Page 33 of Like A Daydream
The shot had gone wide, there was no doubt about that, but how could they say he lost them the Cup when all it would have done was put them in overtime? How could anyone think that when they would have had plenty of chances to lose during that five minutes.
No one could have known what would have happened. For the hockey world to continue to talk about this for almost a month was a lot.
As if echoing her thoughts, Chad comes over her speakers.
“I mean, really, the guy needs a break,” he says, “I know that fans are still mad and wanting a trade, but no one could have predicted what would have happened if they had gone into overtime. They could have still lost.”
“And his stats aren’t bad enough to justify trading him,” Brad says. “He’s still one of the leading defenders in the league. I think once everyone has a little more time to cool off, they’ll see that Carolina is definitely better for having him on their team.”
“Aunt D!” Danielle hears Harper call through the store, followed by her running footsteps.
“Hey Sparrow!” Danielle says with a grin, holding her arms out for the little girl to crash into.
She has a huge smile on her face, which is a lot different from what Danielle has grown used to in the past few weeks. Harper pulls out of her arms, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
“I got Mrs. DeLisle for first grade!” She says. “She’s myfavorite!”
“You want to know a secret?” Danielle says, leaning in close and dropping her voice to a whisper. Harpers eyes widen, and she leans close.
“Yeah!” she whispers back.
“She was me and your mom’s favorite teacher, too.”
Harper’s eyes go wide. “Really?”
“Really,” Danielle nods. “And Uncle Erick’s. And your dad’s.”
“Thewhole familyhas had her as their teacher?” Harper asks. Danielle nods again. “She’s going to be so excited to have more of us! Can we go tell mom now?”
Danielle clears her throat and puts on a shaky smile. “Sure, Sparrow. We can go right now.”
Andrew
Cara leaves Andrew to lock up the bookstore, even though he’s not sure she should have done that on his first day. Danielle never gave him a key, and she owns the place, so he’s not sure if Cara is trying to prove he isn’t capable of working there, or if she has a death wish. He’s guessing it’s the former, but he’s been wrong before.
He's not sure what her problem is with him, either. She’d barely said two words to him after he’d caught her talking to Danielle, and he doesn’t think he minds.
He’s also eighty percent sure that he’s seen her before, but he has no idea how.
The day had gone smoother than he had expected it to go, considering he’d never worked retail before in his life and was trying to learn a POS system.
He’s just glad that he had gone to school when they were still teaching kids how to make change. More people paid cash than he had ever thought would in an increasingly cash-less society. He’d pressed a lot of wrong buttons, miscounted change twice, and only had to re-ring a sale once. All-in-all, not a bad first day.
The customers also had loved seeing Roscoe laying at his feet on the floor as he worked. Andrew was thankful that he decided not to be a terror today, and greeted people politely when they asked if they could say hi to him. Cara had mainly helped people find books they were looking for, and manned the coffee bar while he checked people out and got to know the regulars.
Only a couple of people seemed to recognize him, and even then, they had only done double takes. No one had confirmed it by asking, probably because no one expected him to turn up in Lake Placid.
And he’s okay with that.
He’smorethan okay with that.
He’s already feeling more healed than he ever could have, had he stayed in Raleigh. Funny how a few weeks away to separate yourself and process can help you get perspective and feel normal again. He hates that Landry is right about this.
He also thinks that this job, while unplanned, is something that’s going to help. It’s consistent, methodical, and he’s dealing with the public in a different way than he ever has. There isn’t any part of this that is fan-service. It’s just working.
Suffice it to say, his more recent dealings with the public haven’t been the best.
Here, though, everyone seems kind, and moving through life one day at a time. Even the tourists seem that way, and that was saying something, considering they were going through life in the most beautiful place on the East Coast.
