Page 96 of False Start

twenty-one

I’d just swallowedthe last of my water and sucked down half a granola bar when I heard voices at the door.

“Maisy!” Rylee squealed the minute she saw me and ran for the edge of the track.

My chest squeezed painfully tight. Tears burned in my throat and filled my eyes. Adrenaline kicked through my veins until I swayed on my feet with the rush of it.

I’d missed them so damn much.

I’d had to give almost every minute of my time with them to do this…to protect my time with them in the future.

I skated up the track to the edge, yanked off my helmet, and dropped on my knees to reach for her. Pulling her up on the track, I swallowed her with my arms and breathed in the scent of strawberry shampoo that I hadn’t even realized I only associated with her.

“We haven’t seen you in so long,” she murmured against my chest, sending a wave of fresh tears down my face.

I hadn’t known I needed this. I needed them.

I needed to remind myself what I was here for, what was at stake if I couldn’t pull this off.

“I missed you too, honey,” I whispered against her hair with an extra squeeze. “So, so much.”

It wasn’t about having a favorite. I loved them all just the same.

But Rylee reminded me so much of me after my mom died.

Always hanging back. A little unsure. Not wanting to make waves out of fear.

She’s the one who needed the extra hugs, the constant encouragement, and the safety net while she grew braver.

And I needed to give them to her as much as she needed to receive them.

Addison, Ellie, Noah, and Leo all made it onto the track next with Priest’s help. One at a time he lifted them up until I squeezed my entire cluster in my arms again. Even Noah and Leo who were usually above hugs swooped onto the pile.

I gulped back tears in my throat and met Priest’s eyes.

Thank you.

I mouthed the words and he winked, leaving me blinking through a fresh round of tears before going to lift the other kids onto the track.

Wes walked over and propped a shoulder against the rail next to us. “It’s a good thing you’re doing here, Maisy. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you,” I said, kissing the top of Addison and Ellie’s heads. “Someone had to save our afternoons at Rockabilly’s.”

“It’s more than that and you know it. I see it. But you’re right, I’m looking forward to hanging on to those trips too. If you make this happen, I’ll even get my very own pair of skates and humiliate myself out there. You think those skate buddies come in jumbo?”

I choked on a laugh and swiped away the tears on my cheeks. “I’ll have one made for you myself.”

Priest disappeared for a few minutes, but when he came back, he had Lilith on his arm. He settled her in a chair, helped unload the kids off the bank, and ordered us all back on the track and back to work.

He’d turned three sections into obstacle courses of sorts while we were visiting with the kids before he went to the house to get his sister.

He told us to line up for laps, and with each new lap, he’d call out what he wanted us to do.

Spin out transitions where we wouldn’t just veer left or right around the obstacle, but we’d spin away from it and skate on by. Then bean dips, pretending each barrier was an opponent ready to deliver a blow with their shoulder, where we dropped low on our way past with a twist to avoid the hit, giving the opponent our backs—an illegal target zone.

The kids watched with excited smiles on their faces, their rapt attention absorbing everything, but it was the jumps that had them on their feet cheering.

Running on our toes, transitioning to duck walks to push on our edges, and then shifting into a glide to gain speed, we’d skate low around the corners and freestyle jump the pads and cones along the straightaway before coming around again.

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