Prologue:
“That camel spin was perfect!” my mother cheered. “You spin like that in the competition and it’s a shoo-in.”
I skated forward and then began my prep for a double Axel. I visualized the rotation in the air before I jumped.
“Amazing!” Mom was clapping.
I made a fake, silly bow and, in my mind, I imagined I had won the gold medal at the Nationals and newspaper photographers snapped photos.
And then he’d see the photo. He’d see in print that Evie Gold had just won the National Ice-Skating Championship, and then he’d come and hug me and tell me how much he missed me all these years and that he was going to stay in my life now.
I was smiling as I pictured that conversation – that dream I’d hoped for, ever since he left…
“Evie, that was perfect.”
I smiled as I skated toward the wall. My mother had recorded my triple Axel.
“Now you just have to perform that jump like that in the competition.”
Yeah, my stomach went jittery just thinking about the competition. I had my heart set on winning it. There was an important reason I needed to win…
I exited the rink and sat down to untie my skates. Then I followed my mother outside. I blinked in the bright sunlight as we headed to the parking lot.
“I didn’t know I could do that triple. I’m so happy.”
“It was beautiful, Evie!”
I slid into the front seat and Mom turned on the ignition. We headed down the familiar highway near the rink. Forsythia bloomed on the side of the road and the trees were green again. Spring was back in New Jersey.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about. I didn’t want to say anything until plans were finalized.”
I assumed she was talking about another competition. We turned down Moser Lane. I noticed a robin strutting in front of one of the houses.
“Last night I got an exciting phone call from Mr. Cohen.”
Ugh, I thought. He’s the man my mother started dating. He lived far away, somewhere out West – which was good – but she’d been talking with him on the phone for a month now. I just wished he would disappear. We didn’t need anyone else in our family. “Mom and me” was enough.
“Jake—”
Mom’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “I mean, Mr. Cohen – met with Uncle Arnold. Evie, they decided to open a giant rink in Salt Lake City.”
I was looking out the window. Okay, so they were opening a rink.
“Here’s the best part. They’re looking for a figure skating instructor.”
“Salt Lake City. That’s Utah,” I said. My stomach muscles tightened. What was coming next?
“So, Evie, what do you think? It’s a big opportunity for me, and the rink is big and gorgeous. Aunt Ruthie sent me a video of it. It would be an ideal spot for you to practice for the competition.”
“Are you telling me we’re moving to Utah?”
“Well, uh, that’s what I’m thinking. I mean, you’ll finish the school year, and then we’ll go in the middle of June. It’s the off-season for skating then, so it’s perfect timing.”
“What about Allie?”
“I know you would have to leave your friends.”
I really didn’t have a lot of friends. Allie was my best friend. She skated, too, but not in competitions. The other girls at my school were friendly, but I was so busy with skating and trying to also earn good grades, I didn’t really have time for socializing. I had to be honest with myself. Even if I wasn’t busy with skating, I wouldn’t have so many friends. I’m not the outgoing type. I don’t like socializing. The truth is, I’m an introvert. I learned that term from Allie. She said introverts don’t need people around so much; they keep themselves busy. Allie explained that she is an extrovert, but it doesn’t make a difference. Introverts and extroverts can still be best friends. I laughed and said I was relieved to hear that.
I think I’m even more than just an introvert. I don’t like attention lavished on me – which is ironic, since as a skater in competitions, the attention focuses on you. That’s the only part of skating I don’t like. Really, though, I love skating. I like the challenge of executing perfect moves and jumps and spins.
We’d pulled up to our small brick house with the daffodils blooming in front. My mother turned off the car and faced me. “I hope you’re not upset about moving. Seventh grade is not the greatest time to move. I know that.”
I was upset, but I didn’t want to disappoint Mom. She was so excited about it. “We’d get to spend time with Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Arnold,” I said.
“Yes, we’re actually going to stay with them until we find a place. They graciously offered. They have the new baby now, you know. You’ll get to meet your little cousin.”
I thought about Utah. It was a pretty place. We’d visited there a couple of times and stayed with Aunt Ruthie and Uncle Arnold.
There were two big drawbacks: leaving Allie and moving closer to Mr. Jake Cohen.
“Oh, I’m so relieved. You are the best.” Ima reached over and hugged me.
There was one good thing. Aunt Ruthie was my father’s stepsister. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to tell me about my father. Whenever I asked my mother about him, her face would get this closed look, and she’d turn away. Once, I’d seen a tear course down her cheek. I couldn’t ask her. It was too painful for her to talk about him.
I so wanted to find out about him. Where did he live? Did he ever think about me? Why did he leave when I was four? Why didn’t he ever try to visit me or contact me?
Maybe Aunt Ruthie would answer my nagging questions.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of a newly released historical fiction novel, Captured (Menucha Publishers, 2025), as well as historical fiction novels Please Be Patient (Menucha, 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials, and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021–2022) and Alaskan Gold (2023–2024).
