She couldn’t make herself look away.
Separation gave her perspective, all right. It taught her that she missed him. She missed going to the rink, that anxious bite in her stomach when she’d catch a glimpse of him. She told herself she wanted to avoid him, but that wasn’t true. A part of her wanted him to find her.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him in that parking lot. That suit. Those eyes wide as he looked at her, through the hard shell. He read her so easily.
“Earth to Magnolia.”
A hand waved impatiently in front of her. Magnolia blinked and looked at Cressida. “Huh?”
Cressida titled her head to the side. “What’s up with you tonight, chica?”
“Nothing.” She mumbled it because she didn’t want to tell the truth.
Austin Blakely withdrawal wasn’t exactly a condition she felt like explaining to her friend.
“Maybe just one more shot.” Magnolia watched as Cressida’s eyes lit up like fireworks. She felt a little guilty. Cressida had been begging her to go out again, but she’d been putting her off. “Just one, though. I still need to pay attention tonight.”
Cressida raised her hand toward the bartender. “Pay attention to the game, or to Austin?”
Magnolia’s head whipped around and Cressida laughed.
Maybe she was transparent to everyone.
Cressida tried not to smile. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“There isn’t a secret. I don’t have a crush on him.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“I’m serious.”
“And I’m serious when I say we need to work on your lying skills.” Cressida picked up the refilled shot glass and handed it to her. “Here.”
Frowning, Magnolia took the shot. It was fruity and awful. Southern girls drank bourbon straight like normal people. Still, it did the trick. Her nerves eased. Maybe after she got some food in her stomach she would forget about her mother’s nagging, and that other person she refused to think about for at least five more minutes.
She joined her co-workers in their reserved seating in front of the big screen. She grabbed a seat between Evan and Stella, glancing over Evan’s shoulder. He scowled at the magazine in his hands.
“Can you believe this?” He held up the magazine for her to see. It was the latest edition of The Whisperer. “How is this news?”
Magnolia looked closer. In the center was a picture, and the little girl with flaming red hair caught her attention first. It was Austin’s niece. As she looked closer, she realized it was a family picture. It wasn’t the usual ‘caught in action’ shot photographers snap and sell to the magazines. This one was planned. Henrik Rylander stood behind his daughter, one arm around his wife Leila, and the other on the shoulder of the little girl sitting on the swing.
“That’s odd.” Magnolia pointed at the picture. “How do you think they got them to pose like that?”
Evan looked back at the picture, comparing it to the other photos of celebrities and their kids on the page. It didn’t match. “I don’t know.” Evan hastily flipped through a couple more pages of the same thing. “That whole company is a joke. There’s no real news. It’s just a bunch of celebrity sightings in the city.”
“Ferocia must be gearing up for something big.” Stella pushed a plate of hot wings in front of her.
“What do you mean?”
“My grandmother follows that stupid magazine like it’s one of her soaps. She always says when the stories get slow, that means something big is coming. Ferocia will pull all her top reporters and focus them on the one big story.”
“It must be a doozy, because this issue isn’t worth the three bucks.” Evan flipped another page. His mouth fell open. Whatever he was about to say got lost in the gust of air that blew out.
Stella elbowed Magnolia, pointing at Evan’s ridiculous expression. “What now?”
He looked up, his face ghostly.
“What is it?” Stella asked again.
Magnolia reached over and snatched the magazine out of his hand. “Probably found out his man crush Chris Hemsworth was in town and he missed him.” She pulled the magazine up, scanning the page.
“Oh.” Magnolia’s blood went cold. Dead cold.
“C’mon,” Stella complained, scooting over to peek at the magazine. “It can’t be that—”
It was Magnolia. Five pictures. All taken in succession.
The first was her barreling like a madwoman out of the door of the practice facility into the parking lot.
The second was her standing in the middle of an empty parking space, her bag on the ground next to her feet.
The third was her in her car. Angry. Desperate. Captivated. Her expressions were right there plain as day on the page.
Austin was there too. Him chasing her. Him with his hands on her window, begging her to stop and talk to him.
They caught it all.
Magnolia heart stammered in her chest. This was bad.
No. This was a tragedy.
“H-h-how?” Her voice was unsteady. Her entire body was unsteady. “Wh-wh-why?”
Stella finally came out of her stupor and exhaled. “The interview, Magnolia. The interview of you and Austin was a hit. Ferocia’s readers must have wanted more.”
“So, she did what? Sent someone to stalk me?”
Evan ran a hand down his face. “You two are an easy target. Everyone knows we do interviews at the facility.”
Magnolia threw the magazine down on the table. Revolted.
It was wrong. What happened between her and Austin in that parking lot was private. It wasn’t meant for the entire world to bear witness.
“Look—” Evan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder “—just steer clear of him for a while. If Ferocia can’t get anything else, it will eventually blow over. She’ll move on to her next big thing.”
No. Austin was right. Ignoring each other and avoiding another interview had only made Ferocia’s suspicion grow. Someone had followed her. They’d waited for her to leave. Staying away from Austin wouldn’t make this go away.
