Christmas Wishes (7 page)

“Aww, can’t you stay and eat lunch with us? Please, Daddy, can she stay?”

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

“We’re having leftovers, but you’re welcome to share it with us. We’ve got plenty. Since I showed up at church, the ladies from various committees and Bible study groups have brought us a ton of food. I guess they wanted to make sure Angie had enough to eat. Someone must have decided I don’t feed her very well. Or maybe she told somebody what a lousy cook I am.”

Sophie was torn. “Well, if you’re sure—”

“We’re sure.” He led the way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, and Sophie’s jaw dropped at the number of plastic containers jammed in. “We’ve got leftover lasagna from Wednesday, leftover chicken from Thursday, and leftover meatloaf from yesterday. What’s your pleasure?”

Sophie scrunched her face into a frown. “Is the meatloaf from Esther Friedman?”

Mitch nodded.

“Then I’ll have the chicken.”

~~~~

Mitch couldn’t remember
when he’d enjoyed a meal so much. Angie seemed more animated, more… happy. He sat back, observing her interact with Sophie. They kept a constant stream of what he considered girl talk, so he let them chatter. Sarah, as far as he knew, had never taken the time to just chat with their daughter. Never gotten to know the lovely person she’d become.

Lost in thought, he nearly missed Angie
’s question as they cleared away the dishes.

“
Daddy, can I go to the roller skating party next week?”

“
Roller skating party?”

“
Yeah, it’s at the skating place over in — in Holland. I got a note from school, but I forgot to give it to you.” She excused herself and raced into her room for her backpack and came back with a wrinkled paper. Mitch spread it flat on the table and read. “It’s for the whole school, princess. You’ve never gone skating before. Sounds scary.”

“
Oh, she’ll be fine. There will be lots of kids her age. And I’ll be there,” Sophie remarked as she rinsed out a serving bowl.

“
You? At an elementary school skating party?”

“
Yeah, I’ll be working. I just started a new job there last week. I’ll be on the rink, supervising or whatever. Parents are invited to skate too, but since so many of them just leave their kids there, the rink has employees to watch over them.”

“
I don’t mind staying, but I’m not a very good skater. At least I never was when I tried it before.”

“
She’ll have fun. You’ll see.”

“
Please, Daddy? I’ll stay close to Miss Sophie.”

There was no way he could argue with that. If he could, he
’d stay close to Miss Sophie, too.

~~~~

The pictures were
a little grainy due to being enlarged so much, but there was no question about what was happening. The guy had a girl. Looked like the same one he’d had coffee with in the grocery store. She’d appeared out of the woods on skis. Smart, having her show up on foot. That way there was no car parked in the driveway to show people he had female company.

Duncan patted his camera. Thank goodness for this new high-powered zoom attachment. When the couple had walked into the house together, he
’d known it was time to start shooting pictures. He’d gotten out of his car and snuck up to the house, hoping they’d both be so occupied with each other they wouldn’t notice him. And it had paid off. It hadn’t taken long for the two of them to get mighty cozy. If his daughter hadn’t shown up, they might have put on a real show. And his client would have had to shell out the bucks for those pictures. But the little girl’s appearance had kept their make-out session pretty tame.

Now to send the pictures on. As soon as he got the money
, he’d be out of there and go back to civilization. Chicago winters were cold, but sitting in a car for hours in the city was nothing like sitting in a snow-covered field with the wind blowing. It was time to go back to the hotel for a nice hot shower.

M
itch laced up
Angie’s boots and then did his own. It had been years since he’d been on roller skates, and he hoped he wouldn’t embarrass himself. But Angie’s friends were all going and she’d been so excited he couldn’t deny her the chance to go. Hopefully someone on the rink would be worse than he was.

His rented skates seemed a little loose, but he didn
’t want to get back in line for a smaller pair. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself he could do it, and then rose off the bench, trying to keep his balance. His feet shot in opposite directions and he grabbed for the bench before he did the splits.

The community rink was fairly new. Bright lights flashed from globes suspended from the ceiling and reminded Mitch of old movies from the disco era. A three-foot wall surrounded the skating area, and parents who didn
’t skate with their children leaned along the ledge as they socialized with each other.

Mitch managed to stay upright by barely lifting his feet and going very slowly. Small children skated around them, but thankfully Angie didn
’t mind. She clung to his hand, her little feet clomping along on her beginner skates. The helpful boy at the rental counter had recommended them. “The wheels only roll one way, so when she pushes off, her feet won’t go in opposite directions.”
Too bad they don’t make those special skates for adults
, Mitch groused.

Mitch was about to suggest that they take a break so that he could give his wobbly legs a chance to rest when Angie shriek
ed. “Sophie’s here!”

Mitch looked up, and there on the other side of the rink, an angel glided across the floor. In no time, the vision
came around the rink and passed them. She executed a graceful turn and greeted them while skating backward. “Well, hello, Angie and... Angie’s Dad.”

“
Sophie, I can skate too!” Angie let go of her father’s hand and dashed across the rink toward Sophie. Mitch felt that familiar tug of fear whenever Angie left him, and his hands went up as if to stop her, but as his daughter reached Sophie, he realized the familiar panic wasn’t there. It was as if Angie wasn’t leaving him, but merely going to another part of him.

“
Mister, are you okay?” A young boy peered at him with worried eyes. “You’ve been standing there for a while. Do you need help to get to the gate?”

He probably did look strange just standing there.
“I’m fine, but thanks for asking. I just — remembered something I need to do.”

The boy nodded and skated away.

Mitch groaned inwardly. He’d been afraid of being a spectacle because of his lack of skating skills, but he was just as much of a geek for standing still. Best to get moving.

