Chapter Four
SOPHIE
“Mr. Scott and his wife built this place, and it has been a staple in the community for the last fifty years. Why should we spend years benefitting from their generosity and then turn our backs on them when they need it most?” My voice rings with conviction in the council chambers of the historic town hall building. Small murmurs of agreement surround me as I stare at the councilmen from my spot standing in front of my seat, giving me the courage to continue.
“Who has benefitted the most from this rec center? Certainly not Mr. Scott and his wife, who have the financial records to prove that they’ve only taken enough of a cut to pay their bills and raise their kids. Every dollar outside of that went back into the rec center. The people of this town have been benefiting from the Scott family for fifty years, and it’s time we take on some of the burden.”
Glancing around my fellow townspeople in the audience, their nods and looks of agreement spur me further. Everyone seems to be receptive to my words, from the suit-and-tie businessman on my left, to the elementary school nurse on my right. “I say we start with the schools. Mr. Scott does not charge a single dime to schools for practice time on the rink. How much money has that saved them over the years? We can redirect funds meant to upgrade the bleachers in the football stadium for the what… third time in ten years? We use that money and direct it to the rec center, which should be treated as an extension of the school in that regard, since practice is free for the team.” A small burst of chatter erupts from the townspeople surrounding me, and I hold back a smile as I make eye contact with each member of the council sitting at the long head-table at the front of the room..
“Hold on just a second there, Ms. Hartwell.” Mr. Gibbons, the middle-aged councilman at the far left of the table, holds up his hands. He took over Carter’s dad’s seat when they left town, and he’s been nothing but a money-grabbing pain in the ass.
This whole thing with the rec center started about two months ago when some busy-body reported the light-up building sign being out to the town instead of talking to myself or Benson. This brought unwanted attention to the center and made the council bring up the question of its “curb appeal”, which then invited further speculation on what repairs are needed. Now we’re faced with a fight to the death with the council because someone said we’d be better off knocking it down and building a strip mall if we couldn’t get the center in “acceptable condition”.
“That’s a lot of pretty talk, but let’s be realistic. It’s a lot of work to reallocate all of those funds, and I’m not even sure Ivy Glen needs a hockey team anymore…” He trails off, looking down the table at his fellow council members, clearly seeking backup.
Abbie’s dad, Michael Wixx, is one of the only two faces who don’t seem convinced. He meets my eyes with a grimace. The only other member of the council who doesn’t look to be in agreement with Gibbons is Oscar Davis, but I have a feeling that’s because he’s ogling my chest instead. Damn guy can’t take a hint—I’ve been shooting down his attempts to go out again for months.
Suppressing the disgusted shiver that threatens to erupt at Oscar’s scrutiny, I steel myself, remaining focused. The council will really just do anything to screw us over. My voice is low as I try to keep my temper controlled. “It’s not ‘a lot work’, it’s all part of the athletics department funds?—”
“Paul is right,” Ms. Sinclair says from a few seats down, nodding towards Mr. Gibbons. “Football seems to be the star of the show now, hence the constant bleacher upgrades. People will donate more to a sport that produces star players.” She shrugs. “We haven’t had a famous hockey player come out of Ivy Glen in ages. Not since Carter Williams.”
I’m just about to tell Sinclair exactly what I think of the fact she only thinks hockey is worth something if we get a famous player out of it when the doors behind us fly open, and a familiar, heart-stopping voice rings out, “I think I have a solution.”
My entire body freezes and my words die in my throat. Chills skate down my spine, and I’m not sure if the roiling in my stomach is because I’m actually going to be sick or if my fight-or-flight response is kicking in.
I knew he was coming, but nothing could have prepared me for this. To know that he’s in the same room. That if I just turned around, I’d see his face, and most likely get lost in his ocean blue eyes like I have so many times before. Eyes that used to solely be for me. Carter is here, and while waves of murmurs take over the crowd, I stand there frozen.
“...all-star hockey player…”
“...son went to school with him…”
“...he was always such a kind young man…”
Shit. I can’t bring myself to look at him. If I do… I don’t know if I’ll run into his arms like a pathetic love-struck idiot, or punch him in the face. Instead, I focus on the front of the room.
I swear the entire council now has hearts for eyes as they look at him. “Of course, Mr. Williams,” Ms. Sinclair purrs at him. Thirsty bitch. “Please, the floor is all yours. Ms. Hartwell’s time had just run out.”
All of my panic turns to annoyance.
Of course. I don’t look at him out of spite as his footsteps sound across the now silent room. There’s probably a vein popping out of my head right now. Where the hell does he get off coming in here and interrupting me?
