2. Emmy
CHAPTER 2
EMMY
“Excuse me. Can I get some help here?” a familiar voice asks.
I wheel around. My brother is standing next to the front window display.
“Dan?” I circle the checkout counter.
He looks over his shoulder, like he’s checking if someone’s behind him. “Unless you know another guy named Dan who looks exactly like your brother?”
He picks me up in a bear hug, lifting me off the floor.
Is it possible he’s more muscular than the last time I saw him? Even in his jeans and hoodie, he looks like a Greek god.
“Didn’t Mom tell you I was arriving soon?”
“No, but Keira hinted you were,” I say, glancing at Keira in the back and trying to make him feel a little guilty that she knew before I did.
His eyes flick to the cafe where Keira is chatting with an old college friend named Blair. Something passes over his face. “Sorry, Emmy. I’m terrible at texting.”
“So the guilt trip worked?” I tease. “You’re not to blame, trust me. We’ve both been busy.”
I've been so swamped with work at the bookstore and running errands for Grandma Mimi that I haven't even thought about all the tourists about to invade Maple Falls. With Mimi's health getting worse, things have become even more chaotic.
“You can’t be too busy for hockey, Emmy. It’s the biggest thing that’s happened to this town besides Maple Fest. Troy Hart and his brother, Zach, are the masterminds and financiers behind it all. Thanks to Zach’s money and Troy’s arena, we’re going to put Maple Falls on the map.”
Every fall, the annual Maple Fest draws a steady crowd, but with this year’s charity hockey games happening simultaneously, the town is about to be overrun by hockey hysteria.
“Hockey isn’t my thing,” I say. “You got all the athletic genes.”
“It’s a shame, Emmy. I still haven’t convinced you to like hockey,” he says, shaking his head with a teasing grin.
“I might have loved hockey more if you’d taught me to play.” I arch an eyebrow playfully, but Dan knows there’s a hint of truth.
I asked him to teach me once, and he thought it was a joke.
“I should’ve had more faith in you,” he says. “But books are your first love.”
“Hockey pays better, you know," I say. “If we don’t have a miraculous turnaround, I’ll be looking for a new job soon.”
“That’s rough,” he says, glancing around the store, which hasn’t changed in the last thirty years. “What will you do if the Harrisons close it?”
I shake my head. “Honestly? If the Harrisons close the store, I'll probably throw a party. It’d be a ‘Goodbye, Paycheck, Hello, Sweatpants’ celebration.”
Hal and Noreen Harrison are upper-crust snobs, so loaded they'd probably buy the town and slap their name on it if the locals would stand for it. The Harrisons didn’t snap up the bookstore out of any deep affection for literature. They did it for the high-society image it gave them.
“You can’t sit around at home,” Dan says with a frown.
“Are you daring me?” I ask with a grin. “Just give me enough books and I could totally do that. Maybe I’ll even finish writing that novel I started five years ago.”
For the last month, I’ve sensed change is in the air. Maybe it’s the changing seasons, but I’ve never been a fan of transitions. They throw off the comfort of routines, upending everything like a basket of apples.
“Between the charity hockey games and Maple Fest, we’re hoping to get a boost in sales,” I say hopefully.
Dan glances at the front window display, filled with colorful women’s fiction books. “With these?” I can tell he's not a fan by the way his nose crinkles in disgust.
I laugh. “Women love those books, Dan. They’re our top sellers.”
Dan picks up Perfectly Wedded and lifts an eyebrow. “Wait, women actually enjoy this?”
“Believe it or not, this one has been extremely well loved, especially on TikTok.”
Dan shakes his head. “I don’t get TikTok.” Dan flips through the book before tossing it back at me. “I’m sure these books perfectly portray hockey,” he says, not hiding his sarcasm.
I snort. “Women don’t read it for the hockey.”
His lips curve into a smile. “If you want a hockey romance, I know some real players you can date. And lucky you! They’re coming to Maple Falls.”
I roll my eyes. “I want a guy with all his teeth, Dan.”
Dan laughs. “Don’t judge a guy by his teeth. Or lack of them.”
I shake my head and return to shelving books as Dan follows me.
“I remember Dawson Hayes had all his teeth,” he says.
“Your college buddy?” I ask, trying to sound casual about the drop-dead gorgeous goalie who also just happens to be my brother’s best friend.
When Dan brought Dawson home from college years ago, my attraction to him was instant and disarming. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to fall for a hockey player again, even though Dawson Hayes had a smile that made my heart stumble. Cute and boyish with a slightly crooked smile, he was funny and warm and different from the others. But I couldn’t expect a guy like Dawson to take me seriously. Not after Dan had warned me: Hockey guys don’t settle down . Not with one team. Or with one girl.
Over the years, Dan told me awful stories about how other players would cheat on their girlfriends, treating women like they didn’t matter.
His warning was clear. Stay away unless you want your heart broken. That was enough to make me wary of dating hockey players.
When Dan graduated, he and Dawson went to separate teams in different regions of the country. Dan to the NHL and Dawson to the Carolina Crushers in the AHL. But I’ve still kept tabs on Dawson over the years. A quick internet search proved Dan right. Hockey players don’t settle down. Countless pictures showed Dawson with different women. One article detailed how he argued with a photographer at a restaurant while on a date.
The sweet, funny hockey player had developed quite the reputation, one that didn’t jive at all with what I knew about Dawson Hayes.
Dan looks at me warily before picking up another book about history. “You probably heard the news, then.”
“What news?” I balance a stack of books in one hand and carry them to a display shelf.
“Mom didn’t warn you?”
“Just tell me, Dan. I don’t have all day.”
“There’s a reason I brought up Dawson’s name.”
My stomach bottoms out. “Wait, what are you saying?” A warm flush creeps up my neck. I keep my back to my brother, hiding my burning face.
“He’s joining the Ice Breakers as a last-minute addition. He’s in the process of changing teams, and decided to play in this charity tournament before he switches.”
I swallow hard as my heart rate picks up speed.
Dawson had a smile that could light a power grid. Even then, he could make my heart skitter like a loose puck.
If he’s playing for the Ice Breakers, that means he’s going to be staying in Maple Falls. And in this small town, you can’t avoid someone. Except for the farmers’ market, we only have one grocery store. One bakery. And not enough places to hide.
“Why would he want to come to Maple Falls?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Dan replies. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
I wheel around and am shocked to see Dawson Hayes leaning against a bookshelf. Well over six feet, a shock of thick dark hair loosely pushed back from his forehead, Dawson looks like he’s packed on even more muscles since I last saw him. His shoulders are broader, his arms more sculpted, and he’s added one tattoo that scrolls down his corded forearm. Dawson’s lips curve into that boyish smile that’s haunted my dreams. His dark eyes hold an amused glint, probably from seeing me lose my train of thought.
“Hi, Emmy,” he says, holding my gaze for what feels like an eternity.
The stack of books I’m holding falls to the floor with a crash.