“You have to swear not to tell anyone else.”
With Heath and me hardly on speaking terms, I had no one to tell. “I swear.”
Bella leaned in and lowered her voice, even though the only people close enough to overhear were two old Japanese women with wispy gray hair and owlish glasses.
“My mother’s finally going to let me and Garrett switch partners next season.”
“What?” I said. “Why?”
I’d always been jealous Bella was born with a skating partner. Garrett wasn’t showy like some male ice dance stars, but he was solid, a steady backdrop against which Bella could glitter.
But it was never enough for her. That’s why we were friends: nothing was ever enough for either of us.
“Did you know,” she said, “a sibling ice dance team has never won Olympic gold?”
“So you two could be the first. You’re amazing together.”
“Sure, I mean, we have the technical skills. But we’re so limited in the choreo we can do without it looking creepy. And the height difference has been a problem ever since he had that insane growth spurt.”
“Who are you going to skate with?”
Male skaters were a rare commodity in the ice dance world. Ones of Garrett’s caliber were even rarer. Since Ellis’s revelation that the Hayworths were paying him to skate with Josie, I’d heard far wilder stories of the lengths women went to in order to find partners. Bribes, blackmail, under-the-table deals with other figure skating federations that bordered on human trafficking.
Bella wouldn’t have to resort to such unseemly methods. She’d have them lining up like dating show contestants, willing to renounce theircitizenships, abandon their current partners, do whatever it took for the chance to skate with Sheila Lin’s only daughter.
“I’m considering my options,” she said. “Zack Branwell has expressed interest.”
“Isn’t he still with Paige Reed?”
Reed and Branwell finished in the top ten in Salt Lake but had to sit out Worlds due to some unspecified injury. Everyone expected them to return for the next Olympic quad, though, and to try for the Torino Games in 2006.
“You didn’t hear this from me, but…” Bella leaned closer, eyes gleaming in the lantern light. “Paige isn’t injured. She’spregnant.”
That explained a lot. Though her parents must have had her on serious lockdown in their Minnesota hometown to avoid that rumor churning through the mill.
“Is it his?” I asked.
Bella shrugged. “Not my problem. But she’ll be out all next season, at least. And once he’s skated with me, no way is he going back. Paige is mediocre at best.”
Though his self-consciously masculine skating style wasn’t my cup of tea, Zack had always been the star of the pair. He was several inches shorter than Garrett too, which would make him a better physical match for Bella. For all his flyover country blandness, on the ice the guy came across like an honest-to-GodTiger Beatpinup, golden hair and a strong jawline and full, kissable lips. Bella was beautiful on her own; with Zack at her side, she’d look like a princess and a movie star, all rolled into one.
“And what about Garrett?” I said. “Who’s he going to skate with?”
He’d have his pick, that was for sure. Every female ice dancer in the world would crawl across shattered glass to skate with a partner like Garrett Lin.
“That’s the best part.” Bella reached across the table and took my hands in hers. “Youcan skate with Garrett.”
Inez Acton:Figure skating is a strange sport, because it depends so much on image and narrative. You have to kill it on the ice, but you also have to look the part and have a compelling story. What better way to add a plot twist than switching partners?
Kirk Lockwood:It’s pretty common for ice dancers to change partners, especially if they paired up when they were children.
In a home video, three-year-old Bella and Garrett toddle around the ice together. Garrett wears a pint-sized tuxedo and has a serious expression on his face, while Bella beams and waves, swirling the full skirt of her glittery dress.
Kirk Lockwood:And the start of a new Olympic cycle is the perfect time to do it.
Garrett Lin:I could understand why Bella wanted a change.
Veronika Volkova:It is rare for sibling teams to be competitive at the elite level. No matter how talented, they are painting with only a few shades of the palette.
