leave home and board at a larger rink…like Denver or Tacoma, or maybe one of the California rinks.”
“That must be upsetting for you.”
Chris shrugged. “I’d like to have a Senior-level skater, but it’s not a killer. I like the glory of winning as much as the next person, but I also enjoy the satisfaction of seeing improvement.” She pointed to a leggy brown-haired girl. The girl wore red tights and a red skating dress topped with a sweatshirt. She moved with a style uniquely her own and very different from the Junior skater. She entered a camel spin, leg extended, toe pointed. She rotated in the spin nine times, swooped down, and changed supporting legs to go into another camel spin. “Alex,” Chris told him. “She started skating late. She’s thirteen and only working on her third test, but she still has a chance. It’s a slim chance, but it’s there. If we work hard together, someday she might be my winning Junior-level skater. When I lose a Patti there’s always an Alex to get excited about.”
A loud whining noise droned behind them. The skaters stopped practicing and left the ice. “The Zamboni,” Chris explained. “The forty-five-minute freestyle is over. Now they’ll make ice, and a new session will begin.”
Ken watched the skaters wipe the ice from their blades and cover them with rubber guards. “Why do they do that?”
Chris steered him toward the lobby where students were changing skates and dressing in warmer clothes. “There’s a very fine double edge on the bottom of the blade. It nicks fairly easily and one strategically placed nick can slow you down and ruin a spin or a spiral. Besides, those blades cost three hundred dollars.”
Ken raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “Three hundred dollars for a skate blade?”
Chris nodded. “Boots can range anywhere from two hundred to seven hundred. It costs from ten to fifty thousand dollars a year to train a competitive skater. This is not a slum sport.”
“You sound upset about that.”
“Some of our best athletes are priced out. I constantly see potential being wasted because there simply isn’t enough money in a family’s budget to provide sufficient ice time.”
His brows drew together in displeasure. “How about Alex? Does her family have enough money?”
“Barely. Her father works at a second job to keep up with expenses.”
“Is it really all that expensive to operate this place?”
Chris sighed. “I know the electric is very high. I think expenses could be cut if there was some modernization, but the man that owns the rink is getting on in years and isn’t interested in making improvements. Frankly, I think the only reason he doesn’t turn it into rubble is out of kindness to the skate club.”
“Why doesn’t he sell it?”
Chris made an exasperated gesture with her arms. “Who would buy this albatross? Skating rinks are going broke all over the country.”
“Sometimes people buy things for reasons other than profit.”
“You mean like a tax shelter?”
“That’s one reason.”
Chris wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have to talk to my accountant about it.”
Skaters began to make their way back to the ice surface. One by one they filed past Ken and smiled a welcome or said hello. When the lobby was empty, he turned to Chris. “They’re a nice group of young people.”
Chris smiled with pride and agreed. “They’re like family to me. Now maybe you can see why I was reluctant to become involved with you. My life is so full. Besides not wanting to repeat a hideous mistake, I wasn’t sure I had any more love left to give. I was afraid I would have to take some from one place to put in another.”
“I don’t think love is like that. I believe in the ‘use it or lose it’ theory.”
Chris giggled.
“Shame on you. You’re thinking something dirty.” He shook his finger at her in mock reproof. “I wasn’t talking about that kind of love.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s my hormones.”
He placed his hands on her hips and lowered his lashes in a loving gaze. “So what have you decided? Do you have any love left over for me?”
Enough love to last a lifetime, she thought. You’re as much a part of me as my arms and legs and lungs. “Well,” she said, “maybe a little. I might be able to work you into my schedule on Thursday nights…and maybe every other Saturday.”
“Hmmmm…feeling spunky, aren’t you?”
Chris wrinkled her nose. “Spunky?”
“Yeah. That’s ‘adorable but rotten.’” His attention wandered to the ticket office and the skate concession. “Maybe I’ll just hang around and explore the rest of the facility.”
Bitsy was waiting for Chris when she stepped back onto the ice. “This looks serious. You look at him as if he were lunch and you hadn’t eaten in days.”
“I really like him. R-r-r-really like him.”
“I know this sounds crazy, but he looks familiar. There’s something about those dark blue eyes and long black lashes.”
“He’s from Pennsylvania.”
“No. That’s not it.”
“Maybe you’ve seen him at a bar or something. You know…bachelor haunts.”
“I don’t go to bars. I don’t do anything. I teach skating, and I sleep.”
“You shouldn’t tell fibs like that, Bitsy. God’ll get you.”
“Better God than Aunt Edna.”
Chris pulled the feather quilt under her chin and nestled closer to Ken. Sunlight spilled through the bedroom windows and glowed in brilliant patterns on the carpeted floor. “This is nice.”
“Mmmmm,” Ken hummed into her love-tangled hair. His voice was deep and richly resonant with relaxed satisfaction. Chris had come to recognize it as his after-sex voice. She heard a smile creep into it. “Wouldn’t your students be shocked to know this is how you spend your lunch break?”
“Absolutely. Even I find it shocking-and decadent. Isn’t that a great word? I always wanted to be decadent.”
The phone next to the bed rang, startling them out of their easy banter. Ken rolled away from her and answered it. Chris watched, fascinated, as a peculiar expression settled on his handsome features. “Uh-huh. Uh- huh. Uh-huh,” he said. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll be right there.” He replaced the receiver and looked blank-faced at Chris. “Edna and Lucy are at National Airport.”
Chris blinked in confusion. “I spoke to them last night, and they were planning on staying another three days.”
Ken stood and pulled her to her feet. “Lucy woke up with a cold, and Edna wasted no time getting them on the first plane out of town. Worried about the new baby,” he added as an afterthought while he searched for his socks. “I’ll drop you at the rink, and then I’ll go get Edna and Lucy.”
Chris checked the clock on the night table. “I have an hour before my next lesson. I could go to the airport with you.”
Ken pulled his jeans up over his lean hips and zipped the fly. “Unfortunately, we won’t all fit in my truck.” He smiled wickedly. “Of course we could let Edna ride in the back.”
“Kenneth Callahan!”
“Just a thought.”
Chapter 8
Edna smacked her lips together in satisfaction as she surveyed the table. “Isn’t this nice? Here we are all together at dinner.” She looked sternly at Chris. “And it’s nice to see that no one’s broken any more bones while I’ve been gone.”
Chris opened her mouth to protest and closed it with a snap. Edna was just frustrated. She’d been so busy babysitting in Kansas City that she hadn’t had a chance to meddle in any lives all week.
