the old concrete wall above the double doors that led to the twin rinks.
The office door closed behind her. Jessica froze, alone in the hallway, staring at the wall above the double doors. This was where her poster-sized portrait had been. Her smiling image had greeted everyone who’d entered the Wallis Point Twin Rinks during all the years she’d trained here.
The office door clicked open and shut behind her, and she heard the heaviness of Kyle’s work boots on the rubber matting beside her.
From the corner of her eye, she saw him gazing at the empty spot, too, and then at her. He’d worked and played at the rink during the same time she had. He would remember that poster. He would be thinking exactly what she was thinking, except that he wouldn’t know that her smiling face had been a lie.
He exhaled, darting a glance her way. Maybe he did suspect she’d been lying back then. Sometimes the way he used to meet her eyes when they’d had a rare moment alone had made her wonder what he thought. But he’d never said a word about any suspicions he might have had regarding her real feelings. He’d made kind gestures—a small favor here or there, a cup of coffee or a kind look. Actions, but not words.
That’s who Kyle was—the strong and silent type. He didn’t avoid unpleasant situations, as Sebastien tended to, but he didn’t dwell on things, either.
She turned her back on the rectangle of faded paint, breathed slowly in and out. Focused her attention on the lobby floor. On the peeling rubber mats that had seen better days. The dirty, scuffed interior walls and a limp plant, dead in its pot.
She felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder, a comforting human touch.
Kyle. She wasn’t prepared for him to touch her—he’d barely glanced at her all morning—but when she looked into his face, she saw understanding, the gaze of someone who’d known and remembered her.
In all the years of their awkward teen acquaintance, she’d never been physically close to him before. They’d never touched skin.
She reached across her chest and pressed the back of his knuckles with the palm of her hand. She meant it as a thank-you, but the shock of his heat and strength struck her at once.
Her heart made a trembling pitter-patter in her chest.
“It will be okay,” he murmured.
Her breathing sounded loud, even to her. “I hope so.” She stared at the glass doors that led to the twin rinks. “I don’t ever want to go inside those rinks again, Kyle, so I hope you don’t expect me to.”
Kyle’s eyes were green and earnest, as if making her a promise. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Jessica. I’ll protect you from all of that.”
As opposed to Sebastien, who’d made her agree to things that she didn’t want to do, just to keep their future on track.
Jessica glanced away. Her mother had never cared about Jessica doing what she wanted, either. Hedley Jackson had been all about the long view. “Day-to-day discipline,” she’d insisted to Jessica. “Be practical in your choices.” Everything her mother had achieved in her own star-studded figure-skating career had come from dedication, denial and hard work. She’d expected the same of her only child.
“I appreciate your saying that,” Jessica said to Kyle. She tried to laugh, but it came out as a choke.
“I remember how hard it was for you.” Kyle’s face darkened. “But these are new days. I meant what I said back in the lawyer’s office.”
Partners, he’d said.
She nodded, swallowing. She should take her hand off his now. If Sebastien suddenly walked into the rink and saw them, it would look disloyal of her. But she knew what Kyle was doing. He wasn’t trying to seduce her but to reassure her.
“Thanks,” she told him. “I appreciate you helping me.”
There was a cough behind them.
“Jessica,” Natalie said. How long had their lawyer been watching them?
Kyle abruptly dropped his hand at the same time that Jessica stepped away from him.
“I’m giving you the key to Joe’s office.” Natalie pulled it off the large key ring. “You’ll have the only copy, so it will be your private space.”
Had Natalie noticed her discomfort? Jessica took the key, determined to get a grip. “That will be great. Thank you.”
More composed now, Jessica turned to Kyle. More than ever, she needed to apologize to him for her past mistake, and she needed him to forgive her, too, but she’d wait until they were alone to discuss it. “When you come back from your walk-through, could you please stop by and see me, Kyle? I have something I need to speak to you about.”
Gazing at a spot on the wall behind her, Kyle nodded once. Shortly.
That was him being strong and silent in front of the lawyer. She got that.
“Thank you,” Jessica said again, quietly.
Kyle was home, healthy, doing what he was meant to do. Once she apologized for making Joe angry at him all those years ago, causing his departure, then she should be okay. At least, she hoped so.
* * *
KYLE COULD BARELY concentrate on the inspection tour ahead of him.
Natalie held a clipboard and was making notes, matching keys to locks, mainly. Besides Joe and Johnny David, Kyle was probably the only person in Wallis Point who knew all the secrets this old rink kept.
Too bad he was so fixated on Jessica. His guilt meter was through the roof. And now, not just guilt over dragging her back to face the past, but worry for her well-being, too.
Dammit. How could he ask her to come in here every day? Jessica seemed destroyed just by setting foot in this place again.
When he’d seen her face, staring at the faded spot where her picture had been, he’d been seized by the desire to take her under his wing and protect her at all costs. Which explained the touching-her-shoulder bit. That wasn’t his style. Never had been.
Natalie cleared her throat, and he snapped to attention. They were in the garage bay beside the hockey rink, inspecting an aging Zamboni. He glanced at the high driver’s seat, not sure if he could hoist himself up there, given his leg situation.
“Kyle,” Natalie said, “I was just saying that any time you want to confer about anything, my office is open to you. That goes for Bruce, as well.”
Bruce, her husband—the Navy veteran. “Are you saying this because I’m a veteran?” Kyle asked, mildly annoyed. Did she think he was emotionally damaged?
“My husband keeps in touch with a lot of your old classmates. I’m thinking maybe you’ll want to catch up with some old friends as you settle back into town.”
Kyle had new friends, from his time in the service. “Thanks, but I’m okay.” He turned and inspected the electric panel that controlled the rink’s overhead lights.
“Of course,” Natalie said. “I’m sure that you and Jessica will do just fine.”
Kyle thought of the space on the wall in the lobby where her poster had been. Jessa Hughes. World Junior Champion. The Pride of Wallis Point. That had been the caption beneath it. “Did you ever skate here when you were a kid?” he asked Natalie.
“Yes, I did. Many Friday night open skates, back when I was in middle school.”
He nodded. When Natalie was in middle school that poster of Jessica’s had been front and center. Jessa Hughes’s presence had brought in crowds of people to Joe’s old rink. She’d been a celebrity back then.
Slowly Kyle shut the squeaking cover of the electrical box. Everybody in Wallis Point would know about her youthful disappointment. That had to be hard for her. Yet no one knew anything