Know Me, Keep Me

by Barbara Gee

Maddy looked at her curiously. “I’ve never met any of the guys you’ve been in relationships with. Is Boone your usual type?”

  “Hmm. In some ways, I guess.” Jolene thought about it. “I haven’t had many serious relationships. The longest was in college, and it lasted about a year and a half. He was a football player. A nice guy, but as he got to be more successful, he also got to be a little full of himself. In the end, a goody-two-shoes girlfriend wasn’t cutting it. And those were pretty much his exact words.”

  Maddy nodded. “I think I know the type. Most guys aren’t happy with a girl who doesn’t put out. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “You got it. It’s sad because we were on the same wave length for a long time, but he changed. He wanted more, and he was a really good looking guy, so he had lots of options. Eventually he gave me the ultimatum. Either sleep with him, or he’d find someone who would.”

  Maddy chuckled. “Somehow I don’t think you’re okay with ultimatums.”

  “You’re right about that. Needless to say, he found someone else. Actually, several someones, who didn’t mind sharing. Got himself a nice little rotation going.”

  “Good riddance. So was your next guy also an athlete?”

  “I only had two more somewhat serious relationships. They both played sports in school and were still really active, but they had regular jobs. One was a fellow physical therapist who worked in the same town as me right after college. We met at a conference and he was a really great guy. Both of them were, actually. But I just couldn’t see forever with them, you know? And I’m not one to date a lot just for the fun of it. If there’s not a future with the guy, I don’t see the point.”

  “You and I are basically clones,” Maddy told her. “Before Tuck, I hadn’t met anyone who even came close to being my future. And I dated very little.”

  Jolene grinned over at her friend. “But then you hit the jackpot.”

  Maddy sighed. “Did I ever. It wasn’t in a way I ever expected, but I’ll take it. I love that man more every day. Every single day. I tell him that, too. I don’t ever want him to think I take him for granted. He’s my biggest blessing in life, and I want him to know it.”

  “You and Libby are my inspiration. I don’t want to settle for less than what you two have.”

  “Do you think Boone would be less?”

  Jolene laughed. “Boone isn’t less of anything. In fact, he’s so much, I can’t handle it. I told him that, too. I told him we need to keep things professional, because he already messes with my head, and if I give him the chance he’ll mess with my heart.”

  “Would that be so bad?” Maddy asked.

  “Yeah,” Jolene said emphatically. “It would be real bad, because when his time here is up he’ll walk away, back to his real life. And I’ll be left here with a broken heart and the knowledge that no one else will ever measure up. I’ve only known him a few days, but I already know he’d be a hard act to follow.”

  “How does he feel about things? Since you guys talked about it, I’m assuming the attraction is mutual?”

  “Maybe. I mean, yeah, he pretty much said he’s attracted. But he has a lot going on right now, and I think he realizes that starting something that has an end date already established isn’t something he wants to add to his plate. It could get messy. So he’s okay with eliminating the social stuff.”

  “Or so he says,” Maddy teased. “I saw him looking at you when we were waiting for Tuck at the gym earlier. You were talking to Lowell, and Boone’s eyes never left you. Looked to me like he wouldn’t mind catching another game with you at all.”

  “Oh my word, Maddy. Don’t even say that. I don’t need anything else to think about when it comes to that man. Please invite him to your place for tonight’s game.”

  “I’d love to have him, and Tuck would be thrilled. But won’t you come, too? I assume you’re okay with being around him as long as it’s a group setting. Like this ride.”

  Jolene was torn. She wanted to. Badly. But for her own peace of mind, she really did need some distance. “Not this time, Maddy. Thanks, but I think I’ll just stay home tonight.”

  Her friend gave her a sympathetic look. “He’s really gotten to you, huh?”

  Jolene nodded. “Yeah, he has. And quite frankly, I find it terrifying.”

  “I’ll be praying for you,” Maddy promised.

  “Pray for him, too, Maddy. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know he’s suffering. He’s facing some kind of decision, and whatever it is, it’s eating at him. So include him in your prayers too, okay?”

