Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
R owdy
Krista held my hand like she’d been doing it since birth, and she hadn’t left my side since Tressy had taken off for the bathroom. It seemed like she’d been gone for a while, but she’d probably got stuck talking to someone. I wasn’t worried. She’d be back.
“I don’t know about you, man, but I might be getting too old for this shit.”
Brian Fiskers was the only Stag team member here today, but only because he’d once been a Devil. And once a Devil, always a Devil.
I continued to scan the crowd, watching for any situation I might have to step in to diffuse. Most of the guys knew the drill for these outings. Have fun but don’t start any shit. We were in public, for fuck’s sake. Save the drama for the ice.
But there were always unknowns with the new guys. Nineteen-year-old Wellar had earned a reputation as a hothead in one of the toughest junior leagues in Canada. Brock Mingo had been a second-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Colonials eight years ago but had never managed to make it to the NHL because of a plague of injuries. The guy was a walking accident waiting to happen, but he could stick handle like a seasoned pro.
And Denny Hollowell had been a high-ranking junior player in the American system, a shoe-in for a top draft spot, until he’d been one of the victims of the worst hazing incident in modern hockey. Not many people knew the whole story, and Denny wasn’t talking. At least, not to me or my dad or any of the other guys. And I had to respect that. But damn, it’s been hard not to want to find out who had hurt this absolute puppy dog of a kid and beat them to a pulp.
Yeah, I was aware of the contradictions in that scenario, but it didn’t make me any less willing to do violence to anyone who’d put that haunted look in that kid’s eyes.
Anyone who knew me knew that if you needed a wingman, I’d be there. If you needed a helping hand, I’d give you one. And if you deliberately hurt someone I considered mine, well, prepare to face my wrath.
“Man, we were too old for this about five years ago,” I finally responded to Brian’s comment after making sure there was nothing going on.
“I really think this is the last year for me.”
Shaking his head, his too-long hair brushing his shoulders, Brian looked out over the crowd like he was looking for someone. I had a feeling I knew who, which was proven true when his gaze stopped moving. Following his stare, I saw Rain and Tressy emerge from the hallway to the restrooms.
“You know you could just ask her out.” I leaned a little closer to Brian, so no little ears would hear. “I promise I won’t cut your balls off for touching her.”
Brian went rigid beside me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He paused. “And if I wanted to ask her out, I would.”
Which was bullshit, because Brian? —
Tressy’s eyes met mine again, and she stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time, taking my measure. When her lips curved in a smile, my heart started to pound, and I grinned like a lunatic.
Beside me, Brian shook his head. “You’re toast, man.”
Yep, I knew that.
“Can I have some more pancakes?”
Krista’s voice drew my attention away from her mom. “Okay, if you’re sure it won’t make you sick. You must’ve had twenty already.”
Krista giggled, the sound hitting me right in the feels. “I haven’t had twenty. I only had ten. And they’re so little. May I please? And can I have whipped cream?”
I had no defense against Krista’s pleading. She was just too adorable. Those big dark eyes and dusky skin and the pug nose with those freckles. And it wasn’t because I saw Tressy in Krista’s features. As a matter of fact, I saw nothing of Tressy in Krista’s features. She must really take after her dad.
Was he was still in the picture? Neither Krista nor Tressy had mentioned him, and I knew Tressy wouldn’t be the kind of woman to screw around on a boyfriend or husband. I just knew.
“Exactly how much sugar have you fed my child already?”
The smile in Tressy’s voice made all the hair on my body stand on end. I turned to find her grinning at me. With her hair loose and shiny, and those blue eyes gleaming, I wanted to kiss her from head to toe and everywhere in between, and it was probably a good thing she couldn’t read my mind. Although the heat in her eyes made me feel like I’d been scorched.
“Obviously not enough to turn her into a sugar monster because she hasn’t started to scream yet.”
“Krista, can you come over to my house this afternoon to play? My mom said it’s okay.”
