Chapter One
Duncan
“Hey Red, what’s up?” Holding my phone I board the Wolverines charter plane after a three game series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Making my way down the aisle toward the back seats, my niece’s voice rings out.
“Uncle Dunky, you were great today!” I take the phone off speaker, turn my head around and scowl at my snickering teammates who immediately school their expressions.
“Scarlett,” I whisper-yell. “How many times have I said to only use my nicknames in private?”
A snort comes from behind me and I slowly turn to glare at the guilty party sitting in the seat I just walked past. Levi Wallace, the Wolverine’s right winger, is staring straight ahead, but from the look of his shaking shoulders, I can tell he’s doing everything to hold in his laughter.
I glance around at the rest of my teammates, to find them all in similar situations.
My lip curls and I snarl, only to have some of the guys chortle while others cough to cover up their laughter.
My jaw ticks and I work to bring my attention back to what Scarlett’s saying.
“I am in the privacy of my own home.” She counters. I shake my head and scoff. This niece of mine is way too smart for her own good. “It’s not my fault you like to use the speaker on your phone.”
“You’re right.” I squeeze the bridge of my nose, breathe in a deep breath and slowly blow it out. If I could just remember to bring my headphones I wouldn’t have to worry about what nickname she uses. And she unfortunately has way too many I would prefer not to have overheard.
“As I was saying,” she continues. I roll my eyes and press my lips together walking toward the back of the plane. “You were guarding that basket like a man on fire.”
The way my niece talks you’d never know she’s only eight years old. My brother David swears she’s eight going on twenty-eight, and with every conversation I have with her I’m not sure he’s wrong.
“Ava Norris has just broken up with her fiancé after seven years of dating!”
My head whips in the direction of the voice talking about Ava. I stop in my tracks, my mouth parting slightly while my heart rams against my ribcage.
“This is huge news, considering the fact that he just proposed to her last week, and they have been relationship goals for the longest time. And people, we have reasons to believe that this breakup was inspired by none other than the most eligible bachelor…”
“Oof!” A body slams into me and I turn a hard stare over my shoulder at Tom ‘Viper’ Davidson, the Wolverines Center and Captain.
“Hey don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who stopped in the middle of the aisle,” he pins me with his gaze. “Mind moving along so the rest of us can get to our seats.”
“Uncle Duncan?” Scarlett’s voice cuts through my haze. I force my suddenly heavy feet to move. “Were you listening to me?”
“I’m sorry Scar, I wasn’t. What did you say?”
“Aunt Ava is coming to stay with me and Daddy!” Her excitement is palpable and buzzes through the phone.
Suddenly I have two left feet, and if not for Tom grabbing my arm to steady me I would’ve landed on my face.
I rip my arm from his grasp and start walking forward again.
His chuckle in my ears has my lips drawing into a tight line. “She’ll be here tomorrow!”
“...the insane chemistry between Sean and Ava cannot be overlooked. Her poor ex-fiancé! But who could blame Ava? I would do the same.”
My stomach is swirling like a volcano. The news of Ava ending her engagement and coming to stay in Maple Ridge completely overwhelms my senses. Reaching my seat, I shove my bag in the overhead bin and close it with a bit too much force, causing Coach Stone to look at me.
“You okay, James?” he questions.
Focused solely on the voice talking about Ava and her recent breakup, I look around to see if I can figure out where it’s coming from.
“James?” I turn my gaze toward Coach and give a stiff nod before taking my seat. I scrub my hand up and down my face landing to rub my beard.
“You haven’t seen her in a while have you?” I ask Scarlett, working to keep my voice steady while every cell in my body is pulsating.
The last time I saw Ava was at Fiona’s, Ava’s twin sister and David’s wife’s, funeral. Scarlett was only three.
Playing for the Florida Panthers and living halfway across the country meant that Ava and I were usually visiting David and Fi at different times.
Except for exactly three times. Scarlett’s birth, her baptism, and Fiona’s funeral.
