Page 52 of Crashing into Love

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Selma replied.

“We’ll see. Hey, how’s Gia? She started that new school thing, right?”

Selma smiled because Drew not only remembered that, but she seemed to always bring Gia up in conversation, which Selma not so secretly loved.

“She’s doing great. I just talked to her. She seems to love it so far.”

“Really? Did she do the drawing class like I thought?”

“It started this week. She said there’s a nice girl her age in the class with her and that they help each other, so I like that even if she didn’t, but she seems to like that, too. It’s this massive relief because I’ve been so worried about her.”

“I know. But she’s doing great, Selma.”

“Yeah, but… How long until they tell me she’s ready for college, and I have to figure that part out? She’s already taking ninth and tenth-grade math right now, and they’ve got her learning chemistry. I didn’t learn chemistry until high school. So, what, I have maybe another year or two, and she’s eleven years old and off to university?”

“You know that would be your decision, not the school’s. And I’m sure a university would be willing to work with you on that since she’s so young.”

“I know. Just… God, it’s just so much. I thought being a single mom would be hard enough. Then, my kid turns out to be a genius, and while that’s amazing, it’s also this whole other layer to parenting that I hadn’t planned on having to deal with.”

“You’re doing a great job, Selma. Gia is an amazing kid.”

“Thank you.” Selma shook her head. “I didn’t know that I needed to hear that.”

“Well, I’ll say it again if you want.”

“No, I think I’m okay now. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“Do you have to go? Or can we keep talking?” Selma checked. “I know you have your rituals.”

“Rituals? You do?”

Selma’s eyes went wide.

“Uh… You told me you did things the night before a race.”

“I did? I don’t remember. I mainly just chill and review the course. I run through the race a few times; no big deal. So, I can keep talking. It’s not late or anything.”

Selma had actually read about Drew’s rituals in an interview she’d given to Sports Illustrated leading up to the previous Olympics, but Drew didn’t need to know that Selma had read every interview featuring her since she’d first watched that video of Drew racing.

They continued to talk until it was getting late, and Drew needed to get into her racing mind again. Selma didn’t want to say goodnight, but she knew she should. She, like her daughter, was beginning to grow a little too attached to Drew Oakes.

The following day, it was time for her final, and she was hopeful that she’d pull off the win today. While it wasn’t crucial that she do, when the actual selection came for the Games, Selma didn’t want to take any chances. If her performances put her on the bubble, or she had a couple of bad races in the future, she could end up not on the team.

She took her spot, waited for the sound, and pushed off, hitting the first berm, which led to another one before she really got to take off. Her board had been fine that morning during her warm-ups, but now, it felt too tight, as if it was underwaxed this time. Selma couldn’t believe it. Waxing was a critical part of boardercross. Too much wax, and they could fly all over the packed snow. Not enough, and they wouldn’t go fast enough. They needed just the right amount, and that amount changed based on the board and the snow they were racing on. Today, the snow was looser because it was sunnier, and that heat was causing a problem, but she was not happy about her board at all as she tried her best just to keep up.

The others were probably having similar issues, but Selma seemed to be impacted more, so she just tried to keep space between herself and the boarder in fourth place right now to at least end up on the podium today. It was a disappointing end to a pretty good few days of racing to be in third place instead of on top, where Selma felt she should’ve been based on her performance.

She was tempted to fire the waxing specialist, whose sole purpose was to make sure her board did what it was supposed to do, but she didn’t think that was a great idea – at least, not in public, with others around. So, instead, she talked to her coach about what she felt out there, and he agreed that they needed to take a look at their whole process related to Selma’s boards. It was too important now, with the Olympics coming up, for them to not have the right team in place.

When Selma got back to her room, she packed quickly because she only had a couple of hours before her flight home. She had booked something as soon as possible after the final because she didn’t like spending any more time away from Gia than she had to. Then, Selma hit the road, got to the airport, took the short flight home, and ended up back at the lodge right after Gia had gotten back from her art class.

“Mom!” she yelled and ran up to Selma, who picked her up immediately.

“Hi, baby,” she replied and held her close, feeling instantly better.

CHAPTER 17

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