Page 39 of Like A Daydream
She thought that her feelings for Jet in high school were intense, but what she feels for Andrew isnothinglike those were. She’s not sure if it’s because she’s an adult, or because it’s him.
He’s a calming presence. Someone who makes her feel stable, while also making her heart race and making her feel excited for the morning to come so that she can see him.
It also doesn’t help that he loves Harper. He’s known her all of a week, but Harper lights up every time she sees him, and all but begs for his attention. Danielle has caught him coloring with her, having conversations aboutDukes of Hazzardand Barbie, and helping her learn how to read and tie her shoes.
He treats her like her six-year-old opinions are the most important thing in the world, and every day, Danielle sees Harper’s eyes shine just a little brighter. Her smiles get a little bit bigger, and her drawings of her family start including Andrew in them.
Danielle didn’t think her heart could melt again, not after she had left it frozen and behind steel walls in her chest for so long. Not after she had been hurt, repeatedly, by people in her life that had been so important to her. She’d had a lot of learning and growing to do, but even then, she kept her walls high.
She felt like she’d had to, if only to keep her heart from the warmth that would finally thaw it.
Andrew is breaching the walls day by day.
He’s climbing them, getting his fingers into the forming cracks and making his way over them instead of blasting through them like anyone else would. He’s patient, taking his time, like he wants toknowher.
And she wants to let him.
She thinks that he could be the first person in her life meeting her without some preconceived notion of who she is and what she’s about. That he could be the first person who seesher.
Andrew:coffee?
Danielle:is that a question?
Andrew:forgive me for asking what you want
Danielle:good boy
Andrew:first of all, how dare you
Andrew:I’m all man
Danielle:prove it
Andrew:don’t tempt me, woman
Danielle:you’re ridiculous
Andrew:what of it?
Danielle rolls her eyes and heads back into her office. The door is unlocked, but it’s a Monday. All of the weekenders have gone home by now, but a new group of people should be in by Wednesday. She loves tourist seasons, but she also can’t deny that the quiet is nice, too.
Andrew, as always, shows up fifteen minutes after she opens, styled in her personal kryptonite combination of a white t-shirt and jeans with his frayed baseball cap, coffee in hand for her, so that he can get his daily briefing. There are projects that she needs him to do, and he’s also an athlete which means he’s conditioned to be early for everything.
No matter how trivial it is.
And for an NHL player, working at an indie bookstore in the mountains is about as trivial as it gets. She has to hand it to him, though, he’s been nothing but dedicated to what he’s been doing at the store, even hanging back after closing to dust shelves.
She’s pretty sure she’s living every female hockey fan’s wet dream, having a captain working for her and seeing him every day while the rest of the NHL wonders where he’s disappeared to.
Not that she’s keeping up with the gossip.
She hadn’t lied when she had told him that she googled him after listening to that podcast episode, but only to read his player profile. Of course, the minute she had, a flurry of trading rumors had exploded on the screen and she had nearly gone down a YouTube rabbit hole to see his playing style, and what might have triggered him going off the grid. It couldn’t have just been missing the goal.
She knows that he’ll tell her when he’s ready.
In the meantime, he’s doing just fine as an employee, and she thinks that they’re on their way to being actual friends. Even if she’s a little skeptical that he’s staying with Jet and Ainsley.
There’s no telling what they’ve said about her. She wasn’t the greatest to either of them when they were younger.
