CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Wilder jogged down the stairs after taking a quick shower and changing into clothes that would be appropriate for their family’s Thanksgiving dinner. His hair was still a little damp, but it would dry quick enough.
“Is Lexi joining us?” Charli asked.
Wilder frowned at the question. He’d invited Lexi, but she’d said she’d be working. “Nope. She’s working.”
“I offered her the time off,” Kayleigh told him. “But she said she was fine to work.”
“I still think it’s ridiculous that everything at the resort is open on Thanksgiving,” Charli muttered.
“It’s because we have people coming specifically for the long weekend,” Kayleigh explained in an exasperated voice. “They’re not choosing to come to the resort expecting everything to be closed. It’s the nature of the business.”
Wilder had worked until three, though the slopes were open until four. Trev had had no problem letting him leave an hour early.
They were having their family dinner at four there at Charli’s. Most of the family who were coming were already present, though noticeably missing were Zane, Cole and Skylar.
It was a typical Halverson gathering with lots of chaos as they all stepped in to help get the dinner on the table. The older kids were keeping the younger ones occupied while the adults pitched in.
“Okay, everyone,” Charli said loudly. “Let’s sit up.”
There was a flurry of activity as parents rounded up the children and got them into their seats. Wilder waited until all of them were settled, then he sat down on an empty chair next to his dad.
Once they were all seated, his dad said a prayer for the meal, adding on a prayer for those who weren’t there. Absent were Zane, Cole, and Skylar. Zane not being there wasn’t unusual. Cole and Skylar not being there was.
When he’d asked Charli about Cole and Skylar’s absence, she just said they’d decided to stay at college because of their jobs. Hopefully they’d be able to make it home for Christmas.
“Here you go, son,” his dad said as he passed him the platter with turkey heaped on it.
Soon, his plate was filled with all the food that was common for their family Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potato casserole. Fresh buns. Green bean casserole. Cranberry sauce. Two different types of salad. Corn bread stuffing.
Their Thanksgiving dinners had always been good, but since Misha’s mom, Denise, had joined them, they were even better. There was never a shortage of food.
“I didn’t eat breakfast or lunch because I wanted to eat lots for dinner, but I’m already full,” his dad said after they’d been eating for a while. “It is all so good.”
There were murmurs of agreement as people around the table cleaned off their plates. Wilder had managed to put away a plateful and then some. He had also skipped lunch, but since he was physically active, he didn’t feel too guilty about taking seconds of several of the dishes.
They didn’t eat dessert right away because everyone was full. Instead, they all helped to clean off the table and put away the food, then they went into the living room for their thankfulness time.
Wilder loved that part of the evening, and he wished that Lexi could be there so he could hear her share what she was thankful for.
“I’m thankful this year for how God brought our family together and helped us grow,” Charli said as she smiled at Blake. “I’m thankful that He brought forgiveness and grace into my life so that Blake and I could be together. I’m so grateful for our love and for the three precious girls we get to call our daughters.”
Wilder appreciated being able to hear from his siblings because it gave him a glimpse into their hearts.
When it was his turn, he said, “I’m grateful that God led me to the orphanage ministries, and I’m thankful for how people are joining me in supporting those organizations. Seeing the joy of the kids at those orphanages, when you know what the alternative would be for them without it, is so great. It’s a real blessing.”
His parents added their thankfulness for having been to the orphanages as well. Lee shared that he was thankful for his job, being back in Serenity, and Rori’s love. Her response was similar. Their love for each other was clear, and Wilder was happy for his brother.
“I’m thankful for a lot of stuff,” Janessa said. “It’s been great having my two brothers living here and being part of my nieces’ and nephews’ lives. And in a few months, we’ll be adding to the group, and we’re very thankful for that.”
For a moment, there was just stunned silence, then his mom said, “Are you… pregnant?”
Janessa and Will both beamed as they nodded. “I’m just two months along, but I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer since every day I’m having worse and worse morning sickness.”
His mom and dad got up to hug them, and everyone else joined in on the congratulations. The next generation was well underway, and Wilder couldn’t have been happier about it.
Once they were done sharing, they had a time of prayer, then dessert appeared with coffee and tea.
The older kids took their dessert downstairs to watch a movie and play some video games. Ciara and Timmy had to stay upstairs with the adults, and they weren’t overly impressed, but cookies ended up being the distraction that they needed.
When he’d finished his coffee and dessert, Wilder went into the kitchen to find Charli.
“Would it be okay if I took a plate of food to Lexi?” he asked her. “I’m pretty sure she’s not going to have a Thanksgiving dinner since she’s working late.”
“Sure. We’ve got so much food, you could take her a couple of plates, and we’d still have lots left.”
Over the next few minutes, Charli pulled out containers of food, and Wilder put some of each of the dishes onto two large paper plates. One held stuff that needed to be heated up, and the other held the salads. He doubted she’d eat everything that he was putting on the plates, but maybe she could divide it into two meals.
