Page 39

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

REECE

I woke up to the smell of coffee and something sweet—maybe the leftover apple pie reheating—and the faint sound of Benny laughing downstairs.

The kind of morning that made a man want to stay in bed just a little longer.

Sunlight poured in through the slats of the blinds, casting stripes across the foot of the bed where the throw blanket was half-kicked off. Bree’s side was empty. Warm, but empty.

Then I heard Benny’s truck wheels rolling across the floor in the hallway—soft, joyful sounds that didn’t need words to make the meaning clear. He was happy. That kid could light up a room with a smile.

With the gate locked, he couldn’t get downstairs.

I rolled out of bed and padded down the hall, past Benny’s room, where I caught a glimpse of his dinosaur blanket twisted into a nest on the floor.

He must’ve dragged it down with him again.

One of these days, he was going to figure out how to carry all his things at once like a little kangaroo.

He stopped his truck, looking up and reaching for me instead. “Morning, bud. Ready to go down for breakfast? ”

His eyes spoke volumes. With Benny in my arms, I headed downstairs and paused before the last step.

There she was.

Bree, barefoot, hair in a messy braid, wearing one of my old hockey tees and holding a mug in both hands as she leaned against the kitchen counter, eyes soft as she gazed out the window of the breakfast nook.

My mom had said yesterday was the best Thanksgiving she’d ever had. That it felt like life had come full circle for her somehow. Bree had made that happen.

Not me. Not the guys.

Her.

We were blessed to have friends like Jaycee and Lexi who stepped right in to help with the cooking, but without Bree arranging it all, they’d never been over to help.

I set Benny down, coming up behind Bree to slide my arms around her waist, pulling her back against my chest. She leaned into me like she’d been waiting on it.

“Morning,” I murmured into her neck.

“Hey,” she whispered. “Everyone’s still kind of sleepy.”

“Yeah, me too. You snuck out before I could talk you into round two.”

She snorted. “Sorry, I couldn’t stand knowing I still had dishes in the sink.”

“There’re locks on the doors. We could remedy that now.”

“Lord, help me.”

I kissed the spot behind her ear that always made her shiver.

“You pulled off something incredible yesterday,” I said. “Ma was beaming all night. Haven’t seen her smile that much in weeks.”

“She loved it,” Bree said, her voice dipping softer. “She really, really loved it.”

“Because you made it special. ”

She was quiet for a second, then said, “Do you think she’ll be okay through the holidays?”

I didn’t answer right away.

I didn’t know.

“She’s got us,” I said. “That’s all we can give her. The rest…” I exhaled through my nose. “We just keep showing up.”

Bree turned in my arms, setting her coffee down so she could wrap her arms around my middle.

“We keep showing up,” she echoed.

Outside, waves rolled in slow and steady. Claudia walked into the kitchen and when she saw us, she opened the back door, offering her hand to Benny out for a little beach reset before breakfast.

“Morning, Claudia,” I said.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” she replied, smiling at the two of us. “Come on, Benny. Let’s dip our toes in the ocean.” Benny’s eyes seemed to giggle every time the water hit his toes. The kid was onto something with that.

Bree and I both looked over to the entrance to the kitchen when we heard my mom’s wheelchair on the wooden floor.

“What are you doing up?” I asked.

“I heard voices.”

“Ma, you should’ve let one of us help you into the chair.”

“I wanted to do it myself.” My mother and Bree were so much alike in that respect. Strong to the point of stubbornness. I just shook my head.

Bree looked at me then back at my mom. “It was a full day yesterday, Char,” she said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to rest more?”

My mom glanced over at Claudia and Benny. “No. I’d like to spend the morning with my grandson.”

Bree’s soft gasp might’ve been inaudible for everyone else, but I didn’t miss it.

And Claudia—shit, I adored that woman—said, “Come on, Benny. Let’s help Grandma Char down to the water with us.

” And the two of them walked over to my mom, Benny reaching up to hold her hand when Claudia released his to take the grips on the back of the chair.

I moved from my spot behind Bree to hold the door open wide for them.

Claudia chuckled as she passed through the threshold. “We do this every day.”

Her subtle way of saying she had this. And I knew she did.

I trusted the woman completely. The wooden boardwalk creaked under the wheels of the chair as they moved into the morning light.

