Wingmen are a Girl's Best Friend: Laketown Hockey Page 7

  I put the car in reverse, and as I watched the line of cars slowly snake behind me, a loud knock on the window startled me. “Shit.” I scrambled to grab the éclair from my lap. Of course, it landed chocolate side down on my white linen pants.

  My heart was thumping in my chest from the surprise knock, and it didn’t slow down when I saw who was standing next to my car. I had seen that torso very recently. It was Gunnar, the guy from Fitzy’s party.

  I put the éclair in its delicate paper wrapper and set it on the passenger seat, swiping at the crumbs on my pants as I pushed the button to roll down the window. My attempt only made it worse, and I hoped that he didn’t notice the brown smears across my lap.

  “Hi.” He grinned. “Sorry if I scared you there.”

  “You’re lucky I didn’t drive over your foot!” I laughed but wasn’t joking. My reaction was almost a knee-jerk one that would’ve ended his hockey season before it even started.

  “That wouldn’t have been good.”

  A small yip came from Gunnar’s feet. “What’s that?” I asked.

  Gunnar bent down and picked up a small dog. “This is Herbert.”

  “That’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen.” The black and grey mutt had a serious underbite, was missing an eye, and a snaggletooth jutted out from its face.

  “And he’s got a personality to match.” Gunnar stroked the head of the dog who proceeded to snap at his fingers.

  To my surprise, Gunnar just laughed and set the devil dog on the ground.

  “Has he ever bitten you?”

  “Not yet.” Gunnar laughed. “I don’t think he’s a biter. He’s all talk. But I’ve only been walking him for a couple of weeks, so he still has time to rip my face off.

  “I’d keep clear of that tooth.”

  Gunnar laughed and leaned on the car. “I was hoping to run into you.”

  There it was, my heartbeat again. How had I never been so aware of its rhythm before? It thumped against my ribs like a coked-out drummer from a heavy metal band. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” He stood up and ran his hand through his hair. “I have something that belongs to you.”

  If he wasn’t so hot, I would probably have been creeped out. “What? What do you have?”

  “It’s back at the dorms.”

  His voice wavered with his evasive answer. Was he nervous?

  He cleared his throat. “I mean, I have your shoe. But not with me. It’s back at the dorms.”

  My shoe. I could’ve cried. Even though it was just a few pieces of leather sewn together, it meant so much to me. Gunnar’s body lurched to the side as Herbert lunged at a standard poodle and its owner as they walked by. “It’s probably a good thing you don’t have it with you. Cujo there…” I pointed to the angry ball of fur on the end of the leash, “would probably have torn it to shreds.”

  “Do you want to come and get it now?” Gunnar pulled Herbert back to his side. “I just have to drop Herbert off at the shelter.”

  Holy shit. Could this guy get any more perfect? He had the cheekbones of a model, the body of… well, a model, and he volunteered at the animal shelter?

  “Actually…” I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “My mom is expecting me for dinner shortly.”

  “Meet me for ice cream later. I’ll bring the shoe.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the super hot guy wrangling the tiny terror while inviting me on an ice cream date.

  “You’re a brave man,” I shouted as I watched the dog flail in his arms.

  “Take my number.” He turned and shouted over Herbert’s small dog yips. He dictated his phone number and I put it in my phone.

  “Got it.” I set the phone down on the seat. “What time?”

  “How about eight?”

  “Ice cream at eight.”

  Gunnar’s arm shot out as Herbert launched himself at an oncoming German Shepherd. “I should get out of here before this dog is that dog’s appetizer.” Gunnar jutted his chin toward the well-behaved dog heading their way. “See you later, Faith.”

  “Bye.” I glanced down at my phone and smiled. I wasn’t in the market for a man, but the perfect one might have just fallen into my lap. I unscrewed the cap from my water bottle and slowly poured water onto my pants while I tried to scratch the chocolate from the fibers. The pants were ruined, but as I stole a glance at Gunnar’s perfect hockey ass as he walked away, I realized that I didn’t care.

