9. Hadley
Hadley
“Hadley, if you drop your phone in the lake, I am not fishing it out!” my sister calls.
“You’ve been on that thing a lot today,” Mom says. “Everything okay? It’s a holiday and the library is closed, so what could possibly have you so distracted?”
Evy grins. “I bet I know,” she says.
“Doubtful,” I reply, hoping I can pass off my blush for sunburn.
“It’s a guy, isn’t it?” Evy says, coming to sit beside me. “You’ve met someone.”
I shake my head. “Nope.” I am not sharing Bryce with my family. Not yet. Mom will get her hopes up and then be crushed when she finds out he doesn’t live nearby. Dad will want me to bring him to Sunday dinner so he can interrogate him.
No, Bryce is my little secret. For now, anyway.
“You did,” Evy says. “Admit it. Who is he? Where did you meet?”
She’s like a hunting dog on a scent trail. “It’s Paige,” I lie quickly. “She’s at the parade downtown and sending me updates.”
“Updates about a parade?” Evy says skeptically.
“Apparently, the hockey player she thinks is cute is marching today, and she’s hoping to get his attention.” The half-truth comes out way easier than it should. I ignore what that might mean.
Mom snorts. “Why on earth is she trying to get some sports guy's attention? Doesn’t she read the news? They’re always up to no good.”
I shake my head. Even I know that’s not true. “Mom, not every player is up to no good. Besides, it’s harmless. What are the odds she actually meets him, anyway? It’s a huge crowd for the 250th Fourth of July celebration.”
Evy eyes me. “While I don’t doubt that’s true, I still think you met someone. You’ve checked your phone a hundred times already, and you never check your phone. Not even for Paige,” she adds. “And you love Paige.”
I roll my eyes. “I told her I’d check it so she could let me know if she is successful.”
“Mommy, look,” Clara calls from her place on my dad’s lap where he’s letting her steer the boat. “I’m drivin’!”
“Good job,” Evy calls, giving Clara a thumbs-up. “Listen to Grandpa so you don’t wreck.”
“We’re out on the open water. She’s good.” Arthur says. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Mother’s worry,” Mom says. “It’s what we do.”
“Well, I agree with Arthur,” Dad says. “Sometimes mothers worry too much.”
“On that note,” I say, grabbing my bag and standing up. “I think I’ll go read for a while.” I can feel Evy eyeing me as I move toward the front of the boat and pull out a book.
It’s clear she’s not buying my story.
Not even a little bit.
I turn my gaze out over the water. It’s beautiful.
Endless. Calm. I hear my nieces arguing in the background.
My brother-in-law is laughing with my dad, and it feels…
safe. Predictable. I think about Bryce. His charming smile, the way he focuses on me while I’m talking, like I’m the most interesting person he’s ever met.
Would he fit into this world? Or would I need to leave it behind to make room for him?
Dad announces that he’s stopping for a while and asks the girls if they want to fish. Perfect. They’ll be busy trying to keep the girls from throwing the poles in the water, and I can actually read in peace.
I pull out the novel I’m reading—a regency romance filled with matchmaking, gossip, and blossoming love—and get lost in the story for a while.
“You should reapply,” my sister says, dropping sunscreen on the bench seat next to me. “Before you turn crispy.”
I close my book and slide it back into my bag. “Thanks.” I start lathering the sunscreen on, because she’s right. If I’m not careful, I’ll be lobster-red by the time this day is over.
“So, there’s really not a guy?”
I shake my head. “I promise, if I meet ‘the one’ I’ll tell you,” I say and immediately feel a twinge of guilt. I shake it off. I don’t know that Bryce is ‘the one’, so it’s technically not a lie.
Right?
“Okay,” she says. “You just looked… happy. I guess I was hopeful you finally found someone.”
Oh darn you, Evy. You choose now to be all sweet big sister on me? “I am happy,” I say, bumping her shoulder with mine. “I just don’t have a boyfriend.” There, that’s true. We’ve been on two official dates. Definitely not boyfriend territory. Not yet, anyway.
Do I want him to be my boyfriend?
Even with the distance?
The answer comes faster than I expected.
Maybe.
And that scares me. Because if I can’t make a relationship work when we live in the same town, how am I supposed to make one work across the country?
“I think we are going to go to the marina and have some dinner soon.” With that, she heads back to the back of the boat where the girls are busy trying to convince my dad to let them keep fishing.
