Chapter Two
SIDNEY
As a professional hockey player, there are clauses in my contract with the Toronto Nighthawks that restrict me from doing anything dangerous, outside of my job as goaltender, that could result in my death, dismemberment, or harm of any kind.
This is standard practice, as there are some players who are adrenaline junkies and love extreme sports. It’s to stop us from doing stuff like free solo climbs up mountains, skydiving without professionals present, climbing on roofs to put up Christmas lights during a snowstorm, and boxing matches.
I gently remind my sister of this as she stomps like a bull in my direction, her fists clenched at her sides.
You should have called, she growls as she leaps from the porch steps and makes her way down to my car.
I did call. As soon as I knew you were out of your exam.
You should have called as soon as it happened, she corrects, glaring at me as she blindly opens the car’s rear door. Her laser-focused death glare leaves me, then turns soft as she reaches inside for Harper.
I stand motionless as Dani unbuckles a sleeping Harper and hoists her into her arms. The bright orange cast over her wrist is hard to miss. Once Harper is secure in her arms, Dani’s attention is back on me.
Chills dance down my spine when Dani whisper-hisses, I can’t believe you waited this long to tell me. I could kill you. And orange, seriously? You couldn’t have gotten her to agree to a more adaptable colour? A neutral, maybe?
Before I’m able to get a word out, she’s marching past me. I fling my arms out in a what more could I have done gesture, and they flop back to my sides as I watch Dani and Harper disappear into the house. Looking up to the dark, cloudy sky, I ask for divine patience.
With nothing else to do in the chilly dusk, I brace myself for the fight of my life and head into my sister’s house.
I close the door slowly, hoping to not make any noise and call attention to myself.
I cringe at the soft click and freeze, waiting for hell to rain down on me…
but nothing happens. Scanning the main area, I spot Harper in the living room, blinking sleepy eyes and just waking from her post-hospital nap.
The brave girl deserves her rest. She’s potentially going to be as mad at me as her mother when she finds out I didn’t stop for any fast-food goodies on our way here.
I’ll have to bribe her another time because right now, I need to use her as a human shield against her mother.
I can hear Dani in the kitchen, already talking to herself in a hushed, angry tone, no doubt gearing up to rip me to shreds.
I’m not going to let that happen. We are going to have a reasonable conversation, where I’m able to explain everything and defend my choices. With my niece sitting between us as a wall of defense.
Toeing off my runners, I tiptoe my way into the living room. I’m seconds away from snuggling with Harper on the sofa when a booming voice stops me in my tracks.
Absolutely not. Get your sorry butt over here, Sidney.
Son of a bitch. I hate when she uses that voice on me. She sounds just like Mom.
And I will tell her that. Someday. When I want to make her mad. Today is not that day.
I am a professional athlete. A grown-ass man, weighing a hundred and eighty-six pounds, with reflexes like a damn cat. I’ve lived away from home since I was sixteen and travelled solo more times than I care to remember. Not much makes me nervous.
But my sister is not someone to mess with.
She may be five-foot-whatever, with a sweet face and an endearing smile, but she can flip personas in seconds and become Satan’s second-in-command. It’s honestly terrifying to witness.
I clear my throat and step into the kitchen like I’m approaching a bear in the wild.
A small bear. A cute bear. A bear that could absolutely rip my face off if provoked.
Dani stands at the counter, arms crossed, foot tapping, her expression so thunderous it should probably come with a weather advisory.
Before you start, I say, hands up, I need you to remember that I love you. And Harper. And I did the best I could under extremely chaotic circumstances.
Her brows rise. You mean the circumstances where my child broke her arm and her uncle—the responsible adult on duty—didn’t call me?
She fractured her wrist, I stupidly correct. And I did call you!
Not soon enough.
Dani. I drag a hand down my face, searching for the right words, the ones that won’t send her into a maternal rage spiral.
You were literally in the middle of an exam.
You told me last week you couldn’t miss it.
Not for anything. Not unless someone was actively on fire or dead.
And you’re also forgetting the fact that even if I texted you the moment it happened, you didn’t have your cell on you.
Her eyes narrow even more, mouth opening—ready to retort—but I barrel on before she can.
