Chapter 13
I wake up late on Monday morning. The house is quiet as I stretch my arms above my head, arching my spine before rolling onto my side to face the door and see a note on my desk from Sue.
Morning, sweetheart. I’m consulting today for the upcoming standardized tests in the junior high after the break. Why don’t you call Zander and offer to show him around town?
Although Sue is retired from teaching, she still works occasionally on projects for the school board.
Calling Zander sounds scary, though. What in the world am I going to talk to him about all day?
He is pretty good at making conversation, but it’s still weird; we’ve never spent time alone before.
I know that’s going to happen when we move, but still…
I’m interrupted from my musing by my new phone ringing.
Picking it up from under Sue’s note, I see it’s Zander. “Hello?”
“Hi Summer, it’s Zander. I hope I didn’t wake you?”
“Hi. No, I’m awake.”
“Sue told me she was working today, so I was wondering if you would go skating with me? There’s an ice rink next door to the hotel.”
“Oh, um, okay. I’ll have to root around to find my old skates. I believe they're in the front hall closet.” At least this way, I don’t have to come up with something to do.
“Great! Just to warn you, I’ll also be needing lessons from you. I’ve never skated before, so please go easy on me.”
He wants me to teach him? Oh man. “It’s been a while since I’ve skated, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be to you.”
“That’s okay. You’ll be better than me at least. Pick you up in an hour?”
“See you then.” Well, I guess I’m going skating.
I take a shower and dress warmly. My skates are where I thought they were.
Sue bought them for me shortly after I moved in.
She wanted me to go skating with her on the weekends, and I went once, but I wasn’t mentally in a place to enjoy it.
She eventually stopped asking me and just stored the skates in the closet in case I ever changed my mind.
I try them on to make sure they still fit and, luckily, they do.
There’s another note from Sue on the fridge letting me know she cooked a quiche, but I’m too nervous to eat that this morning.
I grab some toast and mint tea instead. As I’m washing up the dishes, there’s a knock on the door. I open it up and let Zander in.
“Hi Summer,” he says with a big smile.
“Hi. I’m just finishing up my dishes. I’ll just be a minute.”
“No worries, take your time.” He waves me off, looking around the room.
I dry my plate and mug, then grab my hat, jacket, gloves, and skates. “I’m ready.” I lock the door, and we leave. Zander opens the passenger door for me with a flourish. “Your chariot, my lady.”
I grin as I hop into the seat. It takes about 15 minutes to get back to the hotel, where Zander parks in the guest parking lot. “It’s only a five minute walk to the rink from here. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I don’t feel as awkward as I did yesterday, thank goodness. A little nervous, but nothing unmanageable.
As we walk towards the rink, Zander takes a wool hat out of his pocket and pulls it on over his head, then re-wraps the scarf around his neck and ties it in a knot.
Then he puts gloves on and tucks the cuffs into his coat sleeves.
He’s got thick jeans on too. From the cuffs he rolled up over his boots, they're flannel lined. Come on, Summer, talk to the man, I tell myself. “I’m surprised you asked me to go skating today,” I say.
“Why is that?” He questions.
I motion to his outfit. “Well, you’ve mentioned you don’t like the cold, and you’re bundled up like we’re heading to the Arctic Circle instead of just the outdoor rink.”
He laughs. “You got me there. Last night, I went out and got these cool jeans with flannel inside, ski gloves, and a wool cap. It should prevent frostbite for a few hours. I’ve got a fireplace in my room to warm up afterwards too.
Besides, I’ve never skated before, and I enjoy trying new things when I have the opportunity. ”
Zander pays for an hour skate for both of us, and I head for the benches while he goes to rent some skates.
This rink has been here for as long as I can remember.
It’s a bit worn now, with flaking red paint on the oval wall that surrounds the ice.
You can still make out the local sponsors who contributed to its build, but they’re very faded now.
Each long side of the rink has several benches available to sit and put on your skates, as well as rubber mats to walk across to get on the ice.
The rink still offers skating, figure skating, and hockey lessons, though most now prefer the newer indoor rink.
I’m lacing up when a pair of hockey skates drop to the ground beside me.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Shit. Hockey skates. Jake.
“Hey Summer, are you okay?” Zander asks.
“Yup, just give me a minute.” I take a few slow, deep breaths.
Of course there’s hockey skates here. I didn’t even think when Zander invited me.
Sue and I both use figure skates, so I never thought about the fact that he’d need hockey skates.
