Page 43 of Asher's Assignment
He opened his own door, turning away so she couldn’t see the reluctance on his face. “Wouldn’t want that.”
Crowd noise and the low rumble of skates on the hardwood arena deck filled Asher’s ears as they entered the building. Esther paused, glancing around, then pointed.
“They’re over there. Let’s get our skates first, though.” She turned left, heading for the rental counter.
The teenage girl working the counter smiled at them with a mouthful of braces. “Hi. You guys need skates?”
“Yes, please,” Esther said. “Size eight. But inline skates.” She glanced at Asher.
“Um, a thirteen. Regular ones.” Yep. This really wouldn’t end well. If she was getting inline skates, that meant she was good at it. He’d be lucky to stay upright no matter what skates he wore. They needed training wheels, like bikes.
The girl walked away and came back a moment later with their skates. Esther paid for the rentals before they joined her colleagues.
A pregnant woman squealed as they walked up. “You brought him! Good for you, girl.”
Some of Asher’s apprehension faded as a blush crept up Esther’s neck. At least he wouldn’t be the only one embarrassed during this outing. He smiled and waved at the woman. “Hello. You’re one of the other kindergarten teachers, right?” He remembered seeing her yesterday. Today, he’d been in a second-grade classroom.
She nodded. “Liv Spellman. This is my husband, Neal.” She gestured to a dark-haired man with glasses sitting next to her. He tipped his chin in the universal male hello.
Asher reciprocated. “Nice to meet you.”
“Esther, introduce us to your friend,” an older woman said.
“Oh, um, sure.” She went around the seating area, naming individuals, then explaining who he was and why she’d brought him. He was glad to hear her give the same explanation she gave Liv yesterday. They needed to keep their stories straight.
Once introductions were made, Liv smacked a hand lightly on her table. “All right. You two go change. I talked the manager into turning on a line dance in about ten minutes. I don’t plan to wait on you.”
“Honey, are you sure you don’t want to sit this one out tonight?” Her husband sent her a concerned look.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been skating since I was a kid. I promise not to do any jumps, but I’m steady enough on my feet I can roll around. I even asked my doctor about it; you know this. She said I’d be fine so long as I took it easy.”
Neal rolled his eyes. “Easy is the keyword there, babe. I think your definition is different than hers.”
Liv laughed. “Probably.”
Asher’s misgivings ratcheted up a little more. He was about to be shown up by a pregnant woman. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. At least he’d give Esther an entertaining evening.
He touched her arm. “Come on. Let’s go change.”
They set their skates down and headed for the locker rooms on the other side of the arena.
“Are you okay?”
He glanced at her, then twisted, avoiding a collision with a group of teenage boys. “I’m fine.”
“Really? Because you seem a little tense.”
“Nope. A-okay.”
“Yeah, sure you are. Don’t lie to me, Asher. You don’t have to tell me what’s going on, but don’t lie, all right?”
Asher stopped. Tipping his head back, he let out a long breath. “Sorry. You’re right.” He looked at her. “And you’ll find out soon enough why I’m edgy, so I might as well tell you now.” He paused, his jaw working once more. “I can’t skate.”
A frown narrowed her eyebrows for a quick moment before her expression smoothed out. “You can’t skate? How is that even possible? I mean—” She raised a hand, palm up, and gestured to him. “You’re not exactly unathletic.”
“Running and swimming are wildly different to skating.”
“True. But it’s about balance. And you surf. I’ve seen you. I think you’ll be fine. It might take you a few minutes to get the hang of it, but you’ll be chasing me around the floor in no time.”
