Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
JACE
Twenty-five miles an hour feels so slow as I lift my foot off the gas and coast into the small town of Sugar Hill Hollow. A sense of nostalgia washes over me as the familiar buildings lining the street come into view.
The solo traffic light in this tiny town switches to red as I approach. It seems unnecessary to even have a traffic light when there are so few cars passing through town. Nonetheless, I press on the brake until the truck slows to a stop and allow myself the moment to really take in the Hollow.
The leaves have already begun to change to bright yellows and fiery oranges and reds, signaling the shift deeper into the fall months and closer to winter. Everything has a way of slowing down here, almost as if everyone hibernates after it gets too cold outside.
The vibrant autumn leaves on all the trees at the base of the mountain tend to make the Hollow a popular destination for tourists. It’s a nice little weekend getaway for people from the city to admire the rolling hills surrounded by the river that flows from the lake at the bottom of the mountain.
Winter also has a way of drawing people in. It’s a quaint little town and when the snow starts to fall, blanketing the cobblestone and glowing in the street lamps, it’s practically straight out of a damn movie.
I just like it here because it’s home. It’s always been home. Even while I was away playing hockey, I yearned to be back here. The west coast has such a different feel than Sugar Hill Hollow.
My phone vibrates just as the light turns green. I ease my foot onto the gas while answering the call and switching it to speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Hey bud, how’s it going?”
A smile lifts the corners of my lips. Harrison Reid was one of my best friends growing up, although he doesn’t live here. He lives in the next town over, with his wife Erin and their five-year-old son Liam.
When I was ten years old, I had outgrown the ice rink here in the Hollow, so my parents took me to a different program in Portland, where Harrison also played. He’s almost two years older than me, so we only played on the same team every other year growing up.
“It’s good. It was a long drive, but I’m almost home now.”
“When is your shipping pod coming?”
I’m moving back into my childhood home, but it’s been empty for the last few years, except for a few things my parents left behind and my old bedroom furniture. There’s a strangeness of coming back here without them living in the Hollow anymore.
I’ve been dodging my mother’s calls for the last few weeks.
It’s not that we have a bad relationship or anything like that.
If anything, it’s quite the opposite. It’s been hard for me after telling them about my early retirement.
Neither of my parents expressed any disappointment, but I still feel it.
And I can’t help but feel as though I let them down.
“It should be here tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’ll come by tomorrow evening and help you get whatever you need inside,” he says.
I pull into the familiar driveway at the end of town that’s closest to the mountain. “You don’t have to do that. I know you’re probably busy.”
Harrison currently works at a rink as one of the coaches, but I know he’s less than pleased with the politics there.
“I’m off tomorrow. Erin has to work but Liam can always come with me. He’d love to see you and help.”
“Don’t feel obligated, Har. I can get it myself or I’m sure Noah would come by.”
Noah Alder is my best friend from the Hollow. We grew up together and we were inseparable, minus the hockey aspect. He played a bit at the rink in town, but he was never super competitive with it.
Not like I was.
I built my whole damn life around that sport and now here I am, no clue what the hell I’m going to do without it.
“Call Noah if you want, but I’m still coming.”
When I park my truck and kill the engine, I let out a sigh and lift up the phone. “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
I end the call and send my parents a text to let them know I got here safely.
I slide my phone into my pocket and don’t move at first. I just stare through the passenger's side window at the house. An unexpected mixture of emotions washes over me. I’m truly happy to be back here.
This is where I always imagined I would retire.
I just didn’t know I’d be forced into retirement, instead of choosing it myself.
There’s a soft scratching on one of the plastic carriers in the backseat, which draws my attention from the house and saves me from the potential self-pity spiral I was about to fall into. My cat peers at me, with her single eye, through the grate on the front of her carrier.
“Sorry, Dr. Grey.” I pull my keys from the ignition and slip out of the truck to grab both the pet carriers, and I look inside the other one at Grey’s sister, Snoop. She’s crouched in the corner, her solo eye wide. “Sorry, Snoop.”
Grey shifts in the carrier and Snoop remains silent as I walk up to the front door and let myself in.
The smell of home immediately infiltrates my nostrils as the door swings open, and a sense of peace slips over me.
