Page 5 of The Rebound Play
You only get one childhood, and I want to make theirs the absolute best it can be.
A few minutes later, I’ve delivered Clara’s tea, made her more comfortable on the sofa, grabbed my current read from my nightstand, and the three of us have headed to the arena. Once there, Hannah runs in through the door in excitement, her blonde ponytail flying, and we follow after her, Benny far less enthusiastic to have to watch his sister’s class.
A brisk chill wraps around us, a stark contrast to the relative fall warmth outside. The air carries the distinct scent of ice, mixed with a hint of hot chocolate drifting from a nearby stand. I can hear Ellie’s encouraging tones, mixed with the crisp scrape of blades on ice as she stands in the middle of the rink, her breath fogging the air as she teaches a class of older kids.
She notices me and throws me a quick smile, and I wave back.
“Did Hannah help you with your homework?” I ask Benny, holding his hand in mine as we make our way to the bleachers. Hannah is a typical older sister: like a little mom-in-training who loves to boss her brother around.
“I hate math. It’s so hard,” he complains.
“What’s hard about it?”
“Everything. It hurts my brain.”
“I know what. I’ll help you with it. I’m not the best at math, but I know enough.” And how hard can first grade math be? I’m banking on not hard at all.
“Can I go to Levi’s house to play when we get home instead? He’s a pirate, too.”
“Of course you can, but how about we give this math thing a shot first? I promise it’ll be fun, and you might even be surprised with how much you already have in that big brain of yours.”
He pulls his lips to one side, not convinced. “I guess.”
I help Hannah lace up her skates as she chats eagerly with her classmates, ready for her class. I kiss her on the head and tell her to have a good lesson before I find Benny and me a spot alongside the group I’ve labelled the Mom Squad in my head.
“Hey, everyone,” I say as I sit, the cold metal of the bench instantly beginning to seep through my clothing. I pull out a coloring book and crayons from my purse and hand it to Benny, who begins to color.
“Hey, Keira,” says one of the moms, a woman called Nell. She was a few years ahead of me at Maple Falls High and is now married with a couple of kids. She glances at the book in my hand. “Watcha reading this time?”
“Wuthering Heights. I read it back in high school, so it’s a reread for me,” I reply. “It’s good, despite its doomed love story between the two main protagonists, Cathy and Heathcliff.”
“Yeah. Sure.” It’s clear Nell has zero interest in my book. “Have you heard the big news?” she asks, her eyes bright with excitement.
I put my bookmark in my book and close it. “What news?”
“Well, you know how Troy and his billionaire brother are hosting those charity games coming up soon?”
Of course I’ve heard about it. It’s the biggest thing to happen to Maple Falls in ... well, forever. Zach Hart has come to town and invested in Troy’s hockey team, which means a bunch of top hockey players will be here to play a bunch of charity games to raise money for the Happy Horizons Ranch. It’s a worthy cause, and I plan to attend all the games, like the rest of the town.
“I live here,” I reply with a light-hearted roll of my eyes. “What’s the latest?”
“Dan Roberts is back here right this very minute, ready to play on the team. The Dan Roberts, as in hometown hockey hero and NHL superstar? My friend who works reception at the Hawk River Lodge told me. Can you believe it?” Nell’s expression shows me just how thoroughly excited she is by this news.
Me? My heart seems to have stopped at the mere mention of his name.
So, the rumors were right. He’s back in town.
Dan Roberts.
My ex.
I had called Ellie a couple days ago in a panic when I first heard he may be on the team. She’d teased me about him, suggesting we could rekindle things while he’s here.
But, you see, the thing is, Dan Roberts might be our hometown hockey hero, he might be big news in the NHL, but to me, he’s always been my what if? The one that got away.
Only he didn’t get away, exactly. I let him go. Back in the day, we were high school sweethearts in the flush of first love when he won a hockey scholarship to Yale. I was going to college at the University of Washington, so I would be at the other end of the country from him. Everyone told us a long-distance relationship would never work, particularly because we were so young.
There’ll be other guys.