Remy
Jacques and I had played together one season early in my career. He’d been older, married, and a goalie, so our paths hadn’t crossed much outside the rink, but he’d been a nice enough guy. I’d had no idea he’d wound up here in Garland Grove, but there was no opportunity to ask.
“What are you really doing here?” Jacques asked me, squinting slightly. “You didn’t need to come all the way out to BC just to sell the place.”
I was surprised by his directness, but I liked direct, and I had nothing to hide about my intentions. “I came because I grew up skating here in the winter. I figured I’d just see the place one more time and then, somehow, I got sucked into the day-to-day activities.”
“You got sucked into the activities or you got sucked into Noelle?”
I scowled. “That’s none of your business.”
“Maybe not, but she’s a nice girl, and—”
“Woman.” I gave him a look. “She’s a grown woman.”
“Fine. She’s a nice woman, and guys like you…” He met my gaze and arched his brows a little.
“Guys like me?” I cocked my head questioningly. If he had something to say, he needed to say it.
“Come on, we both know the life.”
“We’re both out of the life, though. Retired and moving on to other things.”
It seemed like he wanted to say more, but I figured his hesitation was a good time to change the subject, because anything that had to do with my relationship with Noelle was off-limits. “So, does your team have a game tonight?”
He shook his head. “I brought my younger kids to the holiday thing. They enjoyed it last year.”
“How many you got? Three?”
He chuckled. “Five.”
I gaped. “Five? Jesus, you’re a better man than I am.”
Jacques shrugged as a kid of about eight or nine came bounding into the room. “Daddy, are we going skating now? Are we?”
“Comin’, buddy.” He turned to go. “Good to see you, Remy. Take care. And do me a favor—let me know what you decide to do about the rink. I’d hate to see some investor buy it for the land and tear it down to build condos.”
I hadn’t thought of that and mentally grimaced, but nodded as I said, “I will. Take care.”
Now I had another problem to consider. I definitely didn’t want the rink destroyed and replaced with a strip mall or something.
Shit.
There was a line out the door as people lined up to rent skates and buy tickets. It was only five dollars to get in and that included skate rental, popcorn, and hot chocolate. There were bleachers that ran along one side of the outdoor rink, and they slowly filled with parents and teenagers who were either watching their kids skate or huddling up for warmth since it was cold as balls tonight. Dwayne was handling skate rentals while Tandy took everyone’s money and Noelle was outside doling out refreshments.
She was a force of nature too, serving hot chocolate and popcorn without missing a beat. The wind had picked up once the sun went down and I frowned as I realized she wasn’t wearing a coat or gloves. Had I ever seen her in a coat? She usually wore several shirts and then a hoodie.
This was so frustrating to me because despite our deepening intimacy, she had secrets. I had no doubt about that, but it confused me because she had to know she could trust me by now. Didn’t she? It had only been a week, but damn, we were about as close as two people could be. Sure, it took time to truly trust someone, and I understood that too, but the fact that I’d never seen her in a winter coat bothered me. I had to tread carefully, though.
In my heart of hearts, I figured she was embarrassed. She rarely went home—wherever that was—and everything she owned was old or well-worn. From her car, that had to be more than a decade old, to her clothes, to the fatigue in her eyes. I loved watching her sleep because it seemed she didn’t do that nearly enough.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out curiously.
Trevor Gaines was the General Manager of the Knights, someone I’d hired last summer, and we kept in touch almost daily. We hadn’t talked much since I’d been in Garland Grove, but that was probably why he was calling. Except it was six-thirty in the evening here, which made it nine-thirty on the east coast, and that worried me enough to answer even though I hadn’t planned to.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked.
“Sorry to bother you after business hours, but we need to talk before tomorrow and this is the first chance I’ve had to breathe today.”
“I’m sorry I’ve left you to handle everything,” I replied. “I’ve gotten a little caught up in this damn rink I inherited here in BC, but talk to me. What’s going on?” I walked back inside the arena, where it would be a little quieter.