The little girl who’d run up to Krista’s side and grabbed her hand was one of the Angels’ daughters. Mandy was a carbon copy of her mom, from her head to her toes, but I still saw a little of her dad there, too, in the shape of her mouth and the way she smiled. Her dad, Derek, worked as a local firefighter and ran his own handyman business. He was on the payroll at the arena.
“Mommy, can I?”
Tressy looked at me, as if I had a say in the decision. Then I realized she was asking my opinion.
“Hey, Mandy, why don’t you ask your mom to come over and talk to Krista’s mom?”
“Okay.”
And off she ran back to her mom, Daisy, who’d been talking to Rebel and a few of the other players. Daisy smiled, waved and said something to Rebel, then took Mandy’s hand and walked back to us.
“Hey, I don’t know if you remember me from Thursday night, but I’m Daisy. You met Mandy already. She said she’d like to have Krista spend the day with us, and I’m totally fine with that if you are. My husband’s a firefighter, so he knows CPR, and Mandy’s gluten-free so we’re used to food intolerance. Mandy’s been begging to have friends over for weeks but with school and sports stuff with our older kids, we just haven’t had time. But today would be perfect. If it’s okay with you. Rowdy’ll vouch for us, won’tcha, Sheriff?”
Daisy and Derek were two of my best friends from high school. “How come you never invite me over for playdates anymore?”
Daisy slapped a hand on my chest, hard enough to sting. “Because you’re worse than a teenager. You eat all our food and drink all our beer and make my husband get banished to the couch because he ate too many damn hot wings and gets indigestion that annoys the crap out of both of us.”
I laughed. “That was a good night.”
Daisy gave me a look. “Not for him, it wasn’t.”
I just shook my head because, yeah, Daisy had condemned Derek and me to sleeping together in the guest room. I’d had too many beers to drive home, and the guest bedroom would’ve been mine alone if Derek hadn’t gotten the worst case of indigestion. We’d laughed practically all night, like teenagers and woke up with matching hangovers.
“Not for me, either, hon.”
“You deserved whatever you got that night, Rowdy.”
Tressy watched the interplay, the discomfort I’d seen a little earlier disappearing as her smile made its return.
“Are you sure?” Tressy asked. “I know you have a game tonight, and I don’t want to interfere with?—
“Oh, gosh, no.” Daisy waved that thought away with her hand. “Actually, it’ll be good for Mandy. She sometimes gets the short end of the deal. She’s six years younger than her older sister, and they fight like cats and dogs sometimes. You’d be doing me a favor.”
Tressy bit into her bottom lip, sliding me a quick glance before smiling back at Daisy. “If you really don’t mind…”
The two little girls began to giggle and jump up and down, holding hands.
“Krista, honey, you need to be good.”
“I will, Mommy. Bye!”
Krista didn’t look back as she and Mandy linked hands and took off across the room to Derek, while Daisy gave Tressy a smile that was clearly grateful.
“Thank you. Mandy doesn’t make friends easily and she’s really taken with Krista. Your daughter is a sweetheart.”
“Thanks. She doesn’t get to do a lot of playdates at home. I work and there aren’t a lot of kids her age in our building?—”
“They’ll have a great time.” Daisy reached out and squeezed Tressy’s hand. “We have a big backyard and a playset that doesn’t get used nearly enough. We’ll bring her to the game with us, if that’s okay with you? ”
My brain was already calculating how many hours I’d have alone with Tressy. And I was liking that math.
After a second, Tressy nodded. “Sure, that would be great. Thanks again, Daisy.”
“Oh, no problem at all.”
Tressy waved again to Krista, who barely glanced back as she and Mandy headed for the door hand-in-hand with Daisy and Derek, then stared at the door for several long seconds before turning back to me.
“Derek’s one of my oldest friends from school,” I assured her. “He and Daisy were childhood sweethearts who had their first kid when they were twenty. There are a lot of good people in this town, but those two are great.”
