Page 88 of Wilder

“That’s good.”

“What’re you doing here at this time of night?” Luke asked as he set the to-go cup of coffee on the counter and moved to the cash register.

“I figured Lexi wasn’t going to get Thanksgiving dinner since her family isn’t here. I brought some food for her from our dinner.”

“That guy she’s been skating with has been hanging around.”

“Causing any problems?”

“Not really,” Luke said. “Lexi just ignores him.”

Wilder hoped that Mik wouldn’t end up being a problem. The guy needed to find something else to do while Lexi was working. But as long as Lexi didn’t care if he was there, they probably wouldn’t do anything about him loitering.

“Well, if it becomes a problem, let Trev know. Lexi might not say anything.”

“Will do.”

With coffee cup in hand, Wilder walked to where there was an empty table and sat down. Lexi was interacting with the people on the ice, so he wasn’t going to interrupt her.

As he sipped his drink, he glanced around the rink to see if he could spot Mik. There was no sign of him, so maybe he’d left already.

Wilder pulled out his phone and opened his email program. He hadn’t had the chance to check it yet that day.

A text from Charli came in while he was sorting through the junk mail.

Charli:Are you working tomorrow?

Yep. 9-4 Why?

Charli:We’re going to chop down our Christmas tree and wondered if you wanted to come with us.

Sounds like fun, but no can do.?

Charli:That’s too bad. I think the kids would have loved having you come along.

I’ll help decorate it!

Charli:Sounds like a plan.

As a kid, going to get the Christmas tree each year had been one of his favorite parts of the season. Becoming an adult with a weird schedule had required the sacrifice of some of the things he’d loved as a kid—chopping a Christmas tree being one of them.

But he got to earn a living doing stuff he loved, so it balanced out. And he’d still get to help the kids decorate the tree, which promised to be a lot of fun.

The sound of laughter increased, and Wilder looked up to see that quite a few of the people who’d been on the ice were now exiting it. He watched as they found places to sit down and take off their skates. That left only two people on the ice with Lexi.

The couple appeared to be in their own little world, not talking with Lexi as they circled the ice hand-in-hand.

Wilder decided to take a chance that Lexi would be available to chat and got up to approach the boards. When she spotted him, her brows lifted, and after a brief hesitation, she headed in his direction.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” he said as she came to a stop on the other side of the boards.

She reached out to grab the top of the boards, giving him a brief smile as she said, “Same to you.”

“Are you able to take a little break?” he asked.

“I should be able to. It’s been pretty busy,” she said. “This is the lowest number of people we’ve had on the ice since about two this afternoon.”

“C’mon,” he said, tipping his head toward the office. “I brought you some supper.”

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