Page 74 of Secret Pucking Unicorn

That will have to be enough for now.

* * *

“Would you like tea, Miranda?” Stella asks as I take my seat on the team plane.

I shudder at the thought of tea. It will be a long time before I’m able to enjoy a cuppa again.

“Any chance you have hot cocoa?” I ask, hopefully.

Stella flashes me a warm smile. “I do. Marshmallows or whipped cream?”

“Whipped cream, please. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Sophie walks up the aisle of the jet toward me. “Can I sit with you?”

I nod. “Of course.”

“Good afternoon, miss,” Stella says. “I’m Stella. Would you like something to drink after takeoff?”

“Hi Stella, I’m Sophie.” She holds out her hand for Stella to shake.

Stella’s smile widens. “Are you Declan’s sister?”

“I am,” Sophie says, her eyebrows arching. “Is it the accent?”

“No, you have the same color eyes.”

Now my eyebrows are arching. I know there was never anything between Declan and Stella, but my gut reaction is jealousy.

“Oh,” Sophie says. To me, she asks, “What are you drinking?”

“Hot cocoa with whipped cream, but Stella makes wonderful tea.”

“I’ll have cocoa too, please, with whipped cream.” Sophie settles in the seat next to mine.

We are flying to Florida for the PHL All-Star game. Trevor, Bedard, Brick, and Crosby are playing in the game. Crosby got Declan’s spot.

I hate that Declan is losing this opportunity. In the three days since everything went down with my mother, I’ve seen Declan in passing. He’s been giving me the space I asked for. While I’m grateful for him respecting my wishes, I miss him. Before the romantic stuff happened, he was my friend, and it’s like we don’t even have that connection right now.

There are family members of some of the players and VIP fans on the plane to help fill the seats. Sophie is traveling with us, so she doesn’t lose training time with Carter. We buckle up in our seats and chat about last night’s game before takeoff. Once we are at altitude, Stella brings us our hot cocoa and a plate of snickerdoodles to share.

We each take a cookie and I moan. She heated them and the cinnamon sugar treat melts in my mouth. I glance over at Sophie, and she is chewing with her eyes closed, a blissed-out expression on her face. She must sense my eyes on her because she looks over and gives a half grin.

“This reminds me of when we were girls and Siobhan would let us help—”Sophie puts air quotes around that last word,“—her with the baking and then give us a treat.”

Siobhan was the Mackenzie family cook when we were kids. She baked like a dream and would slip me apples and carrots to take to the horses.

I sigh. “I loved spending time with you doing that.” Turning in my seat to face her, “Soph, what happened? We were such great friends and lately it seems like you’re mad at me, and I offended or hurt you and I don’t know why or how. I love you and want to make up for whatever I did.”

Sophie turns in her seat to face me. Her tear-filled blue eyes are beautiful, but Stella is wrong. They’re not the same color as Declan’s.

“Oh Miranda, I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I wish I could blame everything on your narcissistic psychopath of a mother, but part of it was I was jealous of you.”

I’m shocked. “Jealous of me? Why? You’re beautiful and talented. You have a wonderful family that loves you.” I reach out and take her hand. “Sophie, you have everything I’ve ever wanted.”

She squeezes my fingers. “I know I’m blessed and I’m grateful for that. But I’m selfish. Growing up, everyone loved you. You were this perfect little girl everyone adored. I’m pretty sure you are my mother’s favorite child.”

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