I wanted to reassure her that St. David was safe. That the people here were some of the best in the world. She could find a haven here, if she wanted one. Because she’d been running from something. And she still hadn’t told me what. But now we had the entire day to ourselves. And while I wanted to spend some of it alone and naked, I didn’t want her to think that’s all I wanted.
“So since we have some time on our hands, you wanna see something cool?”
Her expression lightened in a way that made me grin, because I knew exactly what she was thinking.
Her brows rose, challenging. “I think I saw a lot of those cool things last night. What else is there?”
“I think you’ll be surprised how much more there is to see. Are you ready to get out of here?”
She paused. “You’re sure Krista will be okay?”
“Cross my heart.” I made an X over my chest and gave her the biggest smile, which served the purpose of making her laugh.
“You’re dangerous, Rowdy Lawrence.”
“Only to your sanity, Tressy Meyers.”
Another laugh, louder and with that distinctive hitch at the end. I would know that laughter anywhere. It was so familiar. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d heard it before. Which made me look at her more closely, trace her features and wonder why she felt so familiar.
Then she shook her head, took my hand and tugged on it.
“Oh, I already figured that out. So where are we going?”
I took her out the back door, so we didn’t have to run the gauntlet of the entire restaurant. If we had, we’d still be trying to make it out.
It wouldn’t take long for everyone to realize we were gone. This town’s gossip network worked without a hitch. I liked to bitch about it, but then I’d think about how it had once saved the life of the town’s grumpy widow, Mrs. Travers, when several people, whom the old woman literally hated, had realized she hadn’t taken in her mail or paper that morning. They’d descended on her home and found her on the kitchen floor with a broken hip from a fall.
That’s the kind of town this was. Tressy didn’t have to worry about Krista spending the day with Mandy. Just like she didn’t have to worry about whatever secrets she was still keeping. They’d be safe here.
“We have to make a quick stop at my place,” I said, sliding her a glance. The raised eyebrows I got in return made me grin. “But don’t get your hopes up. We’re not staying long.”
“Then why are we stopping?”
“You’ll see.”
When I pulled up to my house a few minutes later and shut off the car, her lips curved. “Not stopping long, huh?”
Leaning over, I kissed those grinning lips because I couldn’t not kiss her. But I didn’t linger, even though she tried to follow me back over the console .
“I meant it, we’re not staying. And none of your womanly wiles will change my mind.”
She was still laughing when I got out of the car and headed around to her side to open her door.
“So what are we doing here?”
“Switching vehicles. Your sneakers are behind my seat. Grab those before you get out.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Why do I need my sneakers? And when did you get them?”
“Hey, I gotta keep some of my secrets. Come on.”
She let me help her out of the truck then followed me to the garage. I’d already hit the remote to open the door and walked in to give my baby a pat.
“Hello, old girl. Ready to go play?”
“Um, you’re not talking to me, are you?”
I turned to wink at Tressy then nodded for her to come closer.
“Nope. This is my first love. Tressy, meet Betty. I bought Betty when I was sixteen. She’s a ’73 Jeep CJ-5 Renegade. Old Mr. Dietrich left her sit in his barn for years, and it took me months of work to get her to turn over the first time. Now, she’s strictly for off-roading.”
Today was a perfect day to take her out. Not too hot. Not too cold. No wind. No roof.
“Off-roading?” Tressy sounded sceptical.
“Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
It took her a second, but she laughed at my “Back to the Future” reference, shaking her head. “I kind of think you need roads to drive on.”
“Some of the best places aren’t on a street map. Come with me and I’ll show you one of them.”
I grabbed the ball cap I kept in the back for Rain and held it out to her.
“You’re gonna need that. Just pull your hair through the hole. ”
Another slight hesitation, but then she smiled, set her sneakers and bag in the back seat of the Jeep, and grabbed the hat out of my hand.
I motioned for her to turn so she was facing away from me. “Give me that hairband around your wrist. I’ll braid this for you so it doesn’t get all messed up.”