  “I will. You don’t think he’s considering leaving the Wild, do you?”

  Jolene smiled. “Thankfully, no. He’s got three more years on his contract, so I know that isn’t it. But whatever it is, the stress isn’t good for his recovery.”

  “Next week will take his mind off his troubles,” Maddy said confidently. “It’s almost impossible to worry about your own stuff when faced with a group of families whose lives have been changed so drastically by traumatic injury.”

  Jolene nodded. “It’ll be good for him, and I know he’ll give it his all. He doesn’t do things halfway.”

  “That makes him a perfect fit around here, then.”

  Jolene sighed quietly. Yes, it did. A perfect fit. But only for a short time. And she couldn’t afford to lose sight of that.

  CHAPTER 13

  The next week passed quickly. Jolene was busy from six in the morning until seven or eight at night, and she relished the hard work. It was exactly what she needed to get her equilibrium back. Having Boone around was still a bit unsettling, but he seemed to have accepted the all business mindset for their workouts. They were friendly, they chatted and joked and things didn’t feel awkward, but there had been no more unnecessary touching or almost kisses. She’d even discontinued the massages, and Boone hadn’t commented.

  No accidental meet-ups had occurred, either, even though Jolene snuck over to the ice rink several times a day to watch Boone as he interacted with the veterans. She stayed in the shadows of the stands, out of sight, safe to observe without anyone knowing she was there.

  As she had expected, Boone was a huge hit on the ice. He and Donovan were a great team, and Jolene had never seen so many smiling faces. The hockey sleds had arrived, and Donovan had skillfully assembled them, fitting them to the individual players’ needs. He and Boone alternated working with the standing players and the sled players, and were equally effective with both.

  One day Jolene watched as a veteran who had lost both of his legs was struggling to maneuver his sled. Frustrated, he slammed his stick on the ice and cursed loudly. Boone had skated over, an empathetic smile on his face, then taken the other man aside to cool down. They’d sat in a corner and talked for the rest of the session. Jolene couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she watched as the vet gradually calmed down. Soon, instead of Boone doing the talking, the other man took over. From his gestures, Jolene gathered that he was telling Boone about the day he’d lost his legs, and Boone listened intently, at one point wiping his hand down his face, obviously emotional.

  The next day the vet was back on the ice, handling his frustrations much better, and by the end of the week he’d made incredible progress with his sled, and he and Boone had obviously formed a strong bond.

  Jolene decided she had to stop her visits to the rink. All they did was increase her admiration for the man she was trying not to fall for. Not that she wasn’t faced with his popularity everywhere else. He made it a point of eating lunch in the cafeteria, where he was a huge hit with the staff and retreat families alike. He was a good sport, but it had to be draining. Jolene was glad to learn that he still got his dinners to go, taking the opportunity to have some downtime alone in his cabin.

  The PT staff were also big Boone fans. Jolene let them take turns helping with his workouts, and they were as charmed by the man as everyone else. He was friendly, cheerful, and funny. Not to mention a dream patient who did
everything they asked without complaint.

  Working with an athlete of his caliber was a once in a lifetime experience, and they all knew it. The guys admired his physique and work ethic. Izzy admired his physique, work ethic, and everything else about him. In fact she mooned over him so much when he wasn’t present that Jolene had taken to closing her office door, so the girl wouldn’t feel encouraged to drop in every few hours to bemoan the fact that Boone didn’t respond to her. Izzy had made it abundantly clear that she would love to see Boone socially, but he hadn’t expressed any interest. Izzy felt rejected, and Jolene hoped it didn’t become a problem.

  As far as his recovery went, his headaches continued to stay in the lower range of the pain scale, and Jolene had been able to gradually increase his activity level. She knew he was impatient to do even more, but he didn’t argue with her decisions.