  The scent of roasted garlic met me the second I stepped out of the car. Armed with the sourdough and my handbag I hurried inside, taking the stairs two at a time. As I opened the front door, I noticed a mountain bike leaning against the deck.

  “Mom.” The screen door slammed behind me and I kicked off my shoes. “Did you buy a bike?”

  Mom’s laugh came from the living room and I heard the low voice of a man. “Mom?”

  I dropped the keys onto the marble countertop and set down the baguette on the waiting cutting board.

  “Hi, honey.” Mom’s face was flushed, and I couldn’t tell if it was red in a bad or a good way.

  “Is everything alright? Whose bike is that outsi…” My voice trailed off as Leo stepped into the kitchen behind my mom. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans; they looked like the same pair he’d worn all through high school.

  “Hi, Faith.”

  I looked at my mom. She knew that Leo and I weren’t friends anymore and shot a guilty smile at me. She had just been caught fraternizing, laughing even, with the enemy. Weren’t we supposed to be a united front?

  “That’s Leo’s bike.” Mom washed her hands in the sink and dried them on a tea towel. “He was just leaving.”

  Leo brushed by me, his unique scent a combination of the minty thick hair shampoo I’d introduced him to, and something else – something earthy that I couldn’t quite place, but was distinctly Leo – and a wave of nostalgia washed over me. The power of certain smells and the way they could take me back to a specific time and place amazed me, and Leo’s smell took me back to the years when all I wanted to do was laugh with him. He would’ve said laugh at him, but we both knew that he was the funniest guy I had ever met. No one made both my cheeks and belly hurt from laughter the way he did. I thought that I had grieved the loss of that connection, but no, that damn smell brought me back like it was yesterday.

  “What’s that?” I pointed to the envelope in Leo’s hand. It was the design firm stationary. Leo had been at my house for a reason, and it seemed like both my mom and he were keen to keep the reason a secret.

  “Oh, this?” Leo’s eyes darted to my mom. “It’s…” he looked to me and then to my mom again.

  “Nothing,” Mom interrupted a little too quickly.

  “Mom? What’s going on?” I spoke to my mom but kept my eyes on Leo as he unzipped his backpack.

  My mom pursed her lips together and then sighed. “Show her.” She nodded at Leo.

  Leo didn’t say anything. He approached me as if I might bite his head off like a praying mantis and handed me the envelope. “What is this?” The question was rhetorical, as I already had the flap opened. It was a photograph.

  My throat felt like it was going to close as soon as I saw it.

  “What are you doing with this?” I slid the photo out of the envelope to confirm that it was the last known photo of my dad. I shoved it back inside the envelope and set it on the island.

  Leo opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

  “Cat got your tongue, Lion?”

  My mom stepped in between us, almost like she was protecting him. “I asked him not to say anything to you, Faye.”

  “Well, he’s going to have to say something.” I crossed my arms across my chest.

  “It’s fine, Mrs. Dawson.” Leo squared his shoulders and squeezed my mom’s forearm. “I’ll explain.”

  Mom stepped aside, and Leo picked up the envelope. “It’s probably nothing,” his voice cracked.

  “What’s probably nothing?” My h
eart started to beat a little faster.

  “I was at the bait shop getting some new lures after lunch today.” He paused.

  I raised my eyebrows. “And…”

  “You know that homeless guy who hangs out in the park? Reggie?”

  Reggie had been around for years. “What about him?”

  “He was wearing a hat like the one your dad used to wear.”

  I inhaled sharply. It felt as if Leo had just punched me in the gut, but I recovered quickly. “So, what? This is an outdoorsy town, probably every hunter or fisherman in town has one of those stupid hats.” I hated the fact that my voice was wavering.

  “Not with this pin on it.” Leo slid the photo from the envelope, and I was met with my father’s blue eyes. He was holding up a speckled trout and grinning like he had won the lottery. Leo tapped the photo. “Reggie’s hat had a Big Buck Club pin on it. Actually, two of them.”

