it’s your imagination.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m not going to question it.” I get up and make my way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. “What do you think about putting Rain in hockey classes?”
“What?”
“Like, signing her up to be on a hockey team.” I walk out of the kitchen, turning off the lights and heading to my bedroom. “She’s really, really good, and she likes it.”
“You don’t think maybe she should do figure skating?”
“Wow, sexist much?” I put the glass of water down on the bedside table. “I have nieces who play hockey and are better than some of the guys.”
“Yeah, but—” she says. “I don’t know.”
“I can ask a couple of the guys,” I suggest. “Maybe call Guy and ask about a house league.”
