Girls Only! Read Free Page B

face. Like her own mother’s. And there was something endearing about the way the woman’s eyes focused right on her, tears glistening in the corners when Livvy told of her mother’s recent death.
    “Oh, I’m terribly sorry.”
    The more they talked, the more Livvy liked thewell-dressed clerk. She soon discovered that the sunny Mrs. Newton was a regular volunteer at the middle school.
    “Then I’ll be seeing you again,” Livvy said before leaving.
    “Oh, you’ll see me, all right!”
    Livvy couldn’t help but feel encouraged. Grandma Hudson had told her that “small-town folks are some of the friendliest around.”
    She hoped Grandma was right about all the people here as she headed off to check out the skating rink. Along the way, she noticed several other girls shopping with their moms.
    Sighing, she hated the thought of trying to survive middle school and beyond without Mom. She tried not to gawk but felt super envious and sad. Very sad.
    Livvy scurried off, leaving the girls and their mothers behind. She located the mall rink quickly. It was situated in the middle of the small emporium. Tall trees with twinkling white lights dotted the area around the rink.
    “Super stuff,” she said to herself.
    Walking all the way around, she remembered every ice skating event she and her mom had attended. Always together. With everything in her, she hoped someday she could get back on track with skating. She’d have to go through the hassle of finding a new coach to regain whatshe’d already lost. By not training every single day, she could lose some of the long-practiced, perfected spirals, spins, and jumps.
    Every day!
    It would take forever to get back her agility and strength. In more ways than one, Livvy’s dreams were on ice. . . .

Dreams on Ice
    Chapter Five
    “But, Dad, you promised !”
    Her father looked up from a pile of lumber and sanding tools in what had been their living room. He surveyed the mess. “Sorry, Liv. I didn’t realize this project would take so long. Can we surprise your pen pal another weekend?”
    “Like when? Next Sunday?”
    “That’s a good possibility.”
    His answer was too uncertain. Here they were, only one hour’s drive away from her pen pal! They’d checked out the distance on the map. And now her dad was changing his mind and calling off the trip.
    She slumped onto the bottom step, its wood stripped bare of stain. “I was living for today . . . to finally meetJenna,” she said softly. “I don’t know anyone around here.”
    “You know me .” Her father’s face was caked with sawdust, almost comically so.
    But she refused to laugh. He’d let her down, and she felt like pouting or worse. “This town is so boring.”
    “Well, if you want something exciting to do, here .” He held out the sander. “I could use a little help.”
    He had a point. So she spent her entire afternoon helping with her dad’s latest art project—remodeling their horrid house! Livvy sanded woodwork—baseboards and trim around doorways—till she thought her arm would keep vibrating by itself. Even after the sander was turned off!
    When it was time for supper, she talked her dad into driving them to the mall for burgers. “There’s a skating rink in the middle of the shops,” she said. It was the first she’d breathed a word of her discovery.
    “There’s a skating rink in a boring town like this?” he teased.
    Livvy wished he would show some real excitement. For a change. “There are skaters everywhere in this world,” she insisted. “ Everywhere . You can’t get away from rinks and skaters . . . no matter where we live.”
    He shrugged. Clearly, he wasn’t interested.
    But Livvy had an idea. She would take her skatesalong and try out the ice, and her dad would watch. He’d have to!
    She wouldn’t say a thing about her plan. Not one word.
    While her dad shaved and showered, she hid her skate bag in the backseat of the car. Super cool! This was the moment she’d been waiting