I open my eyes and look at Zander’s worried face.
“Sorry. Never thought about the hockey skates. I’m fine now. ”
“What do you mean?”
“Jake played hockey. Your skates just shocked me for a minute. It’s fine.” I attempt an easygoing smile to ease his worries, but I don’t think it worked.
“I’m sorry, Summer. Mal mentioned he was a hockey player, but I didn’t think about the connection. We can leave and do something else?”
“No, I’m fine, really. I just wasn’t thinking. I’m around hockey players at school all the time. It just surprised me for a minute.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, absolutely.” I finish lacing up my skates and stand to wiggle my feet a bit, getting used to the feel of them again. I check on Zander, who’s already got his skates on and laced up. He quickly stands and wobbles forward.
“Ah, you might want to re-lace those.” I put my hand up to stop him. “They need to be tighter near the top, or you’ll roll your ankle. Notice how my laces are wrapped around the back of my skates and tied off? Try that.”
“Shoot, okay. Give me a minute.” He relaces his skates, pulling tighter and wrapping the laces around the back like mine, then stands back up. “Okay, yeah, this feels more stable. Thanks. What now?”
“Now we walk onto the ice. I’ll go first and talk you through it?”
Zander smiles. “Yes, thanks. Don’t let me fall on my ass, please,” he says as he holds his hands up, begging.
“I’ll try, but you’re more than likely going to fall.” I step onto the ice, feeling a little unsteady myself, but after a few glides in a circle, it comes back to me. Turning around, I instruct Zander. “Put one foot on the ice and grab the rail with both hands.”
He steps out and grabs hold of the rail, but his foot keeps gliding forward. “Crap,” he mutters as he steps back off the ice.
I smile. “Turn your skate sideways, like mine, when you step out.” I show him what to do. “That way your skate won’t keep moving.”
He tries again and gets both feet on the ice. “This is going to be harder than it looks. How are you standing there like you’re on grass?”
“Practice. I’ve been skating since I was three. You’ll get there. I’m gonna skate beside you while you hold on to the rail. Just do what I do.” I take a small step with my right foot and push off with my left.
Zander lifts his leg to copy me and completely wipes out, falling flat on his back.
A full-bodied laugh erupts from me. I can’t help it with the look of pure shock on his face. He groans and sits up, staring at his feet as though they’ve betrayed him. “Son of a…what did I do wrong?”
“Nothing,” I giggle. “I said you would fall. Everyone does. Grab the rail, kneel, and place one foot on the ice at a time.” It takes a few tries, but he gets back on his feet. “Why don’t I grab a penguin for you?”
“A what?”
“It’s a training aid for beginners. You lean on it as you skate so you don’t fall.”
“Alright, I’ll try it,” he grumbles, concentrating on not moving at all with a death grip on the rail.
“Okay, just stay there and don’t move. I’ll grab one.
” I hop off the ice, go back to the rental shed and grab a penguin, then walk back to Zander.
He’s turned away from me, one elbow leaning on the rail when I get back on the ice.
Pulling the penguin behind me as I approach him, I call out that I have it.
Zander turns towards me, and I see he’s on the phone.
“Sorry. Didn’t see the phone,” I say, backing up when I hear a voice on the line.
“Z, who’s that?”
Zander rolls his eyes. “Troy, that’s my daughter. I just told you I was skating with her. She’s back with my penguin.”
“Turn the phone around, man, so you can introduce us.”
Zander looks at me for permission. There’s gonna be a lot of introductions moving to a new place, so I might as well get the next one over with. I nod and step closer. There’s a guy on the screen, maybe in his late 30s, with short black hair, brown eyes, and a smile on his face, waving.
“Hey there, Summer. I’m Troy.”
“Hi Troy. Nice to meet you.” I wave back.
“Can you do me a small favor?”
“Um, sure?” I look to Zander for guidance, but he just shrugs.
“Great. Grab your phone and bring up the camera app. I need you to take a pic of Zander for me in a minute.”
I furrow my brows, but get my phone from my jacket pocket, and turn on the camera. “Okay, I’m ready,” I tell Troy.
“Super, now show him the penguin.”
I smile and move to the side so Zander can see the penguin behind me. I quickly snap a pic of the look of horror on his face and can hear Troy laughing in the background.
“Did you get it, Summer?”
“Yeah, I did.” Troy seems like a jokester. That could be fun. I decide to sneak a few more pics for him as we skate. I get the impression Zander won’t really mind.