The Hockey Star and the Ice Princess (Complete)

Ch. 6 - Comeback

That night Rachel decided to swing by the skating rink to talk to Rick Sumners, her old coach since she had promised him at the diner she would. When she pulled up in the parking lot of the large grey, concrete building she turned the car engine off and sat there staring at it for a minute. 

This building was such a huge piece of her life and she hadn't set foot inside it for three years. She used to be here six or seven days a week for hours. She had spent more time here than she did at her own house and more time with her coach and the other skaters than she did her family. The people here were her real family and this place had always felt like her real home, a lot more than her parents'house ever had. 

She got out of the car and locked the doors and slowly made her way inside, hearing the familiar echo of voices throughout the building before she slid her hand down the cold metal handle to open the heavy glass entrance door. As she opened the second glass door and stepped into the lobby the cool bite in the air, the slightly chemical scent of artificial ice and Zamboni fuel, the plastic smell of the warm rubber-coated flooring and musky dressing rooms hit her nose, bringing back so many memories. 

Some teenage guys walked by wearing hockey gear and they went through the large double doors into the rink. She noticed the rink was already filling up with hockey players and she knew exactly where her old figure skating coach would be so she pushed through the doors, feeling the blast of cold air on her face. 

As she walked around the side of the rink she noticed Cain on the ice without a helmet on, wearing his hockey skates and gloves with a pair of athletic pants and a long sleeve t-shirt that said Minnesota Wild. He blew into the whistle attached to his glove and the guys gathered around. She listened as he talked to his players about a shootout they had coming up against a rival team and he looked up and noticed her walking by. 

Cain smiled and gave her a little wave and she smiled and waved back. All the hockey players turned around to see who he was waving at and then one of them said, "ooooooohhhhhhhh Coach has a girlfriend!" and all of the guys laughed.

Cain laughed and said, "Alright guys. That's enough. Let's focus on the shootout coming up and what the game plan is." 

Cain looked at Rachel and smiled one more time before turning his focus back to his players and talking to them again. 

She made her way to the other side of the rink where her old coach's office was. When she knocked he yelled, "Door's open!" 

She turned the handle and pushed the door open and his office was exactly as she remembered it. It was always cold since it was attached to the rink and dusty because there was a lot of stuff in here to collect dust. The dark brown carpet and wood paneling on the walls was the same that had been in here when she was a little girl. 

There were boxes piled up with labels on them that said things like old ice skating magazines, skating footage, used leotards, skates and tights. Anything one of his skaters needed he would find a way to get it for them even if they had to wear hand-me-downs from one of these boxes until they could afford a new one. 

The walls of his office were covered in framed pictures of his skaters and newspaper clippings from all of the important things they had accomplished. She saw a few of them were hers and there was a framed picture of the TIME magazine with her face on the cover with the title 'America's Sweetheart'. 

He had a big lit up trophy case full of all the trophies his skaters had won over the years and the biggest trophy that was 6 feet tall right in the middle with a big spotlight shining on it was the one she had won for him at Nationals. She would never forget how proud he was of her that day. She'd also never forget how disappointed he looked at the Olympics when her Mom said they forfeited.