7. The best bad luck
Chapter 7
The best bad luck
Skye
Phin said I somehow made him spill his guts. But whatever he thought I was doing, he was doing the same, because I answered the question.
“I don’t know.”
“If the garage was it, wouldn’t you know?”
There was the crux of the matter. “But I can’t do anything else right now. We don’t have enough money to hire someone to do my job.” I’d wrestled with this idea so often while waiting to fall asleep. I couldn’t leave, not till we had our finances in better order.
“Well, we’ve got time right now. What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about the garage?”
“Thinking about that doesn’t get me anywhere.”
“Hmmm.” He rested his head on his propped hand, firelight playing over his face. It was a good face, grown up now. His jaw was firmer, covered in brown stubble. A couple of strands of mahogany-colored hair fell over his forehead, his brown eyes studying me like I was game video he was reviewing. I shivered, not from the cold. “What do you like about what you’re doing now?”
I tore my attention back to our conversation. “Oscar and Riley. Helping them, working with them. Knowing I have them at my back if I need them and having theirs. I love my nephew, and my sister-in-law. This place is home. It’s me.”
Family was everything. We’d lost a lot, but never each other.
He was quiet for a moment. “So you like Newfell, but maybe not running the tow trucks?”
“I don’t do that, except when something like this storm comes up. I normally handle the office, the store and the pumps.”
“Do you like that?”
No popped into my head, but it felt disloyal to say it. Oscar and Riley hadn’t flinched about keeping the garage going when Dad died. Neither of them were good at administrative work, and we couldn’t afford to get someone else so I’d taken it over. Part of my pay was free rent above the store. I could not imagine anyone else accepting that deal and living with Oscar.
“You’re not rushing to say yes,” Phin noted.
I sighed. “It’s not a terrible job.”
“That’s a rousing endorsement.”
“Shut up. Not everyone gets to live their dream, hockey star.”
He grinned, a cocky grin that looked like the guy I saw on TV. “You think I’m a star?”
“Come on, you’re the heart of the shutdown line for the Blaze. You guys got so close to the Cup last season. Are you saying that wasn’t your dream?”
“I am living my dream, and I’m damned lucky to do so.” He frowned, and I wondered if he was thinking about Ducky, his teammate, who was out for the season now with a knee injury. But he refocused on me. “Not everyone dreams of playing hockey. You never did when you were a kid. So, what would be the dream for you?”
“I don’t have an answer to that question. You were all about hockey growing up. The boys have always loved tinkering around with cars. I didn’t have anything like that.”
The focus of his attention was unnerving. “There’s gotta be something. If you won the lottery, what would you do?”
“Pay off the garage debt. Get new equipment. Get my own place.”
“And if you still had money?”
“I dunno. New clothes? A college fund for Rowan?”
“What about travel? University? A sports car?”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t want to travel alone. And I have no idea what I’d study if I went to university. I never liked school that much.”
“The car?”
I rolled my eyes. “On the roads around here?”
“Fair point. Oh, you could hire someone to do the office work or run the cash or whatever.”
I smiled at him. “Okay, yeah, I’d do that. So there’s my dream. Win the lottery and pay off a bunch of stuff and hire someone to do my job. I guess I need to start buying tickets.”
It wasn’t exactly a news flash that I was attached to my family. My mother had died when I was twelve, at a time when a girl really needed her mom. It had been an accident, without warning, and the most stable thing in my world vanished.
I’d followed my siblings around ever since, worked in the garage, lived with my brother—and my lottery wish list was mostly things to help them. Having them around, close, made working at a job that was kind of boring worth it. Family was my dream. I’d love to have my own.
But there weren’t that many guys around. In the summer, yeah. Visiting the cottages, looking for a quick hookup or short-term romance. Me, I wanted the forever thing. My one serious relationship had ended when he moved away for better opportunities. He asked me to go with him, but he hadn’t been enough for me to give up what I had here.
Before we had any more true confessions, I was going to shut this topic down. “I’m warm enough to sleep now. We should do that so we can be up when the sun rises.”
He blinked, back in the present again. “Right. Yeah. Good idea.”
I did my best to settle the couch cushions together and braced a decorative one under my head. I nestled into the bedding, pulling Oscar’s jacket over me like a blanket. Phin did the same, and we lay there, side by side. My enemy? Former nemesis? Whatever. I wouldn’t be tempted to spit in his food anymore.
“Good night, Phin.”
“Good night, Skye. Thanks for rescuing me.”
I rolled over, unwilling to stare at him till one of us conked out. Despite the long day, the weather, and the reasonably soft bedding, I didn’t think I was going to sleep anytime soon.
Phin
I closed my eyes and evened out my breathing, but my mind was wide awake. Skye had given me an idea. It would make up for what my thoughtless words had done to the Duvalls and had piqued my interest in a way that nothing but hockey had for years.
The idea was simple, but making it work would be a challenge. Skye would say no, immediately. Going behind her back would upset her, and I didn’t want to do that. I’d have to sell this to the family really well. Because I wanted to spend more time with Skye. I hadn’t been this interested in someone in years. That was also going to be a hard sell.
I could hear the storm still raging around the house and smiled to myself. I didn’t even care if my car was a write-off. This—meeting Skye, being stuck here together so we could talk and get to know each other again—was the best bad luck I’d ever had.
My mind spun plans. I’d have to apologize to her brothers too, and then maybe we could talk. I’d need to reach out to my business guy and hope he didn’t have a problem because I was determined. I was working on my arguments when I did finally fall asleep.
