Previously…
– Spencer separately told both Tim and Sonja that he can see the sparks between them and has no objection to them pursuing a relationship.
– Sonja grew nervous that Spencer had neglected to use the white noise app while she was gone — since it contains subliminal messages that her boss is using to keep his memory from returning.
– Bree qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in the Novice Ladies division.

 

“Will the following skaters please take the ice for their warm-up…”

A thunderous cloud of applause and cheers bursts across the arena in San Jose as the five young women skate out onto the ice. Clad in a lively yellow dress with rhinestone detailing, Bree Halston tries not to look out at the crowd as she pushes her blades against the ice, getting her feet under her with a few long, powerful strokes. As her name is called, third in the list, she fixes her chin in the air, lifts her arms, and launches into her competition warm-up routine.

The clapping and hooting dies down, and Bree quickly runs through a few single jumps. As she lands one, she spots the large logo printed at center ice in red and blue: 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She can’t believe that she is skating at Nationals. Without even intending to, she glances up; with this being the Novice event, there are not nearly as many people in attendance as there will be for the big Senior events that will be televised — but it still seems like an enormous venue with a lot of people watching. She is in fifth place out of 12 skaters after the short program, so a medal is theoretically within reach. It hardly seems real.

Attempting to shake off these thoughts, she turns backward and skates toward her next jump.

In the stands, Natalie Bishop turns to her mother, who is seated beside her with her purse in her lap.

“Doesn’t she look so grown-up?” Natalie asks.

“She’s beautiful,” Claudia comments. “Much more so than any of these other girls, frankly.”

“Claudia,” her husband, Henry, warns her through gritted teeth.

Claudia shrugs. “Well, it’s true.”

Down on the ice, the five skaters fly over the slick white surface, weaving and winding across each other’s paths while seemingly unaware that anyone else is out there. Bree bounces on one foot as she struggles to hang onto the landing of her double Salchow, a jump that she could normally do in her sleep. She manages to stay on one foot and then tries to shake off the nerves that are fluttering in her stomach and tingling in her hands and feet.

At the end of the ice, Jason Fisher stands at the waist-level boards with the other coaches. He knots his gloved fingers together, recognizing that look on Bree’s face and the energy emanating from her all too well — so well that he can almost feel it himself. It has been years and years since he skated seriously, but the overwhelming sensation of competition nerves is as familiar to him as a cool breeze.

Pushing his own anxiety aside, he gives Bree a reassuring nod across the ice. She skates down the ice, sets up for a double toe loop, and launches into the air. When she comes down, the blade of her landing foot catches the ice — but only for a split-second, because she stumbles sideways and has to set down her other foot to keep from falling.

Conrad Halston, who is seated in the same row as his ex-wife and her parents, leans across Sophie Fisher to whisper to Natalie:

“She seems shaky, doesn’t she?”

Natalie’s neck and jaw are tense as she nods. “I don’t like it.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Sophie pipes up, much louder than either of Bree’s parents.

“Nothing is wrong with her,” Claudia says haughtily. “She’s under a lot of pressure, that’s all. She’ll be fine.”

“I hope so,” Natalie says before letting out a heavy sigh.

Bree gets through her double loop intact, but she hesitates in setting up for the double flip. When she finishes the two rotations, she comes right down to the ice on her backside. She is wiping the ice off her dress and tights when Jason motions for her to come over to the boards.

“What’s going on?” he asks softly as he steps to the side, away from the throng of coaches. Bree glides over the ice to go with him.

“I don’t know. I feel weird. My legs are weird.”

“You are fine,” he says. “You are the same Bree who has done this program every day for months and months. The same Bree who put down a beautiful, effortless free skate at Sectionals.”

Her eyes dart out over the ice, at the other skaters — her competitors — moving efficiently through their own warm-ups.

“There are so many people,” she says. “I knew there would be, but…”

“None of them matter.”

“Mom and Dad do. And my grandparents. They haven’t seen me compete in forever. And Sophie’s here.”

“I can text your mom right now and ask them to go outside for the rest of your event, if that’ll help,” Jason says. “Don’t think I didn’t send my parents out of the rink a few times.”

She cracks a smile, but it is tentative, as if her muscles are working overtime to achieve this simple movement.

