Chapter 36
“Ican’t believe it took you this long to finish the book,” Jules said, snatching the paperback copy out of Frankie’s hands. “I read it in two days!”
Frankie laughed and offered Jules a shrug. “I don’t know what you want me to say, babe. I haven’t exactly had a lot of free time.”
With a teasing grin, Jules flipped through the pages of the book she’d purchased for Frankie at the indie bookstore months earlier. The spine was cracked and Frankie had even written in some of the margins, a clear indication that she’d enjoyed what she’d read.
“And? What did you think? Keep in mind that I will be heartbroken if you hated it…”
“Considering I’ve never been much of a reader and the last book I read cover to cover was the league rule book, this was a big step up.” Frankie leaned in closer to Jules with a sly grin on her face. “I can see why you liked it so much. Got a thing for redheads, eh?”
Jules blushed and even though looking into Frankie’s bright green eyes was one of her favourite things to do, she had to look away from the sheer force of her girlfriends gaze because they were in a very public place. Frankie was looking at her like she wanted to devour her.
“What other books do you think I should read?” Frankie asked. Her eyes flicked down to Jules’ mouth, lingering there for a half second before she bit her lip and smirked. “Do you find any of them…inspirational?”
“Now you’re just teasing me.” Jules gave Frankie a gentle shove but she smiled playfully.
“No, I mean it. I didn’t know sapphic romance books could be so visual.”
They were seated at a table in a quaint Halifax brunch spot three weeks after the Harbour's season had officially come to an end, sipping on lattes and sharing a plate of french toast, when Jules realized that the last time she’d been this happy was when she was thirteen and she’d gone on vacation to British Columbia with Cam and their parents.
Her parents had rented a camper and they’d driven through the rocky mountains.
Sometimes Jules could still smell the freshness of the air on that trip, could still see the smiles on their faces as they posed at a viewpoint so an Australian tourist could take a photo of them.
It was the last trip they’d taken as a family before everything changed but Jules felt the same deep comfort now that she’d felt back then.
She was settled, happy, and it had taken her a long time to allow herself to truly feel this way again without even realizing it.
Now she was in a city that had completely captivated her, she was in love with a woman who she’d somehow convinced to love her back, and she was building a life that she was proud of.
If someone had asked her eight months ago if this is how she thought things would’ve played out when she and Cam packed up their life and headed for the east coast, she would laugh and say, yeah right. Try again.
The door to the brunch spot opened, a small bell above the door jingling to alert a new arrival and Cam walked in with Mackenzie trailing behind him, their hands clasped together. Jules spotted them and waved them over to the table.
”Hey you two.” He pulled out a chair for Mackenzie, a pretty blonde who was about his height, and then they took a seat. “Sorry we’re late.”
“I had an early client whose appointment ran long,” Mackenzie said. “And let’s just say she’s a bit of a chatty Kathy. I tried three times to wrap things up but she was convinced that I would fall in love with her son if he showed me his fishing boat.”
Cam kissed her on the cheek then flashed his trademark boyish grin. “And she only gets to see my fishing boat.”
“That sounds like a euphemism I’m not interested in understanding,” Frankie joked.
“Must be a straight person thing,” Jules added, laughing while her brother rolled his eyes.
The four of them had become locals in the cozy cafe, its regular patrons no longer phased by Cam or Frankie’s celebrity and it was nice to feel like they belonged there, like people accepted them into their small community.
Having moved between hockey markets with millions of people, there was something unique about settling in a city with a much smaller population.
Life was a little slower, a little softer, the saltwater air somehow fresher every time you stepped outside. It would be cliche if Jules said she felt like she belonged here, but she’d be happy if they got to stick around for a long, long time.
Cam’s relationship had progressed quickly and when he’d told Jules one Thursday evening over a bowl of popcorn on his couch how he’d never been so captivated by a woman before, Jules could definitely relate.
“I’m going to marry her someday,” he said with a dreamy look in his eyes and Jules believed him.
Mackenzie made the move from where she was living in New Brunswick to a small apartment in Halifax just a few kilometres from the rink.
She’d been running her own beautician business out of her home in Fredericton, offering brow jobs and eyebrow tints, but a former client of hers had recommended a beauty salon in town that was looking for someone to fill a job vacancy so the timing of everything worked out perfectly.
Now they were all together and enjoying life in Atlantic Canada as spring lazily made way for summer.
Jules and Cam had never been in a position like this before; where they could sit across from each other with a partner beside them, feeling fulfilled in ways neither of them ever had.
It had been a long road to where they were now and Jules wished her parents were around to see what they’d made of their lives.
