Page 37 of Wilder

Lexi wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t fire her.

“Well, we know for sure he’s not going to fire you,” Kayleigh said with a laugh. “I don’t think any of the rest of us are that safe.”

“Are you kidding?” Hudson chuckled. “I think if he had to choose between you or me, he’d fire me.”

“Hopefully he won’t fire anyone,” Wilder said. “If he still wants the bigger program, maybe clue him in on the excessive amount of work and money it will cost to bring it about.”

“We’ll get this sorted out,” Hudson assured them. “And no one will lose their job in the process. I’ll make sure of that.”

As the conversation moved away from the program, Lexi pushed the food on her plate around, taking a small bite every so often. Her appetite had fled as she’d been harshly reminded of just what her life had been reduced to.

“You okay?” Wilder asked as he leaned close to her.

She gave him a smile, pulling up the one she used even when she wasn’t feeling it inside. “I’m fine.”

His gaze narrowed briefly. “None of this is a big deal. We’ll roll with the punches and get it figured out.”

Never in her life had Lexi been comfortablerolling with the punches. She much preferred everything to be planned out and organized well in advance. It wasn’t like she’d never experiencedthings going wrong, but planning ahead often helped keep those instances to a minimum.

She was also very confused. Not just because of the program. She didn’t understand why she had the job when there was no valid reason for the position to actually exist. Also, anyone that had been skating for more than a couple of years could have filled her role. She was overqualified for the job, which left her floundering.

Of course, she’d been floundering since the day of her dad’s arrest, so this was the same book, just a new chapter ofAlexandra is Lost.

Was this going to be the totality of her life in the years to come? Killing time at a rink that was hardly used, while trying to put together skating programs for kids who’d only been taking lessons for a short time and had no aspirations to become elite skaters?

Had she seriously reached the end of her career already?

It hurt to imagine that everything she’d worked for and everything she’d dreamed of was gone. Swept away by her father’s greed.

Swallowing hard against the emotion that welled up inside her, Lexi scooped up another bite of food, though she struggled to put it in her mouth. Finally, they finished eating and moved on to dessert and coffee.

After dessert, when Charli tried to send the girls off to do their homework and received an argument in response from Layla, the dinner quickly drew to an end. Lexi was more than happy with that turn of events because she wanted to get back to the solitude and safety of her apartment.

There was nothing waiting for her there, but she needed to be alone with her thoughts. She needed to not have to school her expressions and reactions because of the presence of others.

“Sorry this evening kind of turned into a bust,” Wilder said as they left the house after saying goodbye to everyone. “That wasn’t how I thought it would end.”

“I think we’re all a bit confused about how to proceed.”

“True, which is why we need to get clarification sooner rather than later. It might not matter to Kayleigh and Hudson, but clearly, it’s important for you to know.”

Lexi appreciated that Wilder understood that. She didn’t like it when things were in flux, especially when it seemed there was no clear direction for moving forward.

She had experience with things being in flux. Every time she and Mik were creating a new program, things were in flux as they and their choreographer tried to figure out what worked best for the music they’d chosen. Sometimes they’d think one thing would work, but after skating it that way for a bit, they’d realize it needed to change.

Lexi could handle that because they were moving toward the ultimate goal of a perfectly choreographed program. They had an end point in sight, even if the journey to get there involved some twists and turns, and at times, some backtracking.

This mess, however, had no end point in sight—if there even was one at all.

“I know you’re probably stressed out by this, but try to not let it get to you. We’ll get it figured out.”

Lexi appreciated Wilder’s confidence. However, she did not share it.

“Are you off work tomorrow?” Wilder asked as he turned at the corner of her street.

“Yes. Tuesday and Wednesday are my days off.”

“Those are supposed to be my days off, too.”

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