CHAPTER FOUR
Lexi made the short drive from the ice rink to the main part of the resort, planning to grab a bite to eat before her shift started. She still didn’t like to cook for herself, so she tried to eat at least one good meal at the resort each day.
Previously, her dad had hired someone to do meal prep for her and Mik. All of it had been nutritiously sound and scientifically balanced, prepared to give them the energy they needed for their intense training.
Food had never been a thing of enjoyment for her. She ate to fuel her body and for no other reason, and she’d always been careful to eat at specific times. Now that she was on her own, though, it was sometimes hard to remember to eat. She should probably set alarms on her phone to remind herself, like she had in the past.
She usually grabbed a piece of fruit and some yoghurt for breakfast, followed by lunch at the resort. Supper was a salad or more fruit and yoghurt. Something easy to prepare.
It wouldn’t have been enough to fuel her body previously. But now, even though she was still skating and working out, her skating routine wasn’t anywhere near the intensity of before.
The hostess at The Steakhouse greeted her with a friendly smile when she walked in. She showed her to a small table near the back of the restaurant. It was where Lexi preferred to sit, and now the woman took her there without her having to ask.
After she sat down, she glanced around. It was fairly busy, but that wasn’t unusual since they were gearing up for the weekend. She’d learned that the resort was busiest from Thursday to Monday, which was why her work hours were scheduled like they were.
Her gaze lit on Kayleigh St. James, where she sat in a booth a couple of tables away. It wasn’t the first time Lexi had seen the woman in the restaurant, but if she was there, it was usually with her husband. The tall, handsome man many described as Alexander’s right-hand man.
Today, however, Kayleigh sat with one of the men who’d been present at the meeting earlier. Lexi recalled that Trev had introduced him as Wilder, a ski instructor.
Wilder had dark hair and a short beard, and, if she remembered correctly from earlier, dark eyes. Unlike Kayleigh, who was dressed professionally in a dark green pantsuit, he wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
While Kayleigh sat with her spine straight and shoulders squared, Wilder definitely had a more relaxed posture, leaning back against his side of the booth.
It was clear they knew each other well. Their smiles and laughter came easily as they talked while they ate.
Lexi’s first thought was that they had some sort of relationship, but then she dismissed that idea. There was no way that someone as successful as Kayleigh would meet a boyfriend at a place where her husband was as well known as she was.
And Lexi didn’t think it would go well for Kayleigh if she was, in fact, cheating on her boss’s right-hand man.
“What can I get for you?”
Lexi looked up at the young man standing beside her table, realizing she hadn’t even looked over the menu. Not that she really needed to. She’d basically ordered the same thing every time she came.
“I’d like the grilled steak salad, please.”
“And to drink?”
“Water with lemon. No ice.”
“I’ll be right back with that,” the man said, then he left the table.
Lexi resisted the urge to keep watching Kayleigh and the ski instructor. Instead, she did something far worse. She looked up the results for the first senior figure skating competition of the season.
It had started the night before, but she hadn’t had the nerve to check the results. She wasn’t even sure that Mik and his new partner had qualified. It was possible that they’d been given assignments based on Mik’s previous track record, even though that track record had been with Lexi.
However, he and his new partner weren’t doing all that great. Mik hadn’t found a partner that could elevate him to the status that partnering with Lexi had. That wasn’t her pride talking. It was a fact.
She and Mik had been partners since they were children. They’d learned the art of pairs skating together, so their styles meshed perfectly. And they’d shared a work ethic that included total devotion to the sport.
She’d given up much of her life to become the best skater possible. Her dad had told her that he’d earn the money to pay her bills, she just had to work hard to make it worthwhile.
Other skaters had jobs or went to school, so their focus was split. Their time was split. That hadn’t been the case for her and Mikhail. It was why her career goal had been to coach. After the path she’d chosen to take with Mik, she wouldn’t have had any other skill to fall back on when she retired from competition.
Two years ago, this was one of the competitions she and Mik had won. And if they’d still been skating together and had been assigned to the competition, they’d no doubt have won it again.
Sadly for Mik, he was no longer skating with her. After the short program, he and Amberlyn were sitting in seventh. And there were only eight teams there.
Lexi knew she shouldn’t feel happy about that. But seeing him struggle was a balm to the wounds Mik had inflicted on her after finding out what her father had done.
She was innocent in everything, but that hadn’t mattered to Mik.
It had made her wonder if he’d truly loved her, or if he’d pursued a relationship with her because it was guaranteed to keep them together in a way a partnership might not.
With some distance from everything, she’d come to think that the answer was that he hadn’t loved her. If he had, he wouldn’t have been able to say those words to her. He would have stuck by her side while they tried to figure out how to move forward.
The price she’d paid had been her whole career. And now low marks were Mik’s price.
She fitted her earbuds into her ears, then found the video of the performance on YouTube. But then, deciding that she didn’t want to be interrupted, Lexi closed that out and spent the time while she waited for her meal looking over the headlines and her social media.
