Free Love on Ice (Cannon City Series Book 2) by Lauren Marie Page A

came naturally. The new coach didn’t want the girl to do triples and made her practice doubles until her toes bled. The girl did fairly well and after she turned sixteen placed well enough in the regional’s to skate at the Nationals.”
    Kate fell silent, again and moved away from Jay’s arms. She clutched the tissues in her hand and stared at the dark back yard. She could see everything that happened as though she watched it at a movie theater.
    “One night about six months before nationals, the girl met a guy at some party. He was about ten years older than she and paid very special attention to her. He’d watch her skate and then take her to dinner. They went for walks and to the movies. In the first couple of weeks, he took her to bed and she lost her virginity. For a little while, the girl thought she was the luckiest person on the planet. Her mother even approved of the guy and made sure the girl started birth control. It would be bad if the girl got pregnant and all the mother’s dreams collapsed. This guy was attractive and very wealthy, and one day her mom said if she played her cards right, she could be set for life. About a month before Nationals the guy asked the girl to marry him when she turned eighteen. It was all going according to plan. The girl felt happy. This was the out she needed to get away from her mother and that wretched coach.
    “The night before the short skate at the Nationals, the girl heard her mother talking to the guy. She said not to worry; he’d get paid after the Nationals when the endorsements came in. She said even if the girl didn’t win, she’d still place well enough to be able to make deals. She looked cute and had the jumps. Right now, all the guy needed to do was keep the girl happy. After Nationals, if he wanted to break off the engagement, then so be it.” Kate stopped the tears and swallowed. “The girl felt hurt and stunned by all that she’d heard. The next morning when she warmed up for the short skate she decided to go against the coach’s orders and skate the way she knew she could. In the program, she did the triple axel and a triple-triple toe loop. She landed them perfectly and placed fourth at the end of the day. Her artistry wasn’t the greatest, but she could do those jumps.
    “In the locker room, after the skate, the coach went nuts. He was furious with the girl and said she’d done nothing more than show off. The girl smarted off and told the coach, she didn’t know what he complained about. If she managed to get into the top three his career as a coach would be made. The coach swung at her and hit her in the stomach. He swung at her again and hit her in the chest. She tripped over her skates and landed on a bench. Three of her ribs were broken and one punctured her lung. While she was in the hospital, the tube in her chest that helped her breathe, got infected and created adhesions in the bottom of the lung. She had to have surgery to remove the dead tissue and adhesions and part of her lung was taken out. While she recovered, she found out that the excuse for her withdrawal from Nationals was a twisted ankle. Her mother came in one day and started talking about next year being a good goal. It was an Olympic year, so the girl needed to focus her energies on that, but she would have to start paying attention to what the coach told her to do and not show off anymore. The girl found out that her mother talked to some skating company about her going on tour. The fiancé disappeared and she never saw him again.”
    Kate looked at Jay and expected to see disappointment or pity on his face. She found he just watched her. The look on his face was sympathetic, but she didn’t want sympathy either. “That was eight years ago. When I could get up on my own and the staples were removed from my chest, I walked out of the hospital alone and hit the road. I dyed my hair dark brown and used to put on a lot of make-up. I did everything I could think of to change