For a second, I thought she’d say no, that she’d do it herself. And again, she surprised me and handed over the elastic. Her hair felt like silk as I twisted the strands into a loose braid. I had the urge to wrap that braid around my hand and tug her head back so I could kiss her like I wanted to. But if I started, I wouldn’t want to stop, and we’d end up naked in my bed. And while that was definitely on the books for later, right now I wanted to show her we could have fun outside the bedroom.
“All ready.”
She turned, the look on her face hard to read.
“What? Did I do it wrong? Is it too tight?”
“No. It’s fine.” She drew the braid over her shoulder and looked down at it. “Perfect. Not a skill I expected you to have.”
Now, she eyed me suspicion.
“If you get in the car, maybe I’ll tell you all about how I acquired this amazing skill.”
Her lips quirked, like she was trying to suppress a grin, then she flipped the braid over her shoulder and got into the passenger seat.
Firing up the engine, I revved it a couple of time, grinning when she gripped the oh-shit hande above the door with her right hand and the seat with her left, then shifted into first and shot out of the garage.
The rumble of the engine combined with the rush of air from the open roof made talking pretty much impossible. But I could tell from her expression that she was having fun. It was hard not to have fun with the top down on a beautiful day heading into the forest and the hills that surrounded St. David. It felt like another world out here. Town meant people, noise, work. The woods meant quiet, solitude and relaxation.
I turned off the paved road and took the first dirt track I came to. Tressy sucked in a breath as the Jeep dipped and rocked, the wheels spinning for a second until they caught. Then we bumped along for at least a mile before we got to the clearing.
Technically, we were on state game land. Most people looking to commune with nature parked at the trailhead farther along the road. This area was used mainly by hunters, but it was too late in the day for them. There were no cars in the clearing.
“Are we hiking?” She reached behind the seat to grab her sneakers and swapped out her low boots.
“Not far. It’s an easy half mile or so.”
“It’s the ‘or so’ that usually comes back to bite you.”
I winked, which only made her eyes narrow. “Not afraid of a little walk, are you?”
Putting her hands on her hips, she gave me another one of those looks that made my blood heat. And my cock twitch.
“Why do I have the feeling you’ve said that to a lot of other girls?”
I shrugged. “Never had to. St. David girls grew up in these hills, just like the guys.” I nodded toward the trail. “Come on, the path is pretty tame. Can’t wear myself out. Got a game tonight.”
“Uh huh.”
She didn’t sound convinced, but I got out and walked to her side. She’d just finished tying her second sneaker when I opened the door. Her head was directly level with mine, so I leaned in and snagged a kiss. Her lips went soft against mine immediately, and her hands wrapped around my neck, like I’d try to get away. Instead, I put my hands on her hips and dragged her closer.
Heat flared in an instant, and she maneuvered herself so that her legs were around my waist, pulling me even closer, her heels on my ass. My body responded with a surge of desire that made every nerve ending feel like it was on fire. And yeah, I wanted to have her again. Hell, I’d make it work in the cab if I had to, but I didn’t want her to end up with bruises or a twisted back. I could be a gentleman long enough to wait until we got back to my place.
But first…
I pulled back just as she slid her tongue across my lips, making me groan.
“Don’t make me turn this Jeep around, lady.”
She laughed, the sound becoming so familiar, I hated to think what I’d do without it.
“Like you don’t want to?”
Hell, yes, I wanted to. “I’ve got plans for later, but right now, I wanna show you something.”
She made a production out of her sigh and rolled her pretty eyes, but her smile was sweet.
“Okay, fine. I’m all yours.”
She realized almost immediately what she’d said and how it sounded. I saw it in the way her eyes widened, and her lips parted. Lips still damp and puffy from our kiss.
I grinned. “Nice of you to acknowledge that. Come on. Let’s go.”
I helped her out of the truck, holding onto her hand as her feet hit the ground.
