Page 5 of Snowed in with My Pucking Ex
“They should’ve told her right away,” I finish for her, thinking the same thing, and she nods. “Yeah. Not gonna lie, I’d be pretty upset if something happened to you and I wasn’t notified rightaway. I’d want to come home and help out if I could, snow or no snow on the ground.”
“I would never do that to you, not after Daddy.”
She doesn’t have to say it out loud. My father's passing away suddenly affected both of us strongly, and it still makes my heart hurt. He was a good man and a great father. He’s the reason why I fell in love with hockey in the first place. He would be out on the ice with me every chance he had at the local ice rink when he wasn’t working. He taught me skating drills and little tricks he swore would make me faster. He’d shown me the best way to sink the puck in the net, along with how to take criticism from other players and let it roll on one shoulder and right off the other.
Not only did he share his love for hockey with me, but he took pride in teaching me things I’d need to know as a man someday. Fishing, hunting, chopping wood, replacing a tire, a truck battery, a leaky dishwasher, taking Mom flowers, and more. You name it, and the man figured out a way to fix it with me being his sidekick. He was my best friend, and every day since he passed away, there has been a hole in my heart the size of Niagara Falls from where he’s meant to be.
“Winter hasn’t changed much. Do you know what she’s been up to? Married?”
Mom smirks at my question, shaking her head. She’s mentioned Winter a few times on the phone in passing, but I’ve always acted like I wasn’t interested. After seeing her, well, let’s just say I’m interested.
In absolutely everything, where she’s concerned.
“Not married. Never married, in fact. No kids, yet. According to Brenda, she wants them, but hasn’t found the right person.” She takes another bite and chews for a moment.
She continues, “I think she’s a workaholic like you are. Brenda’s always worried about her being so busy that she burnsherself out. This visit home will do their whole family good, that I’m sure of. Besides, it’ll be nice seeing her around the village. It’s about time she comes home for good.”
My brows skyrocket as I lowly whistle. “Home for good? You’re putting some weight on those words, Mom. You sure she’s on board with this, too?”
She shrugs. “I’m not. I’m only hoping she sees that her family needs her, and the time ends up being right for her, too. You know how we are around here; we love to watch our community be successful in whatever life they choose, but we also enjoy having them come home and rejoin the community at some point. Noel Falls has always been one big family, and anyone coming back into the fold is always welcomed with open arms.”
She’s laying this on a little thick, making me think she’s not only talking about Winter, but possibly is hinting at me, too.Does Mom want me to give up my hockey career and come home for good? What would I even do here?These thoughts are exactly what I’m hoping she can help guide me with.
“Anyway,” she breaks up my thoughts. “You ready for Thanksgiving? You’ll see Winter again when we go over to join her family for dinner and the day.”
“Yeah, uh, I thought we were just eating over there. What do you mean bythe day?”
“Oh, Son, you know how these holidays are.” She puts the sandwich stuff away, finally turning to me and tossing me a water bottle. I catch it, of course, and take our dirty plates and napkins, throwing them in the trash. “Football, playing cards, turkey, dessert, laughter, and good old-fashioned fun with friends.”
I went from teasing Winter that I’d see her for Thanksgiving dinner, to momentarily panicking now at realizing that I’ll also be spending the day with her.
What should I wear?
What am I going to say?
Will she even speak to me?
Chapter Four
Winter
“Oh, you guys are in so much trouble,” I grumble as my parents finally return home. I’m thinking this constitutes coal in the stocking. I don’t care that they had my favorite hot chocolate and peppermint syrup waiting for me on the counter when I arrived; they are in deep. That was bribe hot cocoa, and I’m not falling for it for a second.
Gram gasps, hand flying to her mouth in outrage. Pops huffs and continues reading his newspaper. Dad groans, covering his eyes with his hand but spreading his fingers enough to meet my disappointed gaze.
Mom shoots me a perturbed look while shaking her head. “Really, Winter? Coal in our stockings?”
“Yep, I said it. I went there. This is pretty big on the naughty scale, especially from my own family. Dad is seriously hurt, and you all kept it from me? I could see if it happened yesterday, but the poor man has been injured for three weeks! Does Holly know?” I ask, with my brows nearly in my hairline, my hand resting on my hip, and of course, my hip jutted out in added exclamation, too.
This is outrageous.
I swear, if my sister knows and hasn’t told me, she’s in for a Christmas surprise, namely being on my naughty list.
“Oh, honey,” Dad sighs, adjusting his leg.
It’s in a massive cast. When the man falls from a horse on the farm, he doesn’t just fracture a wrist; he goes for the whole shebang. Broken leg, basically from top to bottom, broken elbow, and broken collarbone. He is literally out of order from top to bottom. I’m outraged over this and with good reason.
My family has obviously been juggling taking care of the animals, and I’d bet that no one has started preparing the honey for the holiday markets. We make candles, body whip, decorative jarred honey, honey candy, honey soap, you name it,and we basically make it with our farm’s honey. It’s the busiest time of the year aside from when the animals are having babies, and we’re looking at not making a cent for the farm for winter. All because of my family's need to meddle by not wanting to worry me before I could officially take off from work and visit.
