Sticks and Stones (23 page)
Authors: Kerrie Dubrock
She lifted her
head and bit back her surprise. Jack’s grey coif had transformed into dark
brown hair. “Jack?”
He slid into
the booth and ran a casual hand over his hair, shrugging. “My hair turned grey
shortly after I signed up with Dutch Lunch. Started thinking after our lunch
date that I probably looked ancient to you even though I’m only forty-two.”
Grace took his
hand and smiled warmly. “I have to admit, it did take me off guard, but,” she
blushed and hung her head.
Jack squeezed
her hand. “After our lengthy conversations on the phone I know you’re not
shallow, Grace. But how can a guy my age compete with a younger guy, let alone
a famous sport celebrity!”
“It just
happened between us,” she shrugged.
“Damn my luck!”
Jack grinned, shaking his head.
Grace laughed,
“That’s so funny! I always say that!” Jack shot her a questioning look and she
clarified, “Damn my luck. Anyway, I think you look very handsome with either
grey hair or brown hair. And I want to apologize for our last date.”
“No apology needed. I have
to ask though, why did you want to meet for a drink?”
* * *
“So now what?”
Ben muttered, shrugging into his shirt.
“Well, I guess
that’s up to you. I obviously have real feelings for you and I think your
feelings for me are legit, so why can’t we call off the divorce and start
again?” Janice replied.
Ben lifted an
eyebrow. “No more hocus-pocus?”
“No, not
anymore. I’ve learned my lesson,” she shuddered.
“What about
your vendetta against Grace?”
“It’s over. I have what I
want.”
* * *
Rick no sooner
ended his call with Zee, when the phone rang in his hand. “O’Shea!”
“So, how did
the week go?” Emily prodded.
“It went…well,”
Rick grinned.
“Well? Not
fantastic? Awesome?”
Rick plopped
onto the leather couch. “It was all of those things and more. She told me she
loves me.”
“Oh Rick!
That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!”
“Yeah, but
there’s a small problem that I need to fix,” he mumbled, rubbing his chin.
* * *
“I was
wondering if you could reach out to your contact at Chicago magazine and see if
they’d be interested in doing an interview with me about designing Storm Design
Group’s new subdivision.” Grace proposed.
Jack lifted an
eyebrow shrewdly. “Would this also include an interview with the elusive Chase
Storm? You know, to sweeten the pot?”
* * *
When Grace got
home she threw her suitcase in the foyer and sprinted to Tilda’s house. “Aunt
Tilda?”
“In the parlor,
Poppet!”
Chewy sprinted
towards her and leapt into her waiting arms. “Oh Chewy! I’ve missed you!” Grace
cooed into the cat’s soft fur.
“She’s missed
you, too. Mewled like a baby she did!”Tilda tsked. “So…how are things?”
Grace frowned
slightly and sat on the couch. “Is it possible to fall in love with someone in
a short time?”
Tilda clapped
her hands together. “You’re in love with Rick? That’s wonderful Poppet!”
Tiny lines
formed between Grace’s eyebrows. “Is it possible?”
“Oh yes! Why do
you have doubts? You were certainly attracted to him when you first met.”
“Well, yeah.
But love? It took months for me to feel this way about Ben.”
Tilda scrunched
her nose. “It’s because he wasn’t the right one.” She tapped her chin. “Maybe
Rick’s the man from your dreams? He’s Irish and occasionally speaks with a
brogue, right?”
Grace’s eyes
lit up. “I never thought of that! You may be right! Promise me you didn’t cast
a spell for me to fall in love with him.”
“I’d never do
that! Those types of spells don’t last, you know that Poppet,” Tilda bristled.
A week later Rick
was back to work at training camp. It felt good to be back on the ice with his
teammates. He spotted a few new faces on the ice and nodded hello as they
skated past. “Lookin’ rusty there, Dmitri,” Rick teased, spraying Dmitri with a
snow shower.
Dmitri grinned
and wiped the ice from his face with his sleeve. “Not rusty, wore out. Zee’s an
animal!”
Rick skidded to
a halt and circled back. “What did you say?”
“Zee is
very…how you say? Experimental in the bedroom?”
“Is this the
Zee who knows Grace?”
Dmitri nodded
enthusiastically. “She’s my woman now.”
Rick gaped at
him as Kanga slid to a halt in front of them. “Hey, have you seen our new team
photographer? She’s fine looking!” Still dazed from Dmitri’s announcement, Rick
shook his head. “There she is! Near the bench,” Kanga remarked.
Rick and Dmitri
glanced at the bench and the blonde woman waved a hand at them.
Kanga giggled
like a little girl and lifted a gloved hand. “She’s waving at me!”
Rick cursed.
“Nope, she’s waving at me.”
“Wow, you’re
ego’s huge,” snapped Kanga.
