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Chapter 2
Becca
Only three days at home and I already needed an escape. Our farm house was overrun with aunts, uncles, cousins, and all their little children. At least the house was quieter at night, since many of them arrived with RVs and the older children slept outside in tents. But during the day, even with the large outside area for them to play in, the noise was deafening.
The only time I had any peace was when I holed up in my tiny bedroom or when I went to see my Nan in the stroke ward. It was tough to see her so ill, but she was making some progress. Although it would be a long, hard recovery even if she didn’t have any setbacks. Since they only allowed two visitors at a time and there were lots of family who wanted to see her, my peace was usually short-lived.
It was why I found myself walking down the street in downtown Voyageur Bay. When I went through my suitcase that morning, I discovered that I forgot to pack my swimsuit. Most likely I hadn’t even thought of it since it wasn’t something I tended to pack when I did my trips in October. But with the temperatures soaring, swimming in the lake would be a godsend in more ways than one. After finding one at Beacher’s Clothing, I scrolled down the street, letting my nose guide me.
My stomach rumbled at the smell of baking. Buns by the Bay. My must-stop store whenever I came home. Just the idea of their chocolate glaze along with the fresh vanilla-flavoured whipped cream inside of their eclairs made my mouth water.
As I pushed open the door, I heard someone calling my name.
“Becca. Oh my gosh. It’s so good to see you.” Arms wrapped me up in a hug as I swallowed a mouthful of riotous red hair.
“Grace?” I didn’t know why I asked since I recognized her voice. She was four years younger than me, so I’d known of her and knew some of her older siblings before I left for university, but the first October that I returned home for a visit, we struck up a friendship after she saw me daily at this bakery where she served me one of their famous eclairs.
She pulled back a little, allowing me to see her face. “I’m so sorry to hear about your Nan. I’d wondered if this would bring you home before October.”
“Yeah, Mom called and gave me the guilt trip, but I’m glad I’m here.” Seeing Nan, in case the worst happened, made me happy even if I had to see her while she was so frail and ill instead of the picture of health she’d been last October. But the rest…that could have waited. So what I told her wasn’t a complete lie.
Not that she fully believed me if the raising of her eyebrow and the “are you kidding me” look on her face were to be believed. But she let it go.
“Do you have any plans for today?”
I quickly ran through my schedule. Nothing was pressing at work, and I had my phone if anything important came up. I’d already gone to see my Nan, which meant all that waited for me at home was my extended family. Something I needed a break from. In three days, I’d already gone through all the discussion I needed over my single status and how my biological clock was marching on. So no matter what Grace offered, I had a feeling I’d jump at the chance to avoid my home for longer.
“Because my friend Susie—she’s Mr. Ward’s, the Public Works Foreman’s, daughter—has invited us to a lake party and Bar-B-Q. She’s waiting over in the car.” Grace motioned to a small eco-friendly car that was pulled up to the curb about half a block away.
Despite having decided earlier in the day that I needed time away from home, which was why I’d ended up downtown shopping, it hadn’t taken as long as I hoped. I needed another activity if I wasn’t going to end up back on the farm, spending the afternoon and evening with the family. Yet, I hesitated at her suggestion. Even though I’d checked the schedule to reassure myself that he, that they, weren’t going to be here, I still worried. And if they somehow managed to be allowed to skip out on their team training, a party would be just the place to run into them. No one seemed to think that he was in town—and maybe he wasn’t—but I didn’t trust the lack of gossip. Not when everyone was talking about the preparations for his parent’s fortieth anniversary party. There was no way that he’d miss that.
But since I didn’t know Susie—other than knowing she was a lot younger than me—the chances of her knowing him, his friends, or anyone who would know him was slim-to-none. It would mean that most of the guys there would be younger than me, but that would actually be for the best. I could go, relax, and have fun without worrying about men.
“Count me in. I need some time away from home. And as luck would have it”—I lifted my arm holding the shopping bag—“I just bought a new swimsuit.”
“Great.” She pulled me to the car, opening the back door for me to enter.
As I climbed in, I looked at the young woman with her long hair pulled back into a ponytail who sat in the driver’s seat. She looked familiar—probably from my October visits—but I didn’t think I’d ever met her before. “Thank you for the invite…”
Susie turned around and smiled. “It’s Susie. I’ve heard about you, but don’t think we’ve ever met. And no problem. As I told Grace, ‘the more the merrier’.”
“Well, I’m still grateful.”
“Did you need us to stop for anything?”
“No, I’m good.” Again, I held up the large beach bag that I used for shopping. “I just purchased a new suit, so I’m all good.”
Susie turned up the music a little and pulled back onto the road. She drove us out of town. I knew the roads, having grown up driving all over the area when there was nothing else to do with my friends, but I didn’t know anyone who lived out this way which relaxed my concerns.
“Who else is going to be there?” Grace asked.
Although Grace was friendly to me, I knew she wasn’t very social. One of the first things she said to me when we met was how she was jealous of me for escaping Voyageur Bay. She wanted out and was working hard to make her dream come true. So her lack of social interactions was one of the reasons why I agreed to go. If Grace was going, then the party wouldn’t be one of those that got out of hand.
“Jonathon, of course.” At the sound of Jonathon’s name, I stiffened. It can’t be. It has to be another Jonathon. But my hope was short-lived when Susie continued, “His new teammate Michael is staying with him for a bit and he has two other players’ friends who’ve come to visit. Locally, Peter, Jarrod, and Jason along with Kyle and Geoff.” Susie shrugged. “There will probably be others and most likely some girls that they picked up.”
That was freakin’ craptastic. Of all the people Susie could be friends with, she had to be friends with a professional hockey player who grew up friends with him. And if I’d harboured any initial doubts that Jonathon wasn’t who I thought he was, they were erased the moment she said Geoff and Kyle. Although growing up it had always been Geoff and Tyler along with Kaitlyn—she’d been my age—something had happened and Tyler took off. As far as I was aware, Tyler had never returned to Voyageur Bay once he left. I really didn’t know how he did it because I found it hard enough to only return once a year, despite the fact that I liked to whine about my family.
“I guess that won’t be too bad. I’ve actually never met Jonathon since he was a couple of years older than me and then left shortly after I moved into town.” The hesitation in Grace’s voice didn’t fool me. She was still concerned.