  Before she left the office on Friday evening, Jolene made the call to the team doctor for her bi-weekly discussion of how Boone was doing. The man was thorough, wanting to know everything about his star player. Jolene understood, and she was as forthcoming as she could possibly be, gratified when he declared that he was satisfied with what had been accomplished so far.

  After the lengthy call, Jolene had to hurry home in order to get there in time for the Wild game. She’d watched the last two games alone at her house, which had been hard because she knew Boone was at Tuck and Maddy’s place having a grand old time. Maddy told her that Ryan, Libby and Hank had been showing up, too, which made Jolene feel even more lonely.

  Maddy also warned her that Tuck and Ryan had been asking why she wasn’t there with the rest of them. Jolene had given Maddy permission to fill Libby in on her state of mind when it came to Boone, but the guys were still in the dark.

  Twenty minutes before the start of the game on Saturday night, Jolene was dressed in her Kendall jersey as usual, heating up some leftovers in the microwave, when her phone rang. Seeing Tuck’s name on the screen, she hesitated. She was pretty sure she knew why he was calling. She was also pretty sure that if she ignored the call, he’d keep trying until he wore her down.

  “Hey, Tuck. What’s up?”

  “You need to get over here, Jolene. Everyone’s here again, and there’s no reason you should be sitting at home watching the game alone. Maddy said you’ve been trying to get some work done in the evenings, but come on. If you’re having to work during the games, instead of cheering your team on with your favorite player, we need to get you another assistant.”

  Jolene closed her eyes. There was no excuse she could make that Tuck would buy. Besides, was there really so much harm in joining her friends for an evening? With the whole group of them, she wouldn’t have to worry about being alone with Boone, and she was so, so tired of her own company.

  “Um, okay, Tuck. I guess I’ll come. See you in a few minutes.”

  “Fantastic. Don’t speed though. You have plenty of time to get here.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  Jolene threw out the chicken casserole she’d been warming. Heating it up a third time wasn’t going to happen. She raced to the bathroom and touched up her mascara and lip gloss, grabbing her purse on the way out to her car.

  Eight minutes later she was parking by Tuck and Maddy’s new house, which they’d built on the ranch and moved into just a few months ago. Thankfully their family room was huge, which would make it fairly easy to avoid being too close to Boone over the course of the evening.

  Jolene didn’t bother to ring the bell, she just walked in as she always did when the Simons were expecting her. As luck would have it, there was Boone, leaning up against the wall in the entryway, talking on his phone.

  His head swiveled toward her, and his lips curved into a smile. Heart racing from the unexpected encounter, Jolene went to move quickly past him, but he reached out and snagged her wrist, wrapping up his call and shoving his phone into his pocket.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice low, sending goose bumps down her spine. “I’m glad you came.” He moved his hands to her shoulders and looked her over, grinning. “You’re still wearing the jersey.”

  “Of course I am.”

  He shrugged. “I thought maybe the super fandom had faded now that you know the real me. That happens sometimes when we’re found out to be mere mortals.”

  For some reason Jolene felt tears stinging her eyes and she blinked them back, her throat feeling thick. If only he knew. Seeing him at the ranch, watching him interact with the families, it only made him that much more admirable.

  “I’ll always wear the jersey,” she managed to say. “As long as you’re a Wild, that is.”

  He gave her a crooked smile. “The 15 never looked so good.”

  She looked down at the number blazed across the front of the jersey, then gave him a sideways look as she turned away. “Not so sure about that, Boonzy.” She heard his low growl but she didn’t stop, and she even threw a grin over her shoulder before she entered the family room to join the others. Safety in numbers.

  Five smiling faces greeted her arrival, and for the first time all week, Jolene’s heart felt light. She’d needed this. Boone or not, she needed to be with her friends tonight.

  Seven year old Hank hopped up and ran to her for a hug. For a child who had endured some pretty traumatic events in his short lifetime, his ability to show affection and joy was nothing short of remarkable. Of course he received it all back in spades, which made Jolene’s heart happy.

  “Hey, Hank. I’ve missed you, my friend. Who’s gonna win tonight?”

