Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
T ressy
“Mommy, can I have popcorn? Or ice cream? Or cotton candy?”
“How can you still be hungry? You just had dinner. And we’re going to a party afterward. You don’t want to have an upset tummy for that, do you?”
Krista pouted, her face screwed up with little lines. “No, but?—”
“Krista, honey, if it’s okay with your mom, we could go check out the kids’ area. There are all kinds of games and lots of other kids to play with.”
Krista and Raffi looked at me with almost identical expressions of expectation. I would’ve laughed, but I didn’t want to offend Raffi in any way. The woman had seemingly fallen in love with my daughter overnight, and my daughter had decided Raffi was her best friend. The bond between them was practically visible. I would’ve felt slighted except for the fact that Raffi treated me like another one of her children .
Dinner tonight had just been Raffi, Rain, Krista and me. With the Colonel, Rowdy and Rebel eating with the team, I had insisted on taking Raffi and Rain out to dinner as a thank-you. The four of us had gone to a small Italian restaurant where everyone knew Raffi by name and the chef came out to say hello then invited Krista back to the kitchen to watch her make the sauce.
Raffi had kept the conversation on neutral ground, not digging for information. I had found myself wanting to spill my guts, to confide in this woman who seemed to want nothing more than to help.
But I couldn’t find the right words. At least, I couldn’t find the words that wouldn’t make me sound like an ungrateful daughter and sister.
“Sure, honey. Be good for Miss Raffi.”
“You could come with us, Mommy.”
I would’ve thought Krista actually wanted me to join them, if not for the fact that I knew my daughter and knew that look on her face. Krista wanted her new friend to herself. Krista loved her Gigi—because, of course, Bebe Meyers wouldn’t want to be called Grandma—and her Aunt Tiffy, but they didn’t see her often because they lived in Los Angeles.
Krista made the same face when our neighbor, Rosa Santiago, who was nearing sixty, took Krista for their weekly brunch date on Saturday. Which reminded me that I needed to contact Rosa and let her know we were okay. And to somehow not tell her where we were so Rosa didn’t feel obligated to lie to anyone who might ask.
“That’s okay, sweetheart. You and Miss Raffi have a good time. I’ll be fine.”
Krista’s smile could brighten the darkest day.
“Okay. See you later, Mommy. Come on, Miss Raffi.” Krista tugged on Raffi’s hand. “Let’s go play.”
Raffi smiled as she let Krista drag her back to the entrance to the suite, leaving me to settle into a seat. The suites were located just above the general seating. People were already starting to filter into the arena, most of them wearing Devils jerseys, sweatshirts, t-shirts, baseball caps, scarves, gloves. Some wore camouflage-print pants in the Devils colors of black and red. Every single person wore something with the Devils logo on it.
The merchandising alone had to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Which is probably where the team, or the Lawrences, made most of their money, because it definitely wasn’t on tickets. I’d noticed the prices listed above the ticket windows and, even though Raffi had mentioned that the game was sold out, I knew enough about the economics of ticket prices to know that, even if they sold out every game this season, they couldn’t make enough to cover arena upkeep, player salaries, not to mention staff salaries and all the other costs that went into maintaining a venue like this.
So either the Lawrences were pouring money into this team and facility, or they made a shit-ton of money on merch. I guessed the answer was somewhere in the middle.
Once again, I wondered if I’d fallen down a rabbit hole and ended up in some backcountry Wonderland.
And I really had to stop thinking about St. David as backcountry. Was anywhere on the East Coast truly backcountry? The town had cell service and running water. It wasn’t like they were living in the Middle Ages. Although I had seen a horse and buggy on the road today. I’d stared at it for way too long then laughed when the little boy sitting next to the driver made a face at me.
A feminine growl of frustration from the hall announced Rainbow’s entrance. The curvy brunette whirlwind stomped into the suite, threw herself onto the chair next to me and looked for all the world like someone had told her she couldn’t play with her favorite toys anymore.
“Don’t ever work with athletes, your brothers or your father. They will find ways to piss you off that you would never think of in a million years. They will treat you like a twelve-year-old and tell you not to worry your pretty little head about things and then expect you to design and order an entirely new line of merchandise for next year.”