This may not have been how I imagined I’d come back to Sugar Hill, but I think this is exactly what I need and where I need to be.
I set the pet carrier down and open the door for Grey and then the one for Snoop. With all the cautious curiosity of a cat, Grey slowly eases herself onto the hardwood floor and begins her exploration while Snoop doesn’t bother to move.
“Welcome home.”
“Coming through,” Harrison announces as he walks in, carrying one of the chairs into the dining room, forcing me to step aside.
Liam follows behind him, hot on his heels, a small lamp in his hands that goes in the living room.
A smile drifts across my face as I turn around and watch him, a spitting image of his father as he jogs after him.
Harrison and I kept in touch when we both went to separate colleges to play hockey.
He even came out and lived with me for a bit after I got drafted.
When Liam was born, I came back as soon as I could, just so I could meet the little guy.
And when they asked me to be his godfather, there was no way I would ever say no to that.
“Where do you want this lamp?” Harrison calls out to me from the dining room.
“Liam can just set it on the coffee table for now.”
I head back out through the front door and down to the shipping container.
Noah had prior obligations this evening, but Harrison and I managed to get everything ourselves.
There are only a few boxes left now. Liam comes running down the steps, jumping over the last three, and hops into the container.
“You’re a great helper, buddy.” I smile at him, ruffling his dirty blonde hair with my hand. “I don’t know if your dad and I would have been able to get all this without you.”
Liam lifts his chin, a smile stretching across his lips as he stares up at me. “What else can I get?”
There’s a small box on top of the last stack that isn’t heavy, so I hand it to him. “Just set it in the kitchen for now, okay?”
“Okay, Uncle Jace,” he says with a nod as he spins on his heel and heads toward the house.
Harrison passes him and steps over to me, grabbing another box. “Did you know the rink is for sale?”
My eyebrows draw together, my stomach immediately sinking. “The one in town?”
He nods his head. “Yeah, we passed it on our way in. You didn’t see?”
“No, I didn’t venture down that way.” I pause, chewing on the inside of my cheek. “I can’t believe they’re selling it. That place holds so many memories for so many people here in town.”
“I imagine someone will buy it and tear it down. Bring in a big chain store or something.” Harrison adjusts his box as I lift mine and the two of us start walking back to the house. “We should buy it.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “What the hell are we gonna do with an ice rink?”
Harrison lifts his shoulders—non-committal—and lowers them. “Whatever we want.”
Mulling over his words, my mind drifts to the rink. It’s where I first learned to skate. Where I first held a hockey stick in my hands. It’s where I fell in love with the game, where I’d go to clear my head when life felt like too much.
“Hm,” I murmur to myself as I step through the front door with Harrison behind me. “I don’t know, Harrison. I’m not sure if I’m ready for something like that.”
I don’t know what the hell I’m doing tomorrow, let alone what I’m doing for the foreseeable future.
“I think it’s worth thinking about,” he presses as he follows me into the kitchen. Liam sits on the floor, trying to play with Dr. Grey, except she’s all but completely blind in her remaining eye.
Snoop is nowhere to be seen, per usual. She has a tendency of hiding when other people are around.
Setting the box down, I slowly turn around to face Harrison. “I’ll think about it.”
“Let me know what conclusion you come to,” he says as he dips his chin. “It’s not a bad idea. We could start our own thing. We both have enough experience, and you having played professionally is enough of a draw for people to come.”
I tilt my head to the side and stare at my friend. “We would need an actual plan. A financial plan, everything.”
“I know,” he says, glancing at his son on the floor as he transitions to petting the cat instead. “We would figure that all out before we do anything.”
Buying a rink and figuring out what to do with it is a big responsibility. It’s a huge project—a time consuming one, at that. Mentally, physically, and emotionally. Is that something I’m even ready for right now?
My eyes drift down to my ankle. That damned traitorous joint. I can’t play again, but I could still be around the ice, maybe even teach kids to love the sport that was my whole life. I have nothing but time and no set plans for my future. This could be exactly what I need.
“What if the rink is sold before then?”
A smirk tugs on his lips. “Then I guess you’d better not wait too long.”