If the Isla from this morning is anything like her usual demeanor, Spencer is in for a rude awakening. She’s hardened in the years since we met.
“She wants to win, and said she’ll do whatever is necessary.”
I wonder if she had any idea when she made that statement that it would include socializing with her partner’s family, one of whom she’s already argued with in public.
“So, can you make time?” he prods.
I sharply shake my head. “Not today.”
His shoulders deflate, which makes me hate myself for torpedoing his grand plan. He quickly recovers, always able to shake off disappointment. “Okay, but she does need to talk to you about the job, so I’ll bring her by your office in a couple hours.”
The job. Right. I agreed to allow Spencer’s new skating partner to give her private skating lessons in my rink. Spence flashed me that stupid little-boy smile of his, and I caved like I have since we were kids.
“Uh-huh,” I mumble. I study Isla through the glass doors of the building, something I couldn’t do at the coffee shop. Her hands move through her hair, tying off one braid and letting it fall against her back. I bite my lip and swallow my sigh. The image of her unbelievable body is burned into my mind.
This is important to Spencer. Get it together.
“Are you sure it’s fine that she works here? Because if you’re not comfortable with it, I don’t wanna force her on you and make it awkward.”
I walk out of view from the door, not wanting to alert Isla to my presence. Spencer follows until he stands beside me, looking out on the parking lot. It’d be easier if I could tell him that Isla can’t work for me.
But I don’t want to disappoint my brother. When he realized he wasn’t ready to retire, he agonized over picking a new skating partner. Choosing Isla lifted a weight from him, and my happy-go-lucky brother returned to shining annoying sunlight everywhere he goes.
So I’m going to support him, even if it means letting Isla work for me and eating some meals with her. I need to break the ice with her and move past our incident this morning, so we can co-exist peacefully for Spence’s sake.
“Bring her by later and we’ll talk.” I push off the building and stride toward the front door again. “And I’m good for lunch or dinner any time this week except Wednesday, because I’ve got a hockey game. Or Saturday, obviously.”
Spencer nods. I’ll drive out to our childhood home where our father still lives to start packing his belongings ahead of the upcoming move. His dementia has advanced to the point where living alone with only a few hours of a home health aide puts him at risk. Every weekend since I moved back, I’ve driven the hour each way to spend time with him. These last few years have been gut-wrenchingas I’ve watched him deteriorate, especially those moments—which eventually turned to days—of him forgetting who I am.
“Are you ready for Saturday?”
Thenocomes automatically in my mind, but I have no choice but to show up for my dad, and for Spencer. It’s been the three of us, plus Ella, since I was a teenager, when our mother left us a note saying she needed some time alone. We never saw her after that. I never expected to, but Spencer held tight to the hope of that note for years. I didn’t hate her for taking off. Her instability made our lives more difficult. But I’ll never forgive her for Spencer’s disappointment every night when she didn’t return.
“I’m all set.” I dodge his question. No one prepares you for the moment when you become the caretaker of your parent. I pull open the door, motioning over my shoulder in the general direction of my office. “I’ve got a lot of work, so.”
Spencer’s response doesn’t register with me as I hustle toward the left hallway opposite Isla, hoping that I’m fast enough to avoid her seeing me.
SPORTS NEWS
The golden boy of figure skating, Spencer Davidson, teaming up with ice queen Isla Covington?
PALMER CITY, NC (AP)—Spencer Davidson and Mira Vargas dazzled the figure skating world for a decade. The pair, dubbed the Sunshine Duo, had become a mainstay in U.S. figure skating and brought legions of new fans into the sport.
The two-time U.S. national champions were competing last summer when the unthinkable happened. Davidson tossed Vargas into a beautiful triple axel and her knee buckled on the landing. The arena took a collective gasp, watching Vargas lying on the ice, gripping the same knee that had made her miss an entire year earlier in her career.
The devastating confirmation that Vargas had torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for the second time came hours later. She kept her fans updated about her recovery on social media, but shocked them with her retirement announcement at the end of last year.
Fans of figure skating were left heartbroken that the revered pair would never skate together again. In the months that followed, Davidson went dark online, giving no hints about his plans.
But the silence ended last week with an announcement about his return to the ice. He did not share whether he had found a new partner, but the registration for the upcoming John Nicks Pairs Challenge, a challenger event held annually in New York City, suggests that Davidson is teaming up with Isla Covington.
The news lit the figure skating world on fire—and not in a good way.
Covington is no stranger to the spotlight, achieving success on the national stage with her former partner, Sebastian Stavros. The U.S. national bronze medalists ended their partnership during their most successful year skating together. After an uncharacteristically bad performance at Skate America last year, Covington and Stavros were caught on video in what looked to be a heated argument.
Hours later, Stavros released a statement dissolving his partnership with Covington and announcing that he would compete with Gloria Pellerino, a former singles skater, moving forward. Covington has not stated anything publicly since that event, but has reportedly been teaching skating lessons at Bells Fall Skating in Connecticut as she finalizes her divorce from her husband, Chip Rutherford.
There has been no reported connection between Covington’s divorce and her split from Stavros, but that hasn’t stopped fans from drawing conclusions.