  “The Wild!” he shouted. Although he and Ryan still professed to be Carolina Hurricane fans at heart, having Boone Kendall present had quickly raised the Wild to their second favorite team.

  “I need to get you a Kendall jersey,” Jolene said. “Then we can be twins.”

  “I can take care of that,” Boone said behind her.

  “Awesome!” Hank shouted. “Dad, Boone’s gonna give me a jersey!”

  “Thanks, man,” Ryan said, clapping Boone on the shoulder. “When you’re back on the ice, we’ll expect tickets.”

  Boone chuckled. “That can be arranged.”

  The national anthem started playing on the big screen and everyone grabbed a seat. Jolene went for a recliner, but Tuck got there first, and then she felt a hard tug on the hem of her jersey and she fell back into a loveseat, Boone at her side.

  “Join me?” he asked innocently, his thick lashed eyes glinting with mischief.

  Jolene glared at him, but it was hard to be angry. His demeanor seemed lighter tonight, and she wondered whether it was because he’d come to a decision about whatever it was that had been bothering him, or because a week of fulfilling work with deserving people had given him a boost.

  The game was a blowout by the Wild, which was good considering they’d lost their last two. With ten minutes to go in the game they were up 5-1 and showed no signs of letting up. Jax had scored twice, an unstoppable offensive force the whole game, and Jolene could tell Boone was thrilled for his friend.

  When the doorbell rang, Hank leapt up to answer it while the others kept their attention on the game, where Jax was anchoring a power play unit and looking to get a hat trick on the night. Hank bounced back into the room.

  “Uncle Virgil and Aunt Kay are back from buying horses,” he crowed.

  Jolene smiled. The couple had been away all week attending horse auctions, one of their favorite pastimes. They’d probably seen all the cars at Tuck’s and decided to stop in to say hi. She looked at Boone to tell him as much, then realized he was sitting frozen beside her, his face ashen.

  She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned close, ignoring the noisy chatter around them. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “No, I need to leave. Don’t ask any questions right now, just tell me if there’s a back way out of here. Please, Jolene.”

  His eyes held a terrible, stark urgency, and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to help him, even though she had no idea
what was wrong. She looked around and saw that the others had migrated out to the hall to greet Virgil and Kay. Standing up, she held out a hand. “Come on. I’ll show you the back door and make an excuse for you.”

  He took her hand and she led him through an archway at the far side of the room, down a hall and into a sunroom with two sets of French doors leading out onto a huge deck. She opened one of the doors and he stepped quickly through.

  “Thanks,” was all he said, and then he disappeared into the shadows.

  Jolene returned to the living room, worried sick that Boone was having a migraine. He’d seemed fine throughout the evening, but if he’d been nursing a headache, it was possible it had spiked suddenly. His pallor and the trembling she’d felt in his hand indicated that might have happened. If so, she didn’t want him to be alone.

  She rejoined the others and gave Kay and Virgil both big hugs, welcoming them back. The two were like a second set of parents to her, and when they went on their excursions she always missed having them around. Kay was an especially cheerful presence in the dining hall at the center, where she often taught cooking classes, and morale was always at its highest when she was there.

  “Where’s the hockey player we’ve been hearing about?” Virgil boomed. “Can’t say I know much about the game, but everyone I’ve talked to has been singing his praises. I thought maybe he’d be here with y’all.”

  “He is,” Tuck said, frowning as he looked around. “Or at least he was. Is he still in the family room?”

  “He left, actually,” Jolene said quickly. “He wasn’t feeling well. I’m afraid he might be getting a migraine.”

  “I wondered if it was a little too boisterous around here for him,” Maddy said, giving Jolene a worried look. “I keep forgetting the man has a head injury.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be fine. But I think I’m going to head out, too. It’s been a long week. I’ll see you guys around.”

  Maddy broke off from the group and walked with her to the front door.

  “Let me know if he needs anything,” she said softly, guessing Jolene’s intention of going to check on Boone.