Easy
A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance
Brenda Rothert
Silver Sky Publishing, Inc.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Want more?
Acknowledgments
One
Easy
“How’s Jonah doing?”
My agent Jack tosses a baseball a few feet into the air and catches it, feet up on his desk as we finish up our meeting at his New York office.
“He’s good.”
“Gotta be hard on a goalie, ending the season that way,” Jack says.
Last week Jonah dove for a puck that was flying toward the goal with seconds left in the game. It got past him, ending our postseason run.
“We win together or we lose together,” I tell Jack. “If we’d been better offensively in that game, we would’ve been ahead at the end there.”
Jack nods. “He’s always been good at shaking off losses.”
“In terms of hockey, he’s the best at it.”
“Yeah, when I said losses, I didn’t mean…shit, it was a damn shame what happened to his wife. Does he date much?”
“Jonah?” I shrug. “Occasionally.”
Jack’s a good guy—he’s been my agent since I signed my first NHL contract eight years ago. But I don’t tell anyone personal shit about my teammates. Gossip’s thick enough around all of us as it is.
“You heading to Kauai on the big team trip?” Jack asks.
Most of our team’s already at the beach house my teammate Luca and his wife Abby own. It’s the way we always kick off our offseason break, and I hate that I’m missing it.
“Not this year, unfortunately. I passed because I was originally going to take my mom and aunt on a safari tour trip, but my aunt fell a couple weeks ago and fractured her hip, so we had to cancel.”
“Damn. She’s okay, though?”
“Oh yeah. My Aunt Jo will outlive us all.”
Jack grins. “Got an aunt like that myself.” He glances over at the computer screen on his desk. “So you’re in for the Yankees game tonight, right? I’ve got sweet box seats, and then we can check out this new club I’ve heard good things about.”
“Yeah, I’m game. My flight leaves at seven tomorrow morning, though.”
“No problem, I’ll make sure we stop partying by six.”
I laugh at that. Jack and I have had some epic nights out in New York City, even though I usually only come here about twice a year. He likes to wine and dine his clients, and given how much I pay him, I certainly don’t complain about it.
“I’m thirty now, man,” I say. “I feel it when I party all night long.”
“Feels like you’re not a pussy, right? Like you’re a man who appreciates all that life has given him and isn’t gonna squander it by going to bed early when he’s in the big city?”
I groan. “Feels more like someone ran me over with a truck, honestly.”
Jack takes his feet off his desk and turns to set the baseball back on the decorative stand on a bookcase behind his desk. “The truck of damn good times, bro. Nut up, we’re going out. We’ll have a good time. Plus, you’re a pussy magnet.”
“Oh, is that it?”
He stands up, shrugging. “I can’t tell you how many fucking times people have asked me if you’re related to that actor…Idris whatever his name is. Women see you coming and it’s like their legs just magically open up. That little hint of a French accent you’ve got doesn’t hurt a bit. Me, you, and a few Yankees players are going out tonight. I have the chance to wake up with multiple women in my bed tomorrow morning. This is a non-negotiable proposition my friend.”
I give in, not because of the partying, but because of the game. I’ve always loved major league baseball, and there’s nothing like seeing a game at Yankee Stadium.
“All right, man. But I’m gonna need to go back to my hotel and take a nap first. And can you arrange for my bags to be taken to the airport for me?”
Jack gives me a mock salute. “Done, sir. My loins thank you. They’re quivering in anticipation of finally getting some ass.”
“I don’t want to hear about your fucking loins, man.”
I shake my head as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull my phone out and go to answer it, but when I see my mom’s name on the screen, I groan. She’s trying to convince me to stay with her for a few weeks in Greentree Falls, Wisconsin. I’ve taken her and Aunt Jo on a trip during each offseason for seven years now, and when we had to cancel this year because of Aunt Jo’s fall, she told me I could come there instead.
But there’s no way I’m going to Greentree Falls. I’d rather spend a few weeks in any other town in the country—the world, even—than step foot back in that town.
“Excuse me,” I say to Jack, stepping into the hallway to take my mom’s call, answering it with my usual, “Hey, Mom, how are you?”
“I’ve been better,” she says weakly.
My brow immediately furrows with concern. My mother never says anything weakly.
“What’s going on?”
She sighs into the phone. “I was bringing Aunt Jo home from the hospital and I tripped on her front porch steps. My ankle is fractured.”
“Oh no. Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital now. Some friends from church drove me here.”
“Are you in pain?”
“It hurts.” Her voice wavers slightly. “Not as much as you’d think, but it does hurt.”
My mom is the strongest person I know. Her tone fills me with a sense of helplessness. She’s laid up in a hospital bed, and I’m too far away to help.
“Are you okay?” I ask. “What can I do to help?”
“I’m okay. I don’t need to have surgery. They’re going to put my foot in a cast and then I can go home.”