“Nope,”
muttered Rick as he nodded to his old girlfriend, Taylor.
* * *
Grace blew the
hair from her face in frustration. Chase Storm wasn’t returning her calls. She
began to leave another voice message when he strode into her office and closed
the door.
“You’ve been
trying to reach me?”
She placed the
phone down and waved a hand towards the chair, encouraging him to sit. “Yeah,
since most of my clients bailed on me, I need to build my clientele again and
I’ve reached out to a…friend. He freelances for Chicago magazine and has
offered to do a pictorial of Sunset Ridge.”
Chase lifted an
eyebrow. “Somehow I think there’s more to this than you’re letting on.”
“He’d like to
interview you,” Grace blushed, embarrassed.
“I hate fucking
interviews,” Chase growled, causing Grace to flinch. “Oh hell! Fine, I’ll do
it, but only because I like you and my best friend loves you.”
* * *
After a grueling day of
training, Rick was glad to be home. Somehow he managed to avoid Taylor.
Whenever she skated near him, he darted away. Eventually he’d have to talk with
her, but not today.
She
was the new team photographer? Slapping those
thoughts away, he quickly showered and packed an overnight bag. It’d been two
days since he saw Grace because she was busy working on the model homes. Twenty
minute phone conversations weren’t working out for him. He needed to see her,
especially after seeing Taylor again.
* * *
Chase studied
Grace and Jack Hoff from a distance. He didn’t expect the interviewer to be the
same guy who Grace met through an online dating service. Despite that, the
interview went well and Hoff stayed focused on the homes and not Chase’s
personal life. That’s where Chase drew the line. His personal life was no one’s
fucking business.
Grace’s
personal life wasn’t any of his fucking business either, but she seemed a
little too warm towards Hoff and it set his teeth on edge. He watched as they
hugged before Hoff got into his car to leave.
When Grace
strode into the house she clapped her hands together. “The interview went well,
don’t you think?”
Chase crossed
his arms over his chest. “Something going on between you two?”
“Huh?” she
squeaked.
He shrugged.
“Rick’s my best friend. He interrupted your lunch date with that guy and now
you’re working with him. Just wondering if you’ve changed your mind about
Rick.”
Grace’s eyes
widened. “Absolutely not! My relationship with Jack is strictly business. I’m
sorry if you got the wrong impression.”
Chase studied
her for several moments and grinned. “Just checking.” He shrugged, sheepishly.
“Grace, for what it’s worth, I’ve never seen Rick so…content. I gotta admit, at
first I was against him wanting a serious relationship. Thought he should be
out chasing tail nightly. But then he met you and well, apparently it was love
at first sight for him. Kinda like me and Em.”
She bit her
bottom lip. “Rick said you two had a rocky start.”
“Yeah, but only
because I was afraid of commitment,” he chuckled. “I knew the minute I met her
she’d change my life.”
“Love at first
sight, huh?”
Chase nodded,
“Definitely.”
“So it
can
happen that fast?”
“It did for me.
Why? Do you doubt Rick’s feelings for you?”
Grace sat on
the antique couch. “I’m doubting both of our feelings. With Janice casting
spells, I can’t help but wonder if she cast a spell on him to fall in love with
me.”
Chase patted her knee.
“Look, if I’ve learned anything from being with Emily, it’s this; don’t be
afraid to let love in.”
* * *
Grace pulled
into her driveway and spotted Rick’s car behind her. She was barely out of the
car when he scooped her up and twirled her. “God, I’ve missed you, gel,” he
murmured.
“I’ve missed
you, too,” she pouted.
Rick waggled
his eyebrows. “We’ve got two days to make up for, aye?”
A smile played
across her lips. “And yet we’re still outside.”
* * *
Snuggling, Rick
wrapped his finger around a strand of Grace’s hair and sighed happily. “
‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that and the
next thirty years?’”
Grace moved her
body over his and ran kisses along his jaw line. “Dinner would be a good start
after that intense lovemaking session.”
“Hey, we had
two days to make up for,” Rick grinned lazily.
Her eyebrows
lifted. “What’s it going to be like when you have a road trip and are gone for
several days?”
Rick smirked.
“There’s always video chat.”
“Or a poor,
helpless puck bunny,” she teased.
His jaw
clenched and a vein in his temple flared. “Goddammit Grace!”
Downstairs, the
doorbell rang. Grace shot him a grin. “Saved by the bell,” she giggled,
grabbing her pink robe from the closet.
Rick tried to run after
her, but his clothes were scattered everywhere downstairs. A grim smile formed
on his lips as he reached inside the linen closet and pulled a dark blue towel
from the shelf.
* * *
“Aunt Tilda!
Let me help you with that!” Grace said, taking a large white wicker basket from
Tilda’s hands. “What’s in here?”