They covered the plates, then carefully packed it all into a bag, along with some dessert. Once it was all ready, Wilder said goodbye to the family members who didn’t live at the house in case they left before he got back, then he carried the bag out to his car.
It was nearly seven by the time he pulled into the parking lot of the rink. There were a few cars there, but that might not accurately reflect the number of people inside. He knew that people often used the golf carts with drivers offered by the resort to get from the hotel to other places at the resort.
He got out, then picked up the bag from the back seat. It had started snowing earlier, and the flakes drifted down lazily, glinting in the lampposts that were situated around the parking lot.
Music, murmurs of conversation, and the scent of coffee greeted Wilder as he stepped into the building. He stamped his feet to get rid of the snow, glancing around to see how many people were there.
He saw that several tables were full, and there were quite a few people on the ice, including Lexi. Keeping an eye on her, Wilder made his way to her office. He set the bag with food in it on her desk, then took off his jacket.
Deciding he could do with another coffee, he went to the counter at the café, where he recognized the guy working there.
“Hi, Luke. How’s it going?”
“Busy today.”
“Did you miss out on Thanksgiving dinner?” Wilder asked after he gave him his order.
“Nope. My brother had to work today too, so my mom said we’ll have it on Saturday.”
“That’s good.”
“What’re you doing here at this time of night?” Luke asked as he set the to-go cup of coffee on the counter and moved to the cash register.
“I figured Lexi wasn’t going to get Thanksgiving dinner since her family isn’t here. I brought some food for her from our dinner.”
“That guy she’s been skating with has been hanging around.”
“Causing any problems?”
“Not really,” Luke said. “Lexi just ignores him.”
Wilder hoped that Mik wouldn’t end up being a problem. The guy needed to find something else to do while Lexi was working. But as long as Lexi didn’t care if he was there, they probably wouldn’t do anything about him loitering.
“Well, if it becomes a problem, let Trev know. Lexi might not say anything.”
“Will do.”
With coffee cup in hand, Wilder walked to where there was an empty table and sat down. Lexi was interacting with the people on the ice, so he wasn’t going to interrupt her.
As he sipped his drink, he glanced around the rink to see if he could spot Mik. There was no sign of him, so maybe he’d left already.
Wilder pulled out his phone and opened his email program. He hadn’t had the chance to check it yet that day.
A text from Charli came in while he was sorting through the junk mail.
Charli: Are you working tomorrow?
Yep. 9-4 Why?
Charli: We’re going to chop down our Christmas tree and wondered if you wanted to come with us.
Sounds like fun, but no can do. ?
Charli: That’s too bad. I think the kids would have loved having you come along.
I’ll help decorate it!
Charli: Sounds like a plan.
As a kid, going to get the Christmas tree each year had been one of his favorite parts of the season. Becoming an adult with a weird schedule had required the sacrifice of some of the things he’d loved as a kid—chopping a Christmas tree being one of them.
But he got to earn a living doing stuff he loved, so it balanced out. And he’d still get to help the kids decorate the tree, which promised to be a lot of fun.
The sound of laughter increased, and Wilder looked up to see that quite a few of the people who’d been on the ice were now exiting it. He watched as they found places to sit down and take off their skates. That left only two people on the ice with Lexi.
The couple appeared to be in their own little world, not talking with Lexi as they circled the ice hand-in-hand.
Wilder decided to take a chance that Lexi would be available to chat and got up to approach the boards. When she spotted him, her brows lifted, and after a brief hesitation, she headed in his direction.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” he said as she came to a stop on the other side of the boards.
She reached out to grab the top of the boards, giving him a brief smile as she said, “Same to you.”
“Are you able to take a little break?” he asked.
“I should be able to. It’s been pretty busy,” she said. “This is the lowest number of people we’ve had on the ice since about two this afternoon.”
“C’mon,” he said, tipping his head toward the office. “I brought you some supper.”
“You did?” Her smile grew. “That’s nice of you.”
Wilder walked along the boards toward the entrance as she skated on the ice. “Figured you might like some Thanksgiving dinner. We had a ton of food.”
When they reached the entrance to the ice, she retrieved her guards. Together, they walked to the office, where Lexi dropped down into her seat.
“Oh, that feels good.”
“Is there a microwave here?” Wilder asked as he lifted the plates out of the bag.
“Yeah. Behind the counter at the café.” She gestured to the plates. “Didn’t you have dinner already?”
“I sure did,” he said as he lifted the plate with the food that needed to be reheated. “This is all for you.”
She gave a huff of laughter. “I think not.”
“You can always eat more of it tomorrow.” Heading for the door, he said, “I’ll be right back.”
Luke smiled as he took the plate into the small kitchen behind the counter. When he returned a couple of minutes later, he carried the plate of warmed up food.
