Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Putting on makeup before the team’s annual skate with Harbor City’s junior hockey athletes at Center Park rink had taken some extra time. Staying up half the night staring at the ceiling had given Shelby enough bags under her eyes for a two-week vacation. But when the emergency call had come in this morning that three of the staff scheduled to work the event had called in sick, of course she said yes, she’d help out.

Now she was standing in front of the rink door with Lucy, who was giving Shelby the rundown on her bouncer duties. It was chaotic, overwhelming, and the perfect activity for a day when she couldn’t afford to let herself think about Ian and what could have been.

“Take this.” Lucy handed her a clipboard with the guest list on it. “And this.”

Shelby glanced down at the plastic squirt bottle Lucy held out. Okay, the guest list she got. This was a special event for the Ice Knights with a chance to meet and skate with all the grade-school-age skaters who played in the mini-mite games between periods to entertain the crowd. But a squirt bottle? That she had no idea about.

Shelby took the bottle. “What’s this for?”

“The park has a feral-cat problem, and for some reason they love the rink,” Lucy said, scanning the crowd of reporters and photographers outside the arena like a general taking stock of opposing forces. “The last thing we need is for one of them to get in here, get freaked out by all the kids, and then take a swipe at little Mikey or Jenny.”

“What’s in it?”

“Just water, but it does the trick.” She took a closer look at Shelby. “You doing okay?”

So much for her fine makeup skills. Who ever knew when to use the green cover-up or the peach cover-up or the dark brown?

“I’m amazing,” Shelby said, putting enough fake cheer in her tone to be a Christmas commercial. “Totally excited to be a part of this.”

“You are the worst liar I’ve ever met,” Lucy said with a disbelieving chuckle. “Okay, well, no one who’s not on the list can gain access—not even Wayne Gretzky. No press. No nothing. This one-on-one time with the kids is a sacred event for the Ice Knights.”

An hour later, the rush of kids and their parents had slowed and she finally had time to scan the area for attack kitties and pretend she wasn’t spending every other breath thinking about Ian. She’d made the right decision to cut things off completely, even if it made her feel like shit—at least that’s what she kept telling herself to squelch all the maybe-I-could or if-only-I-did thoughts swirling around her head and making her heart ache.