Rain let out a low scream of fury that should’ve made any grown man cower in fear. I had only met Rain this afternoon at her parents’ house, when she’d stopped by to drop something off and had made me feel like a forever friend within five seconds. She’d complimented my hair, my skin and, weirdly enough, my battered and well-loved Chuck Taylors sneakers.
Then she’d asked if I wanted to join her and a few friends for Sunday brunch. No men allowed, Rain had said. Just gossip, mimosas and enough food to soak up the alcohol.
My head still spinning from the torrent of words Rain had unleashed, I had paused only a moment to say, sure, I’d love to. Which was totally not like me. I didn’t like to be thrown into intimate situations with strangers. I ended up quiet and awkward. But I couldn’t deny I wanted to go to brunch with this woman. She seemed a lot like her mom, who gathered people into her orbit with her heart and smile.
Now, Rain took a deep breath while I tried to figure out how I should respond to her barely leashed fury.
“Do you have any brothers?” Rain said before my brain had stopped working.
“No, just a sister.”
Rolling gorgeous brown eyes that appeared to be a Lawrence family trait, Rain shook her head. “You’re so damn lucky. Don’t get me wrong, I love my goddamn annoying brothers with all my heart, but if I ever get the chance to lace their beer with castor oil, I will laugh as I watch them run to the bathroom every two minutes.”
By this time, I was laughing so hard, I actually snorted. Covering my mouth with one hand, I had a flashback to my childhood and my other life, the one I’d lived in front of a camera and an audience.
Rain lifted her brows as she watched me try to contain herself.
“Well, I’m glad someone thinks I’m funny instead of cute when I’m pissed off. When you’re cute, everybody thinks you’re harmless.”
Rain wasn’t wrong about the cute part. She looked like she could walk on set and immediately everyone would know she was the girl next door. The one who pined after the hot neighbor boy, the captain of the hockey or football team.
“I don’t think you’re harmless at all. And besides, if they think you’re harmless, they’ll never see you coming.”
Rain’s smile took over her whole face now, wiping away the last of the faint bitterness. “I knew I liked you. I definitely think you should stay a while. I mean, like, after Monday.”
Raffi had been careful all day not to bring up the subject of when Krista and I were going to leave. And frankly, I hadn’t wanted to think about it. The mess I’d left back in New York wasn’t going anywhere and, since I hadn’t even peeked at my social media since before I’d left, I didn’t know how bad it was.
I liked being disconnected. Out of reach. And the more I thought about it, the more I was leaning toward maybe taking a few more days next week to stay.
“I mean, I’m not trying to pressure you or anything,” Rain said, “I just figured maybe you might want to take a real break.”
I arched my brows and looked at Rain, who was practically biting her lip, trying not to ask invasive questions, even though I knew she could barely contain herself. Raffi seemed more than willing to let me keep my secrets, at least for now. Rain… not so much.
And I found I wanted to talk to someone. Not that I wanted to spill the whole truth, which was kinda shitty. But I’d grown so used to protecting herself and Krista from a world that would want every little piece of us they could get, that it was second nature now.
“I’m actually considering maybe staying a few days next week. It’s…quiet here.”
Just at that moment, “A Night on Bald Mountain” began to blast through the speakers as the lights brightened throughout the arena and the fans began to cheer. I knew the game wasn’t supposed to start until seven p.m. so this must be warmups.
Lasers shot around the roof of the arena and light projections of flames surrounded the Devils logo at center ice.
Rain leaned forward so I could hear her over the music.
“It’s certainly not quiet all the time. But don’t let this scare you away. This is how we blow off steam all winter. Not much else to do around here.”
I watched as the other team skated onto the ice to boos from most of the crowd. Their jerseys were a bright blue with white trim and, if I was right, their logo was a set of antlers of jagged ice.
“We’ve been playing our home opening against the Deer Run Stags since the league started.” Rain had to raise her voice a little more. “It’s tradition. And we take our traditions pretty fucking seriously around here.”
“Everyone, please be aware that pucks and other objects may fly into the crowd and could cause injury.” The announcer sounded older. And female. Someone’s grandmother. Who smoked about ten packs of cigarettes a day. “So make sure you’re ready to catch them! Throw small children out of the way. Don’t be afraid to throw a few elbows. Our boys sure aren’t!”
