“Danny McDonald.”
“I vaguely remember him.” Charlie drummed his fingers on the table. “He’s the guy who had a wonky double Axel and always fell on his triple toe.”
“That’s him. The triple toe was the only triple jump he could fully rotate.” She made a face. “Thinking about him still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. He was already skating with a new partner before he even told me he wanted to end our partnership.”
“What?”
“Yeah. He claimed it would be faster to find a new partner than to wait for me to figure things out.”
“For what it’s worth, from what I’ve seen, you have nice technique on your jumps.”
“Thanks.” Hearing Charlie say that made her feel slightly better.
“Did you ever try and find a new partner after him?”
She nodded. “I had three tryouts, but nothing ever came of them. You know how it is . . . there are way more female skaters out there than male skaters. The guys call the shots on who they get to skate with. I never received a call back from any of them. No partner, no senior pairs.”
“Given the chance, would you go back and skate seniors?”
“Definitely. I had so many goals that were left unfulfilled. The feeling of having unfinished business in the sport has always left me wondering what-if. But none of that matters now.” Her forehead crinkled. “I’m too old and I have other responsibilities to worry about. My window of opportunity has passed.”
The waitress brought their artichokes, giving Frankie a moment to compose herself. Her hand shook as she took a long drink from her water glass.
“Are you two ready to order?”
Charlie glanced in her direction. “We need a few more minutes.”
“No problem. I’ll circle back around to you two.”
He thanked her and returned his attention to Frankie. “You all right?”
She nodded. Her lips trembled. “Sorry. Just thinking about the past brings back a lot of emotions. I promise, I’m not normally like this.”
“Like what? I don’t see anything wrong.”
“Emotional.”
He clenched his jaw. “Trust me, I understandexactlyhow you feel.”
“So, um . . . your students . . .”
He held up his hands. “We’ll get back to them in a minute. First, I need to know—what feels unfinished?”
“It’s nothing.”
His large green eyes evoked a sense of calmness within her. They sparkled under the dim lighting like a piece of expensive jewelry. “Humor me.”
“I don’t know, there’s a lot of things on my list.”
“Such as?”
“I would’ve liked to have taken my senior test.” Frankie folded her hands and rested them on the table. “Skate as a senior at nationals.”
There was one other item, but sitting here with a former national champion and world medalist, she felt intimidated. What would he think if she told him about what she’d really dreamed about since she was a little girl? Would he make fun of her and think it was foolish?
“I can see it in your eyes. There’s something else.”
She twiddled her thumbs together. “The Olympic Games. I wanted to skate at the Olympics. Doesn’t everyone?”