  “Oh.” The Big Buck Club pins were a big deal. I didn’t know the formula, but if a hunter shot a deer and its antlers were a certain size, he was inducted into the Big Buck Club. There were a few hunters in town who had qualified, but there were only two that I knew of, who had qualified twice.

  My dad was one of them.

  Eight

  Leo

  “Are you sure there were two pins on it? And that it had the bright orange band?” Faith studied me, her eyes wide and searching.

  “I’m… pretty sure.” I was starting to doubt what I had seen. Could I have been mistaken about the pins? I wanted Bruce to come back as much as Faith and Mel D.

  Faith’s eyes flashed as she walked past me and out of her house. “What do you mean, pretty sure?”

  I followed her to the driveway, my bike ticking as I wheeled it alongside us. “I mean, I didn’t get a good look, and it took a minute for me to figure out where I had seen it before.”

  “He wore it almost every damn day.” Faith stopped and put her hands on her hips. There was anger in her voice. Anger that I only heard when she was talking about her dad, or maybe it was just the one she used when she was talking to me.

  “I know, Faye,” I whispered.

  “My name is Faith.”

  “Right, Faith. Sorry.” I had grown up calling her Faye, like her mom, but clearly, that wasn’t okay anymore. “Let’s find Reggie and see that hat up close.”

  Faith started her Mini Cooper and I waited for her to unlock the hatch.

  “Get out of the way, Leo,” she yelled out the window.

  “Aren’t you going to pop the trunk so I can put my bike in?” I leaned the bike on the rear bumper of the car and leaned over so I could see her reflection in the driver’s side mirror.

  “I’ll back over your bike, Leo.” Then she shifted into reverse and the white lights glowed against my jeans.

  “Whoa.” I jumped out from behind the car. “Wait, Faye… Faith. My bike.”

  She shut the car off, got out, and slammed the door. “You want to come with me?” Her sparkly eyes were unnervingly dark as she looked at me and to my bike.

  “I thought that’s what we were doing, going to find Reggie.”

  “That’s what I’m doing. You just want a ride into town.”

  That hurt. I clenched my fists at my side. “Let’s find Reggie. I don’t want you to go to the park alone.”

  Truthfully, I wasn’t too worried about Faith at the park. She knew how to take care of herself, and the sun was still a few hours from setting.

  “Fine.” Faith slammed the door shut. “But we’re not scratching my car up trying to fit that bike in the trunk. Let’s take Mom’s truck.”

  I had expected her to put up more of a fight, but she had already rushed to the garage. I had to jog, my bike ticking beside me as I caught up to her.

  The bike rattled in the back of the truck as we circled the pavilion in the park. “Any sign of him?” She shielded her eyes as we turned into the sun one more time.

  “No.” I shivered. The flags were flapping, and the wind had shifted to come from the north. “It looks like there’s a storm coming in.”

  A family at one of the picnic tables was frantically packing up as the sky continued to darken – the gray storm clouds had quickly overtaken the sun.

  “Where else do you think he could be?” Faith tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

  We had already checked the bait and tackle shop, the outside of the cold wine and beer store, and the marina – his usual spots. “This makes the most sense, especially if it’s going to pour.”

  The first drop splatted onto the windshield and Faith rolled up her window. “I’ll do one more lap.”

  I nodded and we drove around the park seven more times. The storm intensified. The raindrops were so big and fell with such intensity it sounded like golf balls were pelting the roof of the pickup. Faith’s cell phone was sitting in the cupholder and it buzzed. She glanced at the screen and then continued scouring the landscape through the windshield. “I think we should get out and look in the bushes.”

  Just when I thought it couldn’t rain any harder, the heavens gave one final push, and the sound of her voice was almost drowned out as a torrent of rain fell onto us as though a tidal wave from Lake Casper had just swallowed up the car. If it was anyone else, for any other reason, I would’ve told her she was crazy.

