Once again, Frankie witnessed how gentle and encouraging the man was with his young charges.
“Answer your coach, Jake,” his mom said.
“Yes, Mr. C.”
“You too, Emily,” the second mom added.
A girl who appeared to be about seven years old squeezed her mom’s hand and nodded.
“I think we have some club jackets for you two as well.” Frankie elbowed Charlie. “Leslie said they’re in her office next to the doorway.”
“Oh, um, right. Be right back.” He jogged to his sister’s office.
“Our club jackets are here?” Emily said.
Frankie smiled widely. “Yes, they are, and it even has your name on it.”
Emily tugged on her mother’s sleeve. “Mommy, can I wear it to school on Monday? I want all my friends to see it.”
“We’ll see. It might be too warm.”
“But Mommy . . .”
A moment later, Charlie returned with the boxes. Setting them down on the ground, he knelt next to it. Discretely, Frankie watched him go cross-eyed as he stared at the names on the order forms. He pulled out the jackets for Jake and Emily. “Here we are.”
The children’s eyes danced. She held her breath.
“Emily, you have a youth small, and Jake, a youth medium?” The jackets were handed off.
Frankie exhaled. He’d chosen correctly. The parents and children grinned like Cheshire cats.
Emily ripped off her blue school sweater. “Mommy, I have to wear this right now.”
“Me too. If Emily is going to wear hers, I want mine too,” Jake pleaded.
Charlie laughed. The intense lines of concentration faded. To Frankie, he appeared much younger and more handsome when he was at ease, with laugh lines and dimples.
“Let’s step off to the side. We have others waiting to check in.” Jake and Emily were shepherded out of the way of the next set of parents and kids.
Over the next few hours, Leslie popped in and out of the lobby between skating school classes and kept an eagle eye on the hospitality rooms, while Frankie took charge of check-ins and retrieving the feedback forms from the judges. Charlie was given the toughest tasks. He ensured that the students made it onto the ice at the correct times and was also responsible for letting the kids the know whether they had passed or failed.
Emotions ran high, and by late afternoon, all three of them were exhausted. Charlie waved goodbye to the last student of the day and leaned against the wall.
Frankie stood and stretched. “That was it. We’re done! All that’s left for us to do now is add the results to the ASU’s testing database.”
“Let’s do it later. I’m drained.” Charlie rubbed his temples. “I still don’t understand why Kaylee didn’t pass her singles senior Moves in the Field test. It was gut-wrenching to have to tell her she missed passing by one point. Maybe I should go speak to the judges and see if they could look the other way.”
Having worked with Kaylee the morning before, Frankie had to agree, it was painful to see the teenager so distraught. Even though she was a pairs skater, she would still have to pass her individual Moves in the Field tests in addition to the Pairs Track tests to move up to the junior and senior ranks.
Frankie placed a hand on his elbow. “That won’t do any good.”
“How do you know?” he snapped.
She backed up a few steps and held her hands up. “Trust me. From experience, the judges won’t change their marks. Kayleewassuper prepared, but sometimes there are other factors, like nerves, at play. Skaters can’t be on all the time.”
He shook his head. “Vera is friends with Kaylee’s grandmother. If I just ask for a favor . . .”
Frankie took a breath. “Don’t,” she shot back. “You’ll just end up hurting her chances more than helping her.”
