the gold. I was sitting right there when Kerri Strug did the second vault on her injured ankle. No one realized how badly she had been hurt until after she won.” My heart still raced a little as I thought about it. She could have crippled herself, but she did it anyway, almost without thought. Because losing was not an option.
“So, after we got back home, I upped my practices all summer. Forty plus hours a week. I was actually considering homeschooling so that I could spend more hours in the gym. Training harder, getting better. I was working on my parents, trying to convince them it was the right way to go. But I had a bad fall near the end of August. Off the balance beam. It spooked my mom and she said I should stay in high school at least until I recovered fully. And then a senior boy asked me out.” A lump formed in my throat as I remembered the day. “He wrecked his car. With me in it.”
Robin’s gaze fell to my wrist. “That’s the source of your injury?”
I nodded. “I’d been hurt before. Badly. But this…this was different. The wrist is made up of eight small bones. Six of mine had been broken, two shattered beyond full repair. I couldn’t do handstands, cartwheels, nothing where I held weight on the joint. Even with months of physical therapy, there would be no way I would ever make the Olympic team. It was a career ending injury.”
“So, you stopped competing altogether?”
I shifted under his assessing stare. “Why do it if there’s no way to win?”
“Joey?” Another voice called.
I glanced up and froze in place. Total deer in the headlights.
“Twice in as many days.” Georgia approached on her way back from the restroom. Her smile was turned on full.
“What are the odds?” My voice sounded weak and reedy.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” She lowered her voice and then cast a dark look over to where Rodney perched on his stool like a homely toad on a wobbly mushroom. “After what went down yesterday. And who is your charming companion?”
Georgia looked pointedly at Robin who was glancing back and forth between the two of us like he was watching a tennis match.
I really didn’t want to introduce the two of them, and not because Robin wielded magic. But I was raised in the South and manners weren’t something a woman like me could get around, regardless of the circumstance.
“Georgia, this is Robin Goodfellow. Robin, this is Georgia Knox.”
“A pleasure,” Georgia said and extended her well-manicured hand.
For a moment I was afraid Robin was going to refuse to shake with her. And that simply wasn’t done. A woman could refuse to shake hands with a man, but when she offered, he was obliged to accept. It was a silly, out-of-date custom, but again, we were prisoners of our upbringing.
Finally, after what felt like a full minute of awkward silence, Robin took Georgia’s hand and shook. “Nice to meet you, Georgia. Joey hasn’t told me a thing about you.”
I buried my nose in my coffee cup and wished the cracked linoleum floor would open and swallow me whole.
Georgia shifted, a little uncomfortable. “Well, it is a bit of a roundabout tale. You see, we used to be married.”
“Really?” Robin’s sapphire eyes had a predatory glint. “And would your ride be the tow truck parked over there?”
I’d been so flummoxed about popping from the hilltop to the café that I hadn’t noticed the tow truck.
“It is.”Georgia nodded.
“Fascinating.” Robin’s gaze was locked on me. “This explains a few things. I must say, my dear, that you are without a doubt the most well put together tow-truck driver I’ve ever encountered.”
“I work with what I’ve got.” Georgia preened.
I slunk further down in my seat. Was this really happening? My ex flirting with my…my…whatever the hell Robin was?
“Georgia, your meal’s up,” Rodney called from the counter.
“I better go eat. It was good seeing you, Joey.” Georgia put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed lightly.
“Yeah, you too.” The lie spilled from my mouth automatically.
As she walked away, I decided to be blunt before Robin could make the situation even more uncomfortable. “She used to be a man. George.”
“I know.” Robin nodded.
I frowned. “You do? How?”
“It’s difficult to explain. There’s an aura around some people that signifies great change. You have it. So does she.” He nodded to Georgia.
“An aura. You read auras?”
He nodded. “It’s what allows me to enthrall mortals.”