“Are they sure that’s all that’s going on? Did you hit your head when you fell?”
With another sigh, she says, “I’m banged up pretty good, but the doctor says I can go home. I’ll have to eventually have physical therapy but they think it’ll heal well and I’ll be able to swap the cast out for a boot brace in a few weeks for better mobility.”
“Do they know how old you are?”
“I’m fifty-six years old, Erik, not eighty.”
And there’s the Naomi Zimmerman I’m used to—there’s no weakness in her tone now.
“Okay,” I say, backing down.
“Listen, son. You’re not gonna like this, but it’s just the way it is. You need to come up here for a few weeks to help out. I’m supposed to be taking care of your aunt and now neither one of us can walk or lift anything. There’s no way I can do this on my own.”
My mom means more to me than anyone in the world, but I’m not going to Greentree Falls—even for her.
“You and Aunt Jo can come stay with me in Chicago for as long as you need,” I offer. “I’ll send a medical transport to get you guys.”
“Are you out of your damn mind? With her broken hip and my broken ankle, we’re not coming to Chicago. You’re coming here, Erik.”
I dig in. “I’ve got plenty of room at my place, and I can hire nursing care.”
“I don’t want any nursing care when I have a perfectly able-bodied son on summer vacation.”
“It’s not summer vaca—”
“You’d better get your ass up here, son. You haven’t been home in more than ten years and it breaks my heart that my one and only child never comes home to see me. I know it’s because of Allie Douglas, but—”
I cut her off, just the sound of that name making me tense up. “Mom, I send a driver with a luxury vehicle to bring you to Chicago several times a year. We’ve traveled all over the world together. I’ve told you you’re welcome to come live here if you want; I’ll buy you a nice place.”
“This is my home,” she says firmly. “And even with a broken ankle, I can still whip your ass if I have to, so don’t let it come to that. When can I expect you?”
I move the phone away from my mouth and exhale hard, looking up at the ceiling. Fuck. I can’t see any way out of this. My mom needs me. She’s never let me down, not even once, and I won’t let her down, no matter how hard it’ll be to go back to Greentree Falls.
“Tonight. I’m in New York, but I’ll catch the first flight out and rent a car.”
“Good. I won’t be making supper, but I can always stir something up for you when you get in.”
“Mom, don’t worry about that.” A couple women smile as they walk past me in the hallway outside of Jack’s office, and I reflexively smile back.
“I’ll be on crutches, but I’m not expecting to be waited on,” my mom says.
She’s always been headstrong. I picture her trying to help Aunt Jo, who isn’t a small woman, into her house and falling, and suddenly, I don’t feel like I can get to Greentree Falls fast enough.
“Mom, be careful, okay? Make sure everything’s good before you leave the hospital. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t leave. I’ll come get you when I get to Greentree Falls. Maybe they can keep you overnight for observation.”
“Erik, they’ve poked and prodded me all over. Don’t you worry about that.”
“I’m calling Cade Donovan to come help get you home then,” I say, knowing my best friend from high school will take care of Mom the same way I would. “He’ll be calling you, so make sure you answer your phone.”
“I don’t need help getting home.”
“Well, you’re getting it. He’ll look in on Aunt Jo, too.”
“She’s probably wearing a nightgown and a shower cap. She doesn’t want some strange man coming over to her house.”
I shake my head, frustrated already.
“Look, the last thing we need is one of you falling again. Take Cade’s help, and I’ll see you tonight.”
After a moment of silence, she says, “Okay.”
“See you soon. I love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, son.”
I end the call and Jack’s blond secretary makes eye contact with me from behind her desk nearby, licking her lips. I just nod, too distracted to flirt.
When I walk back into Jack’s office, he points at me and says, “Go get that nap, princess. The chicks we meet tonight ain’t gonna bang themselves.”
“Yeah, about that. I can’t go.”
“What?” He gives me an indignant look, and I explain about my mom.
“Okay, fine,” he says glumly. “Can’t argue with that. Get home and take care of your cockblocking mom.”
“Another time,” I tell him.
“Seriously, your mom’s gonna be okay, right?”
“She will be, yeah.”
“Okay. Like I said earlier, your contract looks good for the next two years, and we can probably renew early if you want to. And I’ll be in touch about the endorsement offers.”
I nod. “I’m probably out of commission for any meetings or promotional shoots for at least a couple weeks.”
Jack waves. “Go do what you need to do. Let me know how your mom’s doing when you get there.”
“Okay. Thanks, man.”
He squints at his computer screen. “I want to send her some flowers. What town did you say she lives in again?”
“Greentree Falls, Wisconsin.”
“Never heard of it,” he says absently.
“Yeah, it’s pretty small.”
