Dad stormed into his office with papers in hand. “I need you to review these.”
Great.More work. Elias straightened. “What are they?”
“Resumes.”
He blinked. Not that anything with his vision would help his hearing. “What are they?”
Dad tossed the papers on the desk. “Resumes. Pick your top five for an associate and top ten for a paralegal. We may hire two more of those.”
Elias nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence. Dad and Gramps had listened to him. Finally, they listened.
A weight lifted from Elias, making his arms and legs feel feather-light. He cleared his throat. “I’ll have them for you tomorrow.”
It would mean cutting his time short at the rink and with Tasha tonight, but…
“The day after is fine.”
His jaw dropped. Literally. Dad had never given Elias extra time for anything. He pumped his fist under the table. “Consider it done.”
Elias glanced at the time.
Go, clock, go.
He couldn’t wait to tell Tasha about the firm hiring additional staff.
* * *
At the rink, Tasha stood in the middle with Belle and Gigi. It was getting late, and the temperature kept dropping. The other kids had gone home, but the girls had asked her to stay.
A handful of skaters circled the ice, trying to get the most out of the final session, which left the center of the ice free for them to work on Belle’s sequence during the final piece.
“This is impossible.” Belle threw up her arms. “I can’t do it.”
“You can,” Gigi encouraged. “Isn’t that right, Tasha?”
Tasha envied the two teenagers. Once upon a time, she and Kristen had been like these two young women. “Your best friend is right. You can do this. You’ve almost got the choreography.”
“I feel a million miles away from where I need to be.” Belle’s breath hung in the air. “I’m trying. I really am. But I can’t string the steps all together.”
“Oh, I have an idea.” Gigi bounced on her skates. “Tasha can skate the routine for you, and you follow behind her. That way you can get the timing because that’s where you’re having trouble.”
Belle’s timing was off, as Gigi said. But Tasha’s stomach churned. A good thing she hadn’t eaten dinner tonight. The idea of skating in front of these two made her want to throw up.
Pull yourself together.
Tasha cleared her throat. “Would following me be helpful?”
A stupid question because of course it would, but if Belle said no…
Belle nodded, tension seeping from her face. “Please?”
The hope in that one word shattered whatever excuses Tasha might come up with. Her skater needed Tasha to do this. It wasn’t as if she would embarrass herself if she fell or made a mistake.
Still, her insides twisted one way and then another.
She glanced around. The couple who’d been skating had left the ice. So had two other people. Only the two teens, the volunteers in the rental trailer, and…
Elias.
