CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“How did the rest of your day go?” Wilder asked as he drove to the small café they’d decided to go to instead of the ice cream parlor. The café was open late, which wasn’t usual for places in Serenity that weren’t bars.
“It went fine. The kids that came to the rink were kind of spoiled, though. But nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Spoiled kids are my least favorite people to work with,” Wilder said. “I can deal with them in passing, but trying to get them to understand that we do things a certain way for safety’s sake and not just to be bossy can sometimes be stressful.”
“Have you ever had someone get injured?”
“Pretty much every season we have at least one person who ends up with a broken bone. It’s always a risk when you have people on the slopes for the first time.”
“I’d be afraid that would be me.”
Wilder glanced over at Lexi. “You’ve never skied?”
“Nope. I couldn’t risk getting injured,” she said. “I still don’t have any real desire to try.”
“I’m wounded,” Wilder said, pressing his hand to his chest.
“I’m afraid I would be too,” Lexi said, humor edging her words.
“Haha.”
“I rarely did anything that might result in an injury that would keep me off the ice.”
“But what about injuries while you were skating?” Wilder asked. “Didn’t you have any of those?”
“Oh sure, but I’ve never had anything like a broken leg or arm. Mainly I had sprains or torn muscles. I did fracture my wrist once during practice when I fell on a throw jump we were trying to learn.”
“I’ve broken my leg once and my arm twice over the years of skiing.”
“And that’s why I’m going to stay off the slopes. I still need to be able to skate for my job, so I’m not going to risk getting hurt.”
“Ah, that’s too bad.”
“Why?”
“I thought I might be able to convince you to come skiing with me.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
When they reached the café, Wilder found a parking spot not too far from the door. A cold wind greeted them as they got out of the car and headed for the front door.
As they stepped inside the building, Wilder glanced around. He grinned when he spotted Lee and Rori seated at a table set against the exposed brick wall opposite the entrance.
Rori spotted him and waved, making Lee look in their direction. Lee motioned for him to come over, and by the time they got there, Lee had shifted to sit beside Rori instead of across from her.
“Join us,” Rori said.
Wilder shook his head. “Oh, we don’t want to interrupt your date.”
Rori smiled at them. “It can be a double date.”
“It’s not a date.” He and Lexi were a duet in their response.
Lee laughed. “Okay. Then we’ll be on a date, and you can just be friends.”
“Do you want to join them?” Wilder turned to ask Lexi, aware that he probably shouldn’t be putting her on the spot.
“Sure,” she replied with a shrug.
Wilder stepped to the side so Lexi could take the spot across from Rori. He hoped she really didn’t mind spending some time with Lee and Rori. Of all his siblings, Lee was probably a good one for her to be around. And from what he’d seen, Rori was sweet and friendly.
Once they were seated, a young woman approached the table. “More guests, Dr. Lee?”
“Yep. This is my brother, Wilder, and his… co-worker, Alexandra.”
At the revelation that Lexi wasn’t his girlfriend, a gleam of interest appeared in the woman’s eyes. “Welcome. What can I get you this evening?”
“We’ll need a few minutes with the menu,” Wilder told her. “But for now, I’d like a cup of decaf.”
“Sure thing.” She directed her attention to Lexi. “And for you?”
“Just water, please.”
The waitress nodded, then headed in the direction of the bakery cases.
“How do you know her?” Wilder asked Lee.
“She’s the sister of Alys, our vet tech at the clinic.”
Wilder lowered his gaze to the single page menu. “It’s ages since I was last here. What do you two recommend?”
“I love the warm brownie with ice cream,” Rori said. “So yum.”
“I go for the mocha cheescake,” Lee said. “But you can’t go wrong with anything here, really.”
“I think I’ll get the brownie,” Wilder said, then looked at Lexi. “How about you, Lexi?”
“I think I’ll have the strawberry shortcake,” she said.
“Oh, that’s good too,” Rori told her.
With that settled, they placed their orders when the waitress returned with their drinks. It didn’t take long for her to return with their desserts, then after refreshing Lee’s coffee, she moved off toward another table.