That arrangement worked fine for me, especially after Ava started dating Nathan Vaughn. Yes, mega action star, Nathan Vaugh.
I’m sure I would’ve disliked him just for dating her, but it turns out he’s one of the most arrogant people I’ve ever met; which is saying a lot. As a professional athlete I encounter arrogance on a recurring basis, but Nathan, well let’s just say he’s in a league of his own.
“Forever ago!” Scarlett squeals, bringing me back to the present.
“Scar, time to get ready for bed.” David’s voice calls out in the background.
“Okay, Daddy,” She yells back before asking me. “Will you be stopping by tomorrow?”
My chin falls to my chest. They may call me ‘The Denier’ on the ice, but when it comes to my goddaughter it’s hard for me to deny her anything. But that’s exactly what I’m going to have to do. I need a minute to pull myself together before seeing Ava again for the first time in years.
“I’m sorry, Red.” Her pout is so loud I can hear it over the phone. Shame consumes me as the lie rolls off my tongue. “I have practice tomorrow.”
“But I’ve missed you!” My heart melts at her words and guilt floods me.
“I’ve missed you too. I promise I’ll stop by soon, okay?”
She lets out a pained sigh and my lips tug up at the corner. She takes after her aunt with all the dramatics. “Okay.”
“Scarlett?” I say softly.
“Yes, Uncle Dunky?” I bite my lip to keep from chuckling at the small whine in her voice. She’s laying it on thick.
“I love you, and I’ll see you in a few days.” Again, remorse fills me for saying no, and honestly only the possibility of running into Ava would make me do that since I’m a complete pushover when it comes to this little girl. “With a surprise.”
“Scaaarrlett!” David screams, his patience wearing out. “You have school tomorrow!”
“Go get ready for bed before your dad gets even more upset.” Scarlett lets out a giggle. She has us all wrapped around her finger and she knows it. “Good night.”
“Good night, Uncle Dunky, I love you too.”
I slip my phone in my pocket and glance up to see the team’s two defensemen, Noah ‘The Enforcer’ Philips and Henry ‘Cavill’ Spencer, smirking at me from over their seats a few rows up.
“What?” I glower.
“Nothing,” Noah snickers. “Uncle Dunky.”
“Leave him alone,” Henry punches Noah’s arm, his eyes dancing.
I roll my eyes. Those two are the least of my worries right now. Everyone on the team knows that Scarlett is one of the few people who can tease me. Rarely would anyone else ever dare to.
I plop my head against the headrest, and blow out a slow, big breath. Closing my eyes I try to calm the emotions running through me at the news I just heard.
Ava is single.
And she’s staying with David and Scarlett.
Five minutes from my house.
A hand raises to my chest, palm open circling in an attempt to release the tightness gathering there. Fiona’s funeral was the last time I saw Ava, and like every other time since David and Fi’s wedding, it was cordial but strained.
My stomach swirls remembering my eighteen year old self confessing, to a then twenty-three year old Ava, that I was in love with her.
Just drafted to the NHL I was filled with a boldness that had previously eluded me when it came to admitting my feelings for Ava. Not to mention the fact that she was older than me, and my brother’s best friend.
For the first time since I’d known her, our five year age gap didn’t feel like such a big deal.
The day was filled with so much love and Ava looked radiant.
Holding her in my arms, feeling her warmth against me, smiling up at me I was overcome with emotion.
The words effortlessly fell from my lips without hesitation.
My hand freezes and falls from my chest as the pity reflected in her eyes fills my mind.
My hands squeeze into fists as a small trickle of the pain that consumed me in that moment returns. It took years for me to get my emotions under control any time I saw her after that.
Both in person and on the big screen.
Since then I did everything possible to avoid seeing her unless a situation absolutely called for it, and when it did I made sure to be polite but distant.
Living across the country in Florida made that easy without needing to find an excuse. But now I live in Maple Ridge.
Minutes from David and Scarlett.
Minutes from where Ava will be.
It appears my past just slammed into my present and there’s nothing I can do to avoid the collision.