Tilda glanced
at the clothing scattered on the kitchen floor and cackled. “Sure ain’t my
laundry! Hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”
Grace winked
and placed the basket on the pine table. “Twenty minutes ago you might’ve.”
As Grace lifted
the purple linen fabric covering the basket, Tilda’s breath whooshed. Grace
turned and spotted Rick, standing in the kitchen, with a towel wrapped around
his waist.
“Hot damn! Look
at those abs!” Tilda gushed. “Holy hell!”
Color painted
Rick’s cheeks. “Hi Tilda. Um, sorry for my state of undress.”
Tilda fanned
herself with her hand. “Dear Goddess, don’t apologize! Poppet! Have you ever
seen anything so spectacular?” Grace shrugged with a grin. “Never mind, of
course you have,” Tilda mumbled.
“Mmmm! You
brought us dinner!” Grace cooed.
Tilda shook
herself back into reality and nodded. “Yes and it’s still hot, too.” She
glanced at them and cracked a grin. “Eat up; you’ll both need your strength.”
* * *
“So, Jonas,
tell me about Rick,” Taylor Quinn urged.
Jonas nodded
sadly. How stupid of him to think she was interested in him. He took a swig of
beer and slammed the mug down onto the bar. “Whaddya want to know?”
Taylor tucked
her hair behind her diamond studded ear lobes. “He didn’t tell you that we
dated in college?”
Jonas eyes
lifted. “Really?”
“Yeah,” she
grinned. “He dumped me the minute he was drafted by the Rangers.”
“Oh, you want
him back, huh?”
“Nah, but it’s fun to watch
him squirm.”
* * *
“Tilda’s a
great cook,” Rick replied, rubbing his stomach happily.
“Yeah, she
makes a mean lasagna, huh?” Grace agreed.
“All of it!
That was the best Italian salad I’ve ever had! And the garlic bread? Wow. I
think she just may have surpassed my favorite restaurant.”
They sat on the
couch and stared lazily at the blank television screen. Grace snuggled closer
to him and placed her head on his shoulder. “I have something I need to talk to
you about.”
He rubbed his
palm up and down her arm. “Okay…”
“I’m dating
this really hunky guy who just happens to be a hockey player and I don’t know a
thing about the game.”
Rick grinned.
“I can see where this may be a problem.”
Grace nodded. “So, I was
wondering if you could teach me the basics, ya know, so I don’t feel stupid
when I watch a game.”
* * *
Grace gaped at
the video of Rick beating an opposing team member to a pulp. Rick giggled at
the image.
She covered her
eyes. “What the hell did he do to deserve to get the shit beat out of him?”
Rick lifted his
hand, ticking off the infractions with his fingers. “One: He was roughing
Kanga, who had just returned from a concussion. Two: he boarded Gramps and
three; Gavlik’s a jag-off.”
“By Gramps, do
you mean Dmitri?”
“Yep.”
“So, by making
the guy bloody, what happened to you?”
Rick rested his
head against the couch. “I was put into the sin bin for four minutes and lucky
for me, they didn’t score a goal in that power play.”
Grace nodded thoughtfully.
“You’ve shown me several videos of you sparring with this guy. Was it the same
game or different ones?”
“Three
different games. Gavlik and I don’t see eye to eye, so when we see each other
we drop the mitts,” Rick mumbled, twirling a strand of Grace’s hair around his
finger.
“And this is
something you’ll continue to do with him?”
A corner of
Rick’s mouth lifted. “Oh yeah.”
* * *
The next day,
at practice, Rick was effectively slapping the puck into the net, keeping
Sergei Pavich, the goalie, very busy.
Rick stopped as
the tenth puck flew past Sergei, into the net. “Sarge? Ya off your game today?”
he asked, skating towards the net.
“Off my game?
I’m watching the hot photographer!” Sarge replied indignantly.
Glancing over
his shoulder, Rick groaned as Taylor skated towards him with a camera around
her neck.
With a grin she
nodded at him. “Rick! Long time no see!”
“How ya been?”
he eked out.
“Fabulous and
I’ve read in the papers you’re doing well, too.”
Rick shrugged,
“No complaints.” He took off a mitt and tugged the jersey from his neck. “I
gotta get back to practicing.”
“Can I get a
picture of you and Sarge first?” Taylor asked sweetly, shrugging. “They want
photos for the internet.”
Rick
begrudgingly posed for several pictures. Before he could make a clean getaway,
Taylor called out to him. “Hey, wanna go for a beer after practice?”
He nodded,
guiltily.
* * *
In the wee
morning hours, Grace received a phone call from her dad. She was to be at Aunt
Tilda’s at one for a family meeting. She pondered that meeting now while she
ran the paint roller down the wall, completing the bedroom in the model home.