“Smells good,” he said as he handed it over to Wilder, along with a fork and knife.
“Sorry I didn’t bring some for you.”
“No worries. My mom and grandma cook up a storm, so I’ll be eating plenty on Saturday.”
Taking the plate back to the office, Wilder spotted Lexi bent over with her head on her arms. He paused, not wanting to disturb her if she needed some rest.
Lexi straightened before Wilder could decide what to do. Walking to the desk, he said, “Do you want to take a nap?”
“I’m fine. Just glad to be off my feet.”
Wilder set the plate down in front of her, along with the silverware, then uncovered the plate with the salad. “Do you want a water?”
She picked up her water bottle, then frowned. “You don’t have to get that for me.”
“I don’t mind.” He pointed at the plate. “Now eat.”
It only took him a minute to return with a bottle of water for Lexi. She looked up as he set the water down on the desk.
“This is amazing.”
Wilder grinned as he sat down across from her. “What, in particular, are you referring to?”
“All of it.”
“My mom, Charli, Kayleigh, and Denise prepared most of it, I think.”
“Seems like you have several people in your family who are great cooks,” Lexi said. “I don’t think I could ever produce something like this.”
“I’m sure if you wanted to, you’d figure out how.”
“I can only make a handful of extremely simple dishes, and none of them are healthy, which is why I’m glad I managed to line up someone to do meal prep for me.”
“Did you? That’s great.”
In between bites, she told him how she’d found someone online, then had a conversation with her. She’d had all the nutritional information from her previous training, so she’d passed that onto the woman.
“Are you sure you’re not burning the candle at both ends?” Wilder said. “You have a crazy schedule.”
“It will take some getting used to, but it’ll be fine.”
Wilder knew it wasn’t his place to interfere with her schedule, but she was going to burn out. There was no way she could continue at such a high physical performance without adequate rest.
“Did you have any sort of vitamin routine?”
“Yes. My doctor ran a bunch of tests to check my levels, then prescribed what I needed. He kept an eye on all that kind of stuff. I still take some vitamins, but I’m not sure if they’re enough.”
Maybe she should see Gareth or Misha to at least get an idea of where her levels were. “My brother and sister-in-law are doctors at the clinic in town. Would you like to see one of them?”
“Would they be able to fit me in?”
“Yep. I’m sure they could. I’ll talk to Janessa tonight so she can sort it out on Monday.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate that.” She gestured to her plate. “And I appreciate this.”
“You’re very welcome.” He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “How have the rehearsals been going?”
“Pretty good.” She lifted the lid off the dessert container. “Oh, I really shouldn’t eat any of this.”
“Just have one tonight. Thanksgiving dinner requires a dessert.”
“Requires, huh?” she asked, one corner of her mouth lifting in a half smile.
“Definitely.”
“Well, in that case.” She picked up one of the decorated gingerbread cookies. “This will be my choice for tonight.”
“Excellent choice. Will’s mom makes them for him. For awhile, they were his breakup cookie.”
“What’s that?”
“When he and his girlfriend—the one prior to Janessa—broke up, his mom made him his favorite cookie to help him feel better.”
“And this was the cookie?”
“Yep. And even though it wasn’t Christmas, she made dozens and dozens of them. Will brought them to every gathering. He finally had to tell his mom that if she didn’t stop, he was going to start hating them.”
“They’re delicious, so I can understand why they’re Will’s favorite.”
“None of us would have been happy if his mom had stopped making them permanently.”
Lexi relaxed back into her chair with a sigh. “That was very delicious. Now I can go home and just fall into bed.”
Though she’d said she wasn’t overwhelmed, Wilder thought she looked tired. He wanted to say something, but he held his tongue.
“I should probably get back out there to finish off my shift,” she said as she got to her feet.
“I’ll get everything put away,” Wilder said when she reached for the plates.
“Okay.” She gave him a smile. “Thanks.”
He carefully repackaged everything, returning it to the bag. Though he hadn’t been sure if he should bring Lexi food or not, seeing how much she’d enjoyed it, he was glad he had. If it meant she went to bed sooner and with a full stomach, that would be the best part.
Since it was almost nine, he decided to stick around. When he walked out of the office, he noticed that everyone had left the ice. The lights in the café area were dimmed, but he could still see Luke moving around in the kitchen.
Lexi was walking around the rink space, still wearing her skates, stopping to talk to a few people before making her way over to the skate rental place. George was taking in the last of the skate returns.
When Wilder joined them, the older man greeted him with a smile. “How’s it going, Wilder?”
“Very good. Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Same to you.”
“Busy day today, huh?”
“Busiest day yet,” George said. “Seems that Mr. Remington knew what he was doing when he set this rink up. I have a feeling it will only continue to grow in popularity.”
