For a second, Robbie blinked like he was worried about being caught at something, but the expression cleared before Finn could fully register it. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “Uh, Finn, can you—?”
“Wait!” The fan suddenly turned her eyes to Finn. “You’re Finn Graham! You’re onDance Your Ice Off!”
Finn had long since gotten past the urge to wince when people said it. Canadians simply didn’t recognize pairs skatersthe way they recognized professional hockey players. “Uh, yeah, hi. You like the show?”
“Best reality show on TV. I even have tickets to the first episode.”
That was kind of nice, actually. Finn waved Imogen over. “Hey, can you take a picture for us?”
They stood to either side of her, and Imogen snapped several pictures.
“Thanks so much,” she said, quickly flicking through the pictures. Then she turned back to face them. “I can’t believe you know each other.” Then dawning comprehension lit her eyes. “Wait… does this mean—?”
“I’ve signed a confidentiality contract and couldn’t possibly talk about anything work related.” Finn winked.
“Oh wow! I can’t wait to go now!”
Robbie tapped the side of his nose.
The fan swooned. “You were my favourite Beaver. So to speak.”
“That deserves a hug,” Robbie declared and pulled her in for one. “Enjoy Pride, bud.”
She laughed, wished them well, and disappeared into the crowd.
Sawyer stood silently throughout the encounter, but now he turned wide, worried eyes toward Robbie. “I didn’t think—Robbie, what if people guess—”
Robbie swooped in and hugged his kid. Finn couldn’t hear what Robbie whispered to Sawyer, but his shoulders dropped from his ears, and he nodded and pulled out of Robbie’s arms.
“Right.” Robbie clapped his hands, drawing gazes away from Sawyer’s quick swipe at his eyes. “Where to next?”
“Time for food, I think. Any preferences?”
They wandered away from the main crowds and headed for a café. But just as they settled into the booth and decided on their orders, Sawyer suddenly said, “Oh, look, Imogen! There’s a fishtank. Let’s go take a look.”
Imogen blinked at her friend. Sawyer lifted his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah, right, we should go do that.”
They stood up and hurried away, not-so-subtly leaving Finn alone with Robbie. It occurred to him that the two teens had been not uncurious about Finn and Robbie’s budding friendship, and one of them had, without Robbie’s knowledge, signed him up for a TV show that his friend’s stepbrother worked on.
Suddenly Finn remembered that Imogen had commented more than once that he’d probably like Sawyer’s uncle. He’d figured it was in response to Sawyer’s changed living situation—that Imogen had been noting their obvious shared values. Now, though….
Robbie snickered. “Frankly I’m impressed we managed to get him to sit still long enough to order. Not sure how eating is going to go.”
“Been wound up?”
“A spinning top all day.”
“Well, at least you know he’ll sleep well tonight.”
Robbie laughed. “God, bringing me back to the days when I’d steal him for overnight visits during my off season. He’d run around pell-mell all day and then sleep like the dead for twelve hours. Of course, so did I.” Then, as if to prove his point, he yawned.
Finn smirked into his water. “Tuckered out from your first Pride?”
“Not sure which was more exhausting, the sun or watchinghim.”
“He clearly enjoyed himself.”
“Good. He deserved a good day.”
