Page 31 of Wilder

When the hour drew to a close, Alexandra once again performed a bunch of jumps and spins that Layla and Amelia requested of her.

“One day I’m gonna know how to do that,” Amelia announced after Alexandra did what looked to be a particularly difficult jump.

“You keep practicing, and I’m sure you will,” Charli told her as she reached out to smooth back a wisp of hair that had come free from her ponytail. Amelia glanced up at Charli, her eyes wide.

Wilder knew that Amelia was still finding her way in her new family with a new maternal figure, just as Layla was doing the same with Blake.

When she was done, Alexandra skated toward them, coming to a stop not far from the boards.

“They’re doing really well,” she told Charli. “I can see that they’re practicing in between lessons.”

“Yep. Wilder has been helping us out with that by taking the girls to the rink in town throughout the week.”

Alexandra gave Wilder a quick smile. “It’s paying off, for sure.” She turned her attention back to the girls. “I know you want to do programs right away, but I’m afraid it’s going to have to wait.”

“Why?” Layla asked, her brow furrowed.

“I have to work on a Christmas program here at the rink, and that’s going to take up a lot of my time. Come January, we’ll focus on your programs, and hopefully by the fall, when the next season starts, you’ll be ready to tackle some competitions.”

“I’m sure you can wait until after Christmas,” Charli told Layla, who looked the most disappointed by the news. “And in the meantime, you can be part of the Christmas program.”

Layla looked at Alexandra. “I can?”

“Yep. We’re going to need a bunch of skaters. I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but we’ll start doing some practices for it soon. We might have to reschedule your lessons for a few weeks to fit in those practices.” She turned to Charli. “Will that be okay?”

“I’m sure it will be fine. We can figure it out once you know the schedule better.”

Shiloh let out a squawk and then started crying. She was generally a pretty chill baby, but when she got upset about something, it took a bit to settle her down.

“Let me help you get your skates off,” Will said as he held out his hand to Amelia.

The girls followed him and Blake to the bench, while Charli tried to settle the baby.

“I think she might be teething,” Charli said. “All she wants to do is chew on her fingers.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Janessa cooed at Shiloh, reaching out to tickle her belly. “Our little sunshine has turned into a thundercloud. It’s a good thing we all like storms.”

Wilder glanced at Alexandra and saw that she was focused on Janessa and Shiloh. Had she ever contemplated having a family? He imagined that it wasn’t easy for professional athletes—especially women—to fit having children into their lives. A woman couldn’t exactly compete while heavily pregnant.

When the girls were done with their skates, Charli and Blake packed everything up, said goodbye to Alexandra, and left the rink with Will and Janessa.

“You’re a great coach,” Wilder said once it was just the two of them. “We’re all seeing that despite you not having many lessons with them, the girls are much improved.”

Alexandra skated close to the boards, then rested her arm on the top of them but kept her gaze out on the ice. “I had always planned to coach one day. I just hadn’t thought it would be this soon.”

“And I imagine you planned to work with highly skilled skaters.”

She glanced at him, her lips tightening before she nodded. “I did, but I guess that… God had other plans for me.”

“Do you really think you can’t go back to your career?”

Her gaze hardened, making her blue eyes even more icy. “My dad didn’t just screw over strangers, he stole money from my partner, his parents, my coaches, and other parents of skaters. He took their cash and told them he was going to invest it, but instead, he pocketed it. That was just one of the awful things he did. So no, I’m not sure how I can go back to competing when I don’t have money to pay for coaches, even if they were interested in working with me.”

“Could you compete without a coach?”

“I don’t know. Some have tried, but it’s hard not having a support team with you.”

“Coaching might not be out of the question, though, right? I mean, there’s no questioning the skill and experience you have.”

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