Mom’s thin shoulders hunched under a shawl she’d wrapped herself in, but her face tilted toward the sun.

Bree joined me as I watched their retreating backs.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She always used to say the ocean reminded her to let go of the things she couldn’t control.”

“She’s a wise woman.”

“She raised me, didn’t she?”

Bree smirked. “Yet, I like her anyway.”

I grinned and kissed her again. “Benefit weekend’s coming. You ready?”

She nodded. “More than ready.”

There was a fire in her. A quiet one—but it burned hot.

When hearing about the benefit sparked a little more life into my mom, Bree took that as her sign to get the women involved as much as possible.

Even if all my mom could do was hold Benny’s hand while the women added games and other fun activities, it helped her spirit.

Watching Bree plan, prep, rally the team wives, coordinate with the front office… she was on it. The woman I’d met months ago—the one who’d kept every emotion bottled up behind tired eyes and a steel spine—was still in there, but now she had softness around the edges. Hope, maybe.

No. Family.

We were about to change lives with this benefit.

I looked out toward the beach again, pride in that thought, and saw Benny lean over to tuck a seashell into Mom’s blanket-covered lap.

With her back to me, I couldn’t know for sure, but I imagined her smiling like the whole world was there in that shell.

And maybe it was.

I couldn’t control what came next.

But I knew one thing for sure.

Whatever time we had left, we were going to make it good.

Over the past several days, Dane, that deadbeat, had called.

His name flashed across Bree’s screen like a warning siren, and she’d silenced it without a word.

Maybe hoping I wouldn’t see. And I got why leading up to Thanksgiving along with the benefit and her responsibilities at home, she wouldn’t want to deal with his loser ass, but we were in this together.

After the thirteenth fucking voicemail today, I tipped her chin up to look at me.

We were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner.

“You want me to talk with him?”

She winced, casting her eyes down. “He isn’t blowing up my phone with threats or anything. Just kind of being a dick.”

“Babe. You got people at your back now.”

“Thank you, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I just don’t want his stink in this house right now.”

No. It was more than that. I could tell by her demeanor. “Babe. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Oh, my God, why can’t you let this go?”

“Because I don’t like that distant look you get in your eyes every time he calls. I don’t like seeing you in pain.”

“What do you want me to say, Baker? You want me to admit I was stupid for letting him into my bed? Fine. I was stupid. Happy?”

Whoa. “You weren’t stupid. You were what, seventeen? Your mom was gone. Your whole world had fallen apart and there comes this guy who promised to take care of you. That’s not stupidity, that’s necessity.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m not sorry,” she said almost defiantly and I wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince because it sure as hell wasn’t me. She’d done nothing to be sorry for. “I got my Benny out of it.”

Hell yeah, she did. I held her, pressing my lips to her head. She wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her face against my shirt.

“I’m embarrassed that you know he didn’t want us.”

“Fuck that, Bree. That says nothing about you and everything about him. Getting to have you and Benny in my life has been a gift. If that idiot can’t see that, well, I’m kind of glad about it.”

“ Glad ?”

“If he wasn’t an idiot, then you and I wouldn’t be friends right now.”

“You just like the sex.”

“It doesn’t suck.”

That got her back. She slugged me in the gut, but she slugged me with a smile. For the life of me, I’d never understand how that dick tossed her aside. He had this incredible woman in his bed, in his life, and he’d fucked then run from his responsibilities. Idiot.

With all the weeks of preparation and anticipation, we’d actually reached the benefit weekend.

The arena crew transformed the concourse into a damn winter carnival.

Booths, banners, photo ops with players and their families, and a silent auction table that spanned half a wall.

The wives absolutely brought it. Bree, naturally, never stopped until every detail was nailed down.

How the hell she found the time between taking care of Benny, my mom, Claudia, and me, I couldn’t figure out. But she did.

Saturday night’s game was a sellout.

And the benefit ?

It blew every expectation out of the water.

We were out on the ice doing warm-ups when they started announcing numbers—donation tiers, goals, projections.

Bree stood with the other wives on the players’ platform near center ice, holding Benny on her hip.

He wore his Copperheads jersey over a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, with his earmuffs snug over his curls.