Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
L ouie eyed her over his breakfast bowl, as if daring her to blink. And while she’d conducted stare-offs with her cat in the past, she’d always lost. Just as she was going to lose this dare to contact Zac again.
She glanced down at her phone, sitting on the kitchen counter next to her untouched bowl of granola. Today’s shoot would be more intense, and she needed energy for that. But also for this. She shoved a mouthful in, winced at the cardboard taste. She bet Zac knew a tastier option, and she wondered what he ate for breakfast.
“Meow.” Louie drank his milk then leaped to his favorite position on rainy days, atop a bookcase, near the window. Keeping company with her book boyfriends was a good way to spend the day.
She eyed her phone again, as her heart knotted. This probably wasn’t good. Probably wasn’t wise. But neither was it kind to leave a man’s concerned inquiry blinking on her phone. Not that she’d had a problem with that in the past. Not that the men had been too concerned about her, more concerned about why she’d dropped them. As soon as they revealed their true motives she blocked their numbers.
But Zac, well, she couldn’t do that to him. He was too nice to leave hanging. And they were friends. So leaving his messages unanswered looked really selfish. Looked really selfish, because it was. She’d been so busy between shooting and dealing with her lawyer that she didn’t know how to respond.
But even that was a cop-out. She knew what to say. Just the lines of communication between them were starting to feel a little blurred. Regardless, she couldn’t let this be so one-sided. Especially after she’d seen him get hit, and she had worried about him. And prayed he was okay.
She swallowed, and picked up her phone. Reread his message. Listened to his rambling phone call again. Winced at the “this is Zac, your fake boyfriend” comment, like he thought she might have forgotten who he was. He’d left the ball in her court, so it was up to her to return serve.
She pressed his number, closed his eyes. Would he answer? She had no idea what time zone he was in, or if he was training or travelling or napping. Pro athletes napped, didn’t they?
His voicemail message kicked in, and her words fled. Ugh. She was supposed to be good at words. Maybe she was only good when she had a script. “Uh, hi Zac. This is Ainsley. I’m just returning your call. Sorry I missed you. Uh, bye.”
She ended the call, wincing. Why was it so hard to talk on the phone? She was a professional talker for goodness’ sake! And she hadn’t even answered his question. Seriously, she was kind of lame. Rosie would be ashamed of her.
Still, she had work to attend, and thanks to her dithering, she was now running late.
It wasn’t until she got in that evening that she had time to check her phone again. Saw the call from her lawyer, who assured her the offer had been accepted. Yes! She called Stirling back.
“It’s good news, Ainsley.”
“It’s fantastic news!” She hoped her mom and Aunty Win would think so too.
“Now we have the subject removal period. Did you or Mack want to inspect the house yourself?”
“No. We trust you.”
“Okay. Then I’ll get the inspector to check it, then if all is good, I’ll put the deposit in. And I’ll have a bunch of documents for you to sign, so prepare for that.”
“I’m away next week, so you might need to email some of them.”
“I’m afraid some will need to be signed in person, but we’ll work as fast as we can.”
“Do you think we can close and get the keys by Christmas?”
“That’s pushing it, but that’s what we’ll aim for.”
“You’re a gem, Stirling.”
“You’re a star, Ainsley.” Their little joke.
“I mean it, though. You don’t know how long my brother and I have been wanting this to happen, so to think it’s so close feels like a dream.”
“I think it’s a great cause, and will be a real blessing to many women.”
“I’m praying so.”
“Okay, I gotta go, the wife is calling.”
“Give Bernice a hug from me. We’ll do dinner soon.”
“Let’s celebrate once it’s done.”
Which just may be by Christmas! She ended that call, phoned her brother, left a message, then returned to see the message of a missed call lighting her screen.
Zac. Again. Playing phone tag with him was getting ridiculous. Still, she was excited and wanted someone to share her good news with, so she called him back.
“Ainsley. I hated that I missed you again.”
She closed her eyes at the warmth in his voice. He’d missed her? Oh. He probably only meant he hated missing her phone call. That was all. “Um, I’m sorry it has taken me awhile to get back to you.”
“Hey, it’s okay. We’re talking now.”
She smiled. “So, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”
She laughed. “You don’t need to make fun of me. I’m genuinely asking because you hurt yourself, didn’t you?”
“You mean the back check in Saint Paul last night?”
“When that big dude whacked you, yes.”
“I’m okay,” he assured.
“Good.” She didn’t want to sound like she worried but was curious. “Does that kind of thing happen often?”
“Getting injured?”
“Are you injured?” she asked quickly.
“No. I had a slight twinge, but it’s gone now. The medics have cleared me to play tomorrow night.”
