Page 17 of Daddies on Ice

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask.

She laughs and points at it. “It’s purple!” she gasps. “Everyone knows reindeer aren’t purple!”

“Oh?” I say, raising an eyebrow. Then I point to her snowman. “But snowmen can be blue?”

She looks up at me in all seriousness. “Yes because when you’re cold your lips turn blue, so snowmen can be blue.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that logic,” I laugh. “But let me tell you a secret.” I whisper as if I want to make sure no one can hear us when it’s just the two of us sitting at the table.

Her eyes widen excitedly and she leans closer to me. “My reindeer is really brown. He’s just wearing a jacket because he’s cold.”

Becky giggles. “A jacket that covers all of him?”

“You got me there, kiddo,” I grin.

We spend a few more minutes putting the finishing touches on the cookies.

We end up with three Santas, five reindeer, six snowmen, and ten snowflakes.

“Pick out the ones you’d like to keep here, then the rest will go to kindergarten with you tomorrow.”

Becky nods and sucks in her bottom lip as she looks over the cookies laid out on cooling racks. “How many do I get to keep?” she asks after a minute.

I pretend to consider. “We need to take twenty to your friends, so how many does that leave?”

Becky starts counting, being careful not to stick her finger in the icing as she points at each cookie. “I get to keep four!” she says excitedly.

“Yes!” I clap my hands. “Now, pick out the four you want for yourself.”

She reaches for a Santa Claus then pauses and looks up at me with a frown. “Don’t you want any for you?”

“Why don’t you pick one out for me,” I suggest.

“Then that will leave three for me?”

I nod.

“Wouldn’t it be more fair for you to have two and I have two?”

My heart melts. My little girl is so smart and sweet, always thinking of others even though she’s only five years old.

“You did most of the work, sweetheart,” I tell her with a fond smile. “But thank you for thinking of me.”

To my surprise, Becky picks out the purple reindeer, but when I expect her to say it’s for me, she puts it on her pile of cookies.

Instead, she gives me the blue snowman.

A little while later, Becky is fast asleep in her bed and I lay sleepless in my own.

My thoughts keep flipping between excitement to begin a new job and concern over my out-of-control lust around Coach, Jake, and Ash.

But I must have fallen asleep at some point because it seems like I’d only just closed my eyes when my phone rings and sunlight streaks across my bed.

Coach Carl’s name pops up and I quickly answer.

“Trisha, come to the clubhouse right away. We have another scandal to get ahead of.”

7