Page 38 of The Rebound Play
As Benny slices across the ice, Dan calls out, “That’s it, buddy! You’re getting it!”
A couple of men so big and bulky they can only be hockey players skate onto the ice. I recognize one of them as Noah Beaumont, the player who once had a bad reputation, but seems to have settled down over the past couple of years. The other is Cooper Montgomery, Blair’s client, and I’m excited to see her round the corner into the arena.
I lift my hand in a wave. She notices me and waves back before she says something to Cooper and climbs the steps to where I’m sitting. She’s looking her usual corporate self in a pencil skirt and blouse, high heels on her feet. Blair always was the much more glamorous one of the two of us, and I can’t help but feel like a teenager next to her grown-up put togetherness.
“Hey, stranger. How are you?” I ask as we greet one another with a quick hug.
“Sorry, Kiki. I’ve been super busy,” she complains as she takes a seat next to me. “My client isn’t exactly easy.”
“Cooper Montgomery?” I ask as I eye the bulky Travis Kelce—minus the smile—lookalike guy on the ice. “What are you talking about? He looks like a total comedian to me, B.”
She lets out a laugh. “You can tell I’ve got my work cut out, right?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She focuses on the rink, and I know she’s watching Dan and Benny. “Is that Dan Roberts out there with a kid?”
“Sure is. He’s teaching hockey to my nephew, Benny.”
Her eyes widen as she turns to me. “Is he, now?”
“I didn’t ask or anything like that. He offered and Benny so wants to be a hockey pro … so, you know,” I reply hastily, trying not to allow the heat that’s rapidly climbing my neck to bloom in my cheeks. I just know it’s a mission doomed to abject failure.
“And why would he go doing a thing like that, I wonder,” Blair says, tapping her chin as though she’s deep in thought.
She’s such an actress.
“As I said, Benny wants to be a hockey pro someday, just like Dan. He’s being kind, I guess.”
“Uh-huh.” Her eyes are still on me, and I can’t keep up the ruse.
“Look, I’m trying not to read anything into it because what will that do? It’ll only get my hopes up and then I’ll come crashing back to Earth when Dan leaves town again. I’m not going to put myself through that, B. Not again.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe Dan’s teaching your nephew so he can get close to you?”
I chew on my lip, a knot forming in my belly. “It had occurred to me. He told me his number for the Ice Breakers is my birthday.”
Her eyes widen. “Girl, if that’s not a sign the guy wants to be with you, I don’t know what is.”
I chew on my lip. “He could just be being sentimental?”
She rolls her eyes. “Sure. NHL stars are such a sentimental bunch. What would be so terrible about exploring how he feels about you? You could just tell him how you feel and see what he says.”
“Are you serious?” I splutter, my eyes at risk of popping out of my head they’re so wide. “You want me to go up to him and say, ‘Hey, Dan, you know how we broke up a lifetime ago and you’re this big, famous NHL star these days, living in Chicago, and I still live in a small town in the middle of nowhere? Well, I wondered if you might want to, you know, get back together.’” I blanch at the mere idea. “I would rather volunteer to play goalie for the Ice Breakers.”
She returns her attention to Benny and Dan. They’re skating side by side, following a puck toward the goal. Dan’s patience is obvious as Benny shoots for a goal and misses by a good eight feet.
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any of the other hockey pros teaching kids to play in their free time.”
“I’m trying not to read too much into it,” I say again.
“But?” she leads.
“But you’re right. Dan’s the only one teaching a Maple Falls kid, even though he’s busy with practices and media things, not to mention the games starting up soon.”
Her grin stretches from ear to ear. “Open those pretty blue eyes of yours. Dan Roberts wants you back. I would stake my reputation on it.”
Knowing how seriously my career-oriented friend takes her livelihood, that’s a bold statement.