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CHAPTER10
CLARA
PINK IS THE FASTEST COLOR
Ididn’t sleep well. I had strange misplaced ideas about Sly and the way he’d watched me and attended to my daughter all through dinner. And the new revelation that he’d be next door all summer wasn’t finding an easy place to settle.
I knew I shouldn’t entertain the kinds of feelings and ideas that were starting to fly around inside me.
Still, the way he’d looked at me was hard to forget.
He’d looked at me like he might actually be thinking the same kinds of things about me. I told myself it was unlikely.
But that was my teenaged heartbreak talking, mostly. I was having trouble separating the grown woman I was from the insecure girl I’d been.
The problem?
We both found Sly Remington way too hot.
The other obvious issue was Katie. Sly and I had no better chance of finding time alone together than we might have had in high school, had he shown the slightest bit of interest then. Between houses full of other people and unrelenting schedules, it wasn’t like we were going to suddenly find ourselves alone together. In a room with a bed.
And dammit, I really needed to drag my mind out of the gutter. Or out of Sly Remington’s pants, at least.
These were the thoughts flying through my mind as I drove Katie to the ice rink in Boomsmack, the next town over. Half Full didn’t have an ice rink, but once Sly mentioned it, I did remember spending a few days skating as a kid over at the rink in Boomsmack.
“Maybe I’ll be a pro ice hockey player like Sillllvester.” Katie had been talking nonstop since we got into the car. She had on gloves and a knit cap even though I’d suggested that she wait to put them on until we were in the rink.
“You can be anything you want, Katie bear,” I told her, hoping one day it would actually be true. Maybe by the time she was an adult the world would be as much action as it was talk about equality, though I kind of hoped that wouldn’t mean Katie actually playing hockey. I couldn’t stand watching her get hit all the time.
We pulled up and a few minutes later, we were ducking through the front doors and into the quiet coolness of the rink’s lobby. I’d expected kids everywhere and some general form of chaos, but it was almost silent inside.
“Hello.” A man stood from where he’d been sitting next to the empty ticket window. “I’m Arnold. Sly said you’d be needing some skates.”
I glanced around, still expecting to see other people somewhere, but it was pretty clear we were the only ones here. “Slow day at the ice rink,” I said, smiling at the man.
“Oh, not usually. Sly rented the place out for a few hours.” Arnold led us to the side of the rink and I got my first view of the ice. It was smooth and empty, gleaming under the overhead lights. I figured when you were a pro hockey player, you could afford to rent out a whole rink to practice. Maybe. It seemed excessive, though, and Sly didn’t strike me as that kind of guy. “Sizes?” Arnold asked, interrupting my confusion.
“She’s a kids’ twelve,” I told him.
“And you?”
“Oh no, I’m not skating.”
“Just in case?”
“I don’t think so—”
“Mom!” Katie was staring up at me. “You have to skate!”
I shrugged. “I’m a nine.”
He hoisted two pairs of skates to the counter as Katie watched, her eyes dancing. “Mine are pink!”
“They sure are,” he told her. “Best ones we’ve got.”
She clapped her hands and I dug out my wallet, but Arnold waved me off. “Part of the rink rental.” I was surprised, but figured Sly probably didn’t want to practice around a bunch of kids while he got ready for next season. It was probably normal hockey player behavior.
“Thank you.” We headed to a bench on one side of the plexiglass, and I began helping Katie get her skates on.