“We’ve had two virtual interviews with Anatoli Petrov for the head coaching position, but we need a face-to-face. He has availability this week and the beginning of next, but after that he said he’s out until the start of the new year—family obligations.”
“Shit. I guess I could fly to Florida for a day, do the interview, and come right back.” I said, mostly to myself though I said it out loud.
“Remy, what’s going on with you and this rink? I thought you were going to go, hire a realtor, and get the hell out? We have a ton of shit going on, and while I’m happy to carry a bit of the load, we’re heading into the holidays and come January second, you’re going to need to be here.”
“I’ll be there by then, but it’s almost Christmas and my mom is in Vancouver, which is nearby, so I decided to stay. It also came to my attention that real estate investors might be interested in the land the rink is on, and that’s a big no. The people in this town need this rink. Not only do people work here, but there are also dozens of kids and men’s leagues, and no other rink for at least an hour. I’m not going to let a buyer tear it down.”
He grunted. “I get that, but opening night for the Knights is literally in ten months. After losing Reggie, we need a new head coach sewn up by the new year.”
Our original choice for a head coach, Reggie Banks, had a heart attack last month, and after surgery had said he couldn’t commit to the job. So we’d had to scramble to start the hiring process again, and a former player named Anatoli Petrov had thrown his hat in the ring. Toli had been an amazing player, someone I’d played with for two seasons, so I knew firsthand what a stellar human being he was. I’d reached out to him first, but he’d originally said he wasn’t in a position to move his young family. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him since he’d started interviewing with my staff, but I figured I should call him.
“Let me give him a call,” I said at last. “And I’ll get back to you.”
“All right. I’d really like this sewn up before year-end.”
“Got it. I’ll be in touch.” I disconnected and went back outside. Noelle’s line had slowed down now that most people were skating and I suddenly got an idea. I went back in and headed to the skate rental booth, leaning on the counter.
“Dwayne, do you know what size skate Noelle wears?” I asked him.
“An eight,” he replied, grinning.
“You got a pair for her? I’m going to make her take a break and skate with me.”
He nodded, reaching under the counter and producing a pair of skates. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
I headed back to the outdoor rink and sank down on the bench next to Noelle, holding out the skates. “Put these on.”
She looked down in surprise. “I can’t. I have to—”
“There’s no line, everyone is skating, and you deserve a break. We’ll be able to see if people are lining up for hot chocolate.”
She gazed up at me for a second and then flashed me a little grin. “Okay.” She took off her sneakers and laced up her skates while I put on my own. I got up and held out my hand to her. She took it and we stepped onto the ice.
I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever skated with a girlfriend.
Noelle wasn’t technically my girlfriend, but we were involved, and skating together was nice. Actually, it was more than nice. I didn’t get on the ice very often these days, getting my workouts in at a gym, but I missed it. Having Noelle at my side made it that much better, and she had a big smile on her face.
“I didn’t realize how much I’d missed skating,” she said, all but reading my mind as her fingers twined with mine.
“Me either,” I admitted. “I’ve convinced myself I don’t miss hockey as much as I did when I first had to retire, but it’s a lie. I miss it every fucking day.”
“I’m sorry, babe.” She moved closer to me, squeezing my hand. “Is it too late to try again? Even just one season?”
I smiled down at her, though her words were like a punch to the throat. “My doctors all said it was too dangerous. My heart is in good shape now, after the surgery, but the kind of strain athletes put on their hearts makes it riskier than we’d like. I’d literally be chancing another heart attack.”
She grimaced. “Then I’m glad you’re not playing because I wouldn’t want to lose you.”
“You don’t have to worry about it. That ship has sailed.”
“But now you have this amazing new hockey team, right? And even though you can’t play, you can be there in the thick of things, every single day.”
“Speaking of which…I have a meeting I can’t get out of. How would you feel about a quick forty-eight-hour trip to Florida?”
She sighed and looked down. “I can’t.”
“How come? Really, it would be quick and we could—”
“I don’t have a passport.”
