Page 47 of Ice Princess

“Kind of hard not to,” my best friend mumbles, biting back a smile. “It’s cute.”

“It’s basically handcuffs.”

“That sounds like a story.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Your plan didn’t work?”

I gesture to the jacket. “Isn’t it obvious?”

April snorts. “I have some news that might cheer you up. May posted a ‘help wanted’ ad for our garage on social media and she broadened the search outside of town.”

I sit up straight. “Outside of town? Isn’t that a waste of time? Who’s going to move to Lucky Falls to work at our mechanic shop?”

“Well, one person is considering it.”

I arch a brow. “Are you sure it wasn’t a troll or someone pulling a prank? I doubt we could attract anyone serious with an ad.”

“I got in contact with them and they sent over their resume. So far, it seems legit.”

“Who is he?” I ask, lowering the sun visor to reapply my lip gloss. I’ve been gnawing on my bottom lip the entire drive and IknowI need to reapply.

“It wasn’t a ‘he’.”

I freeze, the pink lipstick halfway to my face. “What?”

April bobs her head. “She’s a female mechanic. She’s been working at a really prominent garage in the city, but she wants a change of pace and an environment that’ll respect her ideas. I’ll forward her resume to your email later. She’s super impressive.”

“That’s amazing! How soon can we meet her?”

“I made an appointment for Friday.”

My stomach flips over in anticipation. I didn’t let myself consider hiring a female technician. There aren’t many girls who make a career out of repairing cars.

“It’s too early to celebrate,” April reminds me, barely holding back an excited smile of her own. “We don’t know if she’ll be a good fit, if she’ll like our compensation package and even if she’ll like Lucky Falls enough to move here. Plus, there’s the issue of building a bigger mechanic bay once we actually take on more staff… so much to think about.”

“Yeah, but this is the farthest we’ve ever gotten in the process. I think she’s the one.”

April laughs. “You haven’t even met her.”

“I’ve got a good feeling.”

Traffic thickens as we get close to the stadium. Cars wrap around the entire block and movement slows to a snail’s pace.

I glance at the long line in shock. “The Lucky Strikers must be really popular. This feels like the entire town came out tonight.”

“I’m glad to see people are still coming out to support. Chance was worried they’d lose interest after he moved back.”

I frown. “Lose interest? Lucky Falls is a town that loves good hockey, no matter who’s on the team. Plus he’s stillChance McLanely.”

“He’s Chance McLanely, the hockey player from a small team in a small town in a small league. That’s a completely different title.”

“Are you saying he regrets choosing you and staying in Lucky Falls?” I ask tentatively.

“It’s not that.” She chews on her bottom lip. “I think he feels bad that everyone in the world is calling the Lucky Strikers a ‘downgrade’. He really cares about the guys on the team. They put in their blood, sweat and tears to be the best at their level. But now…”

“But now, that effort looks like nothing and Chance feels responsible.”

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