AllFreeNovel
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She gave up all her dreams for us. For me.
“Do that thing where you spin in the air,” Archer calls out.
In one fluid movement, she turns so she’s skating backward, facing Archer. “Like an axel?”
“Yeah, or that other one.” He waves a hand. “Salad chow.”
Her laughter, bright and effervescent, reverberates through the chilled air.
Despite the fact that my world is falling apart—again—I smile at the sound.
I stop, leaning my elbows on the partition.
Finley’s speed increases as she flows across the ice, one foot sliding effortlessly in front of the other. In one seamless movement she dips and spins, and my heart lodges somewhere in my throat.
It’s not only her talent, but also her presence on the ice. She’s pure joy. I can’t take my eyes off her.
Neither can Archer.
Open adoration emanates from his every pore as he watches her. He really loves her.
A pinch of jealousy twinges in my stomach. It’s not that I’m not over the moon for Finley and Archer, because I am. I love Finley more than anything, and her happiness means the world to me.
I thought Blake would be the person to look at me like that, like I hung the stars and moon.
An image flashes in my mind of Luke from the other night when he shared about his anger after Kevin’s death, the way the light from the fire played over his features and the depth of understanding in his eyes. I slice at the thoughts. That way lies madness.
Finley spots me and waves. “Hey.” She skates over, coming to a skidding halt in front of me, a smile spreading on her face. “You want to go get lunch? Taylor is meeting me here in a few—" her brows dip, the smile disappearing. “What’s wrong?”
I never could hide my feelings from Finley.
I shake my head, my eyes darting to Archer, walking toward us.
She glances behind her as Archer approaches the railing. “Hey, Mindy.”
He scans her face and then says, “I’m going to go meet Jake at the paintball course. I’ll see you back at the house?”
She nods, tilting her head back.
He leans over to brush his lips against hers.
I gaze over at the bottom row of seats to the right.
“Bye Mindy,” he calls out over his shoulder, exiting the rink through one of the half-door exits on the other side.
“Bye.”
Finley tilts her head to one side. “Let’s go over to the bench.”
She takes off and I follow the path along the railing and meet her at the sitting area.
She plops down on a bench, leaning over to tug on the laces of her skates. “Tell me what’s going on. You look like someone ran over your signed vinyl ofAbbey Road.”
“Jerry bailed. The producer.”
Her eyes widen. “He was supposed to be here this weekend. The cabin and everything is ready; I turned on the heat this morning.”
“Not anymore. So we won’t need that cabin. Feel free to shut it back down.”