“The trail’s got a gradual incline until pretty close to the end.” I started walking, adjusting my gait so I didn’t get too far ahead of her. “Then there’s a decent uphill, but it’s not long. And I promise, it’ll be worth it.”
She didn’t look convinced, her expression skeptical as she sized up the trail ahead. But then she nodded and kept walking, though I saw her note the posted hunting signs.
“Is it safe out here?”
“At this time of day, yeah. Most hunters are here early and this part of the gamelands isn’t known for having a large deer population. Sometimes, there’re bears around, but they don’t usually mess with people. If we’re lucky, though, maybe we’ll see Bigfoot.”
I swear her laughter made the sun shine brighter. “Now that’d be worth the climb.”
We walked in silence for the next few minutes, me watching her take everything in around her like she’d never seen so many trees in her life. But after a while, I heard her take a deep breath.
“So,” she said, “I did something today I’m not very proud of.”
Fuck, that didn’t sound good. “I hope you’re not talking about spending the night with me.”
She huffed out a laugh and smacked her hand against my abs. “I’m not but keep it up and I might be.”
Sighing, she paused for a few seconds while stupid relief flushed through me.
“Can I tell you something in confidence?”
“Absolutely.” I was dead serious. “You can trust me.”
I wanted her to trust me with everything.
“A little boy recognized me today, and I asked him to keep it a secret.”
None of that sentence made any sense, so I kept my mouth shut and just nodded.
“I don’t know why I did it. I mean, it’s not like no one knows, or even cares, who I am anymore. But I’ve gotten so used to keeping that part of my life in the past, it was almost habit. But I asked a child to keep a secret for me, and, as a mother, I can’t live with that.”
“Are you a serial killer? Did the kid witness you kill someone?”
She rolled her eyes as she glanced up at me, her lips twisted. “No, of course not.”
“I hope you know you could tell me if you had. I’d help you bury the body.”
She looked up again, so quickly she nearly stumbled over a root in the path, looking at me like she didn’t know if I was telling the truth.
I shrugged, like it was no big deal. “Hey, I’m just saying. There’s a lot of land out here. No one would ever know.”
Shaking her head, she stared at me like I’d just turned into Bigfoot. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Probably won’t. I’m one of a kind.”
Sighing, she shook her head. “I just…I don’t know what to do with you.”
“Sure you do.” I didn’t mention that she’d done a pretty good job of knowing what to do last night, but I figured that would be pushing the line. “You were about to tell me all your secrets.”
She paused, like she was reconsidering her confession, though what this woman would have to confess, I couldn’t imagine. Maybe she was married. Maybe she had a steady boyfriend. Maybe Krista’s father?—
“I used to be famous.”
Okay, not what I was expecting. “Um, okay?”
“I mean, not like worldwide famous. I’m not Beyonce or Taylor famous but… I was well-known as a kid.”
“For what?”
“I was an actress. I was on a TV show that blew up overnight. It was a fluke, a lightning strike. But it made me—well, it made my character a household name.”
I waited her out, knowing she was choosing her words. The day was beautiful, the sun shining through the leaves that were left on the branches. Oak and maple leaves littered the ground, hiding the edges of the trail. But I could walk to our destination with my eyes closed.
Finally, she said, “Did you ever hear of the show, ‘Broad Street’?”
“Hasn’t everyone? Isn’t that where Denee Hennings got her start? ”
Something blipped at the back of my brain, something important. But it was lost in the realization of who Tressy was.
“Holy shit .” I stopped in my tracks. “You’re Mabel Ann.”
She nodded, staring straight ahead as she continued to walk, as if she hadn’t just blown my mind. “I was. That role kept my family off the streets. It came along at a time when we were struggling and weren’t sure if we were going to have a roof over our heads the next week.”
Well, shit. That sounded scary as hell. And something I knew nothing about. Most people would say I’d led a charmed life, and I couldn’t argue. My biggest worries growing up had been hockey and girls. And sometimes, grades, ’cause, you know, hockey and girls.