I give Jack my mom’s address and leave his office, checking out of my hotel on the way to the airport. Even though I’m worried about my mom, I feel numb at the thought of returning to Greentree Falls for the first time in over ten years. Mom and I moved to Greentree Falls, her hometown, after she and my dad divorced when I was in eighth grade. Before that, we lived in different cities all over the world because of my dad’s career as a Canadian diplomat. I lived in Greentree Falls the longest of anywhere during my childhood, and it’ll always be home.
It’ll also always be home to Allie Douglas, though, and that’s why I planned to never go back. Even after ten years, the pain hasn’t faded. Just the thought of her hurts.
I can get through a couple weeks in Greentree Falls as long as I stay focused on my mom and Aunt Jo, and as long as I don’t have to see Allie. Because if the thought of her hurts this much, I don’t even want to think about what seeing her would do to me.
Two
Allie
“Come on, Aunt Allie. I’m gonna be late for school. You don’t want that, do you?”
Dangling my seventeen-year-old nephew’s car keys in the air, I hold his gaze in silence, not once thinking of giving in. After a few more moments, he shakes his head and complies with my request, putting his right hand in the air.
“I, Max Porter, do solemnly swear to make good decisions today, up to and including the moment I fall asleep tonight. I promise that my penis will not come within eighteen inches of any female unless I’m not just okay with, but also excited about the prospect of raising a child with her. Furthermore, I promise not to smoke, drink or otherwise ingest any illicit substances.”
“Thank you very much,” I say, tossing him the keys to his beat-up Chevy Impala. “Don’t forget your lunch. You got pastrami instead of roast beef because it was on sale.”
“I’ll be home after practice,” he says as he shoulders his backpack.
“Don’t forget you’re picking Vi up from Jana Monroe’s house tonight.”
Max groans. “That’s like a twenty-minute drive Aunt Allie. An hour round trip since she’s never ready when I get there. I’ll have homework to do.”
“I’d do it if I could, but I have to go to a parent meeting for Hazel’s hockey team.”
He sighs heavily. “Fine, but tell Vi to be ready to go when I get there, will you?”
“Ready for what?”
My fourteen-year-old niece walks into the kitchen, her long blond hair styled into big waves. She’s the diva in this family, waking up early enough to get in her full beauty regimen before school every morning. I usually take a quick shower and pull my still-damp hair into a ponytail in the parking lot of Fox Foods, the grocery store where I work.
“Tonight when I pick you up from Jana’s,” Max tells Vi. “If you don’t come out within two minutes of me pulling up, I’m leaving.”
“You can’t just leave,” she protests.
“Yeah I can, and—”
“Max, can I get a ride to school?” Hazel calls out as she flies down the stairs of our small three-bedroom home.
He scoffs. “I’m not your Uber driver. Take the bus.”
“Come on, I need to get there early to talk to my science teacher before first period.”
Max shakes his head. “Fine, but I’m leaving now.”
Hazel grabs a banana and picks up her lunch bag from the kitchen counter. “Let’s go.”
“You need to be ready to leave for hockey at 4:10 this afternoon,” I remind her. “Gear packed, ready to walk out the door. We won’t have any extra time.”
“I will.”
She will. Hazel is always on time. She’s my tomboy, prefe
rring sports and fishing to boys and makeup. I wouldn’t believe she and Vi were twins if I hadn’t witnessed them both coming out of my older sister at birth.
“Love you,” I call as Max and Hazel walk out the back door.
“Love you, too,” they return at the same time.
Vi looks over at me, face scrunched, as soon as we’re alone in the kitchen. “Ugh, I can’t believe you’re letting her play hockey. What if she gets her teeth knocked out?”
“They wear mouthguards,” I remind her.
I’m not thrilled about Hazel’s newfound love of hockey, either, but my reasons are different from Vi’s. For one, it’s crazy expensive. It also reminds me of someone it hurts to think about, but I don’t want the kids to know about that.
“Still.” She stares into the open fridge as I dry the breakfast dishes. “Are those apples organic?”
“No, Your Royal Highness, they’re just run of the mill Honeycrisps.”
“You should get organic food, it’s healthier.”
I suppress a sigh. We’ve had this conversation so many times. I tell her the organic stuff is too expensive; she tells me it’s worth it. The kids don’t know just how tight my budget gets sometimes, and I don’t want them to. But the arguments are so exasperating that I sometimes want to pull out a bank statement and show them.
“Pack your lunch,” I say as I hang up the dish towel. “I don’t want you missing the bus.”
I sneak a glance at her outfit as she makes a sandwich. The late April Wisconsin weather is warm enough for kids to wear shorts, and Vi chooses formfitting ones that push my comfort zone. I don’t want boys admiring her long legs. She grows more beautiful every day, and it makes my heart hurt. She looks so much like her mother, and I don’t want her making the same mistakes Jenna did.
Easy: A Chicago Blaze Hockey Romance Page 1