“How is life at the resort?” Lee asked as he lifted his mug.
“It’s good,” Wilder said. “We’ve finally got a plan for the Christmas program, which is no longer a program.”
“Oh really? Do tell.”
As they ate, they shared what had transpired and what they hoped to pull off.
“If they do an auction, we might be able to donate something from the clinic. Like a grooming.”
“You offer grooming?” Wilder asked.
“Not by an employee at the clinic,” Rori said. “But we have a groomer who comes to the shelter to cut nails and such. I’m sure if we said we’d pay for her time, we could offer her services for the cause.”
“You wouldn’t offer a spay or neutering?”
Lee chuckled. “I supposed we could. I just thought a grooming might be better suited for a Christmas themed event.”
“True. You could offer a coupon for a certain amount of money, which would cover the cost of that service or anything else the clinic offers.”
“If this comes together like you hope, I’ll talk to Carl and see what he’s willing to do.”
“We’ll need some help contacting people to donate to the auction if this idea gets approved. It’s unfortunate that it falls at a time that’s busy for me or I’d happily go around talking to people.”
“You should have a bake sale too,” Rori said. “You have several great bakers in your family, and probably at the church, too.”
“That’s a great idea, Rori,” Wilder said.
Rori’s cheeks pinked as she smiled. “I’d like to help out wherever I can.”
“Can you skate?” he asked. “We might need elves.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. I can’t help with that.”
“And even though I can skate, I think I’m too big to be an elf.”
Rori laughed as she leaned against Lee’s arm. “I can’t imagine you in tights and a Santa hat.”
“Maybe you could take pictures,” Lee said as he slipped his arm around Rori and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Pictures of the kids with Santa.”
“But Santa would be on the ice, and we wouldn’t want to confuse the kids by having two Santas. I doubt that’s the goal of the event.”
Lexi had stayed quiet at first, eating bites of her strawberry shortcake, but gradually she joined in the conversation. Though Wilder might have wanted to just hang out with her, it had turned out better being with Lee and Rori because they’d had some good ideas for the Christmas event.
Now, if Alexander would just give them the green light to go ahead with everything.
Once they’d finished their desserts, Lee said, “We’d better get going. We’ve got church in the morning.”
“Will you be joining us, Alexandra?” Rori asked.
“By the way, you can call me Lexi,” Lexi said. “And I’m afraid I can’t. I have to be at the rink before it opens at eleven.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Rori said. “You could always watch the service online after the fact.”
“They record it?” Lexi asked.
Lee nodded. “They stream it live, but it’s also available for people who want to watch it at a different time. Get the info from Wilder, so you have it if you want it.”
“I’ll do that,” she said as they got up from the table after taking care of the bill.
Wilder wasn’t sure if she would actually ask him for the information, so he planned to offer it anyway. He had a sense that she was searching in her life. She’d lost a lot, but it didn’t seem like she’d succumbed to despair. At least not yet. But maybe she would be able to find an anchor in her life if she turned it over to God.
“It’s snowing,” Lexi said as they stepped outside.
“Woo hoo! Maybe we’ll get enough on the slopes for me to start working.”
“It was nice spending time with you, Lexi,” Lee said. “We’ll see you around. Bro, catch you at home.”
Rori said goodbye to them, then walked away hand-in-hand with Lee.
“Are you really excited about getting to work?” Lexi asked as they walked to his car.
“I am.” Wilder pressed the fob to unlock the doors. “I’m not one who enjoys sitting around for days.”
“Even if you’re at a beach?”
“If I’m at a good beach, I’d be surfing.”
“Do you snowboard as well or just ski?”
“I can snowboard, but skiing is my preference.”
After they got in the car, he started it and cranked the heat. He turned on the wipers to clear the windshield of the melted snow, then backed out of his parking spot.
“I guess you get lots of snow around here.”
“Yep. We do. And the occasional blizzard just makes it loads of fun.”
Lexi let out a huff of laughter. “You are crazy.”
