Page 39 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
Her dad skated out onto the ice, his arms crossed over his chest and a look of consternation on his face. She waited for him to reach her, apprehension gnawing at her gut.
He stopped and gazed down at her. "Charlotte..."
"I know, dad. I'm not a hockey player. I shouldn't be here. You showed me that when you didn't ask for my help with the drills. Do you want me to leave? Your players should be getting the practice, not me."
She didn't know how she ended up being the one apologizing.
"Charlotte, stop." One side of his mouth curved up. "I was going to ask if you thought you could do that again."
"Oh." She lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Probably."
He nodded before lifting his voice. "Roman, hand me your stick."
Roman held it toward him. He took it without ever taking his eyes from his daughter. "Okay, everyone other than Charlotte and Jesse off the ice."
"What are we doing?" Jesse asked.
"You and Charlotte are going to get the puck up the ice together."
"But, coach, that's too easy without anyone defending us."
"I'll be defending you."
Charlotte swallowed. Her dad was a former NHL player. Sure, he was older now, but still ten times better than anyone on this team.
"Start at the opposite blue line. I want three passes at least before you reach me at center ice."
They skated to the other end of the ice, but Charlotte wasn't sure what the point of this even was. "Why is he having us do this when the rest of the team is just sitting on the bench?"
"He's testing us, Charlie."
"But... why?"
Jesse grinned as if it was all a big game. She supposed it was. "Does it matter why? Do that move I saw the other night. The spin-pass thing."
"But I was only passing to myself. Your timing has to be perfect for it to work."
"Just trust me."
Lord help her, she did.
They started forward with Jesse passing the puck to Charlotte. She puck-handled past the left dot before sliding it back to him. As they reached the neutral zone where her dad waited, she saw Jesse hesitate with her pass.
Hoping she was right about his intentions, she pumped her legs, gaining some distance. He sent a stretch pass sailing toward her as her dad closed in. He'd reached her by the time she cradled the puck and avoided his poke check.
Now or never.
Twisting out of her dad's reach, she spun around, sliding the puck through her own legs before poking it behind her where Jesse was waiting. He gathered the puck and streaked to the goal, lifting the puck into the top corner.
Her dad stared at her dumbfounded. "Where did you learn that?"
"Watching the Tampa Bay Lightning on TV." She didn't know what the big deal was. That was how she learned the moves needed to perform some of her biggest figure skating jumps. In her evenings spent alone while her parents were at the rink, she watched a lot of TV, absorbing it all. She just wouldn't tell him about practicing moves downstairs on hisGlicesurface.
Hockey had never been a possibility for her because of her mom’s expectations, but it didn't make her love it any less.
Her dad stared at her a moment longer before he turned to the team. "Forwards, you're Charlotte's for the rest of practice." He looked back over his shoulder. "Work on basic puck handling." Turning back to the team, he surveyed them. "Defenseman and goalies, you're with me at the other end of the ice." He clapped his hands together. "Let's go."
As the forward group circled around her, no more suspicion clouded their eyes. In one move, she'd become one of them.