Magnolia placed a shaky hand on her stomach. She felt sick.
Cressida, who had been at the bar chitchatting the bartender, hopped up happily onto a stool next to Evan. “Whoo. Look who is all intense tonight.”
Magnolia looked up, thinking Cressida meant her, but her eyes were on the television. Austin’s face filled the giant screen in front of them. He was in game mode. His brow furrowed, and his hands clutched around his stick. He even had stubble growing along his normally flawless jaw line.
Magnolia purposefully looked away, only to find every eye at the table directed at her. They didn’t watch the game. They were too busy watching her watch Austin. It was like she was some pawn in their real life soap opera.
She scowled at all of them. “I think I’m going to go watch the game from home tonight.”
“No.” Cressida jumped out of her seat and grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave. It’s cute.”
Magnolia’s frown deepened. Cressida was clueless.
“He has a crush on you,” Stella said in a pathetic attempt to make her feel better. “It is kind of sweet.”
All the eyes at the table held smiles beneath them. She really was nothing more than their own reality show. She rolled her eyes and got up. “Sorry, Evan, but we can go over notes tomorrow.” She grabbed her jacket and threw it on in a hurry. Then she snatched the issue of The Whisperer off the table.
That picture bothered her. Especially now. She had no intention of being Ferocia’s next big story.
***
Magnolia made it home before the second period started. She was a whirlwind in her house. She made popcorn, gathered up blankets, and changed her clothes. She did anything and everything to keep herself from looking at that magazine again. She even scrubbed the tile on the kitchen floor while the intermission report wrapped up. Once the game resumed, she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up, as if that would some
how help hide her from the rest of the world, wrapped up in her Bulldogs blanket, and settled down with her popcorn to watch the rest of the game. She would catch up on game stats during commercials.
She made certain to keep her thoughts about Austin Blakely professional, as if that would make the images in the magazine less real. A part of her said to pull away from him more, that maybe she should quit now before the rumors got worse and go start over again somewhere else. That part was a scared squeak in the shadows, though. Magnolia had never been the quitting type.
She didn’t know what to do now. Interview him like he suggested? It would surely make the site now, whether it was professional or not. Ferocia would find some way to spin it, to fan the flame to make her fire grow. Magnolia thought back to the magazine in her bag, to the picture of Henrik, Leila, and Lucy.
They would have never given The Whisperer that photo. Ferocia took things, moments in time that didn’t belong to her. That family photo wasn’t meant for the world, just like her conversation with Austin.
They really were sitting ducks, waddling around a fenced-in pond, waiting to be shot. Now she was one of them. Part of the family, like Austin suggested. He said he’d dealt with Ferocia before, that he knew how to work around the system. Maybe it was time she let him teach her. Maybe she should trust someone other than herself again.
A whistle blew. Magnolia glanced at the TV screen, thinking the other team had iced the puck, but she saw a player go down.
Not just any player.
Austin.
His body slid five feet across the ice from the goal to the boards behind it, and slammed into the wall. His line mates immediately went to him. Magnolia jumped off the couch, her popcorn bowl spilling onto the floor.
Henrik dropped his gloves and punched the guy who, according to the announcers, illegally hit Austin from behind.
Another player fell down at Austin’s side. Eighty-eight. Magnolia tried to think fast, but her pulse thrummed in her ears. Eighty-eight was Samuel O’Dell.
Sam tried to help Austin to his feet. More teammates joined Sam’s effort while the referees tried to break up the fight between Henrik and the other player who Magnolia would hate forever after this.
They pulled Austin to his feet, but he went straight back down.
Oh no. He was hurt.
Panic ate at her. Every time Austin tried to set his right foot on the ice, his knee buckled. Sam held on to him. Trainers ran out onto the ice. The referee led Henrik to the penalty box as he diligently cursed the other player on his way. The trainers and Sam helped Austin off the ice. He was in pain. Magnolia was in pain right along with him.
Then he was gone.
The game started back. The Rangers were on a power play.
“Austin.”
She hadn’t even realized she said it out loud. Her hands were flat on the screen as if it were a window she might crawl through to get to him. She watched, waiting in hope that Austin might come back to the bench. Her phone buzzed from the couch. She didn’t want to talk right now. She wouldn’t dare let Cressida hear the panic in her voice. She sat there like that, her eyes glued to the screen, her hands impatiently shaking at her side for the entire game. Each second an hour. Each moment a year. Her phone continued to buzz somewhere a world away.
No update, the announcers claimed. Bullshit. Magnolia knew the media well enough to know that meant it was bad. Austin didn’t return to the game. She watched the post-game, and started scanning news outlets, though she knew they’d all be empty. She started pacing, flipping through channels. She had to find something.
A knock. She jumped at the sound on her front door. She whipped around, and for the first time she realized she had tears forming in her eyes. She was worried for Austin. She ran for the front door, wiping her eyes as she bent down to look outside. It was Evan.
She jerked the door open and moved back to let him in inside. He pulled a suitcase along with him. “I’ve been calling you.”
“Sorry. My phone…it’s dead.”
