[Players on Ice 05] • The Risk Taker

Jamie:

In the NHL, I’m known as the Risk Taker, and I happily lived up to that

handle, especially in my private life, until tragedy struck and turned my

world inside out. I still play hard on the ice, take chances in every game and

reap the rewards when they pay off, but when the buzzer sounds, ending the

game, The Risk Taker takes the bench. Off the ice, I’m cautious. No

commitments, no tomorrows. Then my late brother’s wife returns to Seattle with

her four-year-old son, asking me for help. Fallon an I used to be best

friends. Used to be. I don’t want to get close. I’ll only end up hurting her

again. But how can I say no to the woman I’ve secretly loved for as long as I

can remember? The woman who is a widow because of me. Or do I let down my

guard and take the biggest risk of my life?

Fallon:

Coming back to Seattle and facing Jamie is the second hardest thing I’ve done

in my life. The first was burying his brother and then walking away. But my

son needs a positive male role model, and there’s no one I trust for the job

but his Uncle Jamie. I ran away from him after the fatal car accident—not

because I blamed him, but to protect him. He’s agreed to help us, opened his

home to us, and for the first time in my life, I feel I’m finally where I was

always meant to be. When I’m in his arms, I’m sure of it. When I learn he

blames himself for the accident, I know I must tell him the truth, but will

knowing the real reason behind the crash give him the freedom to forgive

himself and move on, or will it destroy everything he’s believed in, including

me? For Jamie’s sake, it’s a risk I have to take.