“No, seriously, is this the kind of talk you give Derry?” I wondered. “Or Jasper when he’snaughty? Because, if so, ten out of ten?—”
“Goodbye, Brewer.” Watt slammed the door.
I started the engine and rolled down the window. “Hey, Watt,” I called when he was halfway back to the house. “Thank you.”
He turned his head to give me a wry smile and a wave.
As I drove off, though, I found my own smile fading. Something about Watt’s awkward sincerity hit me hard. And as I made my way down the lake road to Delaney’s place, I found myself thinking about friendship and honesty…
And about the prickly man who’d looked at me in the firelight with such raw honesty on his face, it had terrified me.
CHAPTERELEVEN
DELANEY
“Stop pacing,for the love of God,” Tam said without looking up from the cheese she was grating.
“Pfft. I’m notpacing. I’m walking. There’s a difference. Tell your mommy that the brain can be affected by a lack of proper oxygenation during periods of reduced mobility,” I instructed my niece as we made another circuit from the kitchen, through the dining room, and into the living room of Tam and Lucas’s home.
Tierney, settled against my shoulder like an adorable, drooling sack of potatoes, made a gurgling sound I chose to interpret as agreement.
“See?” I demanded of Tam. “She says she’d walk if she could, but while she’s still working on pesky things like controlling her limbs, she has Uncle Delaney to walk for her.Sheunderstands that development of balance and spatial awareness in infants is directly correlated with exposure to varied positional changes, and studies show that?—”
“Laney, I agree that Li’l T is brilliant,” my brother Lawson said from the kitchen table, where he was mowing through a bag of plantain chips while drinking his second beer. “But please let her roll over before you have her start quoting studies at me.”
I shot him a withering look. “Your understanding of child development rivals your understanding of proper nutrition, Lawson. And her name is Tierney. Tier. Ney. She’s not one of your locker room buds.”
Lawson snorted, but the sound lacked his usual energy, and he didn’t clap back at all.
In truth, my NHL-star brother looked like someone had used his face as a hockey puck—dark circles under his eyes, shoulders slumped, his left arm held against his body in the careful way that suggested his shoulder had been lightly maimed during his last game but he didn’t want to acknowledge it.
The oven timer dinged, and Tam moved to the oven to take the foil off her lasagna. The rich scent of tomato sauce, melted cheese, and garlic bread filled the air.
“Should you even be here right now?” I demanded of Lawson, studying his exhausted face. “Don’t the Monarchs want their new defenseman to stay in Ontario, where they can keep an eye on him?”
Lawson rolled his eyes. “I escaped custody for the night. Long-ass drive, but worth it for Tam’s lasagna.”
“All for the lasagna,” Tam agreed. “Definitely nothing to do with avoiding his new coach.”
“Hey! I didn’t say anything about my coach,” Lawson protested—weakly, in my opinion. “He’s fine. Everyone’s fine. It’s just… different. That’s how it goes when you’re traded. Takes a while to find your place.”
“Hmm.” I kept my eyes on him as I made another circuit of the dining room.
Lawson huffed. “Anyway, I didn’t come here to talk hockey. I came to see my li’l…niece—” He raised an eyebrow at me. “—and to catch up with everyone. So give me the Copper County goss. How’s that former-model friend of yours settling in?”
“You mean Jasper,” I supplied. “He’s doing well.”
“Good! Good. And, ah…” He snapped his fingers. “The sweet guy with the glasses, what’s his name?”
“Chris Sunday?” Tam guessed. “He seems fine.”
“Great. That’s great. And how’s, um… how’s Oliver Castillo doing? Is he dating anyone, or…?”
I wrinkled my nose at Tam. “Who’s Oliver?”
“Physical therapist, friend of Watt’s,” Tam said. “You’ve probably met him and don’t remember.” She flipped a dish towel over her shoulder and gave Lawson a curious look. “I’m not sure how Law knows him, though.”
“I don’tknowhim.” Lawson suddenly seemed very invested in reading the label on the plantain chips—and not a moment too late since he’d eaten enough sodium for ten men. “I just vaguely remembered meeting him at the bar when I was here over Thanksgiving, that’s all. He seemed cool.”
