Page 66 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
"Coach, I was only trying to—"
Jesse cut Damien off. "Relax, Damo. I was kidding. Sit down." He turned back to the man they needed to convince. "Coach, we don't want to play this game without Charlotte." He gestured to the team. "Everyone is in agreement. She should be with us."
Coach sighed. "Boys, I know you think you can't win without her—"
"It's not that. She deserves to play. She's one of us."
"I'm sorry, Jesse. One of the lessons you'll learn as you get older is we don't always get what we want."
Jesse waited a beat before responding. "With all due respect, sir, that's a lesson I've been taught my entire life." His eyes found his brothers at the back of the room. He loved being there for them, but they all deserved better. Most people thought he'd had an easy life. They didn't speak of his dead mom or absent father. No one knew he’d basically spent the last couple of years raising two kids.
No, easy wasn't in his vocabulary. "Sir, this is not a time for that lesson. Do you want to know what I want to teach my brothers today? We stand up for the people we care about. We're willing to give up the most important game of the year so our should-be teammate can become a part of this."
"Jesse, I understand everything you're saying." Coach ran a hand through his hair. "But Charlotte is in Tampa. There is just no way she'd be here in time for the game."
"Then it's a good thing the game will wait for her."
"What?" He looked to his team. "What did you do?"
"When you go back to the rink, I think you'll find your Zamboni in need of repairs."
"You broke the Zamboni." His eyes widened. "Jesse, that's not okay. Do you have any idea the harm that could cause to the rink?"
"Relax, it's not really broken, only disabled. You could try to get a repairman out in time for the game... or Damien could reverse whatever it was he did." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, darn. Damien, aren't you busy until about seven tonight?"
"Yep." Damien nodded. "Totally booked."
Jesse couldn't tell if Coach looked annoyed or impressed. He flattened his lips. "You're holding my Zamboni hostage?"
Jesse grinned. "Just call it a negotiation tactic."
Coach stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head and pulling out his phone. He dialed and held it to his ear. "Coach Harrison, this is Kevin Morrison. Yes, yes, we're looking forward to the game tonight as well. I do have a slight problem. My Zamboni is acting up and the technician can't get to the rink until about six. Now, I know your rink down there in Venice is booked, and I hate to cancel the game." He paused listening to the other man. "Seven? Yes, that will work. We will see your boys then." He hung up.
His voice was low when he addressed the team. "Now that you have forced the issue, you better be ready for tonight. I have a lot of work to do thanks to moving this game. Alerts must be sent out to ticket holders and my employees at the rink. Now, get out of here."
He didn't have to tell the guys twice.
Jesse hung back, wanting to thank Coach for not being too mad.
"Carrigan," Coach grunted. "Don't you have a competition to get to?" He didn't even crack a smile.
Jesse met his hard gaze. "Don't you?"
18
Charlotte
Fourth place.
It wasn't an awful position for Charlotte to be in considering her head wasn't in the competition. She hadn't fallen or under-rotated, but she also hadn't put her heart into the program.
And that was only the short. How was she going to get through the long program?
She sat on a bench outside the locker room with her leg bouncing. Ten minutes. She was the third skater in the lineup, early enough in the program that she hoped she'd be able to catch the end of the game afterward on her phone.
She hadn't been able to bring herself to check the score yet. That would have to wait until after she skated.
Her mom handed her a bottle of water as she took a seat beside her.