And that was my first clue that this wasn’t going to be a normal hockey game.
The music segued into “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” The flames around the center of the ice began to move toward the home bench then burst across the Devils end of the ice until they began to whirl in a circle and then disappeared in a flash. Every light in the arena went out for a split second and the Imperial March from “Star Wars” began to play.
Then the Devils skated out onto the ice.
The goalie entered first, followed by Rowdy, and the crowd, which now filled almost the entire arena, cheered. They rang cowbells and stomped on the concrete stands until I was sure the place shook. As the rest of the team followed, I noticed the music blended into “Carmina Burana.”
The guys began to skate around the perimeter of their end of the ice, their jerseys a bright purple with black trim and their logo of a grinning devil head over crossed hockey sticks on the front.
I laughed when I saw the back of the jersey, a devil’s tail snaking up the spine, the spike pointing to their name across the top. Some were obviously nicknames. Rowdy’s was Sheriff. I’d have to ask him about that later. There was also Bonesaw, Cudgel, The Fed, KooKoo, Admiral, and Jedi. The rest of the team had regular last names, like Wellar, Kruse and Solow.
The guys took a couple of laps, took some shots on net, then lined up on the center line. The other team hadn’t shown up yet, and I was just about to ask Rain what was going on when the music changed to something instrumental. Something I recognized but couldn’t place.
Then the lights dimmed, and a spotlight hit the visiting team’s bench, just as their players started to take the ice. But they didn’t skate around like the Devils had. They lined up on the other side of the center line across from the Devils’ players. Goalies on either end, everyone paired up.
I glanced at Rain, who was grinning like she’d won the lottery. Without taking her eyes off the ice, she leaned forward so I could hear her over the music.
“Do you remember the scene in Dodgeball where the two teams line up at the start of the championship game? ”
And that’s where I recognized the music from. Dodgeball was one of the movies I put on when I needed to laugh.
“That’s where I got the idea.” Rain had to raise her voice as the music swelled.
The music cut off and the arena announcer said, “Welcome, Deer Run Stags. We’re happy to see you this year.”
The crowd booed again, which made Rowdy’s grin even bigger. That grin made heat settle low in my body and between my legs. My brain started to imagine how he would look taking all that gear off. How his muscular arms would flex as he pulled the jersey over his head. How those big hands would easily strip away the protective gear underneath. And how he would look at my?—
“Will the captains please choose their sacrificial—Well, excuse me. I’m so sorry for that slip of the tongue. I mean, will the captains please send their teammates to participate in the rookie shootout.”
I tore my attention away from Rowdy to glance at Rain, who looked at me with raised brows, asking a question I didn’t want to answer.
“Is this something you came up with, too?”
Rain’s mouth twisted into a grin, before answering my question.
“Yeah, it was one of the first things I suggested when I started working with the team. I was sixteen or seventeen, something like that, and I wanted the team to do a fundraiser.”
When the rest of their teammates started to bang their sticks on the ice, I turned my attention back to them. Okay, back to Rowdy, but no one would be able to tell that’s who I was ogling. Except I still felt Rain’s attention like a laser beam on the side of my face, trying to burrow into my secrets.
Not today, sorry
When the rookies stood on the center line between the two teams, Rowdy and the other team captain skated together, meeting in the center circle. They shook hands, though they didn’t smile at each other, which was curious because Rowdy smiled at everyone.
“Don’t they like each other?”
Apparently, I didn’t have to explain my question, because Rain answered immediately.
“Not anymore, no.”
There was something in Rain’s voice that made me want more of an explanation, but Rain wasn’t looking at me now. Guess my questions could wait for another time.
When I turned back to the ice, I realized someone had put a board over the goal with a tiny opening at the bottom.
And the announcer, with her whiskey-and-gravel voice, said, “All right, you know what’s coming next. And if you don’t, where’ve you been? This league’s been around for nearly fifteen years. For all you newcomers, each of our rookies is going to show off their best moves on the ice, and for every goal, the teams donate a hundred dollars to charity. For off-ice moves, well, you’re gonna have to figure that one out on your own.”
The announcer’s voice took on a sly tone that made my smile widen.
“All right, boys. Show us what you got. And make it good.”
I had a feeling Rowdy would be happy to show me exactly what his moves were. And not on the ice.