Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
ALEC
I don’t see much of Evie over the next few days.
This early in the season, our practice schedule is still pretty intense, so I’m not home much, and it seems like she’s lying pretty low, which makes sense. She and Juno are both probably exhausted after all their traveling. But I still find myself looking for her car whenever I pull into the driveway or spending a little more time than usual in the common areas of the house.
Not that I need to see her.
I don’t. I have zero reason to keep track of where she is, and she has zero reason to give me a play-by-play of her plans. I texted her the code to the front door the first night she was here, and I added her to the security guard’s list so she’s free to come and go as she pleases.
On Saturday morning, I spend an extra long time making breakfast, but she never comes downstairs. I must have missed her altogether because when I leave for practice a few minutes later, her car isn’t even in the driveway.
Where could she be at nine-thirty on a Saturday?
Better question. Why am I thinking about this so much? And why am I disappointed?
As I pull into the parking lot at the Summit, I try to muster up some enthusiasm for the day ahead. We aren’t actually practicing today, though I will be on the ice. Today is social media day, so the team will be filming videos and taking photos with Parker, the Appies’ social media manager.
She always has a long list of stuff for us to do at the beginning of the season, and since our social media presence is such a huge part of the Appies’ success, we all know better than to protest.
I usually don’t mind most of it. It’s part of the job. But I’m not much in the mood today. Partly because I’m still feeling off about all things Appies. Partly because I can’t stop thinking about Evie.
When we were talking at the counter the other night, her knees tucked in between mine, she didn’t feel like a sister at all. I was much too aware of the warmth emanating from her skin and the freckles dotting the bridge of her nose. But she didn’t feel like a date either. There was no pressure, no expectations, which made it easy to be honest, to say things I haven’t said to anyone else.
Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking about her.
It was nice having someone to talk to who isn’t connected to my team.
After three hours and two different viral dance trend videos, we’re almost done.
On the other end of the rink, a professional photographer is set up with lights and an Appies backdrop and has been taking solo shots of each of us, but Parker has been filming too, catching what she calls B-roll footage that she’ll use in the many videos she puts out every season.
She has one last thing she wants to film though. And from the way the other guys are looking at me, it has something to do with me.
“Okay, I need Alec and Nathan,” Parker says, confirming my suspicions as she skates across the ice, camera in hand. “And where did Felix go? Wasn’t he just here?”
“I’m here,” Felix says, stepping back onto the ice, his goalie gloves in hand. “I had to grab a new glove.”
Parker lines us up, Felix standing in front of the goal, with Nathan and I flanking him on either side. “Alec, turn to the left a little so I can see your captain’s C,” she says. I reposition myself on the ice, and she nods as she skates around us. “Perfect.” She films for a few seconds before dropping her camera and looking back across the ice. “So here’s what’s going to happen,” she says. “It’s everyone else against the three of you. A dozen pucks on the ice, and your goal is to stop as many of them as you can. There’s been a lot of talk about this particular defensive pairing, so let’s show everyone you’re as good as they say you are.”
Parker skates to the center of the rink where Eli, Logan, Camden, and the rest of the team are waiting. Three against twelve is hardly a fair matchup, but that’s the point with stuff like this. Parker knows what gets clicks, and usually, the stupider we look, the better.
She skates back our way, pulling to a stop right in front of me. “Also, one more thing,” she says. “I just told the twins they can crash at your place for a little while. They’re young and homesick and they aren’t doing great living on their own and you have that big old house that’s basically empty, so it makes the most sense. Good? Great. I knew you’d agree.” She pats me on the shoulder, then spins on her skate and hurries away before I can protest.
“Uh, what just happened?” I ask, looking over at Nathan.
He shrugs. “I think you just got two new roommates?”
I already have two new roommates, but I don’t have time to protest because Parker blows her whistle, and a wall of offense advances toward us at full speed.