Since everyone’s distracted, I take the opportunity to check my phone.
There’s a text from Paige telling me she thinks she spotted Colt by the ring toss game, but she couldn’t get there fast enough to introduce herself. I send back an ‘lol’ and click over to the thread with Bryce.
Bryce: Wish you were here.
Before I think too hard, I snap a picture of myself with the sunset in the background and type “Same” before hitting send. My heart flips the second it shows read.
Too late now.
It’s Sunday night, and the first game of the Stars and Stripes all star hockey tournament.
The arena is louder than I expected. There are people everywhere, crowded around merchandise tables, in lines at the concession stands…
Paige grabs my hand and pushes through the wall of people toward the section our seats are in.
I feel like an owl, eyes big, head swiveling this way and that.
I knew sporting events were a big deal to people, but this… It’s something else entirely.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Paige asks, hooking her arm through mine. “You’re going to love this!”
I doubt it, but hey… I’ve been wrong before, I guess. “It’s too soon to decide,” I reply, bracing myself as I get bumped from behind.
Paige shakes her head. “Just wait! I’ll have you waving a foam finger and chirping by the end of the game.”
“Foam fingers are a no,” I say, raising an eyebrow so she knows I mean business.
We move past a vendor selling merch. Stands with small hockey sticks, buckets of pucks, and t-shirts, which are undoubtedly more expensive than the already over priced shirts at Fan Gear.
“Want to stop?” Paige asks.
I shake my head. “No thanks, I don’t need more hockey merch. I already own more than I need.”
Paige makes a confused face. “You have, what, two shirts?”
I shrug. “That’s more than plenty.” Just then, a large crowd pushes by, nearly separating us.
“Alright,” Paige says, “let’s find our seats.
” Paige motions for me to follow her through an opening in the wall to the seating and down the steps toward the ice.
I may not be a sports person, but if ?ballet taught me anything, it’s that the closer you are to the action, the more expensive the tickets are, unless you’re sitting in a fancy balcony seat.
Which means Paige’s dad forked out a bunch of money because we are down near the glass partition that separates the ice from the crowd.
“My dad got us seats near the net,” Paige says. “That’s where the real action’s at!”
Paige weaves her way through people’s feet and bags to two seats located in the center of the row, which means we are surrounded. On all sides. By hockey fans who are yelling and cheering every time someone skates by on those little death blades called skates.
I shiver. I read an article about the dangers of ice skates. Apparently, they’re super sharp. I’d hate for someone to get injured. I think I’ll keep my regular ole sneakers, thank you very much.
“This is us,” Paige shouts. “Best seats in the house!”
Debatable. I could’ve used an aisle seat. In the nosebleed section. Where I could read my book without risk of being shown on the Jumbotron that’s currently showing clips of people finding their seats.
Paige is beaming and clapping right along with everyone else when suddenly she grabs my arm and yells. “That’s him!” she points to a guy skating around in a blue jersey. “That’s Colt Bradley.” She nearly bursts an eardrum when she lets out a loud whistle and screams his name.
I rub my ears, hoping to get my hearing back before the game ends. Only four more games after this one. Maybe next time I’ll bring my Loop earbuds. Though I doubt they’d be strong enough to drown out this chaos.
“What is happening?” I ask, pointing to a few players who are doing weird things with their legs on the ice. “Can’t they get up?”
Paige laughs, shaking her head at me. “They are warming up,” she says. “Stretching and stuff.”
I nod like that makes perfect sense. Which, I guess it does, but why does it look like… that?
“So, what’s Bryce doing tonight?” Paige asks, finally settling into the seat beside me.
I shrug. “I’m not sure. He asked if I had plans, and I told him I was hanging out with you. I get the feeling he was going to ask me out again, or something.”
“Well, the men’s games are every other night this week, so there should be plenty of time to hang out on those days.” She grins. “I’ve got you for three-to-five whole nights and I’m not giving you up!”
Just then a whistle sounds, and the players move off the ice. Two big machines drive out onto the ice. “Those are zambonis,” Paige says. “They smooth out the ice.”
I nod and watch them circle around, leaving shiny fresh tracks on the ice surface.
The lights dim and the crowd roars. Paige cheers along with them as we are officially welcomed to the tournament.
The music gets louder and the Jumbotron flashes videos of the players in action.
The starting lineup is announced and I check my phone as the players skate out.
Some skate to the lines on the ice and some to the player benches a little down the ice from us.