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Adam handed out a flyer about the soccer workshop. “There’ll be food for sale and the guys from the Seattle team will be signing posters too. We’d love to see you there if you can make it.” He walked down the street handing out flyers to everyone he passed. At Rachel’s shop, he paused to look at her Christmas display before he went in. Red candles flickered letting the scent of pine and Christmas spice pull him into the mood of the upcoming season. Carols played softly in the background. Christmas cookies sat in a bowl on the counter, dusted in confectionary sugar. He picked one up and took a bite while she dealt with another customer. The girl had some serious talent for decorating. He wouldn’t be surprised if she took out the tree decorating contest. Her shop always looked amazing.
“Hi, Adam. How’s your dad?” She finished serving the customer and turned to him, tidying the wrapping ribbon on her counter.
“Almost climbing the walls but doing well. Mom is making sure he doesn’t overdo things and I think she might be going a little bit overboard.” He glanced around the inside of the shop, spying a couple of Dakota’s pieces hanging amongst the branches of the tiny trees dotted around the store. “Selling well, are they?” He snaffled another cookie. “These are good.”
Rachel leaned on the counter, sighing as though disappointed. “Yes they are. I wish I had more stock because we’re nearly out of them and Dakota is far too busy to give me another delivery. Such a shame because I haven’t sold anything as fast as I’ve sold those ornaments.”
“She’s very talented, that’s for sure.” He turned back to Rachel. “I have some flyers here about the upcoming soccer workshop I’m doing with a couple of teammates this weekend. If you could put a few on your counter and maybe one in the window, I’d appreciate it.” He handed her one to look at.
“Seriously? You don’t have to ask, Adam. Heck, I’ll be there as soon as I close the shop. I wouldn’t miss seeing you guys in soccer shorts for anything.”
He laughed, imagining how cold he was going to be. A good excuse to keep moving and run the kids through their paces. “Wasn’t the best time for it but in season we’re far too busy and I owe Cory.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” She blushed and put down the flyer. “Talking of sweet. Tell me to mind my own business if you want but is there something between you and Dakota?”
“Ah, no. Why do you ask?” He picked up a Father Christmas pen from the display and spun it in his fingers, avoiding her gaze.
“Because you seem to click, you know? And I think she’s a lovely person and I’d like to see her happy.”
“You’ve only just met her, Rach. You and I go way back, grade three if memory serves me correct. Don’t you want to see me happy too?” Didn’t he want to feel that for himself?
“Of course I do but you’re more interested in the sleek city type. I was thinking of introducing her to my brother’s friend. Remember that geeky kid with the thick glasses in our class, Reggie Hollows? Well, it just so happens that he’s living not too far from here in Polson and is quite the brain these days. Even has his own computer business. Doing very well for himself from what I’ve heard.”
“And?”
“Well, he doesn’t have a girlfriend, he’s a bit shy still. Dakota seems like a kind person and maybe they’ll hit it off. I was going to ask if he wanted tickets to the gala. He might even like to ask her to be his date.”
“Oh, right. Well, I guess that’s her decision then.” Why did his heart plummet at the thought of her dancing with another man? He didn’t have rights on her time as much as he liked to think so.
“Great, I’ll give him a call then.” She held out her hand. “Give me some more of those and I’ll make sure they all get handed out for you. I know plenty of ladies who’d love to go and watch you and your hunky teammates kick a ball around the field.”
“Thanks, Rach.” He gave her half of what he had left and quickly left the shop, his heart pounding. Adam headed straight back to the office, picked up his phone and dialed Dakota before he could change his mind.
“Dakota, hi. Sorry to bother you when you’re so busy but I had a thought.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, doing his best not to come over as needy or desperate. “Since we’re working on the gala together and I’ve already offered to be your second in charge tree decorator, do you think we should go to the gala night together?” He waited for her to answer.
“Um, sure if that’s what you want to do.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “Great. Yeah I do because we’re going to be the ones that keep the evening going. Keep everything on track and it wouldn’t be fair to another date if we kept dumping them to do the job, if you know what I mean.”
“Couldn’t agree more.”
Thank goodness.
“I wanted to say thanks once again for my crystal bumble bee too. It was very sweet of you.”
“It was the least I could do. I noticed you have quite a collection of crystal and you reminded me of a busy bee. Besides, I enjoyed watching your face when you opened the gift.”
He heard a gasp of pain over the phone and sat up, panic rising in his chest. “Are you okay? What’s happened?”
She gave a tiny cry, groaned and he heard a clunk as she dropped the phone.
“Don’t move. I’ll be there in a minute.” Adam hung up and grabbed his car key, bolting out the door for his vehicle. It was hard to keep to the speed limit as he drove toward the cottage thinking the worst. Had she broken a glass object and was bleeding out while all he cared about was getting her to agree to go to the gala with him before anyone else could claim her as their date? How pathetic. He raced through town, toward her cottage, pulled up in front of the property, slammed the car into park and ran to her door. He pushed through it without knocking and came to a screeching halt at her workshop door, panicked and out of breath.
She stood looking at him, her hand out, her lips in a tight line. “Adam, stop.” She wiggled her fingers. “It’s a burn. Nothing more, so calm down.”
He dropped his head, waited for his heart to stop pounding.
“My fingers cop a few burns now and then because I can’t always feel the heat against them until it’s too late. I blame it on the accident, severed nerves in my fingers. While it hurts it’s not a big deal.” She stepped forward and put a hand on his arm, noticed the pale trembling lips. “Hey, this isn’t just about me, is it? Something is worrying you.” She put an arm on his back and pushed him out to the lounge room toward the couch.