She sighed. “I don’t think I realized just what a dangerous game hockey can be.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is exciting.”
Her lips lifted. “Hey, where are you?”
“In my room. I was having dinner then I thought I’d try and call you, but I didn’t want to do that in front of the others.”
“Oh.” She was tempted to ask why, when they were trying to keep their relationship alive in front of others. But maybe he had some conditions he finally wanted to share.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“In my apartment. Here in Vancouver.”
“Want to video call?”
Oh! Should she? She should probably refresh her makeup and fix her hair, but then, this wasn’t a date. She didn’t need to fuss. He was only her friend. “Uh, sure.”
A moment and a few glitches later, she could see him on-screen, wearing a Canucks T-shirt and sweats, sitting up in bed.
She smiled and waved. She’d propped the phone against a vase of lilies on the dining table. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He grinned.
Oh, this felt awkward. Almost cutesy real. Like they were in one of the rom-coms she so often starred in.
“You look nice.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “So do you.”
She’d seen him so often in intense mode or dressed up that it was really nice to see him relaxed like this, smiling at her like they really were a couple—whoa, her friend .
“What’s that face for?” he asked.
“What face?”
“You were looking happy, then you weren’t.”
Oh, she must be in relaxed mode, too, to have turned off her face. She hadn’t given it permission to act like that today. “Um, I don’t know.”
“You know, if I was your friend, I’d call you on it and ask what it was. Oh wait, I am your friend.”
“My pushy friend,” she grumbled, but with half a smile.
“Whoa. Not trying to be pushy.”
There was no way she was telling him that just seeing him made her heart smile. They weren’t at that level of good friends.
“I’m guessing you’ve been pretty busy lately.” He clasped the back of his head in a move that made his muscles pop and her almost avert her eyes. Almost.
Maybe a video call wasn’t such a great idea. “Um, yeah.”
“So, I wanted to check in about what my mom said. Do you mind if she posts something about your filming on the island?”
That’s right. The original purpose of this call was to talk about that. Not ogle him. “Um, if it’s all the same to her, I’d really appreciate it if nothing gets said for a little while. At least until after the filming.”
“Which is when again?”
She told him, and he nodded. “So you leave the day I return. For how long?”
“It depends a bit on the weather, but maybe five to eight days.”
“Which island again?”
“Thetis. It’s pretty quiet. They have a Capernwray Bible School there, and my aunt lives there too.”
“Your aunt?”
“My mom’s older sister. She’s been sick.”
His face softened. “I’m sorry.”
His sympathy clogged her throat. She cleared it. “So it’s always good to see her when I can.”
“Family is forever, some say.”
Except when it obviously proved not. Like her real dad walking out, her aunt’s husband abandoning her when she got sick, and what her grandfather had done.
“Speaking of family,” he continued, “my mom would like to meet you.”
“Oh, that reminds me, my dad is desperate to meet you.”
He smiled. “I’d like to meet him too, and all your family. Maybe at Christmas?”
She nodded. “Maybe at Christmas.”
Then she blinked. But meeting her fake boyfriend’s family suddenly felt a lot more real than not. “Um, so was there anything else?”
The good humor left his face. “Oh, right. I forgot. I should probably let you get some sleep. But hey, before I go, how are you? Like really.” He shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about when we were having dinner and you were sharing that stuff, and it’s been on my mind. I’ve been praying for you,” he added, humbly.
Her heart clenched. He might’ve prayed aloud for her, but when had a guy volunteered to pray for her—and done it? “Th-thank you.”
His lips tweaked. “I know you probably have a lot going on, and a lot to think about, so if ever you need to talk to someone, I’m happy to be your man.”
Her insides shivered at those last words. Come on, girl. Pull yourself together . “Actually, I got some good news today.”
“You’re getting a gritty role?”
“That’s probably a little way down the track.” But how good that he remembered. “No, this is something I’ve been praying about for a while.”
His eyebrows lifted, like he was inviting her to share.
Oh, what the heck. She was excited. And he was her friend. “So, I bought a house.”
He blinked. “You bought a house?”
She nodded.
“I thought you had an apartment.”
“I do.” She picked up her phone and showed him the living space.
“And a cat, I see.”
She peered over her shoulder. Turned back to the phone. “That’s Louie.”
“Hey Louie,” he called.
Louie hissed.
He laughed. “I don’t think Louie is a fan.”
“That’s okay. I am.”
Her words fell into a space of time that seemed to magnify her meaning the longer she left it. He’d pressed his lips together, but from the way his cheeks pushed up she guessed he was trying to hold back a smile.
“So about this house,” he prompted her.
