Page 1 of Rookie's Redemption
Chapter One
Ryder
Mom's roast beef sits half-eaten on my plate as Dad leans back in his chair, eyebrows raised in that way that means I'm about to get the third degree.
"So, that cabin of yours." He takes a sip of his beer, casual as can be. "Didn't you say the roof was going up in March? It's June, son."
I stab at a potato. "Had some delays with the contractor, Dad."
"Delays?" He chuckles. "Is that what we're calling it now?"
The truth is I've been spending more time at the local animal shelter than at my own property. Which isn't something I'm eager to explain to the family dinner table jury tonight.
I bought my crappy house hoping to build a fresh start after moving back to my hometown. I picked the worst house in the best street. Dad's advice, of course.
But the place is a mess. Mattress on the floor, no curtains, one working outlet. Yep. It's the five-star accommodations of aprofessional hockey player who makes millions to get his teeth knocked out on national television.
Living the dream, one exposed electrical wire at a time.
Cam swoops in from across the table, like a hawk spotting weakness. My little sister has perfected the art of the well-timed kill shot over twenty-three years of practice.
"Well, maybe you'd finish your cabin if you weren't busy playing volunteer at the animal shelter." Her smile widens. "What's her name again? Oh right…Mia. The same girl you've been in love with since…forever."
Heat crawls up my neck.
"Shut up, Cam. I'm helping with the community program. The team expects it."
"Mhmm. The program that finishedlast month?" Cam smirks from behind her fork and I try to kick her under the table. "And isn't that the program where you just happened to pick the one place where your high school sweetheart works?"
"It's Iron Ridge. Thereisonly one animal shelter."
Mom slides another helping of green beans onto my plate without asking. "Oh, that reminds me. The Hendersons' retriever had puppies. I did text Mia and say you might stop by to see them."
"You told—wait, youtextMia?!" My face looks like I just licked a lemon. "Is this a regular occurrence, Mom?"
"Only when we miss our regular catch up at the Farmers market on Thursdays."
Mom says this like I should obviously know her weekly Mia Harper intel-gathering schedule.
She catches my expression from across the table and shrugs. "What? You think because you left town I'd stop caring about that girl?"
I push food around my plate, remembering how Mom used to teach Mia to bake on Sunday afternoons. How they'd giggle in the kitchen while Dad and I watched hockey.
"She doesn't have a family like this, dear," Mom says softly, reading my mind like always. "Just because you broke her heart doesn't mean I had to."
The truth lands like a body check against the glass.
"Great." I push the beans around. "So you're all just... talking about me volunteering there behind my back?"
Dad snorts. "Son, the whole town's been talking about you two since you came back. Old Mrs. Peters at the pharmacy asks me weekly if you've 'sealed the deal yet.'"
My father wiggles his brows suggestively and Cam mirrors the shudder that crawls through my body.
"Jesus, Dad." I smash a palm to my forehead. "Please don't sayseal the deallike that ever again."
Cam's eyes gleam. "Disgusting as he is, Dad's right. You should've seen your face when she showed up at your community service assignment. Like you'd seen a ghost and won the lottery at the same time."
I had. When Coach said we were doing outreach at local businesses, I never expected to walk in and find Mia. Not with her hair pulled back, work shirt rolled to her elbows, giving me that cold stare that said I was the last person she wanted to see.
