Page 48 of Small Town, Big Storm

Gertie glares at her.

Clem sighs and leans back in her seat.“Rude or not, itisthe truth of it.So,” she says with a determined inclination of her head, “how are we going to make those people eat their words and make this the best Home Ice Classic ever?”

We all fall silent, thinking.

OrI’mthinking, anyway.

Because, apparently, everyone else is staring at me.

Staring.

“Um,” I say softly.“What’s up?”

Clem’s smile goes so wide my stomach immediately sinks.

I know that look.

And it spells trouble.

“What?”I whisper.

“Guys,” Clover begins, always the soft soul trying to protect me.“Maybe we should?—”

“Well, I think it’s a great idea!”

I whip my head toward Daisy, see her and Gertie both grinning.

“What?”I ask, more firmly this time.

“If we want to pull in outside folks, it definitely is an excellent idea,” Blossom says.

“Whatis an excellent idea?”I ask exasperatedly.

“Asking Storm to play in the Home Ice Classic,” Clem says, and even as my mouth drops open, a thousand protests bubbling up in the back of my throat, she keeps talking.“And when you ask him, make sure to tell him to invite his friends too.Maybe we can get some Hawks fans to make the drive to watchtheStorm Harrison play on his hometown rink.”

“Like that’ll happen,” Paige sneers.

“Um—”

“Storm Harrisonandhis buddies,” Gertie says.

“I—”

“Oh, yes!”Blossom says.“And I bet we can ask Finn if some of the Eagles players might be willing to come out.We could bill it as a rivalry series or something and maybe even get some Bay Area folks to snap up some tickets.”

“I’m not sure?—”

“That’s brilliant!”Clem says, writing furiously on her notepad.“Okay, you’re on Finn and the Eagles.Poppy is on Storm and the Hawks.Clover, do you think you could donate some flower arrangements like you did last year?”

“Of course,” she says softly.“I also saw a video about flower crowns recently.That might be a fun add for the kids to buy.Or well—” She shrugs.“For their parents to buy for them, anyway.”

“That’s the way to think about it, missy!”Gertie declares.

“I love the idea of flower crowns,” I say softly.“And I know that Holly will be all over them too.”

“Good,” she replies with a wink and a small smile.“Because I was hoping she would be my model.”

I grin despite the fact that my stomach is in knots.“She’ll love that.”