“No, it isn’t that,” she finally says. “And they’re going to know what happens the minute I’m done, anyway. It’s just…” She takes a deep breath. “It’s Nationals.”

“Bree.” He forces her to lock eyes with him. “You earned the opportunity to be here — not because of one great skate at Sectionals, but because of all the hard work you’ve put in over the last few months, and all the years you’ve been training. You are more than one skate. These three minutes won’t define your life or who you are.”

She tries to nod, knowing that he is right in an intellectual sense even though she can’t feel it emotionally.

“I want you to go out and do a big, beautiful single Axel for me,” he says. “Just a single Axel. That is the only thing you’re going to do. You know those early mornings where you get out on the ice, and it’s clean and smooth, and I let you put Taylor Swift on the P.A. system? I want an Axel like that. That’s it.”

“Okay.” She balls her fists, then releases them. Her nod becomes more insistent. “Okay.”

“One big, easy Axel,” Jason says. “That’s it.”

Bree skates off. He sees her uncertainty as she turns backward and approaches the jump. His own muscles tighten as she sets up for it. But when she launches into the air, he knows that it’s going to be okay. She rotates easily and smoothly, and she comes down solidly on one foot, gliding out of the jump.

“Do another one!” he calls out.

“Skaters, you have one minute remaining in your warm-up,” the announcer calls.

Bree looks to Jason with terror.

“One more Axel,” he says.

He watches her waffle before she gives in and repeats the routine. Skating backward, she moves into the jump — with legs that appear much looser and freer than they did 60 seconds ago — and steps confidently onto her blade to leap upward. This Axel is even bigger than the first one, hanging in the air for a moment that makes Jason appreciate the beauty and grace of this sport all over again.

He claps enthusiastically as she lands. “That was fantastic! Now show me a layback spin,” he shouts.

The doubt in her expression is apparent — she knows that she has under a minute left, and she hasn’t even touched a triple jump — but he simply waves her along. Whatever doubts he has about this approach to warming up stay firmly locked within his head as he watches her enter the spin.

Please let this work, he thinks as Bree strikes an elegant pose in her spin. Please.

—–

Tim Fisher flips another page onto the pile to his right. With a red pen in hand, he continues to pore over the manuscript sitting on the kitchen table.

He looks up when he hears footsteps.

“Don’t mind me,” Sonja Kahele says as she tiptoes into the room in black leggings and a sweatshirt. “I don’t want to interrupt you.”

“Not interrupting at all. I’m almost ready for a dinner break, actually. I thought you were going to a movie.”

“I decided not to. I hope that’s okay…”

“Of course it is. I just thought you’d want to enjoy a night off, since Spencer is out with Tori and her boyfriend.”

Sonja takes a glass from the cupboard and pours herself some water from the pitcher in the refrigerator. “There wasn’t anything playing that I felt like seeing tonight.”

“Oh, you should do something.”

“I’m just glad that Spencer is finally able to go out and about on his own,” she says. “I’ll just relax in my room and watch something on Netflix instead.”

“You’re more than welcome to use the living room,” Tim says.

“I really don’t want to bother you. I know you’re trying to work.”

“I’m almost done for the night, anyway. I can only read so much before the print all starts to run together.” He chews on his lower lip for a few seconds before continuing. “I was going to order takeout for dinner. Thai or Chinese. Would you be interested?”

“Either one sounds great,” Sonja says. “If you don’t mind the company…”

“I’d love it. I’ve spent my Saturday reading and making edits and reading more. Takeout and a movie sounds great.”

She takes a sip of her water, then places it on the counter and takes out her phone. “I’ll pull up some menus. We can order and you can keep working until the food gets here.”

Tim grins. “You definitely know how to motivate me.”

“But,” she says, glancing up from her screen, “you have to pick the movie.”

“I hate being responsible for that!”

“That’s just too bad.” Her eyes twinkle. “Start thinking. The countdown begins now.”

“Ugh,” he groans, although the grin has not left his face.

—–

Natalie’s heart is in her throat as Bree takes center ice for her program. She even forgets all about her fresh manicure as she rattles her fingertips against her seat.

“She looks more relaxed,” Conrad comments.