That’s right. Her house! “So it’s still going through, and we’re hoping it will get settled by Christmas, but it’s a passion project I’ve had for a while.”
“A passion project about…?” He smiled. “You can’t keep dropping all these snippets and not expect me to want to know more.”
“Did you say snippets?”
“I said snippets. Why? Are you anti-snippet?”
“No.” She laughed. “I’m just not used to guys using words like that.”
“Clearly you’ve been hanging out with the wrong kind of guys.”
“Clearly.”
“So this passion project…?”
She exhaled. “I don’t know why when I talk to you, I always go off on all these tangents.”
“I must bring it out of you.”
“Apparently. So this passion project,” she rushed to say, before he had to remind her again, “is related to the White Night cause, and I’m excited to think it will finally get underway.”
“That’s not really giving me a lot of information, Ainsley.”
“I know. But until it’s actually one hundred percent sorted, I don’t want to go spilling too many beans.”
“Fair enough. I can understand.”
She sensed that about him. About lots of things. He understood the price of fame. He understood the challenges of contracts and media and causes and endorsements. He understood her life because his was not dissimilar.
“I think it’s awesome what you’re hoping to do.”
“You don’t even really know what it is I want to do.”
“It’s something good that will benefit people, though, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Then that’s awesome,” he said gently. “I respect you.”
Her eyes filled, and she had to call on all her years of training to pull back her tears. How long since she’d had a guy tell her he respected her? That he understood her? This man was too much. She hoped he meant it, that these weren’t some smooth lines he pulled out to woo a girl. Although why he’d be wooing when they were already in a relationship—as fake as it was—didn’t make sense to her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I should probably go.”
“Before you do, I think it would really help our cause if you came to a game one day soon.”
“I will. As soon as I can.” Her smile twisted. “Which might be mid-December when I’m finally free.”
“That long away?”
“It’s my work. I’m so busy that it’s why I don’t do real relationships. There’s never time to relate.”
He nodded. “I get it. I’ve been accused of not having time too. So, anyway, speaking of mid-December, if you’re free on that second Friday in December, we’re having a team Christmas event that would be good for you to attend.”
“What date?”
He told her, and she checked her calendar. “I’m free. You’re right, it’s probably about time I made an appearance there. I don’t want people thinking we’re not together.”
His chin jerked. “Even if it’s all for show.”
“Exactly.”
* * *
The rest of the road trip saw two more wins and a loss, before he finally boarded the plane home. His return would see an avalanche of obligations, sponsorship meetings, skills sessions with kids, meetings with his agent. But busy as he’d be, he couldn’t help but wish their schedules would allow him to see Ainsley before she flew away for work.
He slept the three hours on the return journey, deplaned and saw his messages. His mom. His agent. His sister. Franklin. Oh! He smiled. And Ainsley.
After collecting his bags he made his way to his Porsche. He didn’t want Chris overhearing. The last conversation with Ainsley had felt so real, so sweet, it was like he’d entered into one of her movies with her, where he really was the hero as she’d called him all those weeks ago. He really wished they could see each other soon.
He entered his car and tapped his voicemail. Listened to her message. Smiled at the smile in her voice. He loved her voice. “Hi Zac! I hope you’re doing well. Sorry about the last game. You played well.”
He closed his eyes. She’d watched him? That was something. Even if he’d much rather have her watch him in person.
“So, anyway, I thought I’d let you know that there’s a bad weather front coming in on the islands, which means our departure has been delayed. So we’re shooting here a little longer, but it does mean I’ll be around for your next home game. If you’re still wanting me to come see you play, that is. So, please let me know if you want me to come see you at a game. But only if you want. Okay. Bye!”
If he wanted? After ten days apart he was like a hungry man. Seeing pics of her online wasn’t satisfying. He checked the time. Past midnight. She wouldn’t still be up. Man. He wanted to call her. But that wouldn’t be fair.
He’d just have to call her tomorrow. Or message her right now.
If I want? You know I want you to come. I can’t wait to see you again . There, that wasn’t too much, was it? It was honest, anyway. He pressed send.
Knock knock.
He jumped, glanced through the window. Drew. He powered down the window. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. You okay in there?”
“Yep. Just sorting some stuff.”
“Ainsley kind of stuff?”
He bit back a smile. “Maybe.”
“She gonna come to a game one day? Be good to meet her. You know, after not meeting her at that White Night thing, and only messaging her on your behalf. You still owe me for that, by the way.”
“You’ll get yours.”
Drew grinned. “So, is she coming to a game?”
“Next home one. She thinks.” Please God.
“Awesome.”
He nodded. Awesome it would be, indeed.