The Secrets of Sunshine by Phaedra Patrick

Author:Phaedra Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-08-04T16:00:00+00:00

18

Ice-Skating

When Mitchell unpinned the next day’s itinerary from the wall, the black rectangles of the spreadsheet looked rigid, like the bars of a cage.

He took a pen from his pocket to cross out his and Poppy’s original planned trip to the library, intending to replace it with their outing to the ice rink. Instead, he stared at it for a while. He thought about Liza’s words about defying her mother, and he felt a jolt of boldness that he didn’t want to comply with his own rigid plans.

He ripped the paper into small pieces and, clutching them in his fist, he carried them into Poppy’s room to show her.

She took them from him and stood on her bed. She let them flutter down inside her room, so they looked like blossom petals falling from a tree.

Mitchell stepped up, too, and the bed creaked as they both poked their heads out of the sloping window. Mitchell crooked his fingertips over its frame and felt the roof tiles were already warmed by the sun. There was cooing as five pigeons strutted around next to a nest in the gutter.

‘Can we feed them again?’ Poppy asked. ‘Please, Dad.’

Mitchell brought another small bag of oats from the kitchen, that he’d planned to make healthy muffins with.

Poppy poured them onto the roof in a heap, so they looked like a melting snowman. The pigeons flocked towards it.

‘Liza is joining us at the rink today,’ Mitchell said as casually as he could so Poppy wouldn’t get too excited.

‘Ace.’

‘The heat is making everyone want to cool off. Barry even mentioned meeting a date at the rink.’

‘If he’s trying to find a girlfriend,’ Poppy said, ‘he might like Liza.’

Mitchell took a moment to digest this thought.

He pictured Liza and Barry taking Sasha for a walk along Redford, chatting together and holding hands. He supposed they’d make an attractive couple, and they’d probably get along. It should give him a warm feeling to imagine two people he knew getting together, but somehow it made the back of his neck itch. ‘Maybe,’ he said, and left it at that. ‘Now find some extra socks, so your skates won’t rub your ankles.’

The temperature inside the ice rink provided welcome relief from the sticky air outside. The foyer smelled of old socks and strawberry slushies, and goose bumps formed on Mitchell’s forearms.

A bored-looking girl behind the counter handed over three sets of skates to Mitchell, Poppy and her friend Rachel. They sat on the floor and fastened their laces up tight.

‘What time is Liza coming?’ Poppy asked.

‘She should be here soon.’ His stomach skittered and he put it down to the apprehension of venturing onto the ice.

Holding hands, Poppy and Rachel teetered onto the rink and cautiously pushed off from the side. As they both performed a half skid, half walk, Mitchell shuffled behind them. He held back, not wanting to cramp their style, but trying to practise before Liza arrived.

He watched as Poppy fell on her backside, pulling Rachel over with her.

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