He made his way over to the edge of the rink. Now that he wasn
’t holding Angie’s hand, he could look around the entire rink, and he realized that the glass surrounding it reflected everything happened within. While most people glided with natural motions, his legs were straight and stiff, moving in short, choppy motions.

He found an empty bench outside the rink and sat, his legs thanking him for putting them out of their misery. The bench was close enough that he could watch Angie scooting around, first with Sophie, then with other kids in her class. Sophie was a natural, both as a skater and with the kids. Her wide green eyes caught everything, and when kids got into scuffles or went too fast for safety
, she used her whistle to get their attention, but then bent and spoke to them quietly. Angie was in good hands.

With a guilty start, he swiveled his head to look for his daughter. She and another girl skated hand in hand, chatting happily. He recognized the girl as one from her class. Mary or Mandy or something like that. It was good to see her making new friends.

“Mind if I sit here?” a feminine voice called from somewhere above.

Mitch swiveled toward the voice and his
nose nearly brushed against a very tight red sweater. Every curve was on display, and a few of them poured out from the top. Mitch’s throat dried, and his jaw dropped. Belatedly, he realized there was a question in there he was supposed to answer. Above the sweater, a mane of curly platinum blonde surrounded a face about four shades darker than the rest of her skin. Sarah hadn’t worn that much makeup, even when she was on camera.

“
Umm, no. There’s nobody sitting there.”

The woman sat, surrounding Mitch in a cloud of cloying floral fragrance. He stood, searching the rink for his daughter, but the woman
’s sultry voice stopped him. “You’re not trying to get away from me, are you?”

“
Uh, no. Just want to keep an eye on my daughter,” he improvised.

“
She’s fine. Sophie will keep a close eye on them. That’s her job. You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

“
Yeah.” He remained standing and kept his eyes on Angie. The woman’s perfume was way too strong for him.

“
I hear you’re a photographer for one of those news magazines.”

“
Used to be.”

“
How exciting. So you’ve been all over the world and photographed really famous people. Don’t you find this hick town boring?”

He shook his head.
“Nope. There’s plenty to see and do here.” And most of it had to do with a certain blonde who was encouraging a little girl to skate with her.

“
I’d love to hear about some of your adventures. Where have you been?”

“
Here and there.” He had to get the woman to lay off. “Listen, I’m not the best company right now. This is Angie’s first time skating and I’d really like to watch. Maybe some other time.”

The woman pouted and huffed, but she closed her mouth. She didn
’t move, though. And the silence ended only a few moments later. “Which one is she?”

Mitch
’s senses went on alert. Why would she want to know? He tried for a vague answer. “The cutie with the ponytail,” he answered. There were at least a dozen out there matching that description.

But the woman
’s powers of observation were keener than he gave her credit for. “Well, I’m assuming she looks at least a little like you, so that eliminates about half of the ponytail wearing girls out there. I’m going to guess she’s the one who fell just before you cringed. The one with the pink sweatshirt.”

Rather than give her credit, he tried to change the subject.
“Which one is yours?”

“
The tall boy with the Red Wings jersey on.” She nodded toward a dark-haired boy who looked years older than any of the other kids on the floor. “He wants to be a hockey player someday.” The boy wove through the crowds with a natural speed and grace. But he also liked to tease the smaller kids. So far he hadn’t bothered Angie, but if he did, then what? Mitch looked down at his own skates. He couldn’t actually save her. He’d have a hard time even reaching her.

He looked out at the rink again, wondering if he should take Angie home. Hockey Boy made a nuisance of himself, pulling girls
’ ponytails and grabbing caps off other boys. Mitch went on high alert, hoping the boy wouldn’t target his daughter. Other parents noticed the boy’s antics too, and a few of them started yelling.

Beside him, Hockey Boy
’s mom apparently sensed the impending problem and tried to fend it off. “Hey, Ronnie!” she yelled. “Come here.” The woman’s voice carried over the music booming through the arena’s speakers and heads turned toward her from every direction.

The boy glanced at his mom and frowned. He started to skate toward his mom, but passing a tiny blonde
, he grabbed her ponytail and yanked. Hard. The little girl fell backward and landed in a heap, along with the two girls skating with her.

Before any of the adults on the sidelines could react, a red blur streaked across the rink. Sophie scooped up the sobbing little girl and brought her to her mother, who had already entered the rink. Then she swung back toward Hockey Boy with a frown. The boy glared back at her with bravado.

“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted. “I was skating to my mom and she got in the way.”

Sophie crossed her arms.
“Is that so?”

“
Yeah. I didn’t touch her.”

“
She just slipped and fell backwards?”

“
Yup. That’s what happened.”

“
So how did that little pink bow get in your hand?”

The boy stared at the pink ribbon in his hand then threw it on the
floor. “I don’t know how it got there! I didn’t do anything. You’re just trying to get me in trouble!”

“
I think you need fifteen minutes in the penalty box.” Sophie pointed toward the gate.

Hockey Boy continued to protest, but one of the other dads opened the gate and waved him over.
“Give it up, Ronnie. We all saw you pull Katie’s ponytail. You’re lucky it wasn’t my daughter or you’d have a lot bigger problem than a fifteen-minute penalty.”

Several other parents agreed, and Ronnie slid off the rink.
“Mom, I wanna go home.”

“
Yeah, good idea,” his mom said. “These people here are on a vendetta. They just don’t appreciate good skating. Let’s go.” She went over to the lockers and grabbed their coats, sashaying out as if she were queen of the prom.

Mitch sighed in relief. One less danger to his little Angie. He wondered if the fears and the helplessness would ever go away. His glance slid toward the rink again. His little girl skated confidently, her hand tucked in Sophie
’s. And his heart calmed. He hadn’t yet called any of the babysitters on his list because he didn't trust someone else to take care of his daughter, but his heart definitely trusted one green-eyed beauty.