Again, she blinked and looked out over the group of boys, actively ignoring her like she didn’t matter to them. “No.” She looked back up at me and stood an inch taller. “But I want to beat them.”
Five minutes ago, I couldn’t have told you what Emmie Blake looked like, let alone what she was capable of doing on the ice. And here I was, ready to commit myself to helping her prove that the people who were supposed to be nurturing her natural-born interest and talent were the ones unworthy — not her.
“Then we practice,” I nodded to her. “Hard. Every Friday.”
Emmie’s face lit up slightly, but she reined it in to give me a hard glare. “You’re going to help me? Why?”
I gnashed my molars to keep from calling her out for being as stubborn as her mother when someone offered help. “Because you deserve to have someone that will,” I said as the coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of practice. “And when you’re far better than everyone else, they’ll have no choice but to put you in.”
“Thanks,” she said almost wistfully before skating off to the locker room.
She wasn’t one to fuss over stuff, apparently, and I kind of liked that. I recognized that.
Instead of heading back into the locker room to take my skates off, I headed to the bench where Frankie paced, waiting for me.
“What happened? What did she say?” She rapid-fired the second my skate touched the rubber mat. “Why do they think it’s okay to treat her that way?”
I leaned back against the boards, eyeing her up. She looked frazzled and tired, but in the same breath, she was still strikingly beautiful. She had always been, even when she was younger.
Age didn’t dampen that at all, even if life tried to wear it out of her.
“I’m going to talk to Rick. Carter doesn’t have what it takes to run that team, and if I can’t get him to realize that, then I’ll coach Emmie myself,” I said, and Frankie stopped pacing suddenly, staring at me like I had four heads.
“Why—”
“I swear to God, woman,” I groaned, holding my hand up and cutting her off. “Just say thank you and feed that kid something with protein for dinner. I’m going to blow her over with my bad attitude if you don’t.”
I wasn’t sure why, but that seemed to catch her off guard and irritate her. Instead of snapping at me like she always did with the guys when she was at the bar, she simply nodded her head curtly. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Frankie!” Stew, the crotchety old man who ran the snack bar across the rink, yelled over the PA system for the whole place to hear. “Toby’s treating the nacho cheese machine like adrinking fountain again! Get your damn kid before I sell him to the circus!”
Frankie audibly sighed and picked up her bag. “I have to go.”
Before I could say anything, she walked away toward the snack bar, slinging her arm over Emmie’s shoulders on her way by the locker room, and I stood there, watching.
Why? I couldn’t tell you.
But my feet didn’t move again until I watched her pick up a squirming, cackling little boy with a cheese-wiz smile off the counter and carry him off under her arm like a football toward the exit.
Only then did I tear myself away from the sight of her and her family, and head toward the office I already knew Rick would still be in, pretending to work while he watched hockey on TV.
The Tiny Tots coaching crew was in desperate need of restructuring.
And he was the man to get it done.
“I needyour help next Friday night.” I said as I finished sanding a cabinet door.
My best friend looked up from his spot across from me, working on his own door. “What’s her name?” Eli winked and took a drink of beer before going back to sanding. “I mean, it’s been a hot minute since we tag-teamed?—”
“Shut up.” I cursed, second-guessing even involving him in the whole thing, but I was up a shit creek and needed help. “I’m coaching the Tots on Fridays from now on, and I need someone out there with actual fucking skills if I have a hope or a prayer of making something useful out of the time committed.”
Eli stopped mid-sanding stroke and stared at me. “You’re what?” He laid the wood down, leaned on the bench, blinking at me. “The Tots? Are you fucking nuts?”
“Yes.” I replied instantly, and his mouth snapped shut in shock. “But I have a damn good reason.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear this.” He grabbed his beer and waited expectantly.