I grip my stick a little tighter, ignoring the tightness in my knee as I prepare for what’s coming. I’m not necessarily opposed to having the twins stay with me. It’s the way things generally operate with the Appies. The older players are expected to look out for the younger, newer recruits. And I do have a big empty house. But it’s a lot less empty with Evie and Juno around, and the last thing I want to do is make Evie feel uncomfortable.
I fend off a shot from Van, then circle the goal and steal a puck from Camden, sending it sliding in the opposite direction before Logan plows into me, pinning me against the boards, while Eli flies by and makes a shot over Felix’s shoulder.
This is when I know there’s more to this exercise than I thought because Logan doesn’t let me go. Instead, he pulls my stick out of my hands, tosses it to the ice, then spins me toward Theo, who’s twirling a lasso over his head in perfect circles. An actual lasso. The kind you’d see at a rodeo, not in a hockey rink. I have no idea where he got the rope, but he clearly knows how to use it because when he sends the lasso soaring, it falls perfectly over my head, then tightens around my shoulders, pinning my arms to my sides. Fifteen feet away, Nathan is getting the same treatment from Carter.
In a matter of seconds, they’ve hauled us both to right in front of the goal where they tie us together, back to back, before throwing their arms over their heads in victory.
Parker’s still filming, and she zooms in on the twins.
“That’s how they do it in Texas,” Theo says, his smile wide.
Right. I’d forgotten the twins were from Texas.
Behind me, Nathan sighs. “We probably should have seen this coming.“
“We definitely should have.”
The twins are skating circles around us now, cheering loudly while the rest of the guys look on. They’re a defensive pairing just like Nathan and me, so it makes sense Parker would think up something like this. The rookies are solid players. I’ve been watching them play in our preseason games, and I can see them both having lucrative careers. But I’m not worried about them taking playing time away from me and Nathan, even though it honestly might be good if they did. For my knee, anyway, if not for my stats. Either way, it’s easy to take this as the good-natured prank Parker meant it to be.
It also helps that the twins, for all their youthful cockiness, aren’t jerks. Carter especially seems eager to learn and grow and figure out what it truly means to be an Appie.
I breathe out my own sigh.
Had Parker asked me—told me?—a few days ago that the twins were coming to live at my house, I might have protested. But after my conversation with Evie last night, I find myself more inclined to say yes.
Maybe because she said I was a good leader, and I want to live up to her assessment. Maybe because she reminded me that there are things I can do besides just play hockey. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m supposed to view Evie as a sister, and having two more people around might make it easier to keep any not-so-sisterly thoughts out of my mind for good.
I’ll put the twins in the bonus room over the garage—there are a couple of futons up there, plus an enormous television they’ll love to use—so they won’t be in Evie’s space at all. And I do think it’ll be good for them. Maybe good for me too. The pessimism that’s clouded my judgment the past few weeks seems to have cleared a little bit, though that could just as easily be Evie’s influence.
“Listen,” Logan says later in the locker room after I’ve showered. “Parker didn’t know you already have people staying at your house. If the twins need to crash with me until Evie leaves, I don’t mind. I’ve got enough room for them.”
“It’s fine,” I say. “We’ll mostly be on the road next week anyway. By the time we’re back, Evie’s house should be almost ready, and then she’ll move out. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
Before I leave the Summit, I give the twins my address, then call the security guard to add them to my list of approved guests.
The twins have been staying in an Airbnb near the Summit, so they’re coming over tonight, just as soon as they pack up, which only gives me an hour or so to let Evie know.
I don’t expect her to care. But I still feel nervous about mentioning it. Or maybe I’m just nervous about seeing her generally?
I have no idea what it means, but I’m choosing not to overthink it when my heart jumps at the sight of her car in my driveway.
Before I get out of the car, I notice a new text message from Riley. I haven’t heard from her in weeks, so it takes me by surprise. But I’m more surprised by my lack of interest in reading the message. It’s a stark contrast to how anxious I am to get inside and see Evie.
I pocket my phone without reading the message and head inside.