And Harper was…look, she was panicking. Full meltdown. Tears, snot, the whole nine yards. I had to get her in the car. Then I had to get her calm enough to tell me what happened. Then I had to get her through the hospital parking lot, which, side note, charges criminal prices. And then—
I break off, exhaling hard. Dani softens. Not much. But enough that I think maybe—maybe—I won’t die tonight. I’ll just escape with minor bruising and a crushed ego.
I lower my voice.
I didn’t want you to get distracted, or fail your exam, or worry before I knew what we were dealing with. I…thought I could handle it.
Her eyes flick over me, searching. And you did.
I shrug helplessly. More or less.
Dani sighs. I have a feeling she’s about to apologize and tell me I’m the best uncle in the world when a booming voice scares me half to death.
MOM! Harper screeches from the living room. UNCLE SIDNEY TOTALLY HAS A CRUSH ON THE DOCTOR!
My soul leaves my body.
Slowly. Sooo slowly, her gaze slides back to my face, eyes wide, mouth curled into a deadly smirk.
Oh, she says. Ohhhh. Interesting.
No. I point toward the living room as if that will magically erase the words that just detonated my dignity. That’s not true. We’re not—she’s confused. She’s absolutely confused.
MOOOOOOM! Harper shouts again. HE WAS ALL NERVOUS AND WEIRD AND HE STOPPED TALKING AND GOT ALL RED IN THE FACE! LIKE WHEN HE EATS SOMETHING SPICY.
Dani leans her hip against the counter, folding her arms. Stopped talking, huh. The smug look on her face makes me feel all of five again. She’s liking this a little too much.
I was not red in the face.
Uh-huh.
It was hot in there. And I was under a lot of pressure!
She lifts one brow. I bet.
MOM! Harper yells. HE MADE THE HEART EYES!
I cover my face with both hands. Please make her stop.
Absolutely not.
And why is your daughter screaming when she’s a room away?
Dani’s smile is so large it looks maniacal. The evil, delighted kind she gets when she knows she has leverage for the next thirty years. That’s her inside voice. She doesn’t know another level.
Jesus Christ, I mutter to myself as I drag a hand down my face.
So, she says casually, tell me about this doctor.
She wasn’t a doctor, I interject, realizing my mistake immediately. At least I don’t think she was. And there’s nothing to tell.
Does she have a name?
Everyone has a name.
Is she pretty?
I didn’t notice.
UNCLE SID WAS BLUSHING, Harper announces proudly from her nest of blankets.
Come on, Moose. Where’s your loyalty?
Dani snorts. Blushing, huh?
I wasn’t— I stop. Change tactics. Shouldn’t we be focusing on your daughter? The injured one?
Mm-hmm, Dani says breezily, pushing off the counter. We will. Right after you explain your budding crush and how your nine-year-old niece noticed before you did.
That isn’t—I didn’t— God, why can’t I put sentences together today?
Dani pats my cheek as she breezes past me toward the living room. Oh, Sidney. I’ve waited years for this.
For what? I sputter.
A woman who makes you forget how to function. She winks over her shoulder. Can’t wait to meet her.
I stand there, mortified.
I can block slapshots at ninety miles an hour without blinking. I can bend and twist and reach with agile precision. But my sister taking pity on me because I have a crush?
Devastating. A blow that almost knocks me right on my ass.
Now, tell me everything, Dani says, a sinister look on her face. From the point Harper hurt herself, right up to the point you let this mystery woman slip through your fingers.
Knowing there’s no getting out of this, I let my head fall back and stare at the ceiling for a minute, getting myself together and trying to plot out the best course of telling her everything without telling her everything.
It started with Harper getting on the trampoline with Heather P., who—
WHO I’M NEVER SPEAKING TO AGAIN!
I press my lips together, taking a deep breath through my nose. I thought the day was long, what with our hospital adventure. But I was wrong. Tonight is going to be the longest night of my life, trying to get this story out with Harper scream-interjecting every other sentence.
Any other night, I would have just laughed and gone with the flow, but I have an important matter to attend to: finding Eddie.
And figuring out why I was so drawn to her.