Chapter 6
“You really don’t have to help,” Piper Weston said when Damon lifted a box of decorations for her.
“Nah. I owe you big for letting me hang out here, away from my folks.” He smiled.
She smiled back.
Across the room, her husband, Cade’s brother, watched him, not smiling.
“I don’t think Grant likes me.”
Cade joined them with a smile. “For so many reasons.”
“Cade.” Piper frowned. The beautiful blond had gotten married to Grant last year and glowed in the last stages of her pregnancy.
“Hey, truth hurts.” Cade watched her with concern. “You’re rubbing your belly. Are you okay?”
Piper smiled. The sight of her happiness eased Damon’s tension. Suddenly, Marlie’s smile invaded his thoughts. As the blasted woman had been distracting him all day.
“I’m fine,” Piper said, resting her hand on her baby mountain, because no way that was a baby bump. “The twins are restless.”
“Damn, girl. Twins?” Damon grinned. “Way to score one in the goal, Grant,” he said to the stern guy walking toward them.
Damon remembered that as kids, Grant had always tagged along when he’d hang out with Cade and their friends. A serious-minded little guy closer to Damon’s age, yet they hadn’t bonded. Damon, big for his age, had made instant friends with Cade and a few other kids.
Then Grant had done his own thing, leaving town and becoming a pro baseball player.
Grant smiled. “Yeah, I got pretty lucky when Piper said yes.” He kissed her, his love clear. The joy in the house made Damon glad he’d been invited. He’d needed this, a break from stress and thoughts about the season he was missing.
Though he had no problem taking the time to heal, he did miss his team. The guys were a family, and some of them needed his help more than they knew.
“So what’s this I hear? You left baseball?” Damon accepted a beer from Cade. “And where’s your wife?” he asked his buddy.
“Ellie’s with Alex at some play a town over. My mom’s with them. I’m here on baby watch.”
Piper sighed.
“Just in case,” Grant said. “I want to make sure we’re set if they come early. If our truck fails, we take Cade’s.” He turned to Damon. “To answer your question, I finished out the season and left. Done with baseball for good. Now I’m focused on family.”
Damon shook his head. “My dad told me, and he was pissed. He had plans to watch you play next year in Seattle. Now he can’t go talk a lot of trash with his friends up there and brag about a homeboy on the team.”
Cade laughed. “Grant can get him a signed ball or something. Let your dad know, would you? He came over to give a client of mine some quotes on furniture for their study.” A pause. “He’s a little scary.”
“Ha. A little?” Damon drank some more. “Why do you think I invited myself with you? I needed space.”
“More like they needed space from their obnoxious son,” Grant muttered.
“Grant Weston!” Piper stared at him. “Not nice.”
Cade smirked. “Grant’s just annoyed that you’re going to help the opponent during Sunday’s game.”
“Huh?”
“You know. When the Mavs play the Sharks.”
Damon frowned. “What are you talking about?” Then he remembered the details Steve, Marlie’s brother, had given him. He stared at Grant, trying to imagine Mr. Baseball on skates and not seeing it. “You’re playing ice hockey?” A chuckle escaped.
Grant’s expression soured. “I’m not sure why you’re laughing.”
“I’m not.” Damon laughed some more. “Not really.” It took him a moment to collect himself. “Hey, I think it’s great you finally found yourself interested in the best sport of all time. I’m just surprised there’s that much interest in this town. Hope’s Turn is big but not that big.”
“Yeah, well, we get a lot of snow. And we have a lot of interest since some of us decided to play.”
“Some of us?” Piper repeated. She sighed. “Damon, you have to see the guys on Grant’s team. Two ex-football players. And Grant, who’s dreamy.”
That mollified Grant, who nodded. “I really am.”
“Add a few other hunks skating around and trying to hit the puck.”
“While also hitting each other,” Cade added. “I can see the appeal.”
Damon asked his friend, “Are you playing?”
“I wanted to, but we’ve been spending time up at the mountain on weekends teaching Alex to ski.”
“Nice.” Damon hadn’t realized how much he’d missed Hope’s Turn.
The close-knit relationships, ties to family and years past. Not that he didn’t also love his teammates, but Portland was a big city.
And they spent so much of their season traveling from game to game when not practicing. Everything revolved around hockey.
Maybe tearing his meniscus had done him a favor, getting him to slow down and take a much-needed break.
“Hey, no-neck. You’re not playing, are you?”
Piper tried to hide a smile.
Damon didn’t remember her husband being such a dick, but he had to laugh. “No-neck? Why thank you, Grant. I don’t think you’ve ever said anything so nice to me.”
Cade laughed.
“And no, I’m not playing. I tore my knee two months ago. I’m still recovering and planning to get back to goaltending after Christmas. I can’t damage my progress.” He frowned. “It’s killing me, but I need the break so I don’t mess it up when I get back on the ice.”
Grant studied his leg. “Have you been down with injuries before?”