I find Evie in the kitchen, her hair piled on top of her head and Juno strapped to her chest in some kind of colorful fabric sling looking thing. Music is playing from a portable speaker on the counter, and Evie is dancing around the kitchen.
She spins one more time, her hands cupped around Juno’s feet, and finally sees me. She yelps and jumps back, her arms wrapping around the baby like I’m some kind of predator.
I grimace. “Sorry,” I say over the music.
She smiles and shakes her head as she retrieves her phone from the counter and turns off the music.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine. I was just…” She looks down at Juno who is awake and wide-eyed. “She likes the music. Plus, I get some exercise, so it’s a win-win.” She looks over at the stove. “Are you hungry? I cooked. And by cooked, I mean I warmed up a pizza and there’s some left over. But I did make these!” She pulls a kitchen towel off the top of a baking dish full of cinnamon rolls. “It’s actually your mom’s recipe,” she says. “She gave it to me as a baby gift when Juno was born.”
Evie is buzzing with energy, her cheeks pink from exertion, her eyes bright. With Juno in her arms, she looks like life. Like happiness.
I lift my eyebrows. “Mom guards that recipe with her life. She hasn’t even given it to me yet.”
“It took years of wearing her down,” Evie says. “And maybe a tiny bit of guilt-tripping after the divorce? I’m still not sure I’ve perfected her process, but this is the best batch I’ve made so far.” She cuts a corner off one of the rolls and pops it into her mouth, closing her eyes as she chews. She lets out a little groan, then licks a dollop of icing from her finger.
I watch, transfixed, as her tongue slides over the ridge of her knuckle.
“Dark brown sugar,” she says. “That’s what makes them taste like caramel.”
I clear my throat and force my eyes to the ceiling. I have got to stop staring at this woman’s mouth, but she isn’t making it easy.
“They do taste like caramel,” I say. “I remember.”
She cuts off a second corner from the same cinnamon roll and walks it over to me. “Spoil your dinner with me?” She holds the cinnamon roll just in front of my mouth.
She could be offering me a chocolate-covered cricket and I’d probably still say yes.
I lean forward and take the bite, my lips brushing over her fingertips.
The contact is brief, but it’s enough to send an unexpected reaction sparking across my skin.
Fortunately, the cinnamon roll provides at least a temporary distraction. It tastes like my childhood, and a wave of nostalgia washes over me as I chew. I can’t count the number of times we crowded into the kitchen waiting for Mom to pull these out of the oven. She’d barely get them frosted before we were begging to have one.
As often as she wasn’t, Evie was beside Megan, begging right along with us, but it’s still a surprise that Mom shared the recipe with Evie. She always talks about how it's her mother’s recipe, and it will, as far as she’s concerned, always stay in the family.
It’s a good surprise though. Somehow, it seems right that Evie has it. Though that could just be because she’s in my kitchen, and I’m the one benefiting from her knowledge.
“Tastes pretty perfect to me,” I say, and Evie beams.
“Really? I didn’t bake them too long?”
I shake my head and move closer to the pan, where I cut myself another bite. “They taste just like Mom’s.”
She looks down at Juno. “Did you hear that, Juno? They taste just like Mama Sheridan’s. She’ll be so proud of us!”
Something catches in my heart as I think about Mom encouraging Evie and loving on Juno, and an ache of homesickness makes my gut tighten. It’s been less than a month since I saw my parents, but we were so busy getting them moved out of their house and into their retirement community, it didn’t really feel like we got to spend much time together. It was all about logistics, time management, making sure they were fully settled before Megan’s last semester of nursing clinicals started. We definitely didn’t have time for cinnamon rolls.
“So how was your day?” Evie asks. “What did you do?”
“It was press and social media day at the Summit,” I say.
“What does that mean? Photos? Interviews?”
I nod. “And an ambush involving a lasso and a pair of eighteen-year-old twins from Texas.”
She lifts her eyebrows. “Do I want to know the details?”
