Chapter Thirty-Two
“Attention, everyone!” In the morning ritual, Ms. Coolidge addressed the combine over the breakfast buffet.
“It’s been three and a half challenging weeks, but everyone here has risen to meet them admirably.
That’s made it harder to decide who will be on the World Winter Games team, but we truly can’t put it off any longer.
We’ll be announcing the lineup later this afternoon. ”
The group had been listening quietly, but the announcement sucked all the air out of the room. Every day that passed had brought them a little closer to this moment, and now it was within reach.
Frantic buzzing filled the room in the wake of the announcements. “I can’t sit here waiting around,” Tish said. “Who wants to join me in a run around the lake?”
“Good idea, but this might not be the best weather for it.” Marla nodded toward a window getting lashed with snowflakes.
“We could do a group yoga session,” Tallulah suggested. “Take some mats into a conference room, I could get my trainer on Zoom, and it’ll clear our minds.”
“That doesn’t work on me. I might see if anyone else is going to the track.” Either way, Misty would win. She’d get a little more practice in if she made the team, and one more chance to go sledding if she didn’t.
She piled into the van with eight or nine of the others. Eva Gardner rode next to her. They hadn’t talked much since the first days, and Misty felt ready to change that. “You like sledding?”
Eva shrugged. “It’s been good.”
“Just good? Whatever happens today, I couldn’t pass up the chance to do it again. I don’t know about you, but my gym back home doesn’t offer bobsledding.” It offered just about everything else, though.
“It doesn’t.”
She didn’t sound unfriendly, but something about her tone shut down any other ideas for conversation Misty might have had. She’d barely heard the woman say more than the monologue of the first days, and doubted she’d get any more words out of her before the combine was over.
By now, they’d arrived at the track. Everyone got their helmets on, negotiated positions, and took off at full speed. No matter how many times she did it, there were always a few terrifying moments that were all but obliterated in the rush of the ride.
Two hours later, the bobsled group returned to the hotel to see the yoga group leaving the conference room. “Did it help?” Misty asked.
Tish shrugged. “It felt good to stretch like that, but the lineup was in the back of my—”
Tish jumped and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her eyes widened, and her face turned ashen. “What’s wrong?” Misty asked.
“Just got a text asking me to report to the same conference room where I had my psych interview in half an hour. What do you think that means?”
Before Misty could answer, Marla spoke. “I got that message too.”
Amidst the flurry of women checking their messages and speculating, Misty unzipped her coat pocket and pulled out her phone to see a message. “They want me to come to the conference room too.” She had no idea how the words had made it out around her heart in her throat.
“Oh, my God.” The moment of truth was upon them.
Everyone swarmed to the elevators to change into street clothes. Misty chose her outfit easily, but there was one more thing she had to do. “Shit, where is it?”
“Where’s what?” Tish asked from in front of the closet mirror, where she was taming her hair.
“My lucky duck. If I ever needed it, now’s the time.” Misty emptied half her suitcase, but there was no sign of it.
Tish slid one last bobby pin into her bun. “You definitely packed it, right?”
“Of course I packed it! I remember rubbing its head before we first went sledding, but I haven’t needed it since.
” She tried to remember where she’d put it after that, but the upcoming meeting had erased almost everything else from her brain.
It had been bad enough when she couldn’t find her Riverside Rockets t-shirt.
Tish bent down to help her look through the stuff she was putting back in the suitcase but paused at the sight of the digital clock on the nightstand. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get downstairs, and quickly.”
Misty couldn’t have felt less prepared than if she’d forgotten to stretch or hydrate.
Ever since that first field day, she’d rubbed that duck’s head before every major event and enjoyed athletic, academic, and personal success.
If she didn’t make the team, it would be Tish’s fault.
She ruminated on that as the first elevator turned out to be too packed for them and they had to wait for a second. This didn’t bode well.
They made it downstairs on time and turned the corner to see the rest of the combine waiting outside the conference room.
The sight drove home how many talented athletes had been invited to be a part of this, and only a small fraction would be going to the Games.
That was confirmed as the vegan from the first night’s dinner left the room with a dejected expression.
She walked away without meeting anyone’s eyes.
Ms. Coolidge emerged from the conference room. “Tallulah Bellemont.”
Misty tried to catch the blonde’s eye, but Tallulah didn’t seem to notice. She headed into the conference room with her face forward and perfect posture, leaving everyone else to wonder.
Tallulah didn’t return, but the next four or five women did. One was swearing under her breath, another was obviously trying not to cry, and the others didn’t say a word or meet anyone’s eyes.
“Tish Douglass.”
Tish took a deep breath, and Misty squeezed her hand. After the door closed behind her, she pulled out her phone to text Spencer.
Misty: Today’s the day. They’re choosing the team.
Tish didn’t return either, but Ms. Coolidge poked her head out anyway. “Vanessa Dunn.”
So they were doing this alphabetically. As she waited for his reply, Misty mentally went over all the last names she could remember and figured she’d be about halfway through.
She hoped her nerves could take it and tried not to reflect that this waiting time could’ve been better spent looking for her lucky duck to ensure her spot.
The tension of this was the kickball championships times one thousand.
As the minutes ticked by, more women left the room than stayed in. Some looked stoic, but others left on the verge of tears. That told Misty the team was being built from there.
