Page 10 of Wilder

Her mom wrinkled her nose. “You know I don’t want to go back to the US just yet.”

Lexi did know that, and part of her understood her mom’s reasoning, but she wished she’d still be willing to come back in order to see her only child.

“We’ll just have to see how things go for now,” Lexi said.

“You better be here for Christmas.”

“I make no promises, Momma. But I’ll try.”

Another pout told Lexi that her mom wasn’t happy with that response, but there was no other one that she could give her.

“Are you going to skate this morning?”

“Yep. Want to watch for a bit?”

Her mom had been at most of her practices over the years. Since her dad had built a practice rink on their property in Maine, it had been convenient for her mom to attend the practices.

“Of course, darling.”

Lexi set up her phone, carefully situating the tripod for her mom’s optimal viewing of the ice. Bending over into the frame,she said, “If you need to go before I’m done, I’ll talk to you later. Love you, Momma.”

“Love you too, darling.” She blew Lexi a kiss. “Now off you go.”

Lexi used the Bluetooth connection on her tablet to bring up her playlist and start it. She went to the entrance of the ice and slipped the guards off her blades. Setting them aside, she stepped onto the ice and took a few strokes toward the center of the ice.

She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing the feeling of gliding across the ice.

This was her home. Her special place. Her source of joy and comfort. Her past, her present, and, at one time, her future.

It had been her everything… until her life had imploded thanks to her dad.

Opening her eyes, Lexi clenched her hands, then shook them out. She was trying to keep her anger off the ice. Especially when she was alone, able to do all her favorite jumps and spins.

If she’d been a singles skater, she would have had programs she could skate through. Unfortunately, she was a pairs skater without a partner.

That was okay, though. She had adapted some of the programs, and she’d also developed her own choreography to some of her favorite songs.

She’d done some stretches when she’d first arrived at the arena, but now she stretched some more as she moved across the ice.

Soon, the last vestiges of her anger evaporated, and she forgot where the ice she skated on was located. She forgot that her mom was watching from her phone.

Lexi forgot everything and let herself become one with the ice.

Calm flowed over her as she completed jump after jump. The spins took her apart and put her back together again.

Halfway through the length of time she usually skated in the morning, she took a break to drink some water and catch her breath. When she skated over to her phone, she saw that her mom had gone, which was fine and not out of the ordinary.

When her playlist ended, Lexi stroked to the edge of the ice and stepped off. She bent over to put her guards on her blades, then once again leaned against the boards, staring out at the ice.

Though she’d skated to other music that she and Mikhail had used in previous years, she still hadn’t been able to listen to the compilation of Ed Sheeran songs that they’d been preparing to use at the Olympics, which was now just months away.

It had been her favorite program to date, and the romance of the music had reflected their off-ice relationship. After seriously dating for a couple of years, they’d gotten engaged in the off-season.

Pushing away from the boards, Lexi sat down on a nearby padded bench and unlaced her skates. Once off, she removed the guards to make sure the blades were dry before putting them back in place.

She slid her feet into her favorite pair of sneakers, then picked up the skates and carried them to the small office she’d been assigned. Since she’d only been there a couple of weeks, she hadn’t really personalized the space yet.

Lexi was still trying to figure out her position there. When he’d hired her, Alexander had been sort of vague in what hewanted her to do, which seemed out of the ordinary for a businessman of his stature.

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