Page 144 of Miami Ice

“Oh yes,” she says, smiling at me. “Mochi is an angora. So is Matcha. And in case you’re wondering, I love Japanese food.”

I smile at that. Scarlett opens the cage door, and Mochi comes right up to her. She scratches his chin, and he’s absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen.

“You can pet him. He’s friendly. Matcha takes more time to warm up to strangers.”

I carefully reach over and stroke Mochi’s fur, which is incredibly soft.

“You should see them when they eat their rosehip treats,” Scarlett continues. “It’s the cutest thing ever. I’ll have to show you sometime.”

“Yes, I’d love to see that,” I say. “Can I take a picture of him? To show Beckham?”

“Of course.”

I go retrieve my phone and take a few pictures, and when I’m done, Scarlett closes the cage door. She goes to the bathroom, and I go back to the living room to pack up my jars. She comes out and helps me put them back in the carrying case, and we lug everything downstairs to my minivan.

After it’s loaded up, we begin our walk down Biscayne Avenue, greeted with another glorious day in Miami, filled with sunshine, blue skies, and a nice ocean breeze.

“How long have you been in Miami?” I ask.

“Not long. I graduated from college in the spring and moved in with my parents,” Scarlett says as we walk beside towering apartment buildings. “I got the job with Real Miami in September, so I had a few months with them before the season ended.”

“Do you like it here?”

“I do. I love the weather. And palm trees,” she says, grinning.

“I love them, too.”

“It is harder to make friends though,” Scarlett says thoughtfully, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear as the breeze blows it back. “Not because of Miami. But just being anadult in general. When you’re in college, everyone is in the same boat—looking to make friends. It’s not like that as an adult.”

“It is hard,” I acknowledge. “I’m so lucky because I grew up here. I have a twin—Ella—and we live together. My bestie is from my preschool days, and Ella’s best friend from Florida State lives here, too.”

“You’re so lucky,” Scarlett says. “I can’t really make friends at work. I mean, I could, but it’s kind of against my policy. I’m friendly with people, but I never want things to be messy in the office, which can happen with friendships. Not that it would, but I don’t want to take that chance.” She pauses. “Now I’m the rambling chinchilla lady.”

“No, not at all. Have you made friends with any of the wives and girlfriends of the Manatees?”

“I’m going to confess something to you. I have purposefully stayed away from friending any of the wives and girlfriends. I’m the coach’s daughter. I don’t want to encroach on their territory or make them feel weird, because they might have feelings about things my dad is doing, and they would have to monitor what they say in front of me. That’s not fair to them.”

Wow. Scarlett shows what kind of person she is with that observation.

Thoughtful of others.

“But—and this might not be fair—I broke my own rule when we started talking. This is going to sound crazy, but I had a good gut feeling about you. Like we could be friends. And instead of doing the proper thing and putting that boundary in place, I thought about how cool it would be to hang out with you and get a coffee or have lunch. There was just something genuine and kind about you that I liked. And if this makes you uncomfortable, and if you don’t want to be friends, I completely understand. But if we do become friends, sometimes I might know things and I can’t tell you them. It’s something we’d haveto navigate, and I hope you wouldn’t hold any decisions my dad makes against me.”

She stops speaking right as we reach the ceviche restaurant. I can’t see her eyes behind her large sunglasses, but she’s chewing on her matte-red bottom lip as if she’s anxious.

“I had the same gut feeling about you,” I say. “And I don’t think we even need to talk about hockey if we’re friends. I’ll talk about Beckham, of course, and if he has a good game or scores a goal, but if he has any issue with coaching, I don’t see any reason why that’s a conversation that you and I need to have. I mean, your dad is coaching the Manatees. Not you.”

Scarlett appears to take in my words. “That’s true. Okay, then we have nothing to be concerned about,” she says brightly.

I smile at her. “No, we don’t.”

As we enter the restaurant, I have a feeling I’m about to have a new person enter my friendship circle.

And I can’t wait to tell Beckham all about it tonight.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“It’s very hard to concentrate on this call when you’re dressed like that,” Beckham declares.

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