Dawson drank his coffee and let himself revel in the normalcy of it all. He’d have to leave this kitchen. Drive home. Look his brother in the eye and either lie or tell the truth, and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t sure which one he’d choose.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The woman at the Lakeshore Diner set Leo’s coffee on the counter before he sat down. He hadn’t had to order in weeks.
“Black, two sugars,” she said. “I already put your order in.”
Leo pulled out the stool and dropped onto it. The vinyl was cracked along one seam, worn down to foam, and he’d sat on it enough mornings now that the split fell in the same spot against his left thigh. “Thanks, Diane.”
“Don’t thank me, thank the fact that you order the same thing every day like a man without imagination.” She topped off the trucker two stools down without breaking stride.
Leo wrapped both hands around the mug. The diner was warm. November had turned Port Haven gray and sharp, the lake wind cutting through the gaps in his jacket on the walk over.
His eggs came up fast. Over easy, wheat toast, a side of bacon he hadn’t ordered but kept getting because the cook had decided Leo was too thin for a hockey player. Leo didn’t argue. Three months ago, he would have sent it back and asked for egg whites. He ate the bacon.
The door opened and cold air rushed in. A woman Leo recognized from the hardware store stopped at his stool on the way to a booth.
“Nice game Saturday,” she said. “Tell Jonesy he owes my husband a beer. He bet against the Stags.”
“Jonesy owes a lot of people beer.”
“That’s what I hear.” She squeezed his shoulder as she passed, and Leo watched her go with his toast halfway to his mouth.
Six weeks ago, nobody in this diner knew his name. Now, Diane had his order memorized, the cook fed him unsolicited bacon, and a woman whose name he wasn’t sure about touched his shoulder like he belonged here. He could map it, the exact sequence of mornings that had turned him from stranger to regular, but that wasn’t how it had worked. He’d kept showing up, and the town had stopped asking why.
His phone buzzed.
Dawson
Ethan’s got plans Friday. Out all night.
Leo read it twice. Set the phone face-down on the counter, drank his coffee, and picked it back up. His thumb hovered before he typed, and he made himself wait until he’d swallowed.
Is that supposed to be an invitation to finally see where you live?
I was considering it. You got a game?
Saturday. Friday’s free.
Come after seven. I’ll figure out food.
Leo pocketed the phone. Friday was two days away, which felt manageable. He finished his eggs and left cash on the counter, overtipping because Diane had once mentioned her daughter needed braces, and he’d been overtipping ever since.
Practice ran long.Coach kept them on the ice an extra twenty minutes working neutral zone transitions, and by the time Leo peeled off his gear and showered, the locker room was half-empty. Jonesy was still there, arguing with Ski about something that had started as hockey and devolved into a debate about whether a hot dog was a sandwich.
Leo was pulling on his jacket when Deluca stuck his head into the locker room. The conversations didn’t stop but the volume dropped a notch.
“Quick one,” Deluca said. “Front office finalized a trade with Grand Rapids. Defenseman Cole Englund. Twenty-seven, right-shot. He’ll be here on Friday.” He glanced around the room. “The inn’s booked solid, some hunting group’s got it through the month. If any of you have a spare room or a couch, I’d appreciate it. Just until he finds a place.”
Ski looked at Jonesy. Jonesy looked at Russ. Ford scratched the back of his neck. Nobody volunteered.
“I’ve got a couch he can crash on,” Leo said.
Deluca looked at him. “Yeah?”
“I mean, it’s a hand-me-down and the apartment itself isn’t anything fancy but we can make it work.” Never in his life would Leo have considered himself the guy on the team who’dvolunteer to have a roommate, but he was trying to be the team player his former coach said he needed to be.
No, that wasn’t the reason. The truth was he was different up here. Hewantedto be a real part of this team, and part of that meant helping welcome the new guy.