Happiness for Tish and the others bloomed in her chest, but some small, noisy part of her demanded to know, “Hey! What about me?” She tried to keep count of the women who hadn’t left the room, but it had gotten lost in the anxiety of waiting.
“Eva Gardner.” Before Misty could see if Eva looked nervous, her phone buzzed in a welcome distraction.
Spencer: You got this. You’ve worked so hard to get there and didn’t slack off once you arrived.
Before she could reply to that text, he sent another.
Spencer: I believe in you. I love you.
Misty: Thanks. I love you too.
Misty typed the reply to the sound of Marla’s name being called .
.. and the realization that she likely wasn’t far behind.
Marla Hough sounded like she’d be at the end of the H’s.
Misty didn’t think there were any women with last names starting with I, couldn’t remember a lot of J names, and couldn’t think of any K surnames that would come before hers alphabetically.
Just like the first time she’d been in the sled, she’d been waiting forever for this but now wasn’t sure she was ready.
Spencer: My client just showed up, but I’ll be thinking of you.
“Misty Kaufman.” She’d been typing a reply and jumped at the sound of her name.
No one tried to catch her eye, likely because they were too busy hoping they’d be the ones chosen.
She could relate all too well. She entered to find Ms. Coolidge, Sam, Dr. Schindler, and Belinda sitting at a table and looking like a panel of judges on a reality show.
“We had an incredibly talented pool to choose from.” Ms. Coolidge’s opening statement and composed features made Misty’s chest clench. That sounded like a lead-up to letting her down gently.
“And amidst it, you stood out for your enthusiasm as well as your speed and strength. For those reasons, we would like to offer you a spot on the first four-woman bobsled team of the World Winter Games.”
Her heart unclenched almost to the point of bursting with joy. “Yes. Yes!” They’d probably hear her outside, but she didn’t care.
Ms. Coolidge let a small smile break through. “Go join the others. We’re going to have a full team meeting once we’ve spoken to everybody one-on-one.”
As she opened the door to a small conference room at the back of the business center, the first thing she noticed was a set of long limbs coming at her. Tish threw her arms around her, and she returned the hug with enthusiasm.
The experience brought back memories of getting into the combine, but she didn’t want to have sex with her best friend.
She wanted to get Spencer, her boyfriend, on the phone and tell him the good news.
If his reaction was anything like when she’d gotten into the combine, it would further fuel her euphoria.
****
As his client ran on the treadmill, Spencer snuck another peek at his phone. He’d seen the typing bubble just before he’d gone to greet Ricky, but it had faded without a reply from her. What did that mean?
“Now what?” Ricky’s warmup was winding down.
Spencer forced his attention back to his client. “Sorry. Let’s move to the training floor and get you back on the ropes.”
They left the cardio area, and Spencer set a timer. But once Ricky was beating the weighted ropes against the floor in time with the music, he turned back to his phone. Still no news from Misty or any hint of a reply. He closed his eyes and visualized her getting on the team.
“Am I done yet?” A slightly whiny voice forced his eyes open.
The timer on Spencer’s phone indicated that Ricky was not. He stepped closer. “Three more minutes, but adjusting your stance will make it a little easier. May I?”
At his client’s nod, he put a hand on Ricky’s shoulders to get him to unlock his knees and bend lower. That seemed to work better, and Spencer was determined to do better himself. He kept his phone in his pocket and didn’t pick it up again until the end of Ricky’s session.
As he logged Ricky’s results in the office, a vibration on his hip distracted him. He got his phone out to see a text from Misty.
Misty: Call me ASAP.
A text like this could bring any sort of news. Once he got to a good stopping place, he headed out where he could talk privately.
Spencer: Just call or FaceTime?
She answered the question by sending a FaceTime request. He accepted it eagerly. Misty looked beautiful and fit to burst from the familiar-looking hotel room. “What’s going on?”
Her voice shook. “I made the team!”
“Congratulations!” Pure joy and pride flooded Spencer at the news. No resentment, no envy, no wondering what he’d do with himself while she was away.
“Thank you.” It came out in a choked tone. She looked about to cry from happiness.
His first instinct was to reach out, but they were hundreds of miles apart. “I can’t wait to congratulate you in person.”
She sighed. “You make me wish I was flying straight back to New York.”
“You’re not?” He tried to keep disappointment out of his voice.
“No, I booked a flight to my parents’ place for Thanksgiving. After my sister and her wife decided to start trying for a baby, they moved to Vermont to be closer to them.”
How did one sentence manage to contain so much new information about Misty, and how much was there still left to learn? He couldn’t wait to find out and to share more with her.
“Anyway, I’m leaving on Saturday night so I can have Sunday to unpack and decompress before going back to work...and getting ready for the big day.”
“I should be back by then. Want to get together?”
“Yes! I haven’t had an easier time answering a question since I got invited to the team.”
They sat there smiling at each other until Spencer spoke again. “How does the rest of today look for you?”
“We’ve got a team meeting in a little while — I can’t believe I get to say that! — and then a farewell dinner.”
“And I have a 7:00 session tonight,” he mused. “But after that, I’m free.”
“I’ll text you when I’m done. Why do you ask, anyway?”
“Because this is an incredible accomplishment, and we should celebrate.” His mind raced with possibilities of how they could do that, reminding him of how he brainstormed training programs. Unlike his work programs, though, this had him perking up in all ways.