Page 6 of Rebel Secrets (Devils Hockey #3)

Chapter Four

Two months before the wedding

E rin

“Granddad, do you have that article on the fire at the Shaeffer farm?”

“Already laid out for Thursday’s paper. Did you get that story about the runaway alpaca I sent you?”

Sitting across from each other in the office of the St. David Register, our desk backs pushed together, though we couldn’t see each other over the large monitors we used to lay out the paper.

Granddad was constantly complaining about his sore neck from having to twist his head to see around it.

If it hadn’t been for the printer demanding the paper move to digital layout five years ago, I’m pretty sure Granddad would’ve still been laying out the pages on boards.

My brain, which had been mulling over a list of books to order for the bookstore while I’d been designing pages for Thursday edition on autopilot, did a stutter stop.

“Alpaca story?”

My brain started paging through mental notes with all the panic of a college student going into a pop quiz without reading the material.

“Yeah, about that alpaca from the farm outside of Frogtown.”

Frogtown. Was there really a place called Frogtown near here? How did I not know that?

“Um…”

Granddad leaned to the right, and I leaned to the left so we could see each other.

“The alpaca that took a walkabout and was gone for five days and showed up three counties away? That alpaca.”

I blinked at my granddad for a few seconds while my brain processed that information, thought about it for a few more seconds, then mentally shrugged. Well, this was St. David.

“Um…”

“His name’s Master Fluffy Jack.”

“I assume you mean the alpaca.”

Will Randolph looked over the top of his wire-frame glasses at me, his white brows arched over blue eyes only slightly less bright than they’d been for as long as I could remember. At eighty, Granddad was still as sharp as the day I’d been born, twenty-nine years ago.

The only thing that’d changed since that day was that I now worked for him. Though he still said I had him wrapped around my little finger. When he looked at me like that, I wasn’t sure that was true.

“What have I taught you about making assumptions?”

I rolled my eyes, biting back a smile. “That they’re correct sometimes?”

His mouth twitched, but his expression never changed.

Granddad had been a journalist for more than six decades.

He’d gotten his start at the New York Times, after graduating from Hofstra, and had worked there for more than thirty years before my grandmom had died.

Cancer. I don’t remember her very well, but Granddad sometimes talks about her like she’s still here.

My mom thinks it’s strange. I don’t mind.

“I think my training has been lacking with you.”

“I didn’t realize I was in training.”

Granddad gave me the look. The one most people in this town had learned to respect. Or fear, if you had something to hide. You’d be surprised how many people had something to hide in a small town. Take Sir Fluffy Jack.

“Which just means I’m better at this than I thought I was.”

He gave me a wink, and I dissolved into laughter. This was one of my most happiest places. This dusty, musty, dimly lit space with its wood-plank floors that creaked with every step and the plaster walls that had started to crack again and needed to be fixed.

It looked straight out of a movie from the fifties, like that one set in a newsroom that Granddad and I had watched a few years ago. When I’d first moved here and hadn’t known anyone and had thought I’d only be here a few weeks to help him wind down the paper and sell the building.

“So…Sir Fluffy? Where did he end up?”

Granddad’s mouth twitched into a smile. “An alpaca farm outside of Reading. No one’s sure exactly how he got there, but foul play is suspected.”

“Someone kidnapped Sir Fluffy and then released him at another farm? Was it a prank?”

“Farmer swears the damn alpaca walked off by himself. I need you to get in touch with the farmer in Berks County and get some detail to go with what our farmer told me.”

Shaking my head, I took down the number he recited.

“Thanks, Care Bear.” He pushed away from the desk. “Now, I’m going to head over to the diner for coffee.”

I waved him off, not bothering to mention the fact that I owned a bakery in the next building, and he could drink his coffee for free there.

The coffee wasn’t the point. He was going to get the latest gossip from the retired people who hung around the diner all day.

He called it investigative reporting. We both knew it was totally for the gossip.

But that gossip sometimes led to a juicy story. This was not exactly a juicy story. Not like the news I’d been sitting on for months.

Colonel Lawrence was going to retire at the end of the season.

Now, a few people in this town wouldn’t give a crap. Not everyone idolized the Lawrence family. Maybe idolized wasn’t the right word.

Admired was better. People admired the Lawrences for what they’d done for the town.

They’d brought the downtown back to life with the addition of the arena and the hockey team.

I mean, St. Lawrence wasn’t a thriving metropolis to begin with, but there were still people here who remembered when it’d been more than just another small town with a dying Main Street, decimated by manufacturing closures.

St. David had managed to avoid becoming a ghost town simply through the sheer force of will of the townspeople. And when the Lawrences had arrived with big plans and a large bank account, they hadn’t immediately been accepted.

