The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection (9 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 shrieked. “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.