Huffing, I cross my arms, still staring at the council as they all stare star-struck at Carter. Well, besides Oscar and Mr. Wixx. I can feel Carter’s gaze burning the side of my head, but it takes all of my self-control not to turn my head. I wonder if he looks the same. If there’s any trace of the small-town boy who loved me then left me high and dry, or if that’s all been washed away by fame and fortune. If there’s any justice in the world, he’ll be missing a few teeth and had his nose broken one too many times to be as gorgeous as he’d been back then.
He clears his throat before speaking. “I’ve offered to work with Benson Scott on the repairs for the rec center. If it all works out, I’ll be donating whatever funds are required for reconstruction. The rec center is a staple for the community of Ivy Glen, and we shouldn’t give it up if there’s something we can do about it. That being said, its structure and layout are completely outdated, and I believe it would benefit from a major transformation.”
“I completely agree,” Mr. Gibbons nods like a fucking bobblehead, and the rest of the council sounds their agreement.
This is ridiculous.
I have been fucking trying for months to save the rec center, and Carter ‘NHL Star’ Williams just shows up, throws his money at the problem, and everything is fixed.
This has to be some sort of PR stunt or something. The guy hasn’t come into town in nine years, and suddenly wants to play the hero? I can just see the headline now, “HOMETOWN HERO: Hockey Legend Selflessly Saves Town Ice Rinks from Utter Destruction!”
Has to be because he’ll be signing a new contract, then use this to up his value to potential teams, get a higher paying contract, then we’ll never hear from him. I’d bet he’d probably convince everyone to name the new project after him. “The Carter Williams Rec Center.”
Hell no.
Putting on my best “fuck you” customer service voice, extra polite and saccharine, I address Carter, but keep my eyes on the council. “That’s very kind of you, Mr. Williams. However, you can’t just throw money at the problem and have it solved overnight. The town has to want to keep the ice rink afloat, or else we’ll be facing this exact same problem in another twenty years, in which case you won’t be around to fix it.”
“I understand that, Sophie.” His voice is placating, smooth like velvet, and I have to suppress a shudder at the sound of my name on his lips. “But it’s more than just throwing money around. I have ideas to make hockey relevant to the town again. I mean, I’ve played in enough hockey rinks to know what the rec center is missing.” The council all chatters their agreement, and the townspeople murmur with far more enthusiasm than they did when I was speaking. He talks more about how his experience makes him singularly qualified to oversee the reconstruction of the rinks. Some bullshit about state-of-the-art locker rooms and self-serving concession stands, and the council is just eating it up, telling him yes to everything and offering to have some new plans for the rinks drawn up.
My brain tunes them out. The fucking gall. I have been working my ass for the last two months trying to come up with new fundraising ideas. I’ve snagged sponsors, publicity spots, and spent countless sleepless nights trying to come up with ways to save the piece of my heart that lies within these rinks.
Then Carter comes in for less than ten minutes and convinces the council to let him take over and basically tear down the rink. Un-fucking-believeable.
My mind only registers that the meeting has ended when the people around me stand and chatter with excitement. I need to get out of here. Exiting my row of seats, Carter’s voice calls after me. “Hey! Sophie, wait!” Ignoring him, I move through the townsfolk who are not moving towards the exit, but toward…
I whip my head around and see Carter surrounded by the majority of the council, as well as at least twenty other people.
Holy shit.
Black hair, shorter on the sides and longer on top, is styled in an artfully messy way. His broad shoulders pull his button-up shirt tight across his chest, teasing at the built muscle underneath. His body has filled out since I saw him last, but his face…
His jawline is sharper, his features more defined. I had thought he was hot before, but damn, the years have been kind to him.
Yet, underneath it all, I still see the boy I loved. My Carter.
Our eyes meet briefly, his torturingly familiar, ocean-blue eyes attempting to pierce through my very soul.
They hit me like a kick to the chest, almost making me lose my breath before I turn away from him.
Nice try, but I learned my lesson nine years ago. I won’t be looking into those eyes any longer than necessary.
Unlike the rest of the town, I am not dumbstruck by the man-turned-apparent-legend that is Carter Williams, and take the opportunity to make my exit. I nearly freeze when I see Tom leaning against the wall, frowning. My eyes narrow and I gesture violently towards Carter with a look that says “Did you do this?”
He shrugs, which only further stokes the anger rising inside of me.
Rolling my eyes, I stalk past my traitor of a brother, barging through the door and letting it slam shut behind me.
I make it halfway down the hallway before I hear his voice again. “Sophie! Sophie, wait!” Increasing my speed as much as I can in these damn heels without tripping and breaking my neck, I try to escape before he catches up with me. The last thing I want to do is face him right now.
The clack of shoes speeds up and I keep my head forward, pretending that I don’t hear the voice calling after me. I’ve just exited the building when the door opens behind me. I can’t take it anymore—the running, the urge to look at him, the pain in my chest. It’s all too much.
