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mystery all these years later? Why haven’t I ever met you parents? Why did Dad change his last name?”
    Izzy took a deep breath and gathered herself to continue the story. “Word got out about the split between Jason and Serena, and the feedback from the skating community was not positive for us. Everyone saw Serena as the wounded, abandoned partner, thrown over for a younger model, so to speak. The first time your Dad and I skated together in public, we were booed.”
    “That’s harsh.”
    “No, that’s skating. There’s this romantic notion that skaters have this deep romantic connection, like a marriage. Sometimes that happens, sometimes not. Jason and Serena had had a long relationship, but it was over. The fans just didn’t realize it. And, if that weren’t enough, the two of us were sort of an odd pair.”
    “Why?”
    Izzy smiled. “Jason was ten years older than I.”
    Jenna counted mentally. “Mom, you were sixteen?”
    “I was.”
    Jenna did more counting. “Mom…” she paled.
    “Before you say one more word, let me finish.” Izzy took another deep breath. “We wanted to win Nationals, which was the only way we were getting to the Olympics, because the US could send only one team that year. Jason was a strong partner. We worked very, very hard all those months.”
    “But you were…”
    “Wait. Meanwhile, Serena had a press conference and said she could skate to the Olympics with anyone who wanted to go with her.”
    “That’s gutsy.”
    “In her prime she probably could have skated with a chair and made it. But she was older, and those hours on the ice add up. She had the desire, but she’d lost a step. Jason told me their practices had gotten brutal because she would fall or lag behind and then she’d throw a tantrum.”
    “Did she get a partner?”
    “Oh sure. They did a series of exhibition skates to huge applause. I don’t even remember his name. He was just some guy that looked good in the costume and could toss her. The Twin Cities’ broken hearted darling…that’s what they called her.”
    Jenna rolled her eyes. “Blech.”
    “I know.”
    “So then when, exactly , did you and Dad…you know…fall in love?”
    Could you call it falling love? Izzy ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t know how it happened exactly. All I wanted was to go to the Olympics. But working together like that…and you know your father, he is…was…a very passionate man with his work.” Izzy closed her eyes. Passionate…and persuasive.
    He could have had any woman he wanted. He chose me. And I was so young, I was flattered, honored. I thought I was in love. But why did he choose me? Why seduce a teenager?
    It was a question Izzy had never been able to answer for herself.
    “Do I really want to hear this?” Jenna put a hand on her arm.
    Izzy shook her head. “Probably not. But, it’s long past the time you should understand your family history.” She wiped tears from her eyes and smiled at Jenna. “Of course I developed a crush on your father. It was natural, I suppose. I was so young; he was the only male I came in contact with on a regular basis. Anyway, two months before Nationals, a few months before I turned seventeen, we made…you.”
    “Ew! Mom!” Jenna covered her ears with her hands in mock horror. “You can’t just spring parental sex on my virginal ears! Ew!”
    In spite of herself, Izzy laughed at her daughter. Jenna inherited Jason’s dark hair and delicate facial features. But in Jenna’s blue eyes and sense of humor Izzy saw her own image. “Sorry to damage your dainty sensibilities.”
    “How did you manage to skate in your delicate condition?”
    “Not well. Skating is so much about reputation, and we had a lot going against us before we ever stepped onto the ice. Of course Serena spoke to anyone who would listen. She threw accusations at my coach, my parents, at your father. There was such a big age difference between us, some really unseemly rumors started