I nodded and Piper seemed happy with Kacie’s explanation.

We were making our way to my truck when Piper spoke up again. “If you’re famous, do you know Selena Gomez?”

“Yeah, can we have her autograph?” Lucy followed.

Kacie looked at me and tried to not to laugh at the ego shot her daughters had just given me. “Sorry.” She shrugged. “Guess you have to be on The Disney Channel and sing pop music to be cool in their book.”

When we got back to Kacie’s, the girls wanted to take their new loot to their room and divide it into piles. What can I say? They have OCD like their mom. Sophia and Fred were in the kitchen having coffee with an older couple that was staying at the inn for a few days, so Kacie and I decided to sneak off to her room. We both collapsed on the bed and intertwined our legs while she rested her head on my chest.

“Who knew school shopping could be so exhausting?” I sighed.

Kacie giggled. “Just wait until you see the list for second grade.”

“I better start saving now,” I joked.

She sat up and looked at me with a pained look in her eyes. “I told you not to buy all that stuff. I could’ve done it. Not everything you threw in the cart, but the necessities.”

“Kacie.” I laughed. “I was just kidding. Trust me, I haven’t even given it a second thought.”

“I know, but… I also know hockey players don’t get paid like football players, and—”

“Calm down. Do I make twenty million a year like other athletes? No. That’s not how hockey is and I’m fine with it; but I do make well into the seven figures and I live like a college student, so it all works out.”

She rolled her eyes. “You do not live like a college student. I’ve been to your condo. It’s beautiful.”

“My mom did all that. If I had decorated it, I’d have patio furniture in my living room. Seriously though, the condo is really all I’ve bought. That condo, my two vehicles, and the farm for my parents. If I retired today, we could live quite comfortably for the rest of our lives. The girls too, and probably their girls.”

A sweet smile crossed her lips as her head looked down toward the bed. “I like when you say that.”

“Say what?”

“We, our, stuff like that. Especially when talking about the future.”

“You are my future, Kacie. You’re my present and my future and if I could figure out a way to invent a damn time machine, you’d be my past.”

The smile that accented her beautiful mouth just a second before faded. “But what if you have to leave?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, your contract and stuff. What if you get traded?”

“You heard that kid, didn’t you?”

Dylan. Little ginger bastard.

She nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me your contract was up this year?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t going to tell you at all because I don’t want you to worry about that. You take on everyone’s stress as your own, Kacie. You think you have to fix everything, but I didn’t want you to think about that. That’s for me to worry about. I know how I need to perform to keep my spot on this team and I plan on doing that every day. No worries, okay?”

“Give me two minutes, and then I promise I won’t worry anymore.” She pulled her eyebrows together and bit her lip nervously. “But think about it, Brody. What if that happens?”

“What if it does?”

“I can’t move, Brody. My whole life is here in Minnesota.”

“You won’t have to. I told you, I’ve invested well. Actually, Andy’s invested well for me. Before him, my money was in shoeboxes in my bedroom closet. My point is, we’ll make whatever it is work, okay?” I gently brushed the side of her face with the backs of my fingers. “If I have to, I’ll buy a damn plane to make sure we don’t go more than a few days without seeing each other. It’ll all work out. Besides, who says I’m getting traded anyway? They don’t call me ‘The Wall’ for nothing, remember?” I winked at her. “Now get over here and park it on my chest.”

I hooked my finger in the collar of her hoodie and pulled her toward me, leaving her no choice but to fall on top of me. She tucked herself up under my arm with her head back on my chest where it belonged. We lay like that for a long time, neither of us talking but both of us thinking, most likely about the same thing.

What if I did get traded?

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.” Alexa snarled sarcastically when I walked through the doorway at The Twisted Petal. Her arms were folded across her chest and a hard glare was plastered to her face.

“I hear you’re mad at me.” I pouted, walking over and throwing my arms around my best friend’s shoulders.

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” She wiggled out of my grasp and went back to clipping stems at her work station. “Because I talked to my dear friend—you know, the one who lives four thousand miles away?—and she filled me in on some very interesting happenings that are going on right here in my own town with my best friend and I had no clue? Why would that make me mad?”

Way to keep a secret, Lauren.

“I’m sorry, Lex. Things have been so hectic between my shifts at the hospital, making sure I spend enough time with the girls, and my relationship with Brody—which seems to mainly be a texting relationship now that his season is getting busier…” I sighed and plopped myself down in a chair in the corner of her shop. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day.”

Her face softened and she even let a tiny smile crack her lips. “I hear ya. I don’t know how you do it all, girl. Now what’s going on with Zach? I really can’t believe you didn’t tell me. What did Brody say? How is he not in prison for killing him yet?”

“He doesn’t know.”

Her head flew up and her mouth sprung open. “What?”

My head dropped into my hands. “I know, I know.”

“What the fuck are you thinking? Why haven’t you told him?”

“I don’t know. He’s just got so much going on right now with the start of hockey season. He’s also really stressed out because it’s a contract year.” I chewed on the corner of my lip, wondering if I was trying to talk myself into believing what I was saying. “I just don’t want to put any more on his plate, ya know?”

Alexa eyed me skeptically. “Mmhmm. So what did the dickhead say? Where’s he been all these years?”

“Well, it was a long-drawn-out story, but basically he was battling some pretty big demons. Way bigger than anything I knew about.”

Whenever I thought about the conversation Zach and I had in that cafeteria, the way his chin quivered, the sincere regret in his voice as he poured his heart out, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

“Oh my God. You’re going to let him back in, aren’t you?”

“Back in where?” I snapped defensively.

“Anywhere!”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t seen the girls yet, but I think I’m going to let him… eventually.”

She didn’t say anything as she dramatically dropped her pruning shears on the counter and turned to wash her hands in the sink.