Блейк Пирс: Once Cold

“I’m sorry about Justin,” Riley said.

“Thank you. It means a lot to me.”

Riley and Paula agreed to talk again next year, then ended the call.

Riley sat quietly alone in her office.

Talking with Paula was always emotionally difficult, but most of the time it made Riley feel better.

Today Riley only felt worse.

Why was that?

Too much is going wrong, Riley realized.

Today, all the troubles in her life seemed to be linked together.

And somehow, she couldn’t help blaming herself for all the loss, for all the pain.

At least she didn’t feel like crying anymore. Crying certainly didn’t help. Besides, Riley had some routine paperwork to do today. She settled down at her desk and tried to work.

Later that afternoon, Riley drove straight from Quantico to Brody Middle School. Jilly was already waiting on the sidewalk when Riley pulled up to the curb.

Jilly jumped into the passenger seat.

“I’ve been waiting here for fifteen minutes!” she said. “Hurry! We’ll be late for the game!”

Riley chuckled a little.

“We’re not going to be late,” she said. “We’re going to be just in time.”

Riley drove on toward April’s high school.

As she drove, Riley began to worry again.

Had Ryan come to the house during the day to pick up his things?

And when and how was she going to break the news to the girls that he was gone?

“What’s the matter?” Jilly asked.

Riley hadn’t realized that her face had betrayed her feelings.

“Nothing,” she said.

“It’s not nothing,” Jilly said. “I can tell.”

Riley held back a sigh. Like April and Riley herself, Jilly was nothing if not observant.

Should I tell her now? Riley wondered.

No, this wasn’t the time. They were on their way to watch April play in a soccer game. She didn’t want to ruin the afternoon with bad news.

“It’s really nothing,” she said.

Riley parked at April’s school minutes before the game was to start. She and Jilly headed toward the viewer stands, which were already pretty crowded. Riley realized that maybe Jilly was right – maybe they should have arrived sooner.

“Where can we sit?” Riley asked.

“Up there!” Jilly said, pointing to the top level, where some space was still available. “I’ll be able to stand up against the back railing and see everything.”

They climbed up the bleachers and took their seats. In a matter of minutes, the game started. April was playing midfield, obviously having a great time. Riley noticed right away that she was an aggressive player.

As they watched, Jilly commented, “April says she wants to really develop her game skills during the next couple of years. Is it true that soccer might get her a college scholarship?”

“If she really works at it,” Riley said.

“Wow. That’s cool. Maybe I can do that too.”

Riley smiled. It was wonderful that Jilly was taking such a positive view of the future. In the life she’d left behind, Jilly had had little to hope for. Her prospects had been grim. She almost certainly wouldn’t have finished high school, let alone think about college. A whole world of possibilities was opening up for her.

I guess I do some things right, Riley thought.

As Riley watched, April got inside her defender’s position and made a beautiful corner kick that slammed past the opposing goalkeeper. She’d scored the first goal of the game.

Riley leaped to her feet, cheering and clapping.

As she cheered, Riley recognized another girl on the team. It was April’s friend Crystal Hildreth. Riley hadn’t seen Crystal in quite some time. The sight of the girl stirred up some complicated emotions.

Crystal and her father, Blaine, used to live right next door to Riley and her family.

Blaine was a charming man. Riley had gotten romantically interested in him, and he in her.

But all that ended a few months ago when something terrible happened. Then Blaine and his daughter had moved away.

Riley really, really didn’t want to be reminded of those awful events.

She looked around the crowd. Since Crystal was playing, Blaine was surely here somewhere. But at the moment, she couldn’t see him.

She hoped she wouldn’t have to meet him.

Halftime arrived and Jilly ran off to talk to some friends she had spotted.

Riley noticed that she had a text message. It was from Shirley Redding, the real estate agent she had contacted about selling her father’s cabin.

It read …

Good news! Call me right away!

Riley made her way out of the stands and dialed the agent’s number.

“I’ve looked into the sale,” the woman said. “The property should bring in well over a hundred thousand dollars. Perhaps twice that.”

Riley felt a tingle of excitement. That kind of money would be a huge help for the girls’ college plans.

Shirley continued, “We need to talk over details. Is now a good time?”

It wasn’t, of course, so Riley made arrangements to talk to her tomorrow. Just as she ended the call, she saw someone making his way through the crowd toward her.

Riley recognized him right away. It was Blaine, her former neighbor.

She noticed that the good-looking, smiling man still had a scar on his right cheek.

Riley’s heart sank.

Did he blame Riley for that scar?

She couldn’t help blaming herself.

Blaine Hildreth felt a rush of conflicting emotions as he made his way through the crowd. He had spotted Riley Paige when she stood up to cheer. She looked as vital and striking as ever, and he found himself automatically going toward her at the halftime break. Now she was looking back at him as he approached, but he couldn’t tell much from her expression.

How did she feel about seeing him?

And how did he feel about seeing her?

Blaine couldn’t help flashing back to a traumatic day more than two months ago …

He was sitting in his own living room when he heard a terrible racket next door.

He rushed over to Riley’s townhouse and found the front door partially open.

He charged inside and saw what was going on.

A man was attacking April, Riley’s daughter. The man had thrown April on the floor, and she was squirming and twisting, beating him with her fists.

Blaine rushed toward them and pulled the attacker off April. He struggled with the man, trying to subdue him.

Blaine was taller than the attacker, but not stronger, and not nearly as agile.

He kept swinging his fists at the man, but most of his blows missed, and the ones that connected made no apparent impact.

Suddenly, the man landed a crashing punch to Blaine’s abdomen. The wind exploded out of Blaine’s lungs. He buckled over and couldn’t breathe.

Then the attacker delivered a swift kick to his face …

… and the world went black.

The next thing Blaine knew, he was in the hospital.

And now, as he was approaching Riley, Blaine was shaking a little from the memory.

He tried to steady himself.

When he reached Riley, he didn’t know what to do. Shaking hands seemed a bit ridiculous. Should he give her a hug?

He saw that Riley’s face was red with embarrassment. She didn’t seem to know what to do either.

“Hi, Blaine,” Riley said.

“Hi.”

They stood there staring at each other for a moment, then laughed a little at their own awkwardness.

“Both of our girls are playing well today,” Riley said.

“Yours especially,” Blaine said.

April’s goal early in the game had really impressed him.