“I hope she is,” Natalie says. She hates to question Jason’s judgment, but having Bree spend the final minute of her warm-up solely on single Axels and basic spins seemed like an insane choice. She didn’t so much as attempt a double Axel or a triple jump during the entire warm-up.

The bright, jazzy selection from La La Land kicks up. Natalie watches her daughter intently, too nervous to breathe as Bree moves breezily through her choreography and begins the approach to her first jump.

Down by the side of the ice, Jason presses his palms together in a pose not unlike one used for prayer.

As she glides over the ice, Bree stretches her leg behind herself. She takes a millisecond to remind herself of the way those single Axel takeoffs felt during the warm-up, just like Jason told her to do, and then steps forward and leaps into the jump. She pulls her arms tight and crosses her feet. The rotations come the way they always do: one, two, two-and-a-half.

Natalie expels a colossal sigh of relief as she watches her daughter glide cleanly out of the double Axel.

“That was excellent,” Claudia says.

Henry nods emphatically beside her. “It was. Great start.”

Bree does all she can to block out everything but the music in her ears and the feeling of her own body. She keeps her head up, her eyes alert, and her smile cheerful, but she doesn’t focus on a single face in the crowd, nor even on the presence of bodies there. She skates up to her triple toe loop, forcefully pushing away all the thoughts about times the takeoff has felt wrong or she’s missed the landing, and she nails it. Applause flies up, but to her, it sounds distant, otherworldly.

At the boards, Jason’s breaths are shallow and tentative. He watches her complete the double Lutz/double toe loop combination before the music transitions into a more mournful peace. Bree’s entire demeanor transforms with it. He tries to take the very advice that he gave Bree and not get ahead of himself, but with each element that unfolds successfully, it becomes more and more difficult not to think to the end of the program. By the time she hangs onto a double loop, the final jump of the program, he is ready to leap over the boards himself. He knows that he sounds like a maniac as he roars with excitement, but the rest of the spectators are on their feet, too.

“That was remarkable,” Henry says as he and the others clap for Bree.

“What did Jason do to her between the warm-up and that skate?” Claudia questions. “It was like a different girl.”

“It’s ‘cause he’s such a good coach,” Sophie declares. “He learned from Sandy. That’s my mom and dad’s old coach. But she got her throat slashed by Philip–”

“Sophie, that’s enough!” Natalie snaps as they all continue clapping. “Not the time.”

“That really was an incredible turnaround,” Conrad says over the sound of applause.

“It was.” Natalie’s head bobs as she watches her daughter, glowing as she takes her bows on the ice. She turns to watch Jason, radiating with pride, at the end of the ice. The way he looks at Bree is more than the way a coach sees his student — it is the way a father sees his daughter.

As God is my witness, nothing is going to take this away from me, she vows silently. Nothing.

—–

“I think we might’ve over-ordered,” Tim says as he slumps back in his chair. The documents on the kitchen table have been replaced by takeout containers, plates, and crumpled napkins.

“Impossible,” Sonja says. “There’s no such thing as too much Chinese food. It makes the perfect leftovers. That’s what my mother always said, anyway.”

Tim sits up straighter, sensing the shift in her mood. “How is your mother? It must’ve been nice to spend time with her over Christmas.”

“It was.” Sonja focuses on the stray bits of rice and sauce on her plate. “But it’s so upsetting to see her, too. There are days where she seems just like herself — exactly like the mom I’ve always known — and then others…” She sighs. “She just plain didn’t recognize me the second day I was there. I had to introduce myself, and I don’t think she could even process who I was.”

“That’s really scary.”

“It was. It’s so strange to have her be there, and yet not. And you never know who you’re getting, day to day. But mostly I worry about how frightened she must be. The world must seem so unfamiliar.”

“Yeah.” He sets his chin as he thinks. “She’s lucky to have you. Remember that. You’re working hard to keep her as safe and comfortable as possible.”

Sonja’s stomach twists with guilt. If only he knew how hard.

“I should brush my teeth before the movie,” she says, standing suddenly.

“Go ahead. I’ll get the plates.”

“I can take care of them.”

“No. Come on. Just go brush your teeth and try to relax.”

He takes her by the shoulders and guides her out of the kitchen, which elicits a laugh from the dark-haired nurse.

“So, what movie did you decide on?” she asks as they pass through the family room.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Is that so?” She steps up onto the first stair and turns back. “Let me try and guess.”

Tim seals his lips in a tight line. “You’ll never get it.”

She narrows her eyes. “What makes you so sure?”

“Because I’m clever. And I’m not cracking.”

“Okay, okay.” She chuckles. “I’ll be back down in a minute.”

They hold eye contact as she lifts her foot to the next step, and instead of planting firmly atop it, her sock slides over the edge of the tread. She loses her balance, and Tim reflexively reaches out to steady her.

Sonja lands against his chest, his arms encircling her and their faces mere inches apart.

Tim parts his lips to speak, but he has no idea what to say — and he can hardly think of anything besides how close their mouths are.

—–

Once the Novice Ladies event concludes, Bree’s family migrates out to the lobby, where they will await the posting of results. With all the chatter and nervous energy buzzing around them, Natalie stares out distractedly into the dark San Jose evening. She understands the judging system well enough to know how many points most of the elements are worth, and she keeps tallying up Bree’s presumptive total in her mind. Still, there is no accounting for the judges’ reception of presentation, style, or the execution of those elements — even if they would be insane to mark Bree down anywhere.

Her parents are chatting by the wall, and Conrad is grinning as he types something on his phone. Sophie sidles up to him.

“Who are you texting?” she asks.

He looks up with surprise. “Just a friend.”

“Yeah, right.” She folds her arms. “I know that look on your face. You must have a girlfriend!”

“What makes you think that?”

“That’s how my cousin Tori looks when she texts her boyfriend,” Sophie declares.

Conrad smiles as his phone buzzes in his hand. Molly’s name pops up on the screen. It is true that he has been near-giddy since they admitted their feelings and slept together the other night. They have been in constant touch since he left King’s Bay for the competition, and he cannot wait to see her when he returns home.

“It might be a little more than a friend,” he admits, “and that’s all I’m telling you for now.”

“No fair!” Sophie says.

Luckily for Conrad, Jason chooses that moment to enter the lobby. Natalie rushes over to him.

“Where’s Bree?”

“She’s catching up with that ice dance team from Seattle,” Jason says. “I figure that anything that’ll keep her mind off the results is a plus for now.”

“Now that she’s done skating, yeah.” Natalie tilts her head with wonder. “How in the hell did you know that stripping down her warm-up that way would do the trick?”

He shrugs one shoulder. “I didn’t.”

“What?! You just took a gamble?”

“It’s something I remember Sandy telling Courtney and me,” he explains. “When you’re thinking about anything beyond the skating you have to do in that very moment, do whatever you can to take everything else away.”

“She didn’t even try a double Axel or triple toe once on the warm-up.”

“I know. It was risky. But she was a mess from nerves. And it worked!”

“Yeah. It did.” Her red lips curl up in a smile. “Thank you.”

“I’m not the one who went out there and skated the way she did.”

“How long do you think it’ll be until we have results?” Claudia asks as she bustles over. Henry, Conrad, and Sophie follow her lead.

“Ten or fifteen minutes.” Jason checks the time on his phone. “Bree should be up soon.”

A nagging thought continues to hammer away lightly at Natalie’s brain. She wishes that she could will it down, but she can’t.

“I’m going to step outside for a minute,” she says. “I have to make a quick call. I’ll be right back.”

Leaving them to talk, she hurries out the front door of the arena and out into the parking lot.

—–

Tim stares into Sonja’s eyes.

His first instinct is to pull back, but there is an intensity between them that keeps him there. He is nearly certain that it isn’t one-sided, that he hasn’t simply imagined it.

“Is this… okay?” he asks. “If not–”

“No. It is. I promise.”

He has only heard her sound this assured, almost commanding, while working with Spencer.

Still, he hesitates. She is employed in his household. She’s caring for his son.

“You know, Spencer gave me the go-ahead,” she says. “He could tell there was this…” She waves her hand in the space between them. “…whatever this is. He told me that he doesn’t mind.”

Tim laughs, relaxing ever so slightly. “He told me the same thing.”

“He did?”

“Yes. But I don’t want you to feel pressured or uncomfortable.”

“I don’t.” She drapes her arms over his shoulders. “And I’m only contracted for a few more weeks.”

“Good point.”

He tells himself to stop thinking and instead leans forward. He presses his lips to hers. They are warm and soft, and they taste faintly of berries. It has been a long time since he has kissed a woman. Even the sensation of lips against his own sends a flood of feelings through his body–

At the sound of the key in the lock, they both jump backward. They stand there, Sonja on the stairs, Tim on the wood floor, as Spencer enters the house on his crutches.

“Back so soon?” Tim asks, aware that he sounds anything but natural. “How was dinner?”

“It was good. Honestly, I’m kind of tired,” Spencer admits.

“It’ll be good for you to rest,” Sonja says. “But it’s great that you were able to go out.”

“Yeah. It was fun.” Spencer’s gaze shifts between the two of them. “Everything okay here?”

“Everything’s great. Yeah,” Tim says. “We were, uh, just talking about watching a movie. Want to join?”

The younger man thinks about it for a few seconds. “Sure. Why not? It’s too early to go to bed.”

“I was just going to go brush my teeth,” Sonja says. “We had Chinese. Everyone meet in the family room in 15?”

“Sounds good to me,” Tim agrees.

“Cool.” Spencer makes his way down the hallway on his crutches. Tim and Sonja linger awkwardly until he disappears into his room.

“Sorry about that,” Tim says. “Not exactly what I was imagining.”

“Me neither.” She places her hand against his chest, a touch that sends another spark through him.

“How about this?” He glances at the hallway to be sure they are alone. “I’ll take you out for a real date very soon. Not Chinese in our sweats–”

“But I do love Chinese in our sweats.”

“So do I. But let’s mix it up.”

“I really like the sound of that, Tim.”

“Good.” He smiles and kisses her on the cheek. “Now go get ready for this movie.”

“The suspense is killing me!” she says before retreating up the stairs.

Tim watches her go, his insides fluttering with excitement.

—–

Natalie stuffs her phone back into her purse and she rushes back inside the arena. She can tell from everyone’s body language what is going on even before she spots Bree and Jason over by the wall with the other skaters and coaches.

“Results?” she asks as she joins her parents, Conrad, and Sophie.

“They just went up,” Conrad says tensely.

They all wait silently until Bree whips around. She looks to Jason. It seems to happen in slow-motion: she lifts three fingers into the air.

“You got third?!” Natalie calls out. She sets down her purse and races over to join them.

“She got third!” Jason confirms as he scoops Bree into a hug.

As congratulations fly through the air, Natalie does her best to enjoy the moment. She knows that she should. Everything is fine. Everything is in place. And as soon as her call is returned, she’ll have reassurance of that.

—–

After brushing her teeth, Sonja returns to the kitchen to fetch her cell phone. Tim is in the midst of loading the dishwasher. She thanks him as she picks up the phone, and her breath catches when she sees the missed call on her screen.

“I’ll be right back,” she says before excusing herself to the garage. She is already dialing as she closes the door behind herself.

It rings three times before she hears the barely perceptible click of someone answering.

“Hello?” the unfamiliar voice asks.

“Hello?” Sonja folds her arms against the chill in the garage. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Sophie. Who the heck is this?”

Sonja’s heart begins to thud faster.

“I must have the wrong number,” she mutters before quickly hanging up. But when she double-checks, she sees that she did call the right number back.

“Sophie?” she asks herself, confused.

—–

Natalie is still chatting excitedly with Bree, Jason, and one of the other competitors when she looks over.

“Hey! What are you doing in my purse?” she asks Sophie.

Sophie shrugs. “Your phone was ringing.”

A stab of panic strikes Natalie. “And it’s none of your business if it is! Leave it.”

“Fine. Whatever.” Sophie throws up her hands and walks away from the purse.

Natalie quickly grabs her purse and sees the second phone sitting on top of its contents. Alarms go wild in her head as she checks the incoming call and sees that it was from the only person who has this number.

END OF EPISODE 908

What is going on with Natalie and the phone?
Is Tim going to get his heart broken again?
What did you think of Bree and Jason’s success?
Discuss it all in the comments below!

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