Page 8 of Keeping it Real

“That’s a lot for a young woman to take on.Finn won’t be an adult for another ten years.”

Her aunt’s assertion that Sheridan would likely be doing it alone stung.“I can handle it,” she said with more gusto than she felt.

Aunt Eileen sighed.“Well, we will always be an airplane ride away whenever you need backup.”

“Promise you won’t run off anytime soon, though, okay?”

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily.”Aunt Eileen gave her a warm smile and linked her arm through Sheridan’s.“We are here as long as you need us.”They walked toward the door.

“Good.The funeral is going to be difficult enough, but coming face-to-face with Alek Bergeron again may send me into a deeper tailspin for a few days.”

Her aunt stopped in her tracks.“Alek?I didn’t realize you two were still in touch.”

“We aren’t.Or weren’t.I came in here to find Finn on the phone with him.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.But Finn was talking to him as if they were long-lost frat brothers or something.”

“That’s ...an interesting development.”She gave Sheridan’s arm a gentle squeeze.“It will be good to see him, won’t it?”

For you, maybe.

Sheridan never shared with anyone what she’d overheard Alek saying that long ago night.It was too embarrassing.Nine years later, she still got the sweats thinking about her nearly spectacular gaffe.At least he never knew about her crush on him.

Well, she wasn’t a lovesick teenager any longer.And there would be a buffer of nearly a hundred people at tomorrow’s service.She could put on her big girl panties to handle a couple of minutes in Alek Bergeron’s orbit without giving anything away.She had to.Because the secret she had been keeping from him all this time would likely cause him to think even less of her than he already did.

Three

A tsunamiof memories threatened to overwhelm Alek as he climbed the steps to the Barn Burner bar the following afternoon.He and Jamie had spent many evenings enjoying life within its doors.Not that Jamie’s father let them get into too much trouble.Ed Cobert rode Jamie harder than their coaches when it came to conditioning and training for his time on the ice.Jamie’s dad toiled for years in the minor league.He was determined his son would make it to the pros.

As if there was ever any doubt that Jamie would be drafted.The right winger was a natural talent who didn’t require much training, just an ice rink to showcase his skills.If that wasn’t enough, Jamie’s smile and “aw shucks” demeanor would put Valentine to shame if the two had ever been on the same team.Everyone gravitated to Jamie, both on and off the ice.

Coming from Canada, Alek had been grateful to have a New Hampshire local for a roommate.Their easy friendship was solidified that first day when Jamie showed up in their dorm room with a signed photo of him with Ovechkin and the latest Xbox.The fact that his father owned a bar twenty minutes from campus was the icing on the cake.

“Are you alright?”his mother asked when Alek hesitated on the final step.

He patted the fingers she had wrapped around his biceps.“I’m good.”

She gave his arm a squeeze, prodding him to move forward.He stalled a moment longer, however.

“Thank you for coming with me,” he told her.

Not that he had any choice in the matter.Peri Bergeron was a force of nature who rarely took no for an answer.A celebrated interior designer, she let her clients think the choices were theirs.But Alek and his dad knew better.

Once she heard the news about Jamie and Madison, she insisted on meeting Alek in Boston and accompanying him to the funeral.

“Don’t you need to stay with Dad?”Alek had protested.

“Your father is still perfectly capable of taking care of himself and will be for a very long time,” she’d maintained.“Jamie was practically a second son to me.I can’t not be there.”

It was true.In typical Peri fashion, she’d taken Alek’s motherless roommate under her wing, cheering as loudly for Jamie as Alek at every game his parents attended.She’d even chaperoned their summer in Europe, attending pro hockey camps following their freshman year.

“And Madison ...”she continued.“Well, she was important to you both.”

Alek never understood the way his mother always tiptoed around the subject of his ex.She’d never come out and said it, but he got the sense that both she and his sister believed Madison more guilty of betrayal than Jamie, which was out and out ridiculous.They were both guilty.But Jamie broke a sacred man code as old as time: Never poach your best friend’s girl.

Still, he was glad to have his mum by his side today.As Sheridan predicted, coordinating flights into Boston had been tricky.Alek had to wait at the airport for his mum’s plane to arrive from Ottawa, putting them behind from the get-go.The funeral service was already underway by the time they slipped into the back row of seats.

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