Fresh ice, p.21
Fresh Ice, page 21
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Just bring it back to me when you’re done.”
Destiny walked out, leaving Sarah all alone in the break room.
Sarah paced the room weighing the repercussions of what she was about to do. If what Kim had said was true, everything was about to change.
All Sarah had to do was type in Nathan’s name and dozens of articles came up about the incident. Apparently it had caused quite a stir in the hockey community and media.
She took a deep breath, pressed Play and the video showed Nathan on the ice, skating away from the net. All of a sudden, as he walked toward the tunnel in the direction of the locker room, he reached for the fan on his right and grabbed his shirt and yanked. Officials and staff frantically pulled the two apart.
Sarah gasped. It felt like she just took a blow to the stomach, a feeling she was all too familiar with. Her hands started shaking and she gripped the phone so she wouldn’t drop it.
At first, she didn’t believe it was him but there was no mistaking his number 33 in white against the blue jersey and the letters spelling out Connors right above it.
Sarah replayed the video. In the blink of an eye, Nathan lunged at the spectator and grabbed him by the throat. The video wasn’t the best quality and the incident happened so fast, but it was all Sarah needed to know. Nathan Connors was a very dangerous man.
“Sarah, honey, do you think you can take a walk-in for me? Or do you have plans for lunch?”
Sarah looked up from the phone and swallowed down her emotions. Peach stood in the doorway, anticipating an answer. “Uh, Sure. I’ll be right there. Just give me a minute to take care of something. ”
As soon as Sarah saw Nathan’s truck pull up outside, she jogged outside to intercept him. She didn’t want to cause a scene inside the salon.
Without a second thought, she walked up to his the truck and around to the driver’s side door. Luckily, the window was rolled down so she could put her hands on the windowsill so he couldn’t open the door to get out.
A smile lit up his face when he saw her but she didn’t return it.
“I can’t see you anymore,” she said quickly.
His smile faded away and his brows knit together. “Why?”
The disappointment in his voice and the frown on his face were genuine, but Sarah couldn’t let that fool her. She hadn’t run 600 miles from Dwight to be with someone just like him.
That was the thing though. A niggling in her gut told her, screamed at her, that Nathan was different. She’d witnessed his kindness first hand. Hadn’t he proved himself of that every time they were together? But Sarah ignored the doubt, pushed aside the voice in her heart and did what she had to do.
“I saw the video.”
Nathan’s face drained and he sat expressionless.
“Oh,” was all he said. And then, “I understand.”
It was as if a security gate had come down behind his eyes, blocking all emotion. Sarah didn’t know what she expected him to do but all he did was sit there staring at the steering wheel. He didn’t try to explain or argue or…anything.
“Why would you do something like that?” she asked on the verge of tears. “How could you?” She couldn’t let him get away that easy. She had to know what would cause him to do such a thing. To a fan of all people. Hockey players got into fights all the time, but to assault a spectator?
“It doesn’t matter now,” he murmured.
“It matters to me.”
But he didn’t answer. He just stared at the same spot on the steering wheel.
Sarah sighed. “I have to go. I have a client waiting. I’ll be by your house after work to get my things.”
Sarah pushed away from the truck and started for the salon. She blocked out the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach along with the sound of Nathan’s truck engine as he drove away. Regret washed over her. She’d just put an end to the best thing that had ever happened to her.
She ran through the salon door, tears blurring her vision.
* * *
Dwight’s Datsun had been around since the Nixon administration and had been good to him over the years. It got him where he needed to go and he had faith it wouldn’t fail him during the trip north.
What Dwight didn’t take in to account was The Grapevine. The Grapevine was a long, steep grade that stood between him and Red Valley.
The little truck struggled up the hill and as the speedometer hovered around forty-five, motorhomes and big rigs started to pass them in the left lane.
“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Troy complained.