This town still considered anyone whose grandparents hadn’t been born here visitors. Like me and Granddad. We were still considered outsiders, even though Granddad had moved St. David almost ten years ago and owned the local newspaper.

I don’t think some people even knew my name yet, and I’d been here for almost five years. Then I told myself the people who mattered knew my name. And most of them even liked me.

The first time I’d met Rain, I’d thought, She’s nice, too bad I’m leaving in a few weeks and won’t have time to get to know her.

Of course, I hadn’t left. I’d discovered the place I belonged. And caused a huge rift in my family. Every time I talked to my mom or dad they wanted to know when I was coming home “where I belonged.” My sister thought I was hiding from my broken engagement, and my brother barely talked to me.

I blew out a breath, tamping down my rising anxiety. My mom had never understood how I could be so outgoing and have so much anxiety over everything. Just another one of those things we didn’t see eye-to-eye on. Along with everything else.

Since hyper-focusing on something else usually helped when I started to spiral, I called the number Granddad had left for me on my desk. By the time I got off the phone half an hour later, my face hurt from smiling.

“You look like you’re having a good day.”

The voice from behind me belonged to Tressy, and I jumped up from my chair to give her a hug.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Wait, do we have a meeting? I don’t think I have anything on my calen?—”

“No, no, we’re good. I just stopped at the bakery to get Krista those cookies she loves, and I got Rowdy some, too. The man loves your butter cookies. If he ever leaves me, I’ll know it’s because I don’t bake.”

“That man loves you too much to ever leave you, even if your baking…needs some encouragement.”

Tressy threw back her head and laughed. “That was very diplomatic of you.” Then she shook her head. “I did come here with one delicate situation I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, is something wrong? Do we need to change anything for the wedding? Is someone allergic to something? What?—”

“No, no, no.” She shook her head, her lips twisting in a rueful smile. “Nothing like that. It’s kind of a favor. Well, no, it’s a definite favor.”

“For the wedding? Of course, anything.”

“Hear me out before you say yes. You may tell me to take a flying leap off the water tower.”

“Why would I do that?”

She paused for a breath. “I’d like you to dance with Rebel at the reception.

During the wedding party dance. I know it should be my sister since she’s my maid of honor, but she begged me to let her dance with Rocky.

I think Rebel frightens her a little. And my sister can be a little, um, flaky? Rain will be dancing with Brian so…

My brain stuttered a little at that. And then it just kind of shut down for a second while it rebooted. Tressy bit her lip before continuing.

“I know it’s a lot to ask. You two aren’t exactly, um, friends?”

That was an understatement. Still… “Not exactly true. We did manage to have dinner together with Rainbow, and we didn’t even get into a staring contest.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. If you think it’s going to be too awkward?—”

“NO! No, of course not. It’s one dance.”

Tressy’s nose wrinkled. “And a couple of practices. Miss Raffi put her foot down on this one thing. She wants her children to be presentable on the dance floor. Personally, I think she’s been on a crusade for most of her life to get her kids to take dance lessons.

Now she’s finally getting her shot, and she’s taking it. ”

“And Rowdy agreed?”

“He did when I said I’d really appreciate it, and it would make me happy.”

“You have that man wrapped around your finger.” I couldn’t stifle my sigh soon enough. “Must be nice.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to add a plus one to the wedding? I know all the guys will be there, but are you sure?—”

“Trust me.” I held up a hand. “I’m sure. You said it yourself. All the guys from the team will be there. If I want to dance, I’m sure I can find a partner.”

Not that I would want to. When I danced anything that wasn’t a structured ballroom dance, I looked like a chicken with its head cut off. Which I’d accidentally witnessed one day when I went to a local farm to interview the owners for an article. It’d been horrifying, but I still eat chicken so…

Ugh. Stop. You can do this.

Of course, I could.

“I won’t have a problem with Rebel.” And if I did, I’d step on his toes with my pointy heels.

Tressy lit up like I’d given her free chocolate cake for life. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This makes my life so much easier. I know you and Rebel don’t have the best of relationships but?—”

“Geez, you make it sound like we’re mortal enemies. We’re adults. We’ll deal.”

Tressy gave me a quick squeeze. “Thank you. I love my sister, but she can be a bit of a drama queen, and it’ll just be easier?—”

“Tressy.” I put my hand on her arm and squeezed. “Stop. You shouldn’t have to worry about any of this. Rebel and I will be fine. It’ll all be fine.”

Of course it would be. No problem at all.

Then why did I suddenly feel like I had a boulder sitting on my chest?