But even if my parents had had money problems, they damn sure wouldn’t have used their children to make more.
“That’s a hell of a lot to put on a— Wait, how old were you then?”
“Ten.”
What the actual fuck? Ten years old and carrying the weight of her family’s survival on her shoulders. Jesus, no wonder she had issues with her mom.
“That sounds an awful lot like child labor.”
Shrugging, she shook her head, not meeting my gaze.
“My mom didn’t think of it that way. And neither did I, really. I loved to act. Loved going to the set and working with different people and not having to go to school. And for a kid who maybe didn’t always have cookies or chips at home, craft services was heaven.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. She’d said her early life had been tough. I don’t think I realized just how tough.
“I’d done commercials before that,” she continued. “Not a lot, but my mom kept putting me up for sitcoms. She was relentless. I think sometimes I got the show just so they wouldn’t have to hear from her anymore. No one expected that show to hit as hard as it did. And it exploded after the first season. And Denee took off with it.”
I thought about the little I remembered about Denee, most of it revolving around her early tragic death.
“Was she a good friend?”
Now, Tressy glanced at me with a sad smile. “The very best. The kind that only comes around once or twice in your life.”
“I’m really sorry. I know she died.”
Nodding, Tressy’s mouth flat-lined. “She did. It was devastating. I felt like I lost my only family.”
“Your relationship’s that bad with your mom and sister?”
Another quick shrug. “It’s better when we don’t spend a lot of time together. And I have a lot of guilt about that. So,” she took a deep breath, like this was the hard part, “when she asked me to appear at Tiff’s concert in the city Thursday night, I agreed. I just didn’t realize she wanted me to duet with my ex.”
Ex-boyfriend? Ex-husband? Ex-what?
She laughed a little, probably at the look on my face.
“Ex-boyfriend,” she said. “Who I hate, by the way.”
“Good. I hate him, too.’’
Another smile. “He was a total sleaze. Of course, my mom loved him. She thought I was crazy to want to break up with him. I think she actually tried to set him up with my sister when we broke up.”
Maybe I didn’t want to know, but I had to ask. “Do I know this dickhead?”
She laughed and now I couldn’t help but hear Mabel Ann. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t recognized her before. Hell, a child had figured out who she was, and I hadn’t.
“I’m sure you do. It’s Lucas Downs.”
My mouth dropped open as my brain stuttered. “You dated Lucas Downs? The lead singer for Panda Babies?”
The five-member boy band had been a flash in the pan, but they’d made one brilliant song that had become an instant soft rock classic and was a staple on every grocery store playlist. Lucas had gone on to have a few minor hits of his own before he’d traded music videos for television and became a midlist star on a hit streaming show.
I hadn’t realized I’d stopped in the middle of the trail until she grabbed my hand and tugged to get me moving again. And didn’t drop it when we continued to walk. So I twined my fingers around hers, felt hers tighten around mine. I didn’t plan to let go.
Then something occurred to me.
“Is he?—”
“No, he’s not Krista’s dad.”
Her tone of voice made it clear she didn’t want me to ask the obvious next question. So I kept my mouth shut and let it go. I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me who it. I just had to be patient.
If she stayed.
“So what happened at the concert that made you run?”
The trail had started to become a little steeper and a little rockier, so we had to start paying more attention to our footing.
“We were backstage at the theater. I was putting my makeup on, and Lucas walked into the dressing room like he owned the place. My mom acted like he was a long-lost relative, but I’m sure all she saw were dollar signs.” She shook her head, her gaze still on the trail in front of her but her mind definitely back in that theater dressing room. “Lucas and I dated for a couple of years, starting when I was seventeen. By that time, ‘Broad Street’ had been canceled because Denee had left in the last season and so did the original showrunner and no one else could carry the show. After that, I had trouble landing roles. I wasn’t the cute little kid with the laugh that made everyone smile. I was an awkward teenager with bad skin and an attitude. My mom was making my life miserable. I just wanted to go to high school and be a normal kid, but my mom… She was never satisfied, always wanted more. I think she was afraid of everything crashing down ar ound us again. That there wouldn’t be enough money. As I got older, I realized underneath that drive of hers was fear.”