“I love this place so much,” Mackenzie said as she looked around the cafe after Cam settled back down beside her with two lattes. “I know I say it every time we’re here but I mean it.”
“Isn’t it the best?” Jules slid her hand onto Frankie's thigh beneath the table and smiled. “I’m so glad someone recommended it to Frankie.”
Beside Jules, Frankie grinned and shot her a wink then raised her coffee cup to her mouth to take another sip.
When she lowered it, there was a smudge of coffee foam on the corner of her upper lip and Jules wiped it away with her thumb then leaned in and pressed a faint kiss to where her finger had just been.
They slipped into easy conversation after that, the topics flowing from the best pizza place in Halifax, where they could rent a boat for day trips on the water this summer, and who the frontrunner for the cup was now that the Harbour was out and playoffs were heading towards their final rounds.
Given the severity of the situation that had arisen during the final third of the season, Frankie let them all know that during the end of season coaches briefing a few days after the team’s own run in the playoffs came to an end, staff was informed of roster changes.
Isaac, the player who had some sort of misogynistic vendetta against Frankie, the man whose nose Cam had broken when he punched him, had been released from his Halifax Harbour contract.
“Good riddance,” Cam said, scowling at the mere thought of the player he’d leveled. “Waste of space, that guy.”
Jules had been at the practice rink for her own meeting with Harbour staff a few days earlier and she walked out with a conditional job offer.
After many conversations with Frankie about what she actually wanted, the kind of work she wanted to do, Jules realized that as much as she’d come to Halifax with a plan in mind to shift her life away from hockey, she knew deep down that she couldn’t.
It was so deeply ingrained in who she was, part of her DNA, and she loved it. It was that simple.
The athletic therapist position was perfect for her and the timing couldn’t have been better.
It gave her the summer off to spend with Frankie, gave her time away from working with Cam in the off season for the first time in years, and when training camp kicked off at the end of the summer, Jules would slot into the Halifax Harbour training staff like she'd always been there.
Until now, she’d only shared the good news with Frankie and they wasted no time in bringing their relationship to Neil, the team general manager and HR.
They were given the green light after filling out all the necessary paperwork to disclose their romantic involvement with one another and then Jules signed her name on her the dotted line of the job contract.
Working together while being romantically involved didn’t go against league wide or franchise policy as long as the relationship didn’t affect day to day or on the ice operations.
It came as a relief to them both and Frankie teased Jules, telling her that there was no way she could refuse getting back on the ice now; she was officially part of the crew.
“He might be kicked off the team but I’m joining it.”
Cam nearly spilled their coffee as he jumped up from his seat and threw his fist in the air. “I KNEW THE JOB WAS YOURS!”
”Oh my god, Cameron…please…” Mackenzie covered her face in embarrassment and Jules shushed him, waving at him to sit down.
“Okay, okay, yes we’re all very excited but – ”
”But nothing. Jules is very happy about it,” Frankie chimed in, putting her arm around Jules’ shoulder and smiling at her.
“How you guys going to celebrate?” Mackenzie asked, taking a sip from Cam’s cup of coffee instead of her own once he sat back down.
Oh, they’d definitely celebrated already.
Frankie had taken Jules back to the seafood restaurant where they had their ‘not a date’ first date.
They shared a delicious bowl of seafood pasta, Frankie ordered a bottle of whatever champagne the restaurant offered, and they took dessert to go.
The chocolate mousse sat in Jules’ fridge for hours until they came up for air in the early hours of the morning feeling hungry and thirsty for more than just each other.
“Great question, babe.” Cam grinned, his voice full of elation. “Any plans for the offseason? You need to do something fun! We’re going to Spain.”
Jules looked at Frankie and found sparking green eyes filled with love gazing back at her. They hadn’t made plans for the summer yet because so much had happened between the end of the season and now but Jules considered their options.
They did have a couple of months off before prep work for the hockey season began and she thought back to the conversation she and Frankie had while they stood at her hotel room door in California.
It was the night when everything changed and Jules could still taste their first kiss, could remember everything about how it felt when Frankie pressed her against the door and told Jules she’d been thinking about kissing her for months.
Maybe in the end it didn’t matter how they’d found their way to this little table in a Halifax cafe, the struggles of a sport they loved, the lives they lived and what they’d lost. All that mattered is that they’d made it here.
“A road trip along the California coast sounds nice?”
A little grin on Frankie’s face grew into a wide smile, one that was so bright it could light the whole harbour on a gloomy day.
“Say the word, and I’m there,” Frankie whispered quietly, so only Jules could hear her. “It’s only a plane ride away.”