Her new social media. She’d had to abandon her old accounts because the vitriol thrown her way had been horrific.
Now, she had a generic social media profile where she posted simple pictures of food and flowers. Nothing she was truly passionate about. However, it allowed her to follow the accounts she was most interested in without revealing who she was.
Among those accounts were figure skating costume designers. She didn’t follow any skaters. She hadn’t done that even before everything went south, and she didn’t plan to do it now.
Many of the other skaters had been friends, or at least friendly, with people they competed against. Some of that was because they trained at the same place or were trained by the same coaches.
Since that wasn’t the case for her and Mik, Lexi hadn’t seen the sense in trying to cultivate friendships with people who stood between her and the top of the podium. She knew she hadn’t been well-liked by her competitors, but they could hate her for all Lexi cared. All she’d cared about was that the judges loved them.
Once she had her salad in front of her, Lexi went back to the video, then tapped the screen to start it. It was definitely a form of self-torture watching Mik and Amberlyn circle the center of the ice before they took their starting positions, Mik’s hand gripping Amberlyn’s hip the way he used to grip Lexi’s.
When the music started, Lexi wrinkled her nose at the very basic classic piece that they’d chosen. It took a bit of effort, but Lexi forced herself to switch out of ex-fiancée/partner mode and into coach mode.
She and Mik had been fairly even in their physicality on the ice, but of this pairing, he was definitely stronger. It showed in Amberlyn’s shaky landings on throws and jumps. Even falling twice. Her positions would be more precise if she was strong enough to hold them. She needed a stronger core.
By the end of the program, Amberlyn’s shoulders were drooping, and the smile she’d sported at the beginning was gone. There were no hugs and high fives as the music faded away. Instead, just murmured conversation as they skated back to the center of the ice.
Lexi felt a pulse of pain as she listened to the applause for them, watching Mik take Amberlyn’s hand as they acknowledged the crowd with bows. He spun her around like he used to do with Lexi.
She missed that moment. When the crowd gathered there to watch them shared their appreciation of the program the skaters had performed—good or bad. There would sometimes be a shower of stuffed animals, and Lexi had always made sure to pick one up and wave appreciatively at the people who’d shown up that day.
Following Mik and Amberlyn’s program, there was nothing but polite applause that ended quickly as the pair made their way to the boards. And there stood her former coaches. The husband and wife team who had worked day in and day out with her and Mik.
They greeted them with hugs, but Lexi could see how displeased they were by the firm set of Irina’s lips and the crease between Lev’s heavy brows.
Mik slumped down on the bench and took the bottle of water offered to him. When Amberlyn sat down beside him, her shoulders were curled forward, and after taking a drink from the bottle of water she’d been handed, she picked at the label while Mik and the coaches held a conversation around her.
Lexi felt a bit sorry for Amberlyn. It was never easy to face the lens of the camera after a skate when your mistakes were many and very noticeable.
Mik had had a few as well. He had looked more winded than he usually did following a performance. Maybe he wasn’t working out enough to keep his stamina and strength at the level where they should be.
Lexi closed out the video before the scores were posted.
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered to her anymore. It wasn’t her responsibility to keep Mik motivated to stay strong. And it certainly wasn’t her responsibility to help Amberlyn.
She wasn’t a partner. She wasn’t a coach. She was nothing.
Trying to shake off the melancholy that wanted to blanket her, Lexi opened her eBook app and, while she finished her meal, she read. Occasionally, she glanced at the table where Kayleigh sat with Wilder.
At one point, they both got up. Kayleigh held out her arms to the man. Wilder bent down and lifted Kayleigh off her feet, making her slap his shoulders. Laughing, Wilder set her down, then pressed a kiss to her forehead.
When she strode away, Wilder sat back down in the booth. Lexi quickly averted her gaze so that he didn’t discover her staring.
The whole interchange was weird, but honestly, it was none of her business. Lexi doubted that Alexander would really be that interested in the personal life of his employees. And why would she cause trouble in someone else’s life when she had enough in her own?
The next morning, after a workout at the apartment, Lexi arrived at the rink by seven. Her day was going to be long and busy, but she was ready for it. Looking forward to it, in fact. Anything was better than sitting in her apartment all alone.
She called her mom again, but they didn’t chat too long because her mom was going out for the evening with Leland and needed to get ready. In the quiet of the empty rink, she spent her time once again going through all her jumps and spins.
Deciding not to skate any of the old routines, Lexi put on a song that she’d begun to create some choreography for. Not that she needed a choreographed piece of music. It was more of a mental need. A creative outlet for her. Much like the skating costumes she designed in her sketchbook that would never become reality.
As nine o’clock neared, Lexi went into her office to change into her fitted workout pants and jacket. When she skated on her own, she often just wore leggings and a sweatshirt. But if she was going to be showing the girls any jumps or spins, she wanted them to be able to see her body lines clearly.