“No. And I don’t want to go down again. It was a freak thing on the ice. I knew I did something the moment I moved.” He scowled, saw Piper staring at him, and said, “What?”
“You look so mean. And you’re huge. I bet the league is afraid of you.”
Damon winked at her. “Are you sure you want to stay with this guy? Because I can be really charming when I try.”
“He’s lying.”
Cade nodded. “He just wishes he was charming. Trust me. He ain’t.”
Damon guffawed. “You’re just jealous I kissed Ellie before you.”
“Liar. Take that back.”
“What?” Grant blinked.
“Oh, shut up, Damon.” Cade huffed. “Ellie was fifteen, and he snuck a kiss on a dare. Then she walloped him upside the head. And that was before his sister found out and kicked his ass.”
“Oh, Grace.” Grant nodded. “Yikes.”
Everyone took a moment to think about his tough-as-nails sister.
Piper frowned. “I don’t remember Grace.”
“She was probably a few years older than you,” Damon said. “Plus she’d skipped two grades. She’s an annoying evil genius, and now a major evil genius.”
“See what he did there?” Cade shook his head. “You’re still not that funny.” To Piper, he explained, “Grace is a major in the Marine Corps.” He turned to Damon. “Is she coming for the holiday?”
“For Thanksgiving, yeah. She should be here tonight or early tomorrow. She flew into Portland.”
“Fortunately, the weather’s holding,” Grant said. “The snow isn’t too bad in the mountains yet.”
“My own personal weatherman.” Piper linked her arm around her husband’s waist. “I’m glad you could come be with us for the party, Damon.”
“Aw, thanks, Piper. But I’m sorry to do this.”
“What?” Grant looked suspicious.
“I need some details on this game you guys are playing Sunday. The only details I got were for a scrimmage and some light coaching for Steve and his friends. But this sounds more intense.” And of course, Damon only ever played to win.
“Hold on.” Grant frowned. “You can’t help them. That’s cheating.”
“How?”
“Well, you’re a pro player.”
“Yeah, but I’m not skating or goaltending. I’m just helping. I tell you what. I’ll help you guys too.”
“Well, I guess.” Grant continued to frown. Then he slowly nodded, staring oddly at Damon. “I do need an uber villain.”
“What?”
Piper laughed. “Grant, you’re terrible. My husband is not just retired from baseball, he’s working on a new graphic novel. It seems he’s found inspiration for the bad guy.”
Everyone looked at Damon.
“Seriously?” He glared back at them then grinned. “That’s awesome. What kind of superpowers will I have? Something to do with ice, maybe?”
Cade sighed. “Figures you’d be pleased about featuring in nerd-boy’s comic.”
“Graphic novel,” Grant corrected, studying Damon.
“Whatever.” Cade elbowed Damon. “You’re not special. Piper’s the beauty behind the heroine. I’m pretty sure I’m her lover, another of the superpowered good guys.”
“Ha. You wish.” Grant left and returned with a sketchpad and pencil.
Cade frowned. “I thought we were here to help set up for your party in another” —he checked his phone— “two hours.”
Grant waved his concern away. “We have time.”
Damon didn’t know whether to laugh at Cade’s annoyance or show off his muscles for Piper and Grant. “You’ll make me look really dastardly, right?”
“Totally,” Grant said, sketching madly.
Piper sighed. “I’ve lost him. Come on, Cade. You can help me decorate.”
“Sure thing.” He moved closer. “You’re still naming one of the kids after me, right?”
Grant grinned but didn’t look up from his sketchbook. “Of course. You know we’d have never gotten together without your help.”
“Ha. I knew it.”
Grant shook his head. “My brother has such a fragile ego.”
“You didn’t need his help?” Damon asked. Frankly, he didn’t recall Grant ever being that outgoing or charismatic, though he could sure hit a ball out of the park.
“Nah. Piper’s niece was sneaky enough to help me snag my girl.”
“Huh. Maybe I should get her numbers, you know, in case I need help snagging a woman for myself.”
Grant chuckled. “Maybe you should. But play your cards right and impress Jenna tonight, when she’s here for the party, and the seventeen-year-old might take pity on you. You have muscles but not much between the ears. Probably from all those fights you hockey dweebs get up to on the ice.”
“Laugh it up, ball boy. Because this Sunday, my team will crush yours. I don’t care how many pros you have on your team. I’ve got, ah, well, some people who will have my expert guidance. Prepare to lose big.”
Grant glanced up, amusement shining in his dark eyes. “Want to put your money where your mouth is?”
“Definitely.”
They shook. Then Damon got a look at the villain Grant had been sketching.
“Holy shit. That’s terrific. But make him a little more evil.
And bigger arms. Yeah, like that. And can he have a weapon that looks like a hockey stick?
Maybe give him a sidekick who’s tall, big boobs, with long, dark hair.
” After a pause, he added, “And freckles.”
“Freckles?”
“Make her really evil too. Like, a sexy terror.” Damon nodded. “One who’s got the hots for the villain. Yeah, she’s totally into him.”
Grant sighed and went back to work.