Page 36 of Center Ice

“Nice to meet you.” Mr. Wells gave me a bright smile. “Maggie here was just telling us about the resort.”

“Yes.” Mrs. Wells lifted her chin. “Of course, my daughter wanted to get married on the sand next to screaming children and wildlife.”

Well, she was going to be fun to deal with. She might look like her daughter, but they acted nothing alike. Maybe this was why Colby was so laid back. She either didn’t want to be like her mom, or there wasn’t room in their house for two egos that big.

“You loved Bora Bora when we were there last month,” Mr. Wells argued.

“That was a private beach.” She turned her head away like she was done with the conversation.

“Do you have any other children that will be coming?” I asked, hoping it was a safe topic.

“Our daughter and her husband couldn’t make it. He’s receiving an award tomorrow night,” she answered.

Right. I should have expected as much. Poor Colby. She was so sweet. She deserved to be celebrated, not treated as an inconvenience.

“Well, hello!” A cheerful woman walked up to our little group and pulled Mrs. Wells into a hug. “So good to see you! Can you believe our kids are finally getting married?”

Mrs. Malkin, then. I smiled at her and introduced myself and Maggie.

“You’re the ones pulling off this whole thing? Bless you. I can’t imagine what the Pride has put you through.” She laughed.

“The Pride?” I asked.

“The women, the girlfriends and wives, of the players. Back in Salt Lake, they’re the ones that plan activities and cheer on the team. I swear they’re the ones that keep everything running smoothly. Not saying that the coaches are anything less than amazing, