The Secret Between Them

“Thank you,” Natalie said to Zena.

Kyle was gripping the water bottle so hard it crumpled. After Zena left, he said, “Is Jessica part of the rink deal with me?”

“Yes, she is,” Natalie said. “You see, it was Joe’s intention that you both work together to bring the rink back up to speed.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“You might want to read Joe’s letter.”

That was the last thing he wanted. If he could go beyond the grave to see Joe now, he would punch him.

“Does she know about this?” Kyle asked.

“No, not yet.”

“I doubt she’ll go for it,” Kyle said matter-of-factly. The thought calmed him. Yeah, Jessica would definitely turn this down. He doubted she’d want to run the rink with him.

He met Natalie’s gaze. “Can I make Jessica an offer and buy her out?” he asked. “It’s better that I do this on my own.”

“Technically, you can’t. At least, not yet.”

Kyle didn’t like the sounds of this. It wasn’t the lawyer’s fault that this deal was so insane—that was Joe’s doing. Likely, Natalie had no idea that Joe blamed Kyle for killing Jessica’s Olympic chances. “Give it to me straight and simple, no legal jargon, please.”

“Before you can buy her out, both of you, together, need to put forth a good faith effort into restoring and running the twin rinks profitably for six months, at which point the facility will belong to you both equally. Then you can make your own agreement as to whether to buy or sell.”

“Six months?” With Jessica? Cripes, he thought. “What if I don’t ever want to sell and she does?”

“I’ll help you through those questions when the time comes.” Natalie leaned forward and tapped her papers. “But, Kyle, that’s not the part of the will that I’m concerned about right now.”

“It gets worse?”

“First things first. You both need to agree to work together. If either of you refuses the opportunity, then the property will be sold outright and the money given to charity.”

“What the hell kind of inheritance is that?” Kyle demanded.

“I’m sorry.” Natalie sighed. “I tried to talk Joe out of it, but he said he had very strong reasons for setting up the arrangement this way. I mitigated it as best I could. I warned him about the importance of discussing it with you in advance, but his response was to write the letter that I gave you. Jessica will receive one, as well.”

Natalie stood. “Kyle, please read his letter, plus the will on the table, and I’ll be back in a few minutes. I have a quick phone call to return, and then I’ll be back to discuss your concerns and desired course of action before I see Jessica. Please sit tight.”

Natalie left, closing the door behind her.

Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and finger. He should have known that Joe would pull something like this on him.

Under the table, Kyle moved his leg. He should also be thankful that Joe hadn’t known about his injury. If he had, Kyle doubted he would’ve wanted him managing the place at all. Joe had no patience for people who didn’t show full competence at their job.

Kyle put his head in his hands. Until these last few days, he’d never thought too much about his relationship—or lack thereof—with his stepfather, but in truth, Kyle probably had joined the military just because Joe had been so down on it. A Vietnam vet, Joe hadn’t had a good experience, or so Kyle assumed. He really didn’t know much, because Joe refused to talk about it. Joe just raged. Foul moods. Brooding. With Kyle, he’d been brutal.

With women—Kyle’s mom, with Jessica and Jessica’s mom—he’d been the perfect gentleman. It was all an act, though.

Kyle had never known his own father. He’d died in a snowmobile accident when Kyle had been a baby. His sled had fallen through lake ice up in Maine. Kyle’s grandmother, before she’d passed away, had told Kyle that the authorities hadn’t found the body until the spring thaw. Kyle’s mother had met Joe when Kyle was really little. His mom had doted on Kyle. Her life was wrapped around his. It had actually taken her a few years of grieving for her deceased husband and then careful, platonic dating before she’d trusted Joe enough to marry him.

Those first years had been great. But Joe’s darkness came out after Kyle’s mom died.

He felt a lump in his throat. He remembered his mom as gentle and fragile. When he’d lost his leg, he’d felt glad that she wasn’t around to see it. It would’ve devastated her. Still, he had no doubt she would’ve supported him no matter what he did with his life. He’d supported his mom, too, in all her decisions. He remembered the day she had asked him what he thought about her marrying Joe.

“He has an ice rink. Marry him, Mom.”

So she had. And for a while everything had been good. But after his mom got sick and passed away, everything about Joe turned bitter.

If it weren’t for the rink, who knew what would’ve happened to Kyle? He’d always felt the rink had saved him after his mom’s death. Now he wanted it to save him after losing his leg.

Natalie returned, shuffling her folders. Busy and official, she sat and looked brightly at him. “So, after reading the documents, tell me what you think?”

Kyle hadn’t touched Joe’s letter, still on the table. He hadn’t even glanced at the will.

Kyle leaned forward to face the lawyer. “I don’t care what you have to do, Natalie. Whatever you have to promise Jessica to make this deal happen, please just do it.”

“You don’t have any questions for me?”

“No. Get Jessica on board any way you have to.”

“All right.” Natalie nodded as she pushed back her chair. “Let me talk with her and I’ll get back to you in a few minutes.”

Kyle nodded. He had a good idea of Jessica’s thoughts regarding partnering with him. “You’ve got your work cut out for you.”

Natalie tilted her head. “Why do you say that?”

He couldn’t explain years of history to her, ending with the guilty fact that he had caused Jessica’s career-ending injury. He just shook his head. “Honestly, it would be a lot easier if you could help me put together a deal now to buy the rink behind the scenes. Somehow that has to be possible.”

Natalie shook her head. “No, it’s not viable, Kyle, because at this point, if the rink goes up for sale you’d be competing with land developers with deep pockets. The land alone is what makes the property quite valuable. And at this point, I’m bound to take the highest bidder. That isn’t the case in six months. In six months, if the business is profitable, then we can arrange for you to achieve financing and buy out Jessica’s share. But first you need to partner effectively with her.”

Partner effectively with her? Frustrated, he sighed. “Maybe you should just let me talk to the bank?”

Natalie reached over and put a hand on his arm. “As a member of this community, and one with a child who I hope will someday use the skating rinks, I’m heartened that you want to keep the facility open. However, without a track record of running a business, I don’t see the bank giving you such a large loan, under any circumstance.” She smiled. “Let me talk with Jessica. I’d like to hear what she has to say before we make any plans.”

Kyle shut his eyes. He was doomed.

JESSICA UNZIPPED HER coat and unwound her woolen scarf from her neck. The law office felt stifling. Sebastien seemed comfortable, though, strolling around, hands in his pockets, checking out the framed old postcards on the walls. They’d been in the conference room for twenty minutes now.

“Do you still think this will is about you getting a nothing piece of jewelry?” Sebastien asked. “This seems like too much of a production, asking you to show up here, then waiting like this. Maybe you’re inheriting something that’s worth some money?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Jessica sighed. She was starting to feel guilty about not attending Joe’s funeral. Once he’d been the closest thing to a father figure that she’d had. Then, after she’d left skating, she hadn’t even wanted to see him. He reminded her of those other, more painful times. And she hadn’t wanted to be his physical therapist at first, either. “I don’t know why he even chose me.”

“Joe never said anything to you? Never a hint?”

“No. He just made that offhand comment about his ring that one time.”

“Well, did he have a lot of money? Because this law firm doesn’t look cheap.”