“Yes, onceAxelfills us in on what he found out when he followed that guy to the parking lot.”
Damn.Sometimesshe was too smart for her own good.
Axel just smiled at her before he filled us in.Theman did not appear to be a threat, butAxeltagged his license plate and car details just in case.
We made our way out of the restaurant.BothAxelandIwatched our surroundings before getting into the car to head back to my place.
“Either you were anOlympic-level curler and didn’t know it, or you’ve curled more thanjust afew timesin your youth,”Imentioned, throwing her own words back at her, remembering how good she was.
“Yeah, whenIwas a kid,” she responded, kind of hedging the question.
“They have curling facilities inNorthernCalifornia?”Iasked her.
“Technically, it was an ice-skating rink, but they would convert it a couple days a week for curling leagues and youth programs,” she answered, putting her seat belt on. “Notmuch else to do inNorthernCaliforniain the rainy winter months.”
“So how often did you play?”Tryingagain,Ihoped she’d give me more on the drive home.
“My foster moms loved curling,” she responded. “Theytook my sisters and me several times to learn and try it out.Theysigned us all up for just about every sport imaginable so we could see if we liked one.Soccer, basketball, tennis—you name it, we got to try it.”
“You hadn’t tried any of those before?”I’dknown she’d been in foster care but couldn’t recall at what age she had found herforever home, as she called it.
“When you move around foster homes a lot, you don’t always stay in the same location long enough to remain on a sports team.Usually, teams want you to be able to commit to at least twice a week, every week, for months.Whenyou have court dates, family visitations, or meetings with counselors, it often interferes with practices and games, so it was tough.”
NowIfelt like an asshole.Ihadn’t thought of that.Mydad may have been a true prick of a human being, but my home life didn’t prevent me from playing sports or losing friends becauseImoved schools all the time.Mydad being a politician meant that to the outside world, our life had toseemperfect, even if it wasn’t.Mymom made sureIplayed whatever sport or activityIwanted, and my dad couldn’t exactly complain because that would have looked weird, and you don’t win elections if your family is weird.
ForAce, all those people had walked away from her after promising her a home, friendship…Shit.Itjust occurred to me thatIhad done that too.I’dwalked away from her shortly after we got married—albeit for good reason, but she didn’t know that.Shelikely thoughtIhad abandoned her, just like everyone else.Well, not everyone.
“Your coworkers are nice,”Ipointed out, though she likely already knew it. “You’relucky to have found good friendships like that.”
She smiled at me, having no idea the angry thoughts in my head were directed at myself.
“They are,” she confirmed. “I’velearned over years of bouncing around several stations that some people can be very catty in this business.Ilucked out withDanandTalia.”
“How did you like all your other stations?”Iasked, choosing not to bring up the fact thatIalready knew all her otherTVstations sinceIhad low-key stalked her for her whole career.
“My first station was rough just becauseIwas totally new and had no idea whatIwas doing,” she replied with a small grin, likely thinking back to that first station inCalifornia. “Bakersfieldtaught me a lot.Ilearned all the basics, and it was nice because it wasn’t too far for me to drive home to see my family ifIneeded to.”
She chuckled as she looked out the window. “Cincinnatiwas next.Iremember thinkingIwas hot shit becauseIwas making enough money to not have to live paycheck to paycheck likeIhad at my first job.Igrew so much at that station, both from a career standpoint, but also personally.Ilearned a lot about myself there and the goalsIwanted out of life.”
“That’s good.Somepeople never figure that out,”Itold her honestly.
“Yeah,” she said, her tone a bit more somber now. “Butthose next jumps in the business can also bring out the competitiveness, so the cattiness can reach an all-time high as people work to get to the next stop on their career path.”
I felt the sudden urge to beat up anyone up who had been mean to her.
“You can wipe that look off your face, commando,” she said with a hint of humor. “Idon’t need you to unalive anyone in the name of my honor.”
I would, though.Includingthe assholes who had put bounties on both our heads.
“By the way, you never showed me the rest of your house,”Acesaid, andIrealized she was right.
We had been so busy the last forty-eight hours withAce’sjob, her trainer, my job, and her learn-to-curl class with her friends thatIhadn’t finished giving her a tour of my house.Onthe drive back to the house she had asked about the pool, so when we got back,Istarted over with the tour from top to bottom.
It was simple from the front—a combination of stone and wood with a garage facing the driveway—but the back of the house was where the real character was.Acovered patio with a huge built-in grill space.Therewas also a large-screenTVthat faced the backyard so people could watch a game while hanging out.Andyes,Ialso had a pool.
She chuckled next to me as we walked out the back door. “Isee you got your hot tub with aTVnearby to watch games on.”
I smiled back at her, impressed that she remembered from all those years ago.Ithad me wondering if she remembered the rest of the conversation as we walked back into the house.Aswe re-entered the living room, we headed left to the kitchen, laundry room, and storage area.