They both knew she was lying. Unlike Cressida, though, Evan let it go. He ruffled snow out of his hair and shut the door. “How do you feel about Calgary?”
“What do you mean?”
Evan pointed at the television across the room. He knew she’d still be watching. “One of our biggest stars just got injured. Mrs. Stamcose wants the story.”
Magnolia pointed at his suitcase. “You’re the traveler, remember?”
“True, but like I said, I’ve been trying to call you.” Evan pushed the handle of the suitcase down. “Austin requested you.”
She paused. “What?”
“Apparently, he requested you.” Evan smiled. “I was told to come here and get you and take you to Calgary for the exclusive interview.”
Damn, she wanted to curse Austin. Curse him and hug him. Mostly hug him.
Magnolia immediately started nodding so Evan wouldn’t see the relief in her eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Evan leaned down to look at her face. “You realize saying okay means you need to go pack. Right now. Our plane leaves in two hours.”
Magnolia stumbled down the hall, her mind in a daze. Well, here goes nothing. If Austin wanted her to trust him, this was his chance.
Chapter Twelve
AUSTIN’S HEALING
The medical table Austin sat on for the past too many hours was cold and abnormally stiff. He was ready to bail, and now that he’d been cleared to leave, he couldn’t wait to get out of that place and back to the hotel. He had an interview to attend.
Henrik stood at the end of the table. A shiny black knee brace gleamed between them. Yeah, that knee brace would be a definite deterrent to his escape plan.
Henrik ran a confused hand over his face before he looked at him in disbelief again. “Let me get this straight. You are having them fly Magnolia from Manhattan to flipping Western Canada for an interview?”
Austin whirled around off the table, testing the pressure of his foot against the floor. He could probably walk on it if it came to that. Sam immediately brought him a pair of crutches. “They were sending someone anyway. It might as well be her.”
Henrik leaned across the table, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips. “You have a sprained knee. You’ll miss maybe a couple games.”
“They don’t know it’s only sprained.” Austin tested the crutches.
“You’re going to be out a week. Tops.”
Austin wobbled across the room to grab his jacket. “What’s your point, Henrik?”
“This isn’t ‘fly her across two countries’ kind of news! I thought we agreed to leave her alone for now, and then invite her to the you-know-what.”
Sam, who followed behind him making sure he kept his balance, laughed. “I think what Henrik is trying to say is…did you stop to think maybe Magnolia might not want to hop on a plane to the middle of nowhere, at midnight, just to see you?”
Austin pursed his lips. He hadn’t considered that. He actually hadn’t considered anything at the time. His knee hurt like hell, and he fought through the pain, and by fought, he cursed the trainer to hell and back. The on-site doctor told him there was no way in hell he was getting back in the game, so he took the pain meds they offered. Next thing he knew, he was at the hospital getting x-rays and scans. A guy walked in and started asking him about an interview, and he said her name.
Only her name. No one else. He made that very clear. He didn’t want to talk to anyone but Magnolia Cross. In the light of day, and with narcotic-free thought processing, he could see how maybe that might have been a bad choice.
He maneuvered around the room, his crutches squeaking as he tried to keep the pressure off his knee. “You think she’ll be mad?”
“Well—” Henrik pulled on his jacket “—what would your track record with her suggest?”
Austin frowned. He glanced down at his watch. She’d be in Calgary by now. The interview was scheduled to start in two hours. That meant Magnolia would
be at the hotel. “Grab the paperwork,” he said to Sam, hopping his way out the door.
Henrik laughed behind him. “The stupid never really ends with you, does it?”
His captain was probably right. Requesting Magnolia was a stupid idea. Going to the hotel with the sole purpose of finding her would be just another tally on his growing list of idiotic schemes. “You know me. There’s no stopping the crazy train once it starts rolling.”
Not when the destination was her.
Austin labored through the door, ignoring Henrik’s laughter behind him. “Choo. Choo.”
***
Austin ditched Henrik and Sam once they made it back to the hotel. The guys had practice soon, and then they would board a plane to their next destination on the list. It was as good an excuse as any to whack Henrik with his crutch and tell him to mind his own damn business. Austin found Magnolia’s co-worker in the lobby. Evan stood at the check-in desk, chatting with one of the employees. Even raised his hand in greeting as soon as he spotted him. He trotted over, his face falling at the sight of the brace.
“Oh no.” Evan looked devastated. Austin knew the guy well enough to know he wasn’t just a reporter for the network. He was also a fan. “That looks bad.”
“Just a sprain,” Austin said quickly.
His eyes immediately brightened a little. “Thank goodness. What’s the projection?”
“A week or two, maybe. I should definitely be back before the All-Star break.”
Evan sighed. “That’s great news. Magnolia will be relieved.”
Austin’s ears perked up. Evan noticed. Evan really noticed. He smiled at him. It was the same kind of smile Henrik gave him every time he mentioned Magnolia. Which was a lot lately.
Evan dropped his voice low between them. “She was worried.”
The Girl With Diamonds (Midtown Brotherhood Book 2) Page 9
