Page 44 of Like A Daydream
“I would have texted, but I’m trying to leave my phone when I can,” he says. “I want to be in the moment.”
Danielle nods, and Harper runs back down the porch steps to hug Andrew around the waist.
“Can we hang out again?” she asks, looking up at him, six-year-old eyes wide and hopeful.
“Duh,” Andrew says, grinning down at her. He brushes some loose strands of hair out of her face affectionately. “I already said I would teach you to skate. I’ll talk to your Aunt D about it, and we can figure something out so I can take you.”
Harper squeezes Andrew as hard as a six-year-old possibly can, he bends to kiss the top of her head, and then she runs back up the porch steps and inside.
“Bye Andy!” she yells over her shoulder, then she’s gone and Danielle is letting out a disbelieved laugh as she walks down the porch steps.
“Looks like she had fun,” Danielle says, stopping a safe distance away and folding her arms over her chest.
“Sorry I had her for so long,” Andrew says, shoving his hands in his pockets. He’s nervous, and she honestly has never met someone as stupidly endearing as this man.
“We went to the park, like she said, and a few friends from her class were there with their dads. She got playing, and they got talking hockey with me. I lost track of time.”
“It’s okay,” Danielle says, kicking at the sidewalk. “Are you alright? I know I don’t know exactly what happened, but I wouldn’t blame you if you were triggered. Or something.”
“It was actually nice,” Andrew says with a shrug. He smiles a little. “They’re Rangers fans, so they thanked me before changing the subject.”
“I’m glad,” Danielle says, knowing without knowing that that had to have been a big deal for him. “It’s better that you were gone so long. My parents and her uncle bombarded me when I got home from work.”
“Everything okay?” Andrew asks, and he looks so concerned for her she almost wants to lie and say it’s not, just to see what he would do.
“For now,” she says, “it was just unexpected. Harper’s mother’s parents are moving back from Berlin, and it’s going to be hard to do anything once they’re here. Like you offering to teach Harper how to ice skate. Not sure how that’s going to work if they’re coming back.”
“She asked,” he says with a shrug, “and she wants you to come, too. She told me that she wants you to learn and that ‘I’m probably the best guy for the job.’”
He uses air quotes around the last part of his sentence, but he’s grinning as he says it.
Danielle rolls her eyes, but she’s grinning too. “That definitely sounds like her.”
“If anyone says anything about it, it can be a bonding activity,” he says, “no one has to know you aren’t taking lessons.”
“Casual ice-skating lessons from the NHL player in town?”
“I’m not the only NHL player who’s here,” Andrew says, raising a brow, “if you think it’ll help with appearances JT can come, too. He’s already coaching the high school team.”
“As if I could ever forget that,” she replies, “they’ve been to states two years in a row. There’s a sign on the main road that says ‘Home of Jet Thompson and the Lake Placid Bombers, like they’re a boyband.”
“That sounds more like the local cover band you hire for a Memorial Day Carnival,” Andrew says, blue eyes sparkling with mirth. “If you want to have him there for stability’s sake, I can ask him to come.”
“I think it’ll be fine, just the three of us,” Danielle says.
She wants to be careful, but she also wants to have a life. She knows that people are watching, and that she still sees Emerson wherever she goes, but she also is more than aware that Emerson would be encouraging this.
Andrew is offering her more time with him. More time to see if this is anything, and to keep putting her heart on the line, matching where his has been since he’d arrived.
“And I wanted to ask…” he trails off, looking at a point somewhere over her shoulder. “JT is having a bonfire at his house on Saturday. Do you want to come? You can say no.”
“Does Ainsley know you’re asking me?” Danielle asks, raising a brow.
“She knows,” he says with a nod, “it’s just going to be she, JT, and I. It might be fun, and Harper is more than welcome to come. Unless you wanted adult time.”
“Not sure how much more adult time I’m going to get once Emerson’s parents are back,” she says with a sigh, “luckily for you, I’m free Saturday.”
“What do I have to do to convince you to spend it with me? And JT and Ainsley, of course.”