“Just make sure you’re following the Appies on social media. I’m sure you’ll see the details eventually.”
She grins. “You guys really do a lot of funny stuff.”
“I can’t take credit for any of it.” I move toward the stove. “Is there really pizza left over? I should probably have some real food before I eat an entire pan of cinnamon rolls.”
“Yes!” She moves in beside me and opens the oven, pulling out a cookie sheet holding half a pizza. “It’s the good kind from Trader Joe’s and everything. Juno and I did a grocery run this morning.”
“Yeah, you guys were up early,” I say. “I was surprised to see you already gone by the time I woke up.”
“That’s Juno for you,” Evie says. “She never sleeps past seven. Plus, shopping early is easier since there aren’t any crowds, then I can get home in time to put her down for a morning nap.”
Juno gurgles, blowing little tiny spit bubbles between her lips.
“So basically you’re saying Juno is in charge,” I say in between bites of pizza.
Evie laughs. “You have no idea.”
We fall into easy conversation after that. About the dance I had to do with Eli and Van. About her violin and how she hasn’t played it a single time since Juno was born. About her conversation with her landlord, who finally called her back today and confirmed that he’s talked to the disaster repair people we called yesterday, so everything is good on that front, and he’ll be back in town at the end of the week. He promised to have her home repaired and livable within a week of his return and agreed to prorate her rent for next month to compensate for the delay.
Evie stays on her feet the whole time we’re talking, swaying back and forth to keep Juno happy, and I lift myself onto the counter, sitting next to the leftover pizza, which I finish.
There’s something very domestic about the whole situation. And not because Evie is in the kitchen and made food. It’s more that she’s just… here. That we’re talking about our days and she’s interested in how I am and what I have to say.
There’s no pretense with Evie and realizing as much helps me identify what I don’t love about Riley. Riley always has an agenda. Something to prove.
I realize Evie has reasons for being in Harvest Hollow that don’t have anything to do with me. But it’s still triggering a want I didn’t know I had.
I’m so preoccupied with our conversation, so distracted by how much I like talking to Evie, that I completely forget to mention the twins coming over until the doorbell rings.
Evie lifts her eyebrows. “Are you expecting someone?”
I wince as I jump off the counter. “Yes, and I meant to explain before they showed up. You know the twins I mentioned earlier? They need a place to crash. They’re barely eighteen, brand new to the team, and they’re having a hard time living on their own.”
“The twins who lassoed you?”
“Yes, but what made you think they lassoed me ?”
She grins. “Intuition? Or possibly the look on your face when you mentioned it. Should I be concerned? Will they try to lasso me too?”
I breathe out a chuckle. They might try to lasso her once they see her like this, looking alive and happy, a little bit of powdered sugar dust on her cheek. “I promise to make them leave their lassos outside.” I pause before leaving the kitchen and look at her over my shoulder. “Hey, I don’t want you to think they’re going to be in your space. I’m going to have them stay in the bonus room over the garage, so you won’t be passing them in the hallway or hearing them when you’re trying to get Juno to sleep.”
“You have a bonus room over the garage?”
I nod. “It’s got a couple of futons in it.”
She chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Alec, this house is stupid huge. I appreciate you being concerned, but this is your place, not mine. If you trust them, I trust them. Juno and I will be fine if they stay in the other bedrooms upstairs.”
“I do trust them, but it’s important to me that you feel comfortable here. And I don’t want them to mess with Juno’s sleep.”
“It’s probably more likely that she’ll mess with their sleep.”
“Either way, the bonus room is on the opposite side of the house, so they shouldn’t hear you, and you shouldn’t hear them.”
She nods as the doorbell rings one more time. “Go let them in then. They can have a cinnamon roll.”
I grin. “Nope. Those are all for me.”
When I open the front door, Theo and Carter barrel into the house, their shoulders laden with enormous matching duffle bags.
“Dude, this house is insane,” Theo says as he looks around the entryway. He spins in place and his bag knocks into a lamp sitting on a hall table. I reach out and steady it before it crashes to the floor, and Carter meets my gaze over Theo’s shoulder, rolling his eyes.
