Page 6 of Much Ado About Hockey

“I don’t need to be put on a pedestal, Jett,” she replied almost breathlessly, just hearing his explanation that seemed so normal yet abnormal at the same time. It was almost like something from a fairy tale but with a modern slang to it that seemed to hit home. “And I can dream of a lot of things.”

“I hope to show them to you.”

“Why me?”

“Because you would be my wife and give me a chance at a future,” he said softly, and Karen hesitated as she felt him touch her hand. “Miracles happen every day, but I haven’t found mine, and I’m willing to bet that you haven’t gotten one either. So what if we reach for this one and make it our own miracle? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I could end up hurt…” her voice trailed off as she swallowed.

“I could end up hurt too,” he breathed faintly, holding her eyes. “But what if six months from now you wanted to travel the world, to take a chance on life, to have a whole library of old books like this, or simply to sit in a coffee shop in Quebec with someone you could call a friend by then… could you imagine spending the afternoon with someone who wants to share a moment with you? And if you didn’t want me around, then I would give you your freedom.”

“Just like that?”

“Life is full of chances and choices… I’m taking my chance, but to do so, I need help – from my wife.”

“Me?”

“You.”

“But we don’t know each other.”

“Then we get to know each other and become friends. A future together with a friend by my side sounds pretty good… don’t you think?”

“You think you are so smart, don’t you?”

“Oh no,” he chuckled softly, his brown eyes growing warm as he smiled. “I’m a menace on the ice, but my wife is the brains of this marriage – and I kinda like it like that.”

Karen stared at him in disbelief, her mind whirling. He kept talking about a future, a chance, friendship, and maybe it was the openness of his expression or perhaps the way his timing seemed to be just at the moment when she was rattling off all the ways she wasn’t going to meet her Prince Charming. CouldMr. Right be stepping into her field of vision when she’d been looking in a different direction?

“I have a job,” she began nervously, whispering the words as his hand moved slightly, clasping hers. “I have a life here and…”

“I hear the key to a happy marriage is dating your wife,” Jett began softly, his thumb caressing the back of her knuckles easily. “I think we should do coffee dates and talk like this once a week. Wouldn’t it be funny to be eighty years old and hobbling down the street together to our café, sharing a moment and celebrating our differences? You could still be smart, pretty, and wearing pink while sitting in some little nook,” he chuckled softly, waving his other hand at himself. “And I could still be here beside you, trying to keep your attention and prove that giving me a chance wasn’t a mistake. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Karen felt something crack within her as she stared at him in amazement. Her grandparents relationship had always been a ‘goal’ to a little girl growing up in a home split by divorce. She would go to her father’s house on the weekend and during the week, spend time with her mother who was actively dating and looking for her next husband – only to never remarry – but her grandparents were iconic.

Her grandpa smoked a pipe, looked out the window at the cars driving up and down the street, and chatted with her grandmother about everything and nothing. It was like they enjoyed just being in the same room together, sharing the same space.

A massive part of her soul stood up and took notice of his words, making her hesitate. It wasn’t just the touch of some man’s hand on hers, the preposterous proposal, or the way his gorgeous eyes held hers; but there was touch of ‘him’ within those words that gave conjecture, a glimpse of who he was down to his deepest foundations that made Jett Acton who he was.

Heaven help her… it worked.

“Coffee dates?” she whispered, her breath held in her chest, waiting for a warning sign.

“Give me this chance – and yes.”

“When?”

“Now. Today.”

“I don’t know you…”

“Then learn who I am – and I’ll get the same opportunity.”

“I can’t believe this…”

“Will you marry me?” he asked again softly, and it wasn’t until then that Karen saw he was holding his breath, his entire body tense as he held her hand in his, waiting. “Please? Let’s grab this miracle with both hands and see how long it lasts. What do you say?”

“Yes.”

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