“Oh.” Damn, that sucked. I traveled back and forth between Canada and the US so much, it never occurred to me that some people didn’t have passports. I knew it intellectually, but I’d never met anyone who didn’t.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I squeezed her hand, trying to think of something to say. “Maybe then I won’t go…maybe I’ll fly him out here.”
“What?” She frowned in confusion.
“I want to sit down in person with the guy we want as head coach of the Knights, and we were going to do it in Fort Lauderdale. However, if you can’t go, and we have so little time together as it is, maybe I’ll just fly him to Vancouver.”
“Oh, don’t do that just because of me.”
“I want to. I’m honestly dreading heading down to Florida. I’m excited about the team, but it’s been nice being here in Garland Grove. Everything moves at a slower pace, like life is busy and the holidays are bustling, but things are relaxed. I don’t know how to describe it. In my world, everything moves at breakneck speed, whether it’s a business deal or a TV interview or back-to-back meetings about the new team. It never stops. And yet, here in Garland Grove, even though I’m still keeping up with everything online and via email, it’s not like that.”
“There’s something to be said for small-town living,” she said, nodding. “Most of the time, it’s wonderful. People care about each other, traffic is nonexistent, there are a lot of old-fashioned values and very little crime. On the flip side of that, work is hard to find sometimes. There’s no major airport nearby so travel is a hassle. And everybody is in your business—like with our relationship and me having to consider what other people think. Mostly, I don’t care, but you know what I mean.”
I nodded. “I don’t think I could live here full-time, but this would be the perfect place for a vacation home. And I’d love to spend holidays here.”
“Best of both worlds,” she said softly.
I wanted to tell her she could come with me, live with me, figure out where things were going, but it felt soon. It had been a little over a week. What the hell was wrong with me?
“I’m going to try to get Toli to fly to Vancouver instead of Fort Lauderdale,” I said instead.
“Are you talking about Anatoli Petrov?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Yeah. Are you a fan?”
“Hell yeah. I mean, he’s legendary. I loved watching him play, especially after he was traded to Vegas. And then when he played his first pro game with his son…I don’t think there was a dry eye at the bar that night. It was pretty epic seeing him and Anton on the ice together.”
“You wanna meet him?”
She flashed me another huge grin. “Duh.”
“I’m going to call him in the morning and see if I can set up an interview in person.” I turned and started skating backwards, taking both her hands and pulling her closer to me. “In the meantime, is this the rink that’s supposed to be magical?”
She laughed. “It is.”
“What happens when you skate on it?”
“I’m not sure what’s supposed to happen, because I’ve skated on this ice a million times and so far, nothing magical has happened.”
“Until tonight.”
She arched a brow. “What happened tonight?”
“This is the first time I’ve ever skated with a woman I’m involved with. Not counting random teenage stuff.”
“Is that magical?”
“It is to me. To have a woman I really like, that also enjoys hockey and ice-skating, the two things I love most in the world, yeah, that’s pretty magical.”
She leaned forward, tilting up her face for a kiss, and I slowed down as I pressed my lips to hers. She was so damn sweet, it was kind of magical to kiss her right here on the ice, while skating, with Christmas music playing and white, red, and green lights flashing all around us.
“I’m a very lucky man,” I whispered against her mouth as we glided to a stop.
“Tonight, I’m a very lucky woman,” she whispered back.
“I’d like to take you to bed, sweetheart.” I looked into her eyes, loving the way she gazed up at me.
She slowly pulled her lower lip through her teeth. “Me too. But I’d like to keep skating for a while, if that’s okay? I love being here at the holidays.”
“I’d love to keep skating for a while.” I put some distance between us again and picked up speed, pulling her along with me. Despite not having been on skates in probably six months, I’d been skating for as long as I could remember and my body remembered what to do. I wasn’t in hockey shape, but I was in excellent shape overall, and I wove in and out of slower skaters without slowing down.
With the wind blowing Noelle’s hair out behind her, her cheeks flushed from both exertion and the cold, I would never forget the sheer joy emanating from her. And I never wanted it to end.