I woke up at my usual time. To play hockey I had to keep fit and that meant following a schedule. But something was different.
It was quiet. And a little cold, except where a warm body was curled around me as the big spoon. I blinked open my eyes to an unfamiliar place. It took a minute, then everything rushed back.
My Christmas plan for the cottage, the slide into the ditch, Skye, and now snowed in here. Through the big windows I could see pale blue sky.
The storm was over. A warm breath brushed the back of my neck. I twisted my head around to see Skye behind me, still asleep, one arm under her head, the other wrapped around my waist. She had one leg between mine and was burrowed into my neck as if she was seeking warmth.
She probably was. The storm had stopped, but I bet the temperature had dropped. This fireplace hadn’t been designed to heat the entire building. With the end of the storm, someone would fix the power. Skye could leave.
Damn it . Was it too much to ask for just a little more bad weather?
I needed to find a bathroom. I hadn’t brushed my teeth last night, and my mouth was coated in something that tasted bad. I was getting cold too. But I didn’t move. I enjoyed having Skye wrapped around me too much. My neck was feeling the twist so I had to stop staring at her. I turned back, dropping my head on the plaid pillow I’d swiped from Lina’s couch.
My mind worked on other matters. I had enough food and water for today and tomorrow, but if Skye couldn’t leave, as much as I liked that, I didn’t have a lot to keep us going. We might have to raid the tin cans. More likely someone, Skye’s family, would come looking for her and I’d be on my own again. But I pushed those thoughts down.
I felt Skye stir behind me. Her arm around my waist tightened then loosened. Her entire body stiffened and she rolled away from me, taking her warmth with her.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to maul you.”
“No problem. I’m finding it a little cold, so…”
“Yeah, it is a little chilly. Storm’s cleared up.”
I nodded. And if I no longer had a Skye blanket, it was time to hit the head.
I pushed to my feet, feeling the stiffness from sleeping on couch cushions. The one under my hips had slid down, leaving part of me sleeping on the floor. I stretched, checking for pain in my shoulder. Cold air tickled my waist as my sweater pulled up.
Yeah, sleeping on the floor hadn’t done it any favors. But I could ice it with some snow and maybe that would help.
“I’m going to use the bathroom by the sliding doors again. The one by the front door is yours.”
I turned and Skye’s cheeks flushed. Had she been checking me out? If so, I approved.
“Right,” she muttered.
The bathroom was cold since the door had kept out what heat the fireplace could provide, but I was able to piss and clean my teeth. My hair was a disaster and my scruff would soon be a beard, but I wasn’t going to shave in these conditions. I ran my hands through my hair, rinsed out my mouth again, and returned to the great room.
Skye wasn’t back yet, so I tidied up the cushions. I checked the cooler for breakfast options. I had the makings of a protein shake, but no blender to make it in. I also had sausages and eggs, but there was no way to cook those. Yogurt and berries it was, then.
I was in the kitchen looking for bowls when Skye reappeared. I shot her a quick glance. She’d done something with her hair and looked more awake. And very appealing.
“You okay with yogurt and berries for breakfast?”
She came and sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “That sounds good.”
“I brought stuff to make a protein shake, but don’t think that’s happening. And sadly, no coffee.”
“Are you a coffee drinker?”
I nodded. “Not like Oppy though. He’s a coffee addict.”
Her eyes lit up. “I totally buy that. Is he as crazy as he seems?”
Someone was a fan of the Blaze. “Yeah, Oppy is high energy.”
“Who else is addicted to coffee? Royston and Barnes?”
Interesting. Those two were my linemates, the ones I played with most often. “Most of the guys. Not Petey. His body is a temple and he doesn’t pollute it with caffeine.”
Skye shrugged. “Petrov does seem very…serious. His backup, Mitchell, is too, right?”
“Mitch? That guy is superstitious as fuck.”
“He’s still dating Jayna, the hockey player?”
“Yeah, but she can’t play anymore. Knee.” Damn, I hoped Ducky wasn’t done.
Skye’s shoulders dropped. “Well, Petrov wouldn’t approve of me because I pollute my temple. Some mornings, especially in winter, it’s the only thing that gets me moving.”
I liked my morning coffee but I didn’t require it. “Are you telling me you’re not going to move today?”
She turned her head to the window. “Not without help.”
Right. That was out of my hands so I opened another cabinet, finally finding bowls, and started to put together our makeshift breakfast.
I shoved a bowl over to Skye and stirred the berries through my yogurt. It wasn’t the best breakfast I’d ever had, but it wasn’t the worst either.
Skye licked the yogurt off her spoon, pink tongue caressing it and inspiring illicit thoughts in my head that I had to shove away. She dug up another spoonful and asked, “So how does your stepmother survive here without any cell coverage? She hasn’t managed to get someone to build a cell tower nearby?”
“Pretty sure she has one of those satellite things, Starlink, that provides Wi-Fi for everyone.”
“Then why isn’t it working now?”
I snorted. “The modem requires electricity.”
“She really should have a genny, then.”
I was sure Lina hadn’t imagined getting stuck here without power. “Now that the snow’s stopped and we have daylight, I’ll check around to see if there’s something.”
Skye slipped off the stool and brought her bowl to the sink. “I’ll help. My phone is probably dead but I can send a message through the truck radio to let the family know I’m okay and where I am.”
As if called up like Beetlejuice, a truck horn blasted from the road.
Skye grinned. “I bet that’s them.” She ran for the door.
I nodded, but inside I was disappointed. I’d rather scavenge food and be permanently cold than miss time with this woman. But still, I knew where she was. I wouldn’t disappear again.