“Sorry,” Carter mutters. “He doesn’t get out much.”
Theo’s hair is cut shorter than Carter’s, which makes it easy to tell them apart. But even if the hair didn’t give him away, Theo is much louder and rowdier than his more reserved brother. He’d only have to open his mouth for me to immediately know which twin he is.
“Come on,” I say, leading them into the house. “I’ll show you where you’re staying.”
Evie appears in the doorway of the kitchen as we approach, still wearing Juno, hands setting loosely on her daughter’s back. The baby turns her head, eyes wide as she looks at the new arrivals. She bounces a little, almost like she’s excited, her little hands flailing up and down.
“Are you saying hi?” Evie says, looking down at her daughter, smiling like she thinks Juno’s reaction to the twins is just as entertaining as I do.
“Whoa, you’re married?” Carter asks. “With a kid? How did we not know that?”
“This is Evie and her daughter, Juno,” I say, shooting Evie an apologetic look. “She’s a friend. She just moved to Harvest Hollow, and she and her daughter are staying here for a few weeks until her place is ready.”
“So you’re single?” Theo says, taking a step toward Evie. “Because… Hey. My name’s Theo. ”
“Dude, she just had a baby,” Carter says, punching his brother in the shoulder.
“So? I always wanted to be a dad.” Theo looks at his brother. “I’d be a good dad.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I say, steering Theo down the hallway and away from Evie. “There will be no more hitting on Evie for the duration of your stay.” I ignore the tightness in my chest as we go. It’s stupid to feel jealous of someone as young as Theo, but it’s not lost on me that he’s closer to her age than I am.
As soon as I dismiss that very stupid thought, another replaces it.
Would I be a good dad?
Not that it matters, but I’m more than a little envious of how easily Theo claimed he would be.
Behind us, Evie laughs. “It was nice to meet you both,” she calls.
Carter looks over his shoulder. “Nice to meet you too, ma’am. Please forgive my brother.”
Once we’re in the bonus room, it takes the twins less than five minutes to drop their bags and connect their PlayStation to the enormous television mounted on the far wall. They stopped for burgers on their way over, so they don’t need food, and they seem happy to spend the rest of their evening playing NHL 25. They invite me to play, but I’d rather go see if Evie is still in the kitchen.
I don’t find her there, but I do have a text message waiting for me.
Evie
Sorry to disappear on you. Juno decided she’s done for the night. Thanks for hanging out with me. I won’t tell anyone if you really do eat all the cinnamon rolls yourself.
I tap my phone against my palm, processing my disappointment. Because I am disappointed.
I like hanging out with Evie. After her first night here, I was hoping for the chance to do it more. She’s easy to talk to and fun to be around, and I like that we have so much shared history.
She’s also beautiful. Which, I can’t pretend like that isn’t part of this.
It never occurred to me to notice or even look when she was younger. She was so much younger that it would have been weird if it had. But now…is nine years too much of an age gap? She has Juno, and that makes her seem older, but she really isn’t older.
Plus, she’s only been divorced a little over a year.
There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t be so disappointed that the twins showed up and interrupted our time together. Reasons why I shouldn’t be looking at my little sister’s best friend with anything but brotherly affection.
I run a hand through my hair, then type out a quick response to her message.
Alec
No worries. Enjoy the rest of your night.
There. Simple. To the point. Not even a little bit suggestive.
Once I finish, I finally open the message Riley sent earlier.
Riley
Hey. It’s been a while. I’ve got a work thing happening in Charlotte at the beginning of next month. Think you could make it over? I’d love to see you.
I stare at her text, knowing how I’m going to respond without even having to think about it.
Alec
Thanks for the invite, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.
Riley
Hmm. You didn’t just say you're busy, which means…you’ve met someone, haven’t you?
It’s entirely too early to be thinking like that.
But the first thought that comes to mind is yes.