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"I see."
Her mother did not see. "Did you watch the game?"
"I did not. Your father flew in tonight."
Amber felt that twinge of excitement she always did when her dad was mentioned. "He did? So he's going to be there for my performance tomorrow night?"
"Of course he is. We thought perhaps you might like to have breakfast with us tomorrow morning."
"I'd love to. I have practice at nine a.m. Is seven thirty too early?"
"No, that'll be fine. Where would you like to meet?"
Amber named a restaurant just outside the village.
"We'll be there. So you're going to sleep now?"
"As soon as I get back to the apartment, yes." Though she was so hyped up from the game, she doubted she'd fall asleep for a while.
"That's good. You need your rest. Tomorrow is a big day."
"Yes, it is. I'm very excited about it."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Amber."
"Sure, Mom. I'll see you then."
She hung up and tucked her phone back in her pocket.
Will had such an amazing night. She was so thrilled for him.
Hopefully she'd have an equally great night tomorrow. She was so excited about her skate tomorrow, she wished she could will away the next several hours. She was ready now.
Seeing them place that medal around Will's neck, watching that smile on his face, motivated her like nothing ever had.
She wanted that gold medal. And she intended to get it.
Tomorrow.
TWENTY-SEVEN
"HOW'S WORK, DAD?"
Her father looked up from his phone, then smiled at her. "Oh. Busy, like always. Just picked up a new client in Manhattan. Prestigious one, too. They have branches all up and down the eastern seaboard, so it'll require some travel, but worth it."
He resumed scrolling through his e-mails.
"Great."
Amber waited, but he hadn't once asked about her or how she was doing, or comment on her short program. Had he even watched it? Surely he had. She hoped he had.
She started to ask, then stopped herself, tapping her fingernails on the table of the restaurant where she was having breakfast with her parents.
"You sure you feel prepared enough? That you've practiced enough?"
Amber tried not to be offended by her mother's questions. "Yes, Mom. I'm totally ready for this. If I could have skated last night, I would have. I'm very excited."
"That's good. You know how nervous I get before you skate."
Her mom was always way more nervous about her skating performances than Amber was. "It'll be fine. I intend to be amazing."
"You're always amazing," her dad said without looking up from his phone.
"Thanks, Dad." At least she knew he'd been listening. Or at least partially listening, which was more likely.
"And how are your . . . friends?"
Her mother had used the word "friends" like one would ask "And how is your rotting garbage?" She'd even grimaced. Then again, Mom had never been one to mask her displeasure.
"My friends are awesome, Mom. We hang out together all the time."
"And this Will person that you seem to focus on. Is he what you might call a . . . boyfriend?"
And "boyfriend" was referred to along the lines of some kind of growth that her mother would like removed from her daughter immediately. Amber would have laughed if it wasn't so freaking irritating.
"I don't know. We haven't defined our relationship yet."
Her dad lifted his head from his phone. "Wait. What? You're in a relationship with a boy?"
"He's hardly a boy, Dad. You do realize I'm twenty-four."
Her father slid his glasses down his nose. "You are? When did that happen?"
She laughed. "I don't know. The past twenty-four years?"
He took his glasses off and laid them on the table on top of his phone, then looked her over. "So it did. And you might be dating a guy. Did you hear that, Denise? Our baby girl has a boyfriend."
Her mother wrinkled her nose. "She did not say 'boyfriend.' Either way, it's not a good idea for Amber to be seeing anyone."
"Why not? It's good for her to get out and meet new people, date some guys, have some fun."
Mom looked at Dad. "Oh, really, Alan. Right before the biggest performance of her career, you think she should be carousing with some guy, out 'til all hours, doing God knows what?"
Her dad shot her an open-mouthed shocked look meant to make fun of her mother.
"Oh, my God, Amber," he said. "Are you carousing?"
Amber bit down on her lip to keep from laughing. "I'm not carousing. Promise."
"Go ahead and laugh at me," her mother said. "But when you lose focus and fall on the ice tonight, don't blame me. Blame the guy you've given all your attention to. And your friends."
"Denise," her dad said. "That's uncalled for."
Her mother threw up her hands. "What am I supposed to say? That we've spent the majority of Amber's life preparing her for this moment, and it's okay that she throws it all away because suddenly she wants to go have some fun?"
Her dad gave her mother a look, then turned his focus to Amber. "Have you been practicing?"
"Every day."
"How do you feel about your program?"
"Solid."
"And your chances of winning gold?"
She smiled at her dad. "I feel really good about it, Dad."
He turned back to Amber's
mother. "Relax, Denise. Let our daughter enjoy herself a little. She's been working her entire life for this. She's also an adult now. Give her the chance to prove she knows what she's doing."
Her father had been the busiest man she'd ever known. He'd often missed some of her critical performances. Sometimes he was off in his own world, focused on his work.
But when he was on and with her, he was really with her.
"Thanks, Dad."
Her mother, on the other hand, had been with her every step of the way.
And it was still hard as hell to get her mom to believe in her.
And it broke her heart.
TWENTY-EIGHT
AMBER HAD TWO HOURS TO KILL BEFORE SHE HAD TO report to the ice arena. Lisa and Blake had gone down the mountain today, but Lisa told her they'd be back in time to see her performance.
Will had some media interviews this afternoon, but they'd talked on the phone this morning. He'd told her he'd see her before she went on tonight. She just didn't know when or if he'd even make it on time. Often interviews went longer than expected. Which would be fine. She didn't have to see him.
So when there was a knock on her door, she had no idea who it was. She went to the door and looked out the peephole, her heart squeezing when she saw Will standing outside. She quickly opened the door and threw herself into his arms.
"I didn't expect to see you," she said.
He put his arms around her and hugged her tight.
"Hey, I told you I'd see you."
They walked into the apartment and she shut the door. "But I know how interviews go and they often run longer than expected."
He took off his coat and laid it on the hook by the door. "Yeah, these were about to do that, but I asked our rep to get them wrapped up. I had a very important appointment."
"Oh, you did?"
"Yeah." He led her over to her sofa and sat, then pulled her onto his lap. "My lady has a big night. I needed to see her before she goes on and wows the crowd with her skating."
She inhaled a deep breath. She kissed him, a long, slow kiss meant to convey how she felt about him. When she pulled back, she smiled. "Congratulations on last night. It was epic."
"It kind of was, wasn't it? I can't even put into words how it felt. It was a hard game."
"Yes, it was. It was so tense, and when Canada went up by two goals, I realized it was going to be a rough comeback for your team."
He rubbed his hand over her hip, causing skitters of delightful goose bumps to break out all over.