Dwight squinted at the instruments on the dash. Dottie’s temperature gage had been broken for years so he had no idea if she was running hot. “I’ve got it floored,” he growled.
“Sheesh.” Troy popped a mini donut into his mouth and licked the powdered sugar from his fingers.
“Shut up. I thought I heard sumpthin’.”
Dwight didn’t know much about cars. Just the important stuff like where to put the gas nozzle and the best places to hide drugs. But when smoke billowed out from under the hood Dwight knew enough to ease over onto the shoulder.
Dwight turned off the ignition and opened his door. The shoulder was narrow and it was damn near suicide getting out without a truck driving by and ripping his door off its hinges.
He managed to squeeze out without getting killed and walked around to the front of the truck.
Troy got out and stood next to his father staring at the hood.
The sun beat down on Dwight’s shoulders and his legs ached from being scrunched up behind the wheel. Cars and trucks zoomed by just a few feet away. It was hot and windy and the dry air stuck in his throat and made his teeth feel gritty. Anger flooded every fiber of his being and he pinched down on the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to kill Sarah.”
“That’s a lotta smoke, Pops,” Troy helpfully pointed out.
The wind picked up and tugged at Dwight’s hat. He held tight to the bill to keep it from blowing away. “Open the hood,” he barked at Troy.
Troy looked down at the snacks he was holding and frowned. “Hold these, will ya?”
Dwight let go of his hat and took the candy bar and soda from Troy. A gust of wind blew the cap right off his head. Damn it! He threw the soda down and it splashed up onto his pant leg. He cursed and tossed the candy bar into the dirt.
Troy lumbered down the shoulder of the freeway in hot pursuit of the hat. The damn fool was going to get himself killed. If it wasn’t Dwight’s favorite hat, he might’ve been able to laugh at the ridiculous sight of Troy chasing it in the wind. Gall darn it! He’d had that hat for well over a decade. It fit perfectly and the bill was shaped just the way he liked it. Now he’d have to find a new one and hope to God it wasn’t as tight as these wretched jeans.
Eventually, Troy gave up and shuffled back empty handed, holding his side and grimacing. “Sorry, Pops. I tried.”
“Shut up and open the hood.”
It took Troy a half dozen tries to get the latch open on the hood it was so hot. Finally, he lifted the hood and waited for the steam to clear so they could take a look at the problem.
Dwight bent down to look at the engine and the waistband of his jeans cut into his belly. He’d never been more uncomfortable in his entire life. All because of Sarah. She had screwed him over in more ways than one and he was looking forward to devising her punishment during the drive up to Red Valley.
“I don’t know much about cars,” Troy admitted, “but it looks like the head gasket blew.” He straightened and looked over at Dwight. “You really gonna kill Sarah?”
“No,” Dwight said with a huff. “But I am going to make her regret the day she decided to run away.”
Troy nodded and looked back at the truck. “Why don’t we just rent a car for the rest of the way? You’ve got plenty of cash.”
“I’m not leaving Dottie behind.”
Troy shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
“There’s no rush to get to Red Valley anyway,” Dwight pointed out. “Sarah’s not going anywhere. She thinks she’s home free and rid of us, remember?”
“Yeah. She’s probably having fun up there,” Troy said with a wistful look on his face.
Dwight scowled at his son, shook his head and went to dig his cell phone out of the glove box so he could call for a tow truck.
The grapevine had conquered another.
* * *
Sarah finished out the work day feeling raw and betrayed and more than a little bewildered. Maybe her brain would finally process what happened with Nathan when she had a minute to herself to think.
Right now she was in survival mode and her first order of business was finding a new place to stay.
Sarah rushed to catch Destiny before she left for the day.
As much as she hated asking for help, Sarah was afraid to move to another motel and have something else bad happen. Who knew how many Skeets were lurking in the hospitality business.
