Love on Ice (Cannon City Series Book 2) (12 page)

She turned and fell into his arms. He held her tight and could feel her shake, but realized she laughed.

Harry smiled at him from the grill. “Jay, you should take that performance on the road. You’d make a mint,” he said and flipped a burger.

Jay felt Kate pull back and realized her hands were moving up his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips and face.

“My hero, you are too wonderful.” She pulled up on her tip-toes to his ear and whispered, “I’ll have to show you my appreciation later and it will be extra-special.” She kissed him again and lowered back down. “I don’t think I’m just falling in love anymore.” She looked up at him and he put a hand on the back of her neck. He loved her beautiful blue eyes.

“What?” He realized he wasn’t sure what she’d said.

“I am definitely in love with you.” She hugged him and then pulled back again. “Hey, since when are we engaged?” she whispered.

“Sorry about that, I got a little ahead of myself. We haven’t reached that part yet, but I’m pretty sure we will.” He leaned in and took full control of her lips.

“Okay, you guys...Give the smooching for a rest a minute.”

Jay pulled back from her and saw Frank and Sheriff Bennett walk into the kitchen. He saw Frank shake his head.

“That woman is a piece of work. She says she came here with no malice about the situation and only wants to talk to you, Kate. I said that you weren’t going to speak with her alone. Tomorrow we’re going to file the restraining order. It’s up to you, Kate. If you say no, the sheriff will see her out of the diner and back to her car.”

Jay felt her eyes on him as she looked up. “She scares the crap out of me, but I am a little curious about what she wants to say.”

“You’re sure you want to do this?” he asked and tightened his hold on her waist.

“You guys will all be there, right?”

Frank nodded. “Harry, maybe you should close up. I wouldn’t want anyone to walk in on this conversation.”

Harry started toward the swinging doors and Kate grabbed his arm. “Thank you, boss.”

He patted her and went out to close the front. Fortunately, it had turned into a quiet night.

Kate looked up at Jay, again. “From the fat into the fire, right?”

“I’m right here with you.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“Okay then, let’s get this over with.” She walked out of the kitchen.

****

Kate moved around the counter and approached her mother’s table. Jay followed right behind her and she could feel his presence which gave her a bit of calmness.

“There you are with your trained guard dogs,” her mom said with a sarcastic grin.

“If that’s the way you want to start this off, Edna, then we’re dead in the water. You can criticize me all you want, but if you start on Jay and Frank, then we’re done.”

Her mom held up her hand. “Enough. I’m not here to argue. I just want one question answered. When are you going to give up this long road trip you’ve been on and come home?”

“Why are you going by Hardy?” Kate crossed her arms and stared at her mother. She ignored the question. Right now, Canon City sort of felt like home and Kate hoped she could make it stay that way for a very long time.

“Stacy...”

“I don’t go by Stacy anymore, Edna.”

“That’s right, you’re Kate now. Your father passed away about three years ago. He suffered a massive heart attack. I think his heart was broken when you ran off.”

“Oh please, if he’d cared at all about me, he would have stopped you, when you took me from Portland to Colorado Springs.”

“I’ve since re-married and you have a step-father.”

“Tell me it was the asshole Jay popped in the nose yesterday.”

“No, Max didn’t come on this trip. He’s still in Los Angeles. When he saw pictures of you and your long legs, he thought you’d be great in one of his films.”

Kate heard the man who sat at the same table with her mother snort and laugh. Her mother gave the guy a look of disapproval.

“Max is a producer and is very certain he could get you some parts.”

“I’m not an actress, Edna, and never will be. Is that all?”

“Sta...Kate, I haven’t seen you for eight years and think we should get caught up,” her mother said and leaned forward in her seat.

Kate again thought her mother looked like a snake, ready to pounce. “I don’t see any need to get caught up and have nothing further to say to you. Stay away from me, Edna. Leave Canon City and forget about me. I don’t know you and I’m not going to waste another minute trying to figure you out.” She shrugged and turned to walk away. Jay held out his hand and she grasped it and followed him to the end of the counter.

He kissed her ear and whispered, “That was very well said, babe.”

“She pisses me off,” Kate whispered back.

Edna stood up from the table and looked angry. “Stacy, I am your mother and I deserve your respect and full attention. You can at least give me that.”

