Page 7 of Wilder

“True. But you’re the ones I love.”

Wilder hadn’t been especially close to Kayleigh growing up since she was a few years older than him. He’d been closer to Lee, Charli, and Janessa. But since they’d begun working at the same place, they’d grown closer.

“Is Hudson around?”

Kayleigh shook her head. “He’s off in New York meeting with Alexander. He’ll be home later this afternoon.”

It had been a surprise when Kayleigh had gotten involved with Hudson, but now that Wilder had gotten to know the man, he could see how perfect they were for each other. He also appreciated how Hudson had fit so well into their family.

“How did your meeting with Trev go?” Kayleigh asked.

“It went well. He introduced some of the new employees for the season.” Wilder paused before adding, “He mentioned that he was intimidated by one of the new employees for the ice rink.”

Kayleigh laughed. “Alexandra?”

Wilder nodded.

“Yep. I think she intimidates most people.”

“Kind of like how they are of you.”

Pressing a hand to her chest, Kayleigh batted her eyelashes. “Intimidated by little ol’ me?”

“You both might come in small packages, but you sure pack a wallop in personality.”

“What did you think of her?”

“She seems very confident,” he said. “Which could make her intimidating, I suppose.”

“Alexander hired her.”

“Is she a hidden daughter?”

“Ha. No. He told Hudson that she’s his goddaughter.”

“Does Hudson know her?”

Kayleigh shook her head. “Nope. All Alexander said was that she was the daughter of an old friend of Candace’s, and that he was her godfather. I don’t know much about that kind of relationship, so I have no clue how close they really are.”

“What type of skating experience does she have? She comes across as a performer.”

Kayleigh didn’t have a chance to answer before their server approached the table. Since they both knew the menu well enough, they went ahead and placed their orders.

Once the young man had left them, Wilder prodded Kayleigh for the information again. “Experience?”

“I don’t know if it’s supposed to be confidential, but since she skated under her real name and she’s still using it here, I can’t imagine it’s a big secret.”

“Well, that sounds ominous.” And definitely ramped up Wilder’s curiosity about the woman.

“It’s not the best of situations,” Kayleigh said. “Bottom line is that her father got involved in some illegal activities and will probably have to spend the rest of his life in prison. He defrauded a bunch of people, including her skating partner and his parents, and their coaches. Her partner dropped her, and she was basically shunned by the figure skating community.”

Wilder would never have guessed that by the woman’s demeanor. “So she’s not skating competitively anymore?”

“She has no partner, and it seems that people thought she’d had knowledge of what her father did. Kind of hard to get a partner and coaches without trust and money.”

“That must be tough.”

“Definitely.” Kayleigh thanked the server when he returned with their drinks. “Part of me thinks that Alexander built that ice rink just to give her somewhere to go.”

---