Unfortunately, Sarah didn’t have enough money for an apartment on her own yet. They all required first and last month’s rent and a security deposit and that was more money than she had. She saw some roommate ads on the computer, but the idea of living with a complete stranger…well, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t try to assault her like Skeet had either.
When Sarah had ventured out to start her new life she told herself she wouldn’t be afraid, but she also didn’t want to be foolish and put herself into another bad situation.
“What’s up, Sarah?” Destiny dug her keys out of her designer purse and secured it onto her shoulder.
“I was wondering if you have a couch I can crash on. My…my apartment sort of fell through.”
“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry. I’d love to have you as a roomie, but,” Destiny lowered her voice, “You know I still live at home and my parents think it’s bad enough having me there.”
“Right.” Sarah had forgotten about that tiny little detail. “That’s okay. I totally understand. Have you ever thought about getting an apartment? Maybe we could go in on a place together.”
“As much as I’d love to get out from under my parents’ roof, I’m always spending too much money on shoes.” Destiny looked down at the peep toe stilettos on her feet.
Sarah looked down at her own sensible, comfortable ballet flats. “Don’t they hurt your feet?”
“Nah. Fashion is an acquired pain.”
Sarah disagreed. After a lifetime of abuse she couldn’t imagine why anyone would purposely cause themselves pain in the name of looking good.
“Look, Sarah, I’ll try to cut back on shopping but I’m not making any promises.” Destiny smiled at Peach when she walked up. “Take these shoes for instance. I didn’t need them but they were calling my name. Literally.”
Peach laughed. “Destiny…,” she called out in a funny shoe voice. “We are your destiny!”
Sarah pretended to laugh along but inside she was still agonizing over her living situation. She didn’t want to impose on a married couple like Abigail and besides, she lived too far out of the city limits for the bus. Being stranded on the weekends with no transportation didn’t sound appealing. She knew Peach’s house was being remodeled, so that only left one other person. Kim.
Nope. Not gonna happen.
As limited as her options were, Sarah wouldn’t think of asking Kim for help. For the time being, she’d have to get another motel room and hope it was better than the last one.
Before she could tackle that task, Sarah had to get up the nerve to go back to Nathan’s house and get her stuff. Instead of keeping all of her clothes with her in her backpack, she’d gone and gotten comfortable with Nathan and left them at his house so they’d be wrinkle-free. It had been stupid to leave her belongings at his house in the first place. How was she supposed to know he’d been harboring a deep, destructive secret?
And why was she so surprised? Nathan had exhibited a temper on several occasions. The whole incident with Skeet, the punching bag... Scenes from the past few weeks hit her like a tidal wave.
There was definitely a pattern and Sarah couldn’t believe she’d been so foolish to let herself get involved with someone like Nathan.
During the bus ride across town, Sarah had plenty of time to rehearse what she’d say to him. All she had to do was go in, gather up her belongings and get the heck out of there. No further explanation was needed. Just a simple “Hi, how are ya, thanks for playing and have a nice life,” would be sufficient.
Sarah twiddled the butterfly pendant in her fingers. For a split second, she thought about taking the necklace to a pawn shop. She was sure to get a few dollars for it…
No, she immediately pushed the thought away. The necklace was the nicest thing she owned and by far the nicest thing anyone had ever given her. Pawning it wasn’t an option. She’d earn the money she needed for an apartment the old fashioned way. With hard work and determination.
* * *
Dwight rented two motel rooms. It would have been cheaper to just get one, but he desperately needed some space away from Troy. Quite frankly, his own son was driving him bonkers. If Troy’s mother was still alive, Dwight would have killed her anyway for bringing such an idiot into the world.
This trip was costing Dwight much more time and money than it should have. Every extra dollar he spent and mile he had to drive added on to his already peaked anger toward Sarah. The faster he could put an end to this nonsense and the quicker he arrived in Red Valley, the better for everyone involved.