“Can we talk? Please?” He has no right to sound sincere.
Whirling, I take the two steps separating us and jam my finger into his chest.
His very hard, sculpted chest.
“You want to talk?!” I can’t help but shout. Doing my best to ignore how good he looks in his button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and fitted slacks, I poke further into his chest so hard he winces. “Let’s talk, big shot. Should we start with how you left everyone for nine years and have no right to waltz back in like you own the place? Or how I have spent every spare minute for two fucking months fighting that council tooth and nail, showing up with fiscal schedules, lists of way to minimize the cost of the repairs, bids from contractors, and you just swoop in like some kind of goddamn knight in shining armor and steamroll that. You’ve practically convinced them to tear it down so you can have some sort of self-important monument to yourself!”
He looks at me with surprise, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. All that and he has nothing to say for himself? “Soph, I?—”
“You know what? No.” I take a step back, shaking my head and throwing my hands up in exasperation. Not hearing from or seeing him for nine years is one thing. But for him to come back to town and try to destroy the rinks, the place we spent the most time together? We grew up on that ice and he knows how much it means to me. Implying we should just tear the whole thing down because it’s “outdated” is a whole different kind of betrayal. “This is low, even for you.” He says nothing as I turn and walk away. Behind me, I hear the door of the building open again.
I barely hear Tom’s voice when he says, “Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Carter sighs. “Yeah. Yeah, you did.”
Whatever the fuck that means.
“I come bearing the holy offerings! Let me in!” I use the hand not holding the bag of Chinese food to knock on the door again. The doorknob turns and my best friend peeks her head out, raising an eyebrow at me when I lift a wine bottle with a grin.
Abbie, BFF since high school, moved away for college and only came back to Ivy Glen a couple of years ago after graduating from nursing school. We try to get together at least once every few weeks for girls' night, and we’ve already had ours this week, but I really need this.
Abbie’s shoulder-length brown hair swishes as she moves to open the door the rest of the way. She gives me a look when I walk right past her, beelining straight through her living room to go to the kitchen, her freckles crinkling on her nose. Once there, I pull a corkscrew out of the drawer and uncork the bottle. The liquid makes a chugging sound as I take a swig straight from the bottle.
Her kitchen is stacked with odds and ends, cute little wooden signs fixed to the walls with little sayings like “But first, coffee,” “Oh for forks sake,” and “Let's make pour decisions”.
“Rough day?” She laughs, walking in after me.
“You don’t know the half of it.” I turn toward her as she takes down two glasses, presumably to stop me from guzzling the whole bottle. As I grudgingly pour some in each, she gets plates so we can dish out the food.
“It’s like, how does he think he can just waltz back into town after disappearing for almost a decade?” I ask once we’re settled on the couch with dinner. Her style is evident in this room as well, with cream walls, a lavender couch and throw rug, and a giant sign on the wall that reads “Sassy, classy, and a bit smart-assy”.
Abbie’s clearly not surprised I’m immediately complaining about Carter. I’ve called her twice already since I found out about his return.
I take a bite of an eggroll, talking around it. “Then, he has the nerve to demand to talk to me? After he fucking cheated on me? I don’t fucking think so.”
“Oh shit,” Abbie leans forward, eyes wide. “What happened?”
“What happened is he showed up to the council meeting and told everyone he’s paying to redo the rec center. Like, completely redo, tearing the existing building down. I don’t know how I can stop him without having to talk to him.”
“Is that what you want?” Abbie eyes me knowingly.
What I want is to be able to live the rest of my life without having to think about Carter or how he demolished my heart ever again. What I want is for him to be ugly so my mind isn’t warring with my body over how attracted I still am to him after he destroyed me. He’s only gotten better looking since high school, which I wouldn’t have thought possible, but it’s marred by the fact that all I feel is betrayal when I see his stupidly handsome face.
“I want a lot of things, Abbs, but that’s definitely at the top of the list.”
“Well…” Abbie says slowly, plucking a piece of chicken off her plate with a pair of chopsticks. “You can’t avoid him forever, especially if he’s going to be working on the rec center. Maybe you can finally get the closure you need and move on with your life.”
I nearly choke on my food. “Excuse me! I’ve already moved on with my life, thank-you-very-much.”
Abbie just rolls her eyes, which makes me want to toss an eggroll at her. “Sure. Soph. If you say so.”
Not wanting to be under her scrutiny regarding Carter any longer, I switch the topic to work at the flower shop. From there it’s on to her day with wacky fellow nurses, and after an evening of doing our nails and watching movies, I make my bed on her couch, ready to crash for the night. It may not officially be a “girls night’, but being here is definitely better than going home and having to deal with my brother.
Logically, I know that I’ll have to talk to Carter at some point to get closure, but that’s a problem for future me.