Page 62 of Just A Little Joy

“That’s not the same thing as being safe.”

Her mom nodded at me like I’d just taken ten pounds off her shoulders.

But Maddie wasn’t done. “Casey should still agree to be his boyfriend.”

“You’re not wrong,” I said. “I think he should too.”

Casey’s ears went pinker than the sky. “I didn’t say no. You just haven’t asked me. Properly.”

His blush did something fierce to me every damn time.

Maddie crossed her arms. Bells jingled in rhythm with her indignation. “Well, if you want something, you have to use your words. Right, Mom?”

Her mom sighed like this was not her first rodeo. “Using your words is usually sensible.”

Casey rubbed his neck, bashful but not retreating. “I’ll think about it, Maddie.”

Satisfied, she gave me a double thumbs-up I absolutely did not deserve. Why she wasn’t playing piqued my curiosity. Sure, I was biased, but anyone willing to risk life and limb and her mom’s wrath to race across the street should be on the ice.

“You on a new team now?” I asked the question that had been at the back of my mind.

A cold gust rolled down the street, bringing the smell of cinnamon and something smoky—maybe roasting nuts—and it made Maddie blink up at me again. “Nah, I can’t play right now.”

Her mom’s face tightened with guilt. My parents used to get the same look when I said my skates were too tight or that there was another clinic I could go to for practicing.

“We moved,” she said quietly. “Back here. Closer to family. It was the right decision, but…she lost her team.”

I remembered what it felt like to lose the only place that made sense, and I couldn’t stand the idea of her feeling that alone.

It hit me the way some hits do—when you don’t see them coming until they knock the wind out of you. It had been decades since I was Maddie’s age and my team was my entire life. The rink was the only place that I existed.

“You guys live up here?”

“No, we just came up for the day to visit my sister…”

“My new room is so cool. If I stand on my bed, I can see Almstead Island.”

“That is cool,” I agreed. An idea had taken root in my brain and I couldn’t shake it. “What about Berghelm Rink? That’s not too far from the area of town.”

Maddie perked up like someone had flipped a switch. “We go to open skate sometimes! When Mom isn’t busy and on discount nights.”

“They’re starting up the kids’ league again after the holidays,” I said. “Trying to get more girls on the ice.”

Her mom’s eyes softened, then flickered with worry again. “League fees…” she murmured. “It just adds up fast.”

“Oh,” I said casually—too casually—“they’ve got scholarship spots. For players with experience. I heard they’re trying to build the girls’ side back up.”

They didn’t. Not yet. But hell if that was stopping me. I would have paid every fee myself if that was what it took. Some kids deserved a chance without knowing who made it happen.

Her mom blinked, hope pushing through the worry like a tiny green shoot through snow. “They…do?”

“Yeah,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like a lunatic. “Forms should go up soon. Sometimes you have to, you know…know the right page to check.”

“I’ll look the second we get home,” she said. Her voice cracked a little on the words.

“I can send a link when it goes up,” I offered. “If that’s easier.”

She gave a small nod and typed her number into my phone before she could think too hard about it. Please don’t ask why I know. Just go with it.