Wilder was glad it had turned out to be a positive thing, but he wasn’t sure it was beneficial for Lexi to be so busy working full time when she was also training.
“Were there any issues with people renting skates?” Lexi asked.
“Not really. A few people had to swap out the skates because they didn’t fit the way they were used to their shoes fitting.”
Soon, the lights blinked out in the café, and Luke waved a goodbye as he headed for the exit.
“I’m going to do the ice before I leave tonight,” George said. “So it’s ready for you to practice tomorrow morning.”
“I feel badly that you have to stay late because of me.”
“Don’t you worry about it, Lexi. I’m happy to do it. I think my wife prefers I be home later in the morning, anyway. This way, I can stay with her until lunch.”
“As long as you’re sure it’s not a problem.”
“If you ever need someone to fill in, I’ve operated the machine before,” Wilder said. “It’s been a few years, but I think I could manage it.”
“You’ve helped out at the rink in town, right?” George said.
“Yep. Back when I was playing some hockey.”
“Looks like everyone has gone,” George said. “So I’m gonna get to working on the ice.”
Because of the size of the rink, they had to use a ride-on ice resurfacing machine. Wilder watched as George made his way to the far end of the rink, where he opened a large door. Once inside, he must have pressed another button because a portion of the boards on the far side swung open.
This place was truly a marvel considering how they’d set it up. The practical parts of operating a rink didn’t interfere with the aesthetics of the place.
“I need to get home,” Lexi said as they walked back to the office.
“Mik and your coach aren’t giving you any hassles, are they?”
She sighed. “They don’t understand why I’m continuing to work when they want me to be available to train all the time. The way it used to be.”
“I’m sure that would be ideal,” Wilder said.
“But not realistic at this point. Training before could be our sole focus because my dad was funding us, and we didn’t need to work to pay for coaching or rink rentals. It’s different now. We’re more like other skaters who have to work to pay their bills while they train.”
“It would probably be easier on your body if you only had to focus on training.”
“True. But that’s just not how things are this time around.”
“Do you think you can still perform at the high level even if you’re not able to focus on training as much?”
“I think we can, but only time will tell.” Lexi sat on her chair with a sigh. “We just need to make sure that we’re totally focused on the training when we’re training. Mik needs to park his attitude at the door and focus on what Irina is telling us. We don’t have the time for him to argue with Irina over stuff.”
“Let me help you,” Wilder said, going to a knee in front of her.
“You don’t have to,” Lexi said.
“I know. But you’re tired. Just relax.”
He was quick to loosen the laces, then he removed the skate. When she wriggled her toes once they were free of the boot, he took her socked foot in his hand and rubbed the bottom of it.
“Oh, you really shouldn’t do that,” Lexi said with a laugh. “It feels so good I’ll insist you do it all the time.”
“I don’t mind.”
He massaged one foot for a few minutes, then removed the skate from her other foot and massaged that one. Though he was willing to do it longer, he knew she needed to get home.
“Thank you,” she said when he sat back. “That felt divine.”
Wilder straightened to his feet. “You’re very welcome.”
After they put on their jackets, they waved at George as they left the rink. The snow had continued to fall steadily over the time he’d been inside, so Wilder walked with Lexi to her car and helped her clear the snow from it.
“You’ve done a lot for me today,” Lexi said. “I have no idea why, but I sure appreciate it all.”
“I’m happy to help, especially since my schedule isn’t nearly as full as yours. I consider you a friend, and friends help each other out.”
Lexi stared at him for a long moment, the falling snowflakes catching on her eyelashes as they stood in the snow. The light from the lamppost she’d parked in front of allowed him to see her face, but as usual, it was hard to decipher her expression.
“I haven’t had a lot of friends in my life,” Lexi said. “I don’t really know how they usually act.”
Truth be told, he was doing a lot more for her than he usually did for a friend. Not that he wouldn’t help a friend out. Everyone knew that if they asked him for help, he’d definitely give it.
With family, he might periodically jump in to do stuff without being asked, but with Lexi, he was actively looking for ways to help her, knowing it meant he could see her more often.
It really wasn’t what he should be doing, but he found himself fascinated by her, and he wanted to get to know her beyond the surface level she seemed to give to everyone else.
“Thanks again,” she said. “For everything.”
“I hope you rest well and have a good day tomorrow. I’ll probably stop by at some point.”
She smiled. “I look forward to it.”
With that, they said goodnight, and Wilder made his way back to Serenity, following Lexi until he needed to turn toward the house.
He hadn’t ever expected to find himself so entranced by a woman. But Lexi, with her guarded and sometimes icy demeanor, had definitely captured his attention. Wilder didn’t think it was a passing curiosity, which probably wasn’t a good thing.
Hopefully, they could build a friendship that was beneficial to both. That had to be enough, because he knew anything more would require too much compromise since their lives were so different.