Page 336 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

Always moving. Always preparing. Always surviving.

Now...I'm finally starting to live.

***

Keisha breaks off a piece of blueberry muffin and points it at me.

"So..."

I know that look. "What?"

She smiles. "What's next?"

I lean back in my chair, watching a sailboat drift lazily across the lake. For a moment, I don't answer.

It isn't because I don't know. It's because saying it out loud somehow makes it real.

"I accepted a position."

Her eyebrows rise. "You did?"

I nod.

"With the Frostholm Blizzards."

For just a second, she simply stares at me. Then the biggest smile spreads across her face.

"Annette!"

She reaches across the table and grabs both of my hands. "I'm so proud of you."

I laugh as she squeezes my fingers. "I start in two weeks.”

"So..."

Her grin turns wonderfully mischievous. "You're staying."

The words leave my mouth before I've even thought about them. "I guess I am."

Silence settles between us.

Not awkward.

Just full.

I look back toward the lake.

Toward the town square.

Toward everything this little town has quietly become.

"I don't think I've ever been happier."

The admission surprises me. Mostly because it's true. For so many years, happiness always seemed to live somewhere in the future. I'd spent so much time chasing "someday" that I almost missed today.

Keisha studies me for a long moment.

"You know what I think? I think you've stopped looking over your shoulder."