“Poor kid,” a male voice says, coming up behind Cole.
Cole turns and shoves Luke—the hockey player known as the Stick Handler—and they get into a wrestling match right in the sandy driveway. I roll my eyes at their antics, but I secretly love the comradery between all these hockey players. They’re all good guys, with hearts of gold.
“Are you two at it again?” Zander, the player known as the Hard Hitter asks, and peels them off each other. “Fallon, it’s nice to see you again. Don’t mind these two. They’ve been off the ice too long and have a lot of pent up aggression.”
I totally understand the pent-up thing, but mine isn’t aggression. It’s passion. Though I think it’s best to keep that to myself.
The guys continue to shove one another as another player joins us. I recognize him as the Body Checker. “Nice to see you, Fallon,” he says.
I nod, vaguely remember meeting Jonah and a few of the other players at the funeral. All the guys came, but at the time, I’d been walking around in a daze, that whole month is nothing but a blur to me.
“It’s nice to see you again too, Jonah.” I glance down. “Do you guys all remember, Chase?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jonah says. “He’s getting big.”
Cole drops to one knee, meeting Chase on eye level. “I hear you like to go swimming.”
Chase jumps up and down. “I do. I do. I do. Mommy, I want to go swimming.”
“Well if it’s okay with your mom, while she’s getting unpacked, maybe I can take you down to the water. Brandon, Daisy, and Scotty are all playing and swimming.”
“Mommy, can I? Can I?” Chase asks.
I feel a measure of unease. Cole is a good father and good man, but Chase doesn’t know him and since he lost his dad, I’ve been a little overprotective.
Jamie casts me a quick glance. He angles his head, assesses me, and says, “I know I could use a swim.”
I smile at him. “Thanks Jamie,” I say on purpose, and every muscle in his body stiffens. I nibble my bottom lip and he goes perfectly still for a moment, and I get the sense he’s figured out that I’m messing with him.
“Yeah, okay,” he says through gritted teeth and scrubs his face. “Where are the water wings?”
“I’ll get them.” I open the back of the SUV and hand over sunscreen and water wings.
“Thanks, Fallon,” he says, his eyes latched on my mouth as I lick my parched lips.
“Swim. Swim. Swim,” Chase screams, and Jamie scoops him up.
“The door is open. Just head on in,” Cole says.
“I will,” I say and pull my phone from my back pocket. I take a picture of the ocean, and post it on Instagram. I haven’t used my account in a long time, but being here has inspired me to get back amongst the living.
The guys turn to go, and I nearly burst out laughing when I hear Jamie ask, “Have you guys ever heard of the alligator song?”
Moans and groans from the guys reach my ears and I laugh some more as I pull groceries, suitcases and beach bags from the SUV and start carrying them into the house. Laughter from the kids playing follows me and fills me with joy. For a while there I never thought I’d laugh again, and I must say, I think this trip is just what Chase needs.
I walk through the place, take in the beach decor, furnishings and enjoy the warm breeze blowing in through the open windows. I go upstairs and check out the bedrooms and bathrooms—yes there are more than one bathroom in this beachside cottage, aka mansion—and walk into the master suite which looks out over the water. I pull the curtain back and smile when I see Jamie and Chase in the distance. Chase is jumping up and down, having a hard time getting into the water. It’s not pool temperature like he’s used to.
“Hello,” someone calls out from downstairs.
“I’m up here,” I say. “Be right down.”
I make my way back downstairs to find Katee and Nina, along with two other women I’ve never met. Dressed in a bathing suit with a knitted cover up thrown over it, Katee pulls me in for a hug. Then Nina, who is also dressed in her suit, takes a turn.
“This is Sam, Zander’s wife,” Katee says, introducing me to the other women. “And this is Quinn. Zander’s sister and Jonah’s wife.”
Quinn holds up a bottle of wine. “And this is Pinot Noir,” she says, and we all laugh.
“Let’s go find some glasses,” I say and lead them into the kitchen.