He buried my husband. Now he’s taking his place.
He ruined my husband’s funeral.
Drunk. Laughing. Arrested before the flowers were cold.
Ricky Dalton.
My husband’s best friend.
Now he’s back.
Court-ordered to work at my rink.
Jake’s rink. My life. My son.
Rule one: do the work.
Rule two: stay away from my son.
Ricky breaks both.
He shows up anyway.
Gets his hands on the ice.
On my son’s skates.
On my life.
Lucas looks at him like he’s something solid.
Something safe.
And I hate that I see it too.
Because I remember Ricky.
Before the funeral. Before the damage.
Before he became the man I should never want.
But I do.
It’s in the way he looks at me.
Like I’m not just the widow.
Like I’m still a woman.
His hand on my back burns.
His voice pulls.
His presence lingers longer than it should.
I kiss him first.
Right there—
under my husband’s jersey.
I tell myself it’s grief.
Loneliness. Weakness.
But it’s not.
It’s him.
Lucas has already lost one father.
I won’t let him lose another.
But if Ricky leaves…
it won’t just destroy me.
It’ll destroy us both.