Kate looked at the woman who thought she’d given so much and didn’t seem to have a clue what she’d done to her child. It made Kate sick at her stomach. “Did I ever deserve your respect,
Mother
?” She voiced a heavy amount of sarcasm. “Did you ever once care what happened to me? Did you ever once care what David Farnsworth did to me? Or Jack Collins, my terrific coach, who beat me if I didn’t skate his way? Didn’t you ever wonder about the black eyes? Did you once believe it wasn’t my fault that I broke three ribs and had to withdraw from Nationals?” She stepped in front of Jay and her hands were fisted at her sides. Somewhere in her gut, anger began to boil. Her voice got louder than she remembered it ever being with anyone and she felt rather proud of herself.

“Of course, it wasn’t your fault. What Jack did screwed up your Olympic chances...”

“No, Edna. The Olympics weren’t for another year. You came to my hospital room and said I needed to pay attention to what Jack told me to do and stop showing off. The creep almost killed me and you kept him as my coach. Was he a good fuck, Edna?”

“I never...” Her mother looked at her shocked and her face turned red.

“Yeah, you did. I saw you in Jack’s car at the regional’s in Phoenix. Your head in his lap and it moved up and down. Hmm...I wonder what you were doing?  Did you do that for David, too? He sure liked it when I sucked him off.” Kate looked at Jay, Frank and the sheriff and saw they all wore uncomfortable expressions on their faces. “Sorry, guys.”

“I can see all your time alone on the road has turned your mouth into a trash heap. You need to clean that up, Stacy!” her mother snapped.

“I think this has gone far enough,” Frank said and stepped between the two women. “Mrs. Hardy, there’s nothing here to be gained. Go back to the rock you slithered out from under. If you contact my client again, you’ll get a boat load of problems, particularly here in Canon City. Harry.” Frank turned to the owner of the diner. “Kate is off the rest of the night. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“No problem. I’m closed now anyway.” Harry smiled.

“Sheriff Bennett, would you please see Mrs. Hardy and her friend to their car?”

The sheriff walked toward Kate’s mother.

“You can’t do that,” Edna said.

“No, he can’t, but I can.” The sheriff pointed to the door. He put his hand on her elbow and started to pull her away from the table.

Kate watched her mother tug her arm away from the sheriff and move to the front door. She turned and looked Kate in the eye. “This isn’t over, my daughter.”

“I think it is,” Frank said. After they left the room, Frank turned to Kate and took her hand. “Are you okay?”

“I will be.” She’d gone back to feeling numb. She took her hand from Frank and clasped it in front of her. Even with Jay’s hand on her shoulder, she felt very shaky. She knew he’d be able to tell, but at the moment it didn’t matter. Even though she felt scared to death, she did feel good that she’d told her mother off.  “I can’t believe what just came out of my mouth,” she said.

“Okay. Jay, please take Miss Beck home and treat her good or I’ll kick your butt.” Frank’s attempt to lighten the mood fell flat. He looked at them. “Kate, everything is going to be all right. I promise that.”

“You said the other day you didn’t want to make promises you weren’t sure you could keep.” She looked up at him.

“Yeah, I did say that, but I feel we’ve got a pretty good harassment suit now and I have two witnesses, Harry and Sheriff Bennett. I’m sure they’d be willing to testify on your behalf.”

Jay leaned over her and said, “Go get your coat, babe.”

She looked up at him and smiled. For some reason she couldn’t figure out, she felt good, but also uneasy. As much as she wanted it all to go away with her mother, she knew this was only the start.

C
hapter Fourteen

Kate looked up at Jay as they stood at the corner and waited for the light to change so they could cross. They were headed back to the rink to get his Jeep.

“Jay, I want to skate.”

“You got it, babe.”

They turned around and headed to her apartment. She changed into a pair of faded jeans with holes in the knees and a gray sweatshirt. She pulled her skates out of the closet and opened the box. She went to a drawer in her dresser and found a pair of black gloves and a CD which she put in her purse.

When they got back to the rink, Kate sat down on the floor and started doing warm ups. Jay got her a bottle of water and his skates. She felt him watch her as she stretched the muscles in her legs and back. She sat up with her legs out to her sides and saw him look around the ice. He waved at the security guard, who stood near the other end of the ice and walked over to the boards to talk to the man. She heard Jay ask the guy to clean the ice.