  Her phone buzzed again, but this time it was a call. I glanced and saw the name on the display – Gunnar Lockwood. Faith looked at the phone like she wanted to answer it, but then silenced it. “Come on.” She slapped my knee. “Time to get wet.”

  I couldn’t help myself. The line was pure gold and if it had been three years ago the two of us would’ve doubled over in laughter. The chuckle came out before I could stop it.

  Her eyes narrowed at me. “Oh, grow up.”

  It was brief, and I could’ve imagined it, but for a second, I thought that the sides of her lips turned up into a smile.

  “Stop, Faith.” I grabbed onto her arm and she looked at my hand like it was foreign. I opened my fingers and slowly pulled away. She clasped her hands together between her legs. “Before we go out in this monsoon, why don’t we find out if Johnny is missing his hat?” Johnny was the other hunter in town to achieve two pin status in the Big Buck Club.

  She pursed her lips together and took a breath. “That’s probably a good idea. It’s probably just Johnny’s hat.”

  Her eyes shimmered, but for the wrong reason. She turned up the music and I pretended to study the shoreline so she could wipe the tears from her eyes without an audience. Her phone buzzed again, and it was Gunnar, texting again.

  Giving him the shoe had seemed like the right thing to do, but seeing his number on her phone did something to my insides that I thought could only happen with a bad egg salad sandwich. What was wrong with me? I looked at Faith. Her face was still slightly red and puffy, and if anything, the redness brought out her crystal blue eyes and made her even prettier. As a teenager, I knew that Faith was cute, but I always saw her the way a brother saw a sister. I noticed the way other guys checked her out, but to me, she was just my friend. “Do you have somewhere to be?” I pointed to her phone.

  We turned onto the main street of Laketown, heading west. The rain had slowed from a monsoon to a torrential downpour, and the windshield wipers slapped loudly trying to keep up.

  “That can wait.” Faith waved her fingertips, brushing off the calls. “This is more important.”

  I felt like I could breathe normally again. Gunnar hadn’t worked his magic on Faith just yet, or perhaps she was immune to his charms and dull personality.

  Johnny lived in the trailer park on the outside of town, his unit easily identifiable by the row of antlers nailed over the front door.

  Faith paused with her hand on the door handle of the truck and bit her lip.

  “Do you want me to do this?” I almost reached out to touch her arm again but stopped myself.

  She looked at me as she tapped her fingers on the seatbelt button gra
zing her hip. Her eyes searched mine and I saw the little girl I once knew. Strong Faith seemed vulnerable. “Will you come with me?” Her voice was quiet.

  “Of course I will.” I reached into the back seat and pulled a raincoat out of my backpack and hopped out of the truck. I had one arm in the coat already when I realized that Faith was in just a white tank top and weird baggy white pants that looked like they had mud all over them. Before she could get out of the truck, I ran to the driver’s side and opened the door.

  “Thanks.” She had an amused look on her face as she jumped from the height of the driver’s seat.

  I held open the jacket and to my surprise, she let me drape it over her shoulder. I pulled the hood up to protect her head, and then we leaned into the wind, running for the shelter of Johnny’s porch.

  “Are you ready for this?” I asked before knocking.

  Faith had her hopes up that the hat was her dad’s. If Johnny was missing his, I knew that she’d be heartbroken.

  “Are you?” She threw the question back at me, but there was a harshness in her tone.

  I didn’t know. There wasn’t a day that had gone by that I hadn’t either dreamt about Bruce Dawson or wondered where he’d went. I still looked to the stands every time I scored a goal, expecting to see him cheering me on.

  “I…” Her anger surprised me. Instead of answering, I cleared my throat and knocked on Johnny’s door hard enough that the windows down the side of the trailer rattled.

  Faith grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Easy,” she hissed. “This man has enough guns to arm the entire town.”

  “Shit.” She was right. I stepped to the door and gave a politer knock with a little rhythm to it this time – a little less of a cop about to break down the door knock.

  “Johnny, are you there? It’s Faith Dawson.”