Page 14

The crowd cheered as the skaters took the ice for their introductions.

Sitting along the boards three rows below Sheridan, Finn and Gunner yelled to get Alek’s attention.

He turned in their direction and gave the boys a wave.

Then his eyes scanned the crowd. He did a double take when they landed on Sheridan.

She hiked one shoulder up in an awkward shrug.

The soft smile he sent her way looked a lot like approval. It had her stomach doing weird things.

Beside her, Claire chuckled. “Alek isn’t used to having anyone in this section other than when his family is in town.”

That surprised her. “Really? He hasn’t dated anyone in the six years he’s been with the Mayhem?”

“There was one woman the summer before last. London Headley. He seemed pretty serious about her, but my gut told me he was simply going through the motions. It felt to me like he was trying to check ‘start a family’ off a list.”

“What happened to her?”

“Turns out she and Trey Van Horn, the quarterback of the Growlers, had a relationship when they were teenagers. Someone meddled and they each got their heart broken. It was very romantic when they found each other again.”

“Poor Alek.” First Madison and now this London woman. No wonder he was still single. He was probably gun-shy. “And there’s been no one else?”

“Oh, I’m sure there have been other women over the years.

” Claire wiggled her eyebrows. “But Alek is very discreet. And he’s not the sort of guy who needs a piece of arm candy to stoke his ego.

He’s the type that when he finds the one to commit to, he’ll be all in. You and Finn are the perfect example.”

Sheridan choked on the wine she’d just taken a sip of.

Claire patted her on the back. “I only meant that he saw a need to make a commitment to both you and Finn and he quickly took it on, without hesitation. I’m not implying anything is going on.” She arched an eyebrow. “Unless something is going on?”

“No,” Sheridan managed to croak.

“Glad I got confirmation, then,” Claire said. “Timothée Valentine is determined to play matchmaker for Alek this season.”

“Oh.” Sheridan was too stunned to come up with anything more intelligible.

“I told Timothée it might be awkward if Alek gets into a relationship while you’re living there, but once Valentine gets something in that adorable head of his, it’s hard for him to dial it back.” She chuckled. “He’s even got a detailed list of candidates.”

Sheridan had no time to dwell on the other woman’s bombshell because the horn sounded and the puck dropped, ending their conversation.

The crowd roared when Claire’s husband scored a goal in the opening three minutes.

Alek seemed to be fighting for his life in front of the goal as the Dallas players peppered him with shots.

He managed to keep them all out of the net until less than a minute was left in the first period.

Merriweather checked one of his opponents into the boards when he should have been helping defend the net.

The puck slipped in beneath Alek’s outstretched leg.

During the first intermission, Sheridan went back down to the family room with Claire, who wanted to check on her daughter.

The Mayhem provided childcare for the kids who were too young to sit still for the duration of the game.

Grace was playing an animated game of Candyland with the three young girls who belonged to the woman Sheridan had met earlier.

It turned out Freya was the wife of one of the assistant coaches who was once a goalie in the league.

“I don’t go upstairs to watch them play,” Freya had explained to Sheridan before the game. “Henrik says I try to coach over him.” She laughed. “He claims he can hear me all the way over on the bench.”

Freya paced around the room, holding a fussy baby on her shoulder. One of the WAGs Sheridan hadn’t met before was seated at a table holding a screaming toddler on her lap. The mom looked spent.

“Everything okay here, Brooke?” Claire asked.

Brooke blinked as if she were holding back tears. “It’s fine. This is the evening meltdown. Brad said it would be a mistake coming tonight. I should have known neither kid would let me out of their sight. But I get tired of sitting at home.”

Claire knelt next to her so she could rub the little boy’s back.

“Why is it that little ones always know when the season starts, and they try to test their mom’s limits?

” She smiled at Brooke. “You’re not alone.

We’ve all been there. The guys are home tomorrow.

Why don’t you leave the kids with Brad and come by my place in the afternoon?

I have a list of vetted childcare pros who will come to the house and watch the kids so you can enjoy a night out at the games. ”

“Oh.” Brooke looked even more dejected. “I don’t know. Brad spends the off days playing video games with some of the guys. He says it’s important to build camaraderie with his teammates. And I know it’s good for his mental health to check out and think about something other than hockey.”

“What about your mental health?” Sheridan surprised herself by interjecting. But really, Merriweather was all kinds of a douche.

“Sheridan’s right,” Claire said in a much softer tone. “You can’t do this all on your own. This team is your family while you’re away from home. If it helps, I can have Zach or my husband talk to Brad?”

Brooke’s eyes went round. “No! Please. I-I’m going to ask my mom to come out for a few weeks to help get us settled into the season. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll get everything together. Brad will play at his peak. It’s all good.”

Claire drew in a slow breath. “Okay. Grandma to the rescue is always a good plan. And I know you can handle this. I want you to know you can always reach out, though, okay? How about I email you those names so you have them in your back pocket?”

It looked as if Brooke was going to say more, but all she did was nod. She shifted the still crying toddler to her other shoulder. Claire got to her feet. Freya joined them with the now quiet baby.

“He cried himself out,” Freya whispered. “I’ll put him in the nursery.”

“We should go back up,” Claire said after checking on Grace.

When Sheridan looked back at Brooke, her chest squeezed. The little boy was beginning to peter out, but he still had a death grip on the jersey his mother wore. His anguish reminded her of Finn at that age. Except it wasn’t his mother he wouldn’t let go of. It had been Sheridan.