Page 63 of Ice Mechanic

“Would that be okay?” I clasp my hands in front of me, trying not to fidget.

Dad lifts a shoulder in a half-hearted allowance. I surge forward, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him tight.

‘Your account balance is too high. The higher-ups are beginning to discuss discharging your father’.

‘I want to start over with you, April’.

‘Don’t get carried away. Chance is like this with all the girls.’

“There’s so much I wish I could talk to you about. I miss coming to you for advice. You always had all the answers.”

Dad’s strong fingers curl around me and he pats my back. Gently, he pushes me away so he can look down at my face.

I look at him too, noting the wrinkles that have seeped around his eyes and mouth. The liver spots that plague the back of his paper-thin skin. The green eyes that used to shine strong and vigorously, but now swim with confusion.

“I have a daughter too. Her name’s June and you know what I’d say to her if she were here?”

I sniff. “What?”

“Life can throw all the curveballs it wants. Sometimes, you’ll dodge ‘em and sometimes you’ll get knocked down. But eventually you’re going to pick yourself up and what you do when you’re on your feet again, well, that’s the most important.”

“What do I do?” I whisper.

“Simple. Return to the principles, to the foundations that never change. And you build from there.”

My lips tremble as I smile. “That’s good advice.”

He nods.

Picking myself up from the bench, I wave goodbye to my dad and wipe the tears away.

“Leaving already, April?” A nurse asks as I walk through the cafeteria to get back to the main hallway.

“Oh, yeah, I need to stop by Mrs. Armstrong to watch her dahlia’s and then I’m gone.”

“Did you square everything away with the admin?” She gives me a knowing look.

Embarrassment tries to claw its hands into me, but I always feel ten times taller after a pep talk from my dad. So this time, I just smile and nod breezily. “Yeah, I did. I’m on it.”

“Great.” She waves.

I leave the cafeteria, find Mrs. Armstrong, coo over her dahlias and then I’m ready to head back to the garage to strategize a solution with Rebel. My dad’s nursing home fees need to be paid and I’m going to pay it if I have to drive two counties down to find customers.

“I know! She’s so short and stumpy. And her hair! It’s so wild? Does she not own a flat iron?”

“I have no idea what Chance sees in her. She wears those dirty jumpers everywhere. It’s like shewantsto be mistaken for a hobo.”

“Famous athletes date anyone that breathes. Maybe he wants something different.”

“By different you mean a hobbit?”

Bursts of laughter follow the statement.

I slow my steps as I walk past the nurse’s lounge where three women are standing around a coffee bar, mixing cream into their coffees.

“Like I said, athletes date anyone with a skirt but they don’t ever marry girls like her. He’s going to dump her for someone more on his level.”

“No one even talks about them online anymore. She’s so boring looking that sports guys don’t care and the female fans don’t admire her either.”

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