Page 170 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Congratulates someone's daughter on making varsity.

Checks whether a volunteer's husband is recovering after knee replacement surgery.

He doesn't simply recognize people. He remembers them.

The realization settles over me slowly. This isn't a performance. There are no cameras nearby. No reporters asking questions. No social media team recording every interaction.

Jamie behaves exactly the same way he does in the rehabilitation clinic. The only difference is the number of people needing a small piece of his attention.

I finally understand something that has been sitting right in front of me for months. Captain Walker isn't an image he puts on for the public. He's simply Jamie multiplied by hundreds of people.

"He's impossible, isn't he?" The amused voice beside me makes me turn. Liam Mercer has appeared so quietly I'm not entirely sure where he came from. He's balancing two hot chocolates in one hand while somehow eating a cookie at the same time.

"I didn't hear you walk up."

"I've spent years sneaking up on Captain Serious." He offers me one of the cups. "I brought insurance."

I accept it, laughing. "Insurance?"

"If you stand here long enough watching Jamie greet everyone, eventually you'll need caffeine."

He nods toward the growing crowd surrounding the captain. "Give it five more minutes."

I follow his gaze. Jamie has somehow become the center of a loose circle of children, parents, volunteers and sponsors without ever trying to gather one.

Liam takes a sip of his hot chocolate. "See?"

"Does it always happen this way?"

"Every single time."

He says it with affection rather than frustration. "I've watched him miss dinner because a kid wanted to tell him about scoring his first goal."

My eyes drift back toward Jamie. "He remembers more than everybody."

He lowers his voice conspiratorially. "If I tell Captain Walker I have a dentist appointment next Thursday..."

He pauses dramatically. "...he'll ask me how my teeth are doing six months from now."

I laugh. "I believe that."

"The rest of us? We'd be lucky to remember we even have teeth."

The image makes me laugh again.

***

Liam watches Jamie for another moment before smiling to himself. "You know what's really funny?"

"What?"

"Most people think Jamie became a good captain because he wears the 'C'."

He shakes his head. "They've got it backwards."

My heart catches. "The captain became someone worth admiring..."

Liam points toward Jamie, now crouching to tie the skate of another little boy whose father is juggling two younger children. "...because he was Jamie first."