After twenty minutes on the floor, Kate got up and put on her skates. She opened her purse and pulled the CD out. She put it into Jay’s hand. “Can you put this on and play it loud?”

“Done,” he said and ran up to the control booth.

When he came back down, Kate watched him walk toward her and smiled. “Jay?” She moved over to him on her skates and grabbed the shirt he wore. She put her lips on his and pulled back. She looked him in the eye and ran her fingers through his hair. “I love you and I’m so thankful we met. You are something I never dared dream of, but somehow all of my dreams are coming true.”

He put his hands around her waist and held her tight. She heard the engine on the Zamboni turn off and Jay kissed her. “I’ll be right back. It’s time to get the music going.”

Kate took her gloves out of her purse and slipped them on. She walked over to the ice and knelt down putting her gloved hand on it. She said the prayer and patted the ice and then stood back up. She heard Jay’s voice on the speakers asking her to let him know when she felt ready to go. She took the blade guards off, stepped onto the ice and skated around once, then stopped in the middle. She looked up at the booth and gave him a thumbs-up.

After a few seconds the music she’d skated to so long ago started to play. She wasn’t sure if she could remember the whole routine, but it didn’t matter. She just wanted to feel the freedom she’d once felt whenever she skated her own style.

The music started out slow. She moved gently around the center before she broke off and headed down the ice. She did a spread eagle, spun around at the end, and then picked up speed as she moved to the other end of the ice. She felt it was the right pace, kicked her leg up and did the triple axel. After she landed she let her body flow with the gentle whistle from a flute. She realized she probably wouldn’t be able to do the whole four minutes since her lungs started to hurt, but would go as far as she could.

She did a spiral, crossed over center ice and picked up speed again. The music began to pick up and got louder. After she did a couple of outside edge turns, she dropped into a sit spin, When she came up she did three twizzles on her left foot and then three on her right. Kate could feel her chest burn and knew she wouldn’t finish. 

She slowed her pace below the tempo of the music and bent at the waist. She put her hands on her knees. Over the music, she could hear Jay ask if she was okay. She straightened up and saw he sat on the boards at the other end. She skated down to him, moved her hands up his thighs and then wrapped her arms around his waist.

“You know what?” she asked, out of breath. She looked up into his warm brown eyes and started to melt. “You’re mine, babe,” she quoted his ringtone. “Put your skates on. I don’t like being so far away from you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She slowly skated around the ice and listened to the music. It changed to another piece she’d used for a two minute program. It wasn’t her favorite and she knew there were better pieces on the CD coming up that she liked better. She tried to do straight line steps, but found her edges were off and the blades probably needed to be sharpened. She did another couple twizzles and then a scratch spin.

When she stopped she saw Jay take off his blade guards and skate straight toward her. With his arms out he scooped her off her skates and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

****

She leaned in and kissed him. “I’ve never skated with a partner before.”

“Neither have I. This is kind of different, but I like it. What were those spins you were doing on one foot?” He moved around the ice.

“They’re called twizzles.”

“I thought those were only done by the ice dancers?”
  “Look at you, smart guy.” She kissed his jaw. “That’s where those spins are used the most, I guess. Single skaters can do them, too.”

“Why are they different than sit spins or scratch spins?” He turned a corner and headed back down the ice.

“Twizzles can move across the ice, those other spins are supposed to stay in the same spot.”

Jay let her down and they moved around the ice together. When Kate got her wind back, she broke off and did a Lutz jump and then a camel spin. Jay stopped by the boards and watched her skate. It amazed him how smooth she glided over the ice. At one point, she did a jump and almost landed on her butt. She corrected her footing quickly and got straightened up. He pushed off and caught up with her, pulling her back into his arms.

“I like you better this way.” He moved to the far end board and sat her down on it. He stayed between her legs, put both hands in her hair and devoured her mouth. He hadn’t meant to be so forceful, but couldn’t hold back. They sucked each other’s lips and when he put his hand on her breast, he felt her move her hand down the front of his pants and cup his penis with her fingers.

He moved his head back and was out of breath. “Babe, we need to go home.”

“I agree.”

He lifted her off the boards and they skated to the entrance. “I like your music. I got excited when you moved so smoothly to it. You really are graceful out there.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him. “That compliment is better than any gold medal.”

“Did you get enough skating time? I’m not making you quit too soon?” Jay asked and put on his blade guards.