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“Do you know what that is?” Evie asks Tillie.
“No.”
“What does that little sign say?” Evie points to the wooden rectangle at one end.
“It says ‘Tillie’s Ice Rink.’” Her eyes light up.
“This is synthetic ice and it can be used year round. I was thinking I could teach you how to skate. Would you like that?”
“Yes! Can we skate now?” She bounces on her toes.
“We can. I’ve got skates for you, and Three too. And I’m pretty sure your grandpa brought his skates too.”
“Mommy, will you help me put them on?” she asks.
“Of course,” Evie agrees. “Why don’t you and Three go sit down on one of the benches and we’ll grab your skates.”
“Okay.” Tillie grabs Three’s hand and the two of them run over to the edge of the rink. Tillie bends down to touch the synthetic ice and then Three does the same. I can see them jabbering away about it, but we can’t hear what they’re saying.
I find skates for Tillie and hand Three’s over to Levi. “Thanks, man. This is going to be a big hit with the little man.”
“There are helmets for the kids in that bin.” I point.
“I’ll grab them each one,” Levi says.
Ryan comes over. “This is awesome. A little extravagant but awesome.”
“Yeah, I probably should’ve run this by you and Evie, but I was so excited about it, I forgot to. Honestly, it’s been all I could do to hold off on trying it out before today.”
“It’s all good. You’re going to teach her to skate on it so…” He shrugs. “Do you have any skates that’ll fit me?”
“Dude, I have about thirty pairs for you to choose from. There’s a cabinet on the back patio loaded with them.”
Glancing over at Evie, I see her lacing up Tillie’s skates. Three is on the bench next to her and Leah is helping him out.
Picking up the bag with my skates, I bring it over to the second bench. Coach sits down next to me.
“We can practice 3-on-3’s here from now on,” he jokes.
“Don’t laugh, but I already thought of that,” I say.
“I would’ve killed for one of these as a kid,” he says.
“Right? Me too. I would’ve practiced for hours.” I stand up on the synthetic surface and it feels better than the old acrylic ice I’ve tried before. This one is supposed to be self lubricating, making it closer to the real thing than any before it. It’s still not exactly the same. I can’t produce as much power with each stroke that I normally do. It’s a little sluggish, but it’s pretty fucking cool to be skating outside when it’s eighty-five degrees and sunny.
Coach steps onto the ice too. “This feels decent. Better than skating on a pond.”
“For sure. No holes or twigs to avoid either.”
Evie helps Tillie stand up on the ice. I skate over to her.
“How does it feel?”
She giggles. “Weird. I feel tall.”
I laugh. She’s right. It’s a bit of an adjustment to get used to that feeling.
Levi gets Three on the ice next to Tillie.