“I can see where it’d be hard to believe everything’ll be okay when it hadn’t been before.”
Sadness tinged Tressy’s smile. “Yeah, but as a teenager, all you see is your mom wanting more and more. And I just kept pushing back.”
I could see where this was going. “How old were you when Krista was born.”
“Twenty-one. When I was twenty, I told my mom I was going to college in New York and to deal with it. I look back on that now and think how awful I’d been to her then. I had this mental image of her as my jailor, keeping me from all the things I wanted to do with my life. Now that I have Krista, I realize my mom was doing what she knew best to keep us from living on the street again.”
“So when she approached you about the concert, you said yes.”
She didn’t answer right away, her gaze taking in the scenery around us. And it was gorgeous out here. The leaves were turning brilliant shades of orange and red and yellow. Most still hung on the branches, but there was a coating on the ground that made the trail a mosaic of color. Bird song floated through the trees, and I heard the faint rush of water ahead.
“I didn’t at first. I tried to tell her Tiff would shine brighter if I wasn’t there. I didn’t want to take away any of the spotlight from her. And I’ve stayed away from any kind of performing for years and concentrated on building my agency. It’s just not me anymore. But my mom thought having me there would bring in a different audience.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“She promised me I wouldn’t have to do anything other than make an appearance and sing one duet with Tiff.”
“So you sing, too? ”
Her lips curved in a lopsided grin. “I can carry a tune. Tiff has a much better voice than I do, but she’s never been able to really break out. She’d rather be doing Broadway but Mom…”
“Let me guess. Your mom thinks she’ll make more money singing…what? Pop? Country?”
Tressy touched her finger to her nose. “Both, of course.”
“How’s that working out for her?”
“About as well as you think. I keep telling Tiff that I’ll help her get started on Broadway, but she’s just won’t take the leap.”
“You know, you’ve never told me what you do for a living.”
“I haven’t?” She looked genuinely bemused. “I mean, it’s not like it’s a big secret.”
“Like, who you actually are?”
Her nose crinkled. “That’s different. I don’t think of myself as that person anymore. Now I’m just Tressy Meyers, talent agent. My list is mostly children whose parents trust me to make good choices for their children, or former child actors like me, trying to transition into adult roles.”
“You like being behind the scenes now?”
“Oh, yes, definitely.” She lifted her hand, as if to stop me from speaking, “And before you say it, yes, I do realize that I have become my mother.”
“Is your mom as hot as you are?”
Her expression when she turned to me was so comical, I had to laugh.
“I can’t believe— You are— Oh, that is so not funny.”
And I couldn’t stop laughing as we started up the final incline to our destination.
“You’re so damn beautiful, I figure it’s gotta run in the family.”
She went silent as she shook her head, like she didn’t believe me. But she wasn’t blind. She had to know how amazing she looked, even wearing one of my old hats.
The silence continued for the next few minutes, and I knew she was overthinking my comment .
“Rowdy—”
“Is your sister hot, too? You know I’ve got two brothers…”
“Stop!”
Now she laughed so hard she actually snorted. Throwing one hand over her mouth, she smacked my chest with the other.
“Hey, now, no damaging the hockey player before a big game.”
“Is this a big game?”
My turn to snort. “None of them are big games.”
Her head turned. “Why do you say that?”
“Because we’re not really playing to win. We’re playing to entertain.”
“But you don’t like to win?”
“Of course.” I shrugged. “Everyone likes to win. But that’s not what we’re about.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Yeah.”
And I was. Except… Since she’d told me her secret, I wanted to share mine.
“But?” she asked, as if she could read my mind.