“I’ve been told that plenty of times, and I embrace it. Give me enough snow and I’ll be out there making snowmen and throwing snowballs with the kids.”
“Your nieces and nephews must love you.”
“I think they do. I certainly love them.”
“Do you like kids in general, or just them?”
“I like all kids. That’s why I’m working with the orphanages.”
“Do you plan to have some of your own some day?”
Wilder wasn’t sure what to make of her question. It wasn’t a question he got a lot, though now that his siblings were married and having children, he was getting it more. Well, he was getting the marriage question the most, but the children question was in there too.
“Honestly, I don’t have a plan when it comes to kids. Just like I don’t have a plan when it comes to marriage.”
“What does that mean? Don’t people usually plan if they’re going to get married and have kids?”
“I suppose some do,” Wilder agreed. “But I’m choosing to believe that if God wants me to marry and have kids, He’ll bring the right woman to cross my path at the right time.”
“And if that never happens?”
“Then I’ll be content with loving on my nieces and nephews and any other children God brings into my life. Marriage should never be the be all and end all of a person’s life.”
“What do you mean?”
“As a Christian, I believe that the be all and end all of my life should be honoring God. If it’s not His will that I marry, yet I pursue that, I might struggle with joy and contentment in my life.”
“I was going to get married. Mikhail and I were engaged.”
“Did you plan to have kids?”
“Only once we retired from competition,” she said. “Then we figured I could safely get pregnant since I could still help Mik coach. We used to talk about how we’d raise the next generation of Olympic skaters.”
Her voice was completely emotionless as she spoke, which Wilder had come to realize meant she was keeping her emotions locked down.
“You can still raise the next generation of Olympic skaters. I doubt you’re going to give up skating or coaching.”
“Maybe not, but I won’t be competing anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
Lexi didn’t reply right away, making Wilder think that deep down, she really did want to continue to compete. Which made complete sense. Competing had been her whole life. And she hadn’t left the sport on her terms. Other people’s decisions had ended her career.
“I can’t go back. The scandal would follow me everywhere. And if I can’t compete at the top of my game, I don’t want to compete at all.”
Wilder didn’t subscribe to that theory himself. He was motivated to give everything his best shot in the moment, even though it might not be the best he’d ever been. As he aged, he felt the effects of the skiing season on his body more and more, but he still believed he had something to offer.
And he believed that Lexi still had lots to offer as well. “Could you do singles skating?”
“Probably,” she said. “But not well enough to win gold, I don’t think. So many of the female skaters competing now are young and strong, performing amazing jumps. I’m old compared to them.”
Their discussion came to an abrupt end as he pulled to a stop in front of her building. “Listen, I’m going to send you a text with a link to our church’s website in case you’re interested in watching the livestream.”
“Okay. Thank you.” She opened the door, which flooded the interior with light. “I enjoyed tonight.”
“Me, too. Have a good night and a good day tomorrow.”
“I’ll certainly try. Goodnight.”
Wilder kept watch as she shut the door, then made her way to the entrance to the building. He waited until she was safely behind the locked door before he pulled away from the curb.
As he drove home, Wilder braced himself for curious siblings because he was quite certain that Lee wouldn’t keep it to himself that he’d run into them. No one would believe him that it hadn’t been a date.
Pushing that aside to deal with when his siblings confronted him, Wilder instead turned his thoughts to Lexi and church. He wondered if she would have wanted to attend with them if her schedule had allowed.
If she really did want to go to church, Wilder was sure Kayleigh and Hudson would approve changing up her schedule a bit. He didn’t want to pressure her, but he got the feeling that despite attending church previously, she’d never had a close personal relationship with the Lord.
Maybe he’d broach the subject again to see if she’d be willing to talk about her faith. It had seemed that her father had gone to church as a way to maintain an image and cultivate relationships that he could then abuse.
Wilder didn’t blame her for having a rather jaded view of church, if that was the experience she’d had. However, it made him long to introduce her to something that might help to offset her previous experiences.
