CHAPTER FOUR #2
Amelia nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak. She had never considered that she would ever have a life that wouldn’t involve skating. The weight of all those lost dreams pressed against her chest, making it hard to breathe.
The sound of a whistle pierced the air, followed by the sound of Cole's voice calling out to the teens. "Alright, everyone, take a ten-minute break! Drinks and snacks are out in the hallway!"
The teens began streaming out of the gym, their faces flushed with exertion. Amelia took a step back from the table, giving them space to grab refreshments. Several called out thanks as they took drinks and snack packs.
Jessi, the teen who had arrived late, was among the last to approach the table. She picked up a bottle of water, then carefully looked over the snack packs before choosing one.
Amelia watched her walk back to the gym, reminded of the challenge of being a teen who didn’t quite fit in with her peers. She had been fortunate to have Layla, and then Ben, to help her feel like she belonged.
Ben stayed at the table with her, and for a moment, it felt like they were in the past when they’d volunteered for things at the church.
"How are your parents doing?" Ben asked, keeping his voice low as the teens filtered back to the gym.
The question caught Amelia off guard. She hadn't expected Ben to care much about her family after all this time. "They're good. Dad's still working at the garage, and Mom started teaching here when the school opened.”
"That's nice. I always liked your parents."
And surprisingly, her parents had liked him too. Amelia hadn’t been sure her dad would like anyone she dated because he’d given Layla grief over the boys she’d gone out with.
Of course, her older sister had seemed to be attracted to the edgy guys. The ones who liked getting into a little bit of trouble.
Thankfully, the man Layla had ended up with had gotten their mom and dad’s approval. All they’d ever wanted was for their girls to marry Christian men who treated them well.
Unsure of what else to say, Amelia focused on straightening up the few remaining drinks on the table. The easy flow of conversation they'd once had was absent. Too many years had passed. Too many things had changed between them.
"So, how long are you in town for?" she asked, needing to break the silence that grew heavier by the second.
"Probably most of the summer," Ben replied. "I'm helping Cole with all the clinics, and I'm also spending time with my dad. He's had some health issues."
"I heard about that," Amelia admitted. "I'm sorry. Your dad was always very kind to me. Your mom, too."
Ben nodded, his expression softening. "He's doing better now. But it was a few rough weeks after the heart attack. Mom insisted that he needed to retire, and after some intense discussions, he agreed. That’s when they decided to return to the estate permanently.”
She’d never spent a lot of time at the estate.
When they’d first started dating, she hadn’t realized who Ben really was or just how wealthy his family was.
She’d never gone to the estate, but it hadn’t really been a big deal since she was training intensely and didn’t have a lot of free time to spend hanging out anywhere but at the rink or school.
"Are you skating much these days?" Ben asked, his tone casual.
The question hit Amelia like a physical blow. She swallowed hard, her hands tightening around a snack bag, making it crackle.
Of course he would ask about skating. In his mind, that was still who she was—the dedicated athlete who'd chosen her sport over their relationship.
Skating was her life… had been her life.
"I don't skate anymore," she said, keeping her voice even. "Not since my retirement. I’ve had some health issues that have kept me from continuing with it."
"I'm sorry," Ben said, his voice softening. "I heard a little about what happened from Annie and Lexi.”
She supposed she should have been mad that they had discussed her health with him, but they didn’t have a lot of information. The only people who knew the details of what she was dealing with were her parents and Layla. But even they didn’t know everything.
And it was going to stay that way.
“Hey, would you be interested in going out for coffee?”
Amelia looked up at Ben in shock. “Go for coffee?” She asked the question without thinking, so surprised that he would even suggest that. “Why?”
Ben shrugged. “Because it’s what friends do, and I’d like to catch up with you.”
“Friends?” she asked. “You consider us friends?”
“Well sure. I mean, I understand we haven’t talked much over the past ten years—”
“We haven’t talked at all.”
“Okay. So we haven’t talked at all in the last ten years, but we were friends before that.”
She couldn’t deny that. They had been good friends. Next to Layla, he had been her best friend. But that friendship had evaporated when she’d broken up with him.
It wasn’t that she blamed him for walking away. She hadn’t been able to express how she really felt when she’d told him they needed to break up. Which was that she had still wanted him in her life.
But all of that aside, she still found it a bit surprising that Ben seemed to want to just… pick up their friendship, while she wasn’t sure there was a friendship to pick up.
He wasn’t the same person he’d been ten years ago, and she certainly wasn’t either. They couldn’t just pick up where they’d left off. As different people, there might not even be the possibility of a friendship between them, and she just wasn’t sure that she could open herself up to him again.
Plus, she was still trying to figure out her new life. A friendship with the man who’d held her heart for so long was not what she needed right then.