Chapter 37 - June
June
The NHL All-Star Break marked the half-way point in the hockey season. The entire league took a week off, except for the players voted to the All Star teams. From the Reapers, both Rhett and Cole were named All Stars.
Rhett was happy to play, since it was his first time being voted an All Star, but Cole declined to play.
“My knee could use a week of rest,” he said while we waited for our plane to take off. We were flying commercial, rather than private, but Cole had bought us Business Class seats. “Besides, this is more important to me than the All Star Game.”
I reached over to squeeze his hand. “I’m glad.”
A car was waiting at the airport in Vancouver to take us to the northern edge of the city.
Cole was silent, and my anxiety over this trip began to creep up.
He still hadn’t given me any clue as to who Alice was, aside from saying, “Someone important to me. You’ll see.
” But I hated the unknown, even if I knew it wasn’t anything bad.
The car dropped us off at a little blue house with a Georgia Reapers banner flying above the Canadian flag. A young-looking woman stood on the front porch, her hands shoved into the pockets of her sweatshirt.
I hurried up to her and wrapped her in a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you, Alice. I still don’t know who you are to Cole, because he decided that he wanted this to be a surprise, but if you’re important to him, then you’re important to me. Sorry, I know I’m babbling.”
The woman smirked past me at Cole. “You decided this should be a surprise?”
“I like surprises,” he said while joining us. “June, this is Olivia. Alice’s caretaker.”
“Oh. Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Sorry about that. I’m nervous.”
“Are you kidding? You confused me for a twenty-year-old! You just made my morning.” She turned to Cole. “Alice is nervous, too. She woke up an hour early to get ready.”
Cole put a comforting hand on my back. “Relax. This is a happy day, eh?”
“It is,” I said, then we went inside.
The interior of the house was small, but the furniture was carefully placed around the outer walls to allow as much space to move around.
The reason became obvious a moment later, when a young woman in a wheelchair rolled into the room.
She used a joystick mounted to the wheelchair to guide herself right up to me.
“You must be June,” she said through a computer, reminding me of Stephen Hawking. “Don’t be afraid. I sound like a robot, but I don’t have any cool lasers on this thing.”
“June,” Cole said with a broad smile, “I want you to meet Alice. My sister.”
I bent down to hug Alice warmly. “I would love to say that I’ve heard a lot about you, but Cole kept it a secret.”
Alice used very subtle finger movements on a keyboard to respond. “He hides me away because he’s ashamed of me. Please help. Save me.”
I gasped.
Behind me, Cole groaned. “You’re not funny, Alice.”
“Ha ha ha,” she laughed. “I’m very funny.”
“You had me going for a second,” I said.
“Alice likes to torture me,” Cole said, bending down to kiss her cheek. “Even though I’m the nicest older brother in the world.”
I pulled a chair over to sit next to Alice. “Rhett said you didn’t have a sister.”
“Because I don’t tell him every single aspect of my life.”
“I know a lot about you,” Alice said. “The sexy new physical trainer, who distracts Cole every day at work.”
“Hey,” Cole snapped. “You don’t have to repeat everything I’ve told you.”
“I don’t have to, but I like pissing you off.”
I burst out laughing, which made Alice smile. She had some control of her facial features, it seemed.
“ALS,” she said. “If you’re wondering what I have.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“It does suck,” she said. “But I’m lucky to have Cole to take care of me.”
I smiled over at him.
“You’re probably wondering why I keep her a secret,” Cole said.
“Because you’re embarrassed of me,” Alice said.
He glared at her. “Stop it.”
“But it’s fun! See, I’m laughing. Ha. Ha. Ha.”
I put my hand on her knee and said, “I absolutely love you. As the captain of the Reapers, Cole needs more people knocking him down a peg.”
“The team should hire me,” she said. “Throw a mascot costume over me and push me across the ice!”
Cole sat next to me and held up his phone. “Let me show you something.”
“Your Instagram messages?”
“Start scrolling,” he said.
I flinched when I read the first message. It was a death threat.
The second was a paragraph-long tirade calling Cole a dozen different names because he allowed a goal in the third period last game, which caused the person to lose their parlay bet.
Over and over I read all the abuse Cole received. Occasionally, there was a positive message from a fan, but they were rare. I kept scrolling, in disbelief by what I was seeing.
“This is… eighty-five messages. All in the past two hours! I knew celebrities got abuse, but not this volume…”
“And today’s a light day. You should see how many I get on days when we have a game.” Cole took the phone back. “I can handle all of this abuse because I’m paid well. It comes with the job. But Alice…”
He paused to smile at her. When he turned back to me, his eyes were shimmering with tears.
“The internet brings out the worst in people. I don’t want her to be exposed to that.”
Alice cut in: “Aside from my sweet dance moves, the only thing I have going for me is a positive attitude. I’m happy to avoid anyone who might damage that.”
I chuckled at her joke. “I don’t blame you.”
“Cole doesn’t hide me away. He protects me.”
Cole squeezed her hand, and her lips flickered in a smile. Their love filled my chest with immeasurable joy. I could understand why Cole kept her a secret, especially after all the threats with the maintenance guy.
“Thank you for letting me get to know her,” I said.
“Better than what you originally expected, eh?” Cole asked.
“What did she assume?” Alice asked.
“I thought Cole was having a secret affair or something.”
Alice used the computer to laugh. “I like the idea of being someone’s secret affair.”
“I’m your brother,” Cole said. “Don’t be gross.”
“You’d be lucky to get with someone this sexy,” Alice added, wiggling the wheelchair back and forth like she was dancing.
Cole groaned, but I said, “I really like her.”