Page 19 of Wilder

“It was fine.” If she could skate in front of crowds of thousands or tens of thousands, she could handle a small family group.

“We Halversons can be a lot for some people,” he said. “Particularly when there are more than one or two of us.”

“That wasn’t all of you today?”

“Nope. This wasn’t even half of us.”

Lexi felt her brows lift before she could stop them. “Big family.”

“Yep. There are ten of us kids, but the family is growing as spouses and children come into the picture.”

“I bet reunions are a blast.”

“Most of them are,” Wilder agreed. “We’re mainly all together for weddings or Christmas, and since my mom has put her foot down that there will be no squabbling at any of those events, we’re forced to get along.”

Lexi was blown away at the idea of so many people in one family. Like,whywould people want that many children? She was pretty sure that had her parents had more than her, she wouldn’t have had the chance to skate competitively the way she had.

“You don’t have to worry about us all showing up here, however,” Wilder said. “Three of the ten don’t even live in Serenity at the moment.”

Which meant thatsevenof them could still arrive to watch the girls’ lessons. Seven plus spouses and children.

Whatever. It still wasn’t an arena full of people.

“They need to come when the rink is officially open. Then they could have coffee and food.”

“Trying to drum up business for the resort.” Wilder nodded his head. “Kayleigh would definitely appreciate that.”

“Are you always this way?” Lexi asked.

Wilder tilted his head. “Which way?”

“Kind of flippant about everything?”

“I’m not flippant,” he protested. “Just because I don’t take everything seriously doesn’t mean that I dismiss everything, either. In this case, that was a little poke at my sister. She can be too serious about stuff sometimes, so I try to lighten things up for her.”

“So you think she can be too focused or too intense?” If he thought Kayleigh was that way, he was definitely going to think Lexi was that way, too.

Wilder waggled his hand back and forth in front of him. “Kayleigh has always been very determined. She knew what she wanted in her life from a pretty young age, and she’s worked hard to accomplish it. We’re very proud of her, but we also know she needs a little balance in her life. She’s learned to accept that we’re going to help her out with that on occasion. Now that she’s married Hudson, though, she’s a little more likely to leave work at the door and let her hair down and have some fun.”

Lexi would have thought that talking more to the man would help her understand him, but it seemed the opposite was happening. The more he talked, the less she could make of his personality, even though he didn’t appear to be holding any part of himself back.

Her smart watch buzzed, forcing her to put her musings on hold. She glanced down to see a reminder that the rink would be opening in twenty minutes since they opened at eleven on Saturdays and Sundays. It wasn’t like she’d lose track of time, but just in case she did…

“The rink is going to open soon.” She pushed off with one foot in the direction of the exit off the ice. “I need to get ready.”

Wilder followed her, then went to the bench. Lexi slipped the guards on her blades since she would keep them on for the time being. Taking her skates off when she didn’t need to, and then having to put them on again was a waste of time.

“Thanks for letting me hang out for a bit,” Wilder said as he put his skates in the duffle bag. “I enjoyed a reason to get back on the ice.”

“I’m sure Trev would let you use the rink whenever you wanted,” Lexi said.

“Probably. But this was more fun.” He headed toward the door, walking backwards. “I’ll see you around.”

Lexi knew that was true. She just wasn’t sure she knew how to handle having even a tiny bit of his upbeat lightheartedness in her life.

CHAPTER SIX

The following Saturday, Wilder held the door open for everyone, then followed them into the rink. Blake carried Shiloh’s car seat to the bench they used for putting on their skates, while the girls headed straight for Alexandra.

---