Page 32 of Wilder

“Maybe.” Alexandra shrugged. “But for now, this is where I’m at.”

“It’s not such a bad place to be,” Wilder said.

“So why do you only spend the winter season here?”

Well, wasn’t that a good question? “It’s not because I don’t like it here. It’s just that there wasn’t anything here I wanted to do in the off-season. Unlike this ice rink that can run in the summer, if there’s no snow on the slopes, I have no one to instruct.”

“What exactly do you do for the rest of the year?”

It had been a while since he’d talked about his time away from Serenity with anyone outside his family. “I have a travel channel on YouTube where I upload videos of places I’ve been, giving people tips on traveling to those places. Right before I came here, I went to Reykjavik, Iceland. I was collaborating with a travel company there to highlight what they had to offer people wanting to visit Iceland. So, once I have that video edited, I’ll upload it onto my channel.”

“I’ve traveled to lots of places, but I haven’t really played tourist while I’ve been there.”

“So, what do you do for fun?”

Alexandra once again looked away from him to focus on the ice. “I don’t know. Something I’ve always enjoyed doing was designing costumes. I used to work with a designer to create our costumes.”

“But you don’t do anything else?”

“Like what?” Alexandra asked, her brow furrowed.

“Rock wall climbing? Baking? Cooking? Reading? Doing crossword puzzles? Needlepoint? Pouring candles?”

Alexandra’s eyes widened as he recited his list. “No. None of that.”

“So when you’re not at work, what do you do?”

“I practice. I work out. Honestly, I spend most of my time here, even when the rink is closed. It’s what I know. It’s where I feel most at home.”

Wilder felt a pang of sympathy for her. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be so focused on one thing that everything else in one’s life just faded away. Even Kayleigh, who was the most focused and determined of all of them, had found a hobby in cooking.

“Have you thought of developing a hobby?”

“I would havenoidea what that might be.” She skated a little ways away, then came back. “What are your hobbies?”

“Well, skiing, but I also enjoy traveling, videography, and I do some digital design as well. That’s kind of part of my job, but I still really enjoy it. I also read a lot, which is a good hobby to have when I’m traveling.”

It was too bad that Alexandra worked on Friday evenings to give her a break from the rink. If she didn’t, Wilder would have invited her to the pizza nights at Charli and Janessa’s. They had apparently been having outdoor pizza dinners during the summer, when the weather was nicer. But now they were back inside. The night before, they’d ended up playing games after they ate, and it had been a lot of fun.

Once he started work, he’d be on the same schedule as Alexandra as far as days off went, but his day on the slopes would end with the sunset, which came fairly early in winter.

When her watch chimed, Wilder smiled. “Guess that’s my cue. I’ll let you get on with your day.”

“Do you think you’d be available tomorrow morning to go over some things?”

“Not tomorrow,” he told her. “I attend church in the morning, but I could do Monday morning.”

She hesitated a moment before nodding. “That would work.”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

As he neared the door, Wilder glanced back to see that Alexandra was still watching him. She lifted a hand, and after returning her wave, he stepped out into the crisp autumn day.

It had snowed the day before, but with temperatures hovering just above freezing, the snow had melted almost as soon as it had hit the ground. That wouldn’t be the case for much longer, however.

Soon, he’d be back to work on the slopes, and he was really looking forward to it.

The following Tuesday, Wilder drove to the address Alexandra had given him the previous day. They’d decided that it was time to invite others into the planning to see how they could pull the program together.

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