She’d just returned to where she’d left her skates when the door to the rink opened. Turning, she spotted Kayleigh and Hudson coming toward her hand-in-hand.
“Good morning, Alexandra,” Kayleigh said with a smile. “Thank you so much for being willing to coach my nieces. They’re very excited.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“How are you finding Serenity and the resort?” Hudson asked, his gaze intent on her.
“It’s nice. This is especially spectacular,” she said with a wave of her hand at the rink.
“Yep. Still not sure what Alexander was thinking, but once that man sets his mind on something, there’s no stopping him.”
“It might take a bit to find its footing,” Kayleigh said. “But I’m hoping that we’ll get to where it’s an integral part of the resort, just like the slopes are.”
Hudson chuckled. “I think your dreams might be a little lofty, darling. Personally, I think Alexander had it built to give Candace and Sabrina something to do while he and the boys are off skiing.”
“You’re probably right.”
When the door swung open again, they all turned toward it. This time, a whole group of people walked in. A couple of girls—one with dark hair, the other blonde—followed by a woman with dark hair like Kayleigh’s. A tall man came behind her carrying a car seat.
Bringing up the rear was a familiar face. Wilder stepped into the rink, letting the door close behind him.
Lexi looked over at Kayleigh and Hudson, trying to puzzle out the situation, but she didn’t have long to do that as Kayleigh motioned for the girls to join them.
The wide eyes and excited expression on the oldest girl’s face hinted at her knowing who Lexi was. Did she know everything that had gone down?
“This is my sister, Charli, her husband, Blake, and their girls.” Kayleigh rested her hand on the shoulder of the tallest girl. “Layla, Amelia, and baby Shiloh. Also, this is my brother, Wilder, who tagged along for whatever reason.”
“Boredom?” Wilder suggested, a teasing smile on his face.
“Are you going to skate with us, Uncle Wilder?” Layla asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll probably just watch.” He lowered a large bag that he had slung over his shoulder. “But first, you need your skates.”
Lexi watched as the girls scrambled to pull their skates from the bag. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t even considered that Kayleigh and Wilder might be siblings. Perhaps the fact that she had none of her own meant it wasn’t the first relationship she reached for as an explanation.
“Thank you for being willing to take the girls on,” Charli said. “They both really love skating, and I would have hated for them to have to stop lessons.”
“What happened to their other teacher?”
Charli’s expression saddened. “Her husband’s mom was diagnosed with cancer, and they moved to be closer to her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“We were too.”
“How long have they been skating?” Lexi wanted a bit more background before they began their first lessons.
She already knew that she was going to have to approach her time with these two differently than she might have if she’d picked her own students. Her plan had always been to coach up-and-coming competitive skaters. It wasn’t likely that these two were aiming that high.
Just like not every person who took piano lessons went on to play at Carnegie Hall, not every person who took skating lessons went on to compete at Worlds or the Olympics.
Once the girls had their skates on, Lexi sent them onto the ice to do a couple of laps while she put hers on. It didn’t take long, and soon she was stepping onto the ice herself.
Blocking out the audience leaning against the boards, Lexi called for the girls to join her. They same to a stop just a few feet from where she stood.
“Why don’t you each show me your favorite jump and spin?” she said.
Layla quickly volunteered to go first, leaving Amelia with Lexi as she stroked away from them. Lexi could already see areas where Layla would need more work, but she did a passable job on the spin and jump that she’d chosen.
“I haven’t been skating as long as Layla,” Amelia said when Layla was done. “So I’m not very good.”
Lexi knew how her coach would have responded to that, but she took a gentler approach, even though it felt a bit foreign to her. “We all have to start somewhere, and Layla is also older than you. Don’t measure yourself against her. Just do your best.”
Amelia gave a single nod before she set off to do what Lexi had asked of them. It was clear that she was more of a beginner than Layla, but Lexi could see a natural talent in her that didn’t appear as strong in the older girl.
“Good job, both of you.”
For the next hour, Lexi focused on helping them improve the jump they’d each chosen. Though she’d had relatively low expectations of the girls, they both showed that they were there to do the work and not just goof off. She appreciated that they weren’t wasting her—or their—time.
“Do you have any questions about what we’ve done here today?” Lexi asked at the end of the hour.
Both girls shook their head, but then Layla said, “Can you skate for us?”
“Skate for you?”
“I know you can do better jumps than the singles you showed us today,” Layla said.
That was definitely true, as she’d stuck to doing single jumps to illustrate positions and speed to the girls. “I don’t know…”
“Please?” Layla gripped her gloved hands in front of her chest. “You’re my favorite pairs skater.”
“I’m not a pairs skater anymore,” Lexi said, trying to ignore the hurt saying those words caused her.
“I know, but you’re still one of the best skaters.”
Lexi sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
Grinning, Layla said, “We did our favorite jumps and spins for you. How about you do your favorites?”
“Okay. Stand over by the boards.”