“No. I’m fine, I panicked when I heard you cry out.” He took her hand. Ran his fingers around the welt coming up on her fingers. He guided her into the kitchen, turned on the cold tap and held her hand under the running water to cool down the burn. “Let me deal with this. Where’s your first aid kit?”
“Under the bathroom cabinet.” Most of the color had come back into his face.
“Don’t move.” He squeezed her arm and strode away. Dakota watched him leave, his purposeful strides giving her reason to believe what she already decided. He wasn’t immune to her at all. Moments later he was back. He turned off the tap and handed her a towel. “I’ll let you dry that so I don’t hurt you.”
Dakota took the towel, dabbed at her hand and then let him dress the burn. When he put the first aid kit back in the bathroom, he came out looking almost as stressed as he did when he arrived.
“Go sit in the lounge. You need a coffee as much as I do and I can manage by myself so don’t fuss.” She filled the coffee machine while keeping an eye on him. He’d leaned back and closed his eyes but his skin was still pasty.
Dakota made them each a mug and joined him in the lounge room. “Here. Get this into you and talk to me.” She sat down beside him and waited while he gathered himself.
“Thanks.” He sipped and put his cup down. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I’m not usually such a panicy person. It’s just when I heard you cry out, I freaked out.”
“You’ve patched me up and I’m fine. Thank you.” Dakota took note of the sweat breaking out on his forehead. Adam had something more than her pressing on his mind and she knew what it was.
“Do you think this has anything to do with the panic you felt when you heard about your father?” Made sense to her and as much as Adam might think he’s dealing with it, she had other ideas. Nearly dying herself and having plenty of rehab gave one a different perspective on life and with the counseling she’d had in the aftermath, it wasn’t a stretch to think he was super imposing his thoughts about his own health crisis onto her. One little burn didn’t warrant this kind of all out panic even though she loved that he cared.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I was worried, sure but he’s okay now.”
Treading delicately, Dakota searched for the right words. “Do you worry about what you’re going through, about how you might have the same disease?”
He looked at her and she could see the idea taking shape in his head.
“I’m no psychologist, Adam, but you do seem to have an overactive reaction when it comes to someone getting hurt. Is it possible you’re more worried about your own mortality than you’re letting on?”
“I’d never let my own worries take over like that.”
She raised her eyebrow and waited.
“I wouldn’t.” He looked away and when Tiny jumped on his knee he didn’t reach out and touch her. She whined and climbed over to Dakota. Adam met her gaze. “Would I?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s hard to know what our subconscious does to us.”
“I...”
“Don’t let it worry you. I won’t say anything but if you want to talk, I’m here.”
He blinked, wiped his hand over his face, the haunted look in his eyes worried her. “I’m terrified. Absolutely freaking terrified they’ll find I’m a walking time bomb. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that if I am. And here I thought I was coping with it okay.”
She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Adam. I wish I could say the right words, take away your pain but I can’t.” She kissed his cheek and held him close.
The tremble of his shoulders eased as she held him.
“I’m a coward.” A sigh shuddered up his throat. “I’ve known about this for weeks but I’ve been too scared to go and have the tests.” He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. “Sometimes it feels better not knowing.”
“That’s not the way to live. You need to know so you can put strategies in place.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to make those kinds of decisions yet.”
“Well, when it gets too much for you, I’m here if you want to talk. Don’t feel you’re alone, Adam. We’re friends, remember?”
“Yeah, friends.” He said it in such a bitter way she almost laughed but what he was going through wasn’t a laughing matter. She’d felt the same anguish when she woke from her accident knowing it wasn’t her decision to keep her fingers. It was all down to the surgeon’s skill and luck. Adam would be feeling the same pain, the same indecision, the same insecure future.
Was he worried that, like her, he’d be off-limits to that special person? Roger’s betrayal had all come down to money and prestige. What did Adam fear the most?
“Tell me what you’d planned on doing when you retired?”
“I thought I told you.”
“Not sure I remember that conversation but tell me again. Refresh my memory.” Talking had helped her work through her problems. It might help him too and she was happy sitting here with her arm around him.
“I have two offers from networks sitting with my management team. Means I’ll be on air during the season discussing games instead of playing in them.”
“Does that make you feel as though you’d be missing out on anything?”
He dropped his head and stared at his feet. “Yes. No. Not too sure to be honest. Going into the sport we all know that it’s not going to last forever. That’s a given. But having to leave earlier than expected is going to take some getting used to. That’s if they find out I have what Dad has.”
“So you hadn’t given it any thought to retiring yet even though you’ve had a couple of knee injuries?”
“Yeah, but I have to weigh up my options carefully.” Tiny nudged at his hand and this time he stroked her head. She leaned in against him, happy now she had his attention.
“I understand. It’s a little bit like me starting the Christmas decorations before my accident. They were something I wanted to explore, a sideline to the jewelry. It wasn’t ideal to take the place of what I was already doing but it gave me something to continue with. Meant I was in the same line of business and that accounts for something.”
Adam turned his head and looked at her. Some of the sadness seemed to fade from his eyes and a tiny spark of interest replaced it. He leaned in and kissed her lips. His warm breath rolled over her face as he spoke. “You, Ms. Dakota Moore, have a very interesting way of looking at life. I wish I had half as much positive energy running through my mind as you do.”
“You’re just scared and I understand that. Remember though, I’m here for you. No matter what the outcome, I’ll never push you away.”
She snuggled her chin on his shoulder, willing her love to find a way to put the smile back on his face.
