Page 146 of Cold As Ice

“I’m sorry, okay,” Harper said. “I really wanted Madison to come, and I didn’t know if she would if—”

“It’s fine,” I said to Rory. “You haven’t done anything wrong,”

“No, we can blame my idiot of a brother for that.” Her lips quirked. “It’s nice to see you again. I was hoping we might get to talk soon.”

“You were?”

She nodded. “I didn’t like how we left things last weekend.”

“Gosh, I’m so embarrassed,” I said, keeping one eye on Imogen. But she was entranced by whatever Scottie was showing her on his cell phone.

“Please, don’t be. I was so happy you hung out with us and then Austin turned up and ruined everything. I love my brother, Madison? But God, he’s a big clueless idiot sometimes. I’m sorry he didn’t tell you about me. And I’m really sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell us about him.”

“It wasn’t serious. I didn’t want to overstep.”

“Perhaps we can start over?” Rory gave me a hopeful expression.

“I’d like that.”

“See, I knew it would all work out for the best.” Harper grinned. “Now can we please get the kids in and seated before we lose someone?”

“I’m sitting nexts to Scottie,” Imogen declared, and he rolled his eyes.

“We’ll see, baby. Scottie is here with all his friends, remember?” We’d talked about it on the ride over and I’d explained that she couldn’t monopolize all of his time.

“It’s okay Miss Imogen’s Mom, the princess can sit with us.Ifshe can be cool. You have to be cool at hockey games.” He gave her a look that made her beam.

“See, Mommy.” She grabbed his hand faster than I could tell her to stop. “Scottie said I cans sit next to him because he knows I is a princess. And princesses always get the bestest seats.”

“I am so sorry,” I murmured to the girls.

“Relax, it’s fine. We’ll know when Scottie needs a break. Although something tells me we have nothing to worry about.” Harper pointed discreetly to where Scottie was introducing Imogen to his little group of friends.

“We’ve never done anything like this before,” I said. “She has friends at pre-K, but I tend to avoid the parent meet-ups.”

I was the youngest mom at Imogen’s school. A fact that hadn’t escaped a lot of the other parents, so I preferred to keep to myself. So long as Imogen was happy, that’s all that mattered.

“Well, you’re both always welcome to hang out with us.”

It was weird, to feel so accepted, especially by two college girls who didn’t have the kinds of responsibilities I did.

“Thank you.”

We herded the kids toward the concession stand and got them all a drink before finding our seats.

“Mommy, Mommy, wook.” Imogen, seated right in front of me wedged in between Scottie and one of his friends, pointed to the ice where both teams were already warming up.

“You know, my big brother is going to be a hockey player, one day. He’s going to be famous just like Alex Ovechkin.”

“Maybe, buddy, one day,” Harper said. “Here, put these on.” She handed him a pair of headphones and he slipped them on.

“Sometimes the noise can trigger him,” she explained.

My purse vibrated and I dug my cell phone out.

Austin: Enjoy the game.

Madison: Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your game?

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