“I got a call from an old buddy last week. He actually played for us for a couple months before he got picked up by an ECHL team. He played for them for a year before he got a call up from the AHL team he’s playing for now. He’s a couple years older than me, and he’s looking at retiring and becoming a coach.”
I paused, not sure I really wanted to say this out loud to anyone. It would make it too real, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have to make the decision.
“Does he want you to come play for him?”
“No. He wants me to coach with him at the ECHL level. Wants me to be his assistant.”
“What does that mean?”
The ECHL is a feeder league for the AHL and the AHL feeds the NHL. ”
“That sounds like a great opportunity. But it would mean you couldn’t play, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure I’m ready to leave the ice yet, plus I’m not sure I’m coach material.”
“Why do you say that? I see the way your team looks up to you. They would follow you anywhere.”
“That’s because I’m the only one crazy enough to want to lead this bunch.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Act like what you do isn’t a big deal?”
“Because it’s not. This team would function just fine without me.”
“I know that’s not true. They depend on you to lead the way, even if what you do isn’t necessarily… traditional.”
I grinned at the way she paused there. “The Devils are pretty damn far from traditional.”
“You make that sound like it’s a bad thing. Different isn’t always bad.”
“No, it’s not. But it can be limiting.”
“And you’ve been given an opportunity to broaden your horizons. It sounds like you don’t want to take it.”
The problem was, I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. There were days I thought I did want to take it. And there were days I couldn’t imagine leaving my team and my family and this town. It felt like I’d be abandoning them.
“You left everything behind and moved across the country,” I said. “How’d you do it?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I had a baby to care for, and I wanted to be as far from Hollywood as I could get. So I moved to New York and re-enrolled in college.” She shrugged, her nose wrinkling just a little. “I was lucky. I had enough money to hire a nanny so I didn’t have to worry about Krista when I went to class. I’m not saying it was easy, but the money made it less stressful. And when I graduated, I had an agency ready to hire me. I was young, but I knew the business. Plus, I was a draw. Parents like that I’d been there and done that.
“When our head agent retired a few years ago due to health issues, me and the two remaining agents made it work. Because we had to. It was scary, but we have to make money to live. And I didn’t have a family to fall back on.” Another pause. “I can only imagine how hard it would be for you to leave them. They’re wonderful.”
“They’re also nosy, over-bearing, over-protective, annoying?—
“And they love you.”
I sighed, because…yeah. “I know. It can just get to be a little much sometimes. But I’m afraid if I’m not here…”
When I didn’t finish after a couple of beats, she did. “Everything will fall apart?”
“Sounds kinda arrogant when you say it like that.”
Her laughter rang off the trees and made my blood sizzle. I wanted to pull her off to the side of the trail and kiss her until I convinced her that having sex up against a tree was definitely the right thing to do.
But we only had another few hundred feet before we reached our destination. I could behave myself until then. After that, all bets were off.
“Nah,” Tressy said, “I call it the Curse of the Oldest. It’s programmed into our DNA to think we’re the center of the universe, and that nothing and no one could function without us around.”
My turn to laugh, which made her smile up at me with that grin I couldn’t get enough of. I reached for her hand to tug her against me, but I heard her quiet intake of breath as we reached our destination.
“Oh, wow. This was definitely worth the walk.”
I followed her gaze through the trees to the waterfall that spilled out of the hillside and into the little pond, which flowed into the stream. That stream wound down through the hills and into town. It was so damn pretty, it should be on a postcard. But people around here didn’t like to advertise their secret spaces to outsiders. Of course we welcomed visitors when they happened to pass through town or showed up for a hockey game. Otherwise, we liked our town just the way it was. Ours.
“Rowdy, this is beautiful.”
Yeah, she was. So damn beautiful, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. The waterfall was nice, too, but I’d seen it a million times.
“Come on.” I nodded my head toward the trail. “We can access the pond down here.”
She didn’t move, glancing up at me. “Are you sure you have time for this?”
“I have more than enough time for you.”