Page 25 of Wilder

Wilder wasn’t sure that there was anything he could do about that for her, aside from inviting her to things with his family. He didn’t know how Kayleigh and Hudson would feel about that, though, since she was technically their employee. Any invitation should probably come from one of them—preferably Kayleigh.

At the very least, he could talk to Kayleigh and see what she thought. Apparently, conversations with his sisters were on the agenda for the afternoon.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lexi was certain she must be in a dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare. Whatever it was, it was her living a life she’d never dreamed of or even wanted.

Though she’d managed to not sound like she hated the idea when she’d told Wilder about it, she, without a doubt, one hundred percent, hated the idea.

An 80s themed night?

While ice dancers had to stick to a theme for their short programs—and she thought 80s had been one of them—that was not a part of Lexi’s skating experience. The only constraints put on the music she and Mik had used were for time, permission to use songs, and their own desires.

And choreographing a Christmas program? No thanks.

Her choreography had always centered on making sure the required elements flowed and got them the maximum points through where they were placed in the program. It took skill and time.

Christmas wasn’t that far away. How on earth was she going to organize a program when she didn’t even have skaters? All while she put together an 80s themed night…

It was utterly ridiculous, and she hated all of it.

“So, how difficult do you think it will be?” Kayleigh asked.

They were currently sitting at one of the tables in the rink, drinking coffee. It was during their open hours, so there was some noise around them, but the rink wasn’t too busy.

“Challenging, I think, is the word I would use. Choreographing a program for people around Layla and Amelia’s skill level isn’t difficult. The challenge comes in rounding up the skaters who are willing to participate and then figuring out costumes for them all.”

Kayleigh looked contemplative but undeterred as she lifted her mug and took a sip of her coffee. “We could probably spread the need for younger skaters through Charli at the school. If we need older kids, my brother-in-law, Will, could probably help spread the word since he teaches at the high school. We could also post information at the local rink in town. And I can put out feelers at our church to see if anyone wants to participate.”

“You do know that this rink isn’t really set up well for good viewing, right?”

Kayleigh glanced over toward the ice, frowning as she realized that she couldn’t see past the couple of people who were standing at the board watching what was happening on the ice. “We would need bleacher style seating.”

Lexi nodded. “Is there anything like that around here?”

“Well, yes. The local rink has that since they host hockey games. But since we want this event to focus on the rink here at the resort, I’d rather not use that one.”

“What other options do you have, though?”

“I wonder if we could do an outdoor rink.” Kayleigh picked up her phone and tapped the screen rapidly. “I’m going to ask Wilder if he could take care of getting some information on whether or not that would be feasible.”

“Still doesn’t solve the issue of the bleacher seating,” Lexi pointed out.

“True, but if we can get a good rink area set up, we could possibly rent bleachers to put around it.”

“This seems like… a lot of work.”

Kayleigh sighed. “I agree, but Alexander was the one to suggest it. And by suggest, I mean, demand it. He said—and I quote—we’re coming for Christmas, and I’d like to see a Christmas ice program.”

Did her godfather actually hate her? Was he trying to make her pay by throwing a nearly impossible task at her?

“Okay.” She could hardly let down the man who had given her the space to retreat from the scandal, all the while letting her continue to skate and earn a living. “First, we need to figure out if the outdoor rink is possible. If so, then we have to make sure we can get the bleachers.”

Kayleigh nodded as she tapped the screen of her phone. She didn’t seem upset that Lexi had taken control and was rattling off a list of what they needed to do. Lexi was used to being methodical when faced with a task. Even a task that she hated. Though such tasks had, fortunately, been few and far between.

Over the next few minutes, they hashed out a plan, then Kayleigh said, “I want to get Wilder involved in all this too.”

“Why?” Lexi asked. It wasn’t that she objected, really, but she was curious about what he brought to the table.

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