Even if she watched the stream, it was better than nothing. When he was traveling, he often tuned into the livestream or watched it later if the time difference didn’t work out favorably. It was a nice way to stay connected to his church family, and to be spiritually fed from a pastor he trusted and respected.
When Wilder got to the house, he pulled to the curb to park. Before he had a chance to get out, lights appeared in his rear-view mirror, and he figured it was Lee. He got out and waited for his brother to join him.
“Thanks for letting us crash your date,” he said.
“No problem. I think it was good for Rori. She’s trying to make new friends, so it was good that she could be around Lexi, especially if Lexi’s going to be hanging out with us.”
“I don’t know if she will be or not. For now, we’re all kind of forced to spend time together as we sort out this Christmas program,” Wilder said as they approached the front door. “I don’t know if she’ll still want to be around us afterward.”
Lee opened the door and stepped into the foyer. “So it really wasn’t a date?”
“Nope. Dating isn’t something that would work for us, but a friendship is always doable.”
They headed for the kitchen, where they found Janessa and Will.
“Where have you two been?” Janessa asked.
“Rori and I were at the café, then Wilder and Lexi showed up.”
Janessa arched a brow at Wilder. “Date?”
“Nope. We planned to discuss the Christmas program, but then saw Rori and Lee there and decided to join them.”
“Really?” Janessa didn’t look convinced. “Not a date?”
“Both of them said it wasn’t a date,” Lee said as he settled on a stool at the counter. “So I guess it wasn’t.”
“Neither of us is in a place to date,” Wilder said. “I’ll be leaving again in the spring, and who knows where she’ll end up.”
“You don’t think she’s here long term?” Janessa asked.
Wilder shrugged. “I have no clue. And I don’t think she does either. She seems quite… unmoored, for lack of a better word. From the few conversations we’ve had about her career, I think she doesn’t know what to do with her future.”
“I imagine losing everything the way she did must be very hard to deal with,” Janessa said. “I mean, she’s lost her dad, and because of him, she’s also lost her career.”
“Learning her father wasn’t who she thought he was has probably also caused her some trust issues.”
Janessa and Lee exchanged a glance that Wilder didn’t understand, but before he could ask about it, Will said, “Maybe she’ll find a future in Serenity. For whatever reason, she’s ended up at the resort. Perhaps God has a purpose for her here.”
Wilder had a hard time envisioning what that future might be. If she wanted to coach, the resort probably wasn’t the best place for her. And if she returned to competing, it was unlikely that Serenity would be a good base for her training.
“I hope she finds what she needs,” Janessa said. “She seems to be a very uptight and… controlled person.”
“Of course she’s controlled,” Wilder said, feeling the need to defend Lexi. “When she competes, she has to be able to keep her emotions under control no matter how her skate goes. And she has to leave anything she might be struggling with behind when she steps on the ice so she’s not distracted.”
“That does make sense. I’ve just never met anyone like her before.”
“Rori isn’t super open with everyone,” Lee said. “But you’re not saying that about her.”
“Rori can be reserved, but I’ve always had the sense that she was willing to open up if someone expressed an interest in truly knowing her. I don’t get the feeling that Lexi is that way.”
“You have to understand, though,” Wilder began. “Her trust has been betrayed by people who were supposed to have had her best interests at heart. Who were supposed to love and support her. She lost her dad. Her coaches dropped her. And her fiancé not only broke off their engagement, he dropped her as his partner. Her ability to trust is going to be very low for the time being.”
“She seems to trust you,” Janessa said. “At least enough to spend time with you.”
Wilder didn’t know how much Lexi trusted him, but he had a feeling that she was spending time with him because she didn’t have any other options. Plus, they needed to work together for the program. He sincerely doubted that she viewed him as a confidante or anything beyond an acquaintance.
He’d know that they’d officially moved from being acquaintances and co-workers to friends when she initiated contact with him without it being work related. Wilder didn’t plan to hold his breath waiting for that to happen.
If they could get through this Christmas program without her cutting him with her skate blade, he’d count it as a win. And if they managed to forge a solid friendship in the process, that would just be a cool bonus.