Dwight didn’t like being without Dottie either. Right now she was sittin’ at some hole in the wall auto shop waiting for parts. Because it was Friday and they couldn’t get parts over the weekend, it would take a few extra days to get back on the road.
The corn fed mechanic told Dwight she had overheated because of a blown head gasket. “You’ve also got yerself a cracked block,” he’d said.
Dwight wanted to crack a few blocks himself. His mechanic at home would have fixed Dottie for a bag of weed and a crack at Sarah.
Now Dwight was stuck at some motel with nothin’ but time on his hands. He tossed Troy the key to his motel room.
“I’m gonna go get some snacks,” Troy said and hobbled off in the other direction.
Dwight didn’t know how his son could cram any more junk food down his gullet but somehow he always found a way. “Whatever,” he mumbled and headed to find his room.
A woman leaning against the wall eyed him as he walked by.
“You lookin’ for a good time?” she asked.
She looked like she had been around the block a few thousand times. Dwight didn’t pay much attention to her face but she wore beat-up flip-flops, cutoffs and her voluptuous bosom was just about bursting out of her stained tank top.
“Always,” Dwight drawled.
“Twenty bucks for a BJ.”
“What’ll you do for fifty?”
“Anything you want, sugar.”
Dwight shoved her into his room, slammed the door shut and slapped her across the face as hard as he could.
Oh, yeah. There it was. She looked up at him with that wounded puppy dog look that he’d been missing from Sarah for weeks. “Take your clothes off and get on the bed.”
Maybe this trip wouldn’t be a complete waste after all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ghosts
At Nathan’s house, his truck wasn’t out front but it could’ve been parked inside the garage. Hoping he wasn’t home, Sarah went in through the front door. Immediately, she heard voices in the kitchen. Kayla was at the table feeding Robbie dinner.
She looked up at Sarah and smiled. “Hi, Sarah.”
Sarah couldn’t quite read Kayla’s expression. “Hello,” she said cautiously. “I just came to get my stuff. I’m going to be staying—“
“Come here and let me tell you a story.”
“I really should be going,” Sarah protested. Nathan had let her off easy, but breaking things off with Kayla apparently wasn’t going to be the same.
Kayla cocked her head to the side and asked, “Do you think of us as friends, Sarah?”
“Y--yes,” she replied.
Kayla patted the kitchen chair next to her. “Then humor me and have a seat.”
Sarah hesitated and then finally sat down and clasped her hands on her lap. She didn’t really feel like hashing things out with Nathan’s sister. All she wanted to do was get her stuff, find a motel for the night, sleep away the day’s memories and start fresh in the morning.
Kayla gave Robbie a handful of Cheerios and turned her attention back to Sarah. “You saw the video.”
Sarah nodded glumly. The real question was who hadn’t seen it?
“Nathan is a good man, Sarah. You know this. He’s never been anything but perfect with Robbie.” You know he’s not that man you saw on the internet.”
She did know that. Nathan was gentle and kind to the little boy, just like he’d been with Bean and with her. “This is really between Nathan and me,” Sarah said and started to get up. The next words out of Kayla’s mouth knocked her back down in her seat.
“Our parents were killed right before that happened.” Kayla paused and let the weight of her words sink in.
Sarah frowned. “Oh, Kayla, I’m so sorry.” She lunged forward and captured Kayla in a hug. “I didn’t know.”
Kayla sniffed back tears before they could fall and pulled away. “They were good people.”
“I can’t imagine…”
“Nathan was a lot closer to them than I was because I was off making my own mistakes. It nearly destroyed him. He refused to miss any games. Hockey is his life and he thought playing would keep his mind off what happened. He was wrong. He fell apart halfway through the first period and let four goals in the net in a span of five minutes. His coach pulled him and when Nathan walked down the tunnel, fans on either side taunted him and then…well, you saw the rest.
“He was fined a lot of money, suspended and sentenced to anger management. The team turned their back on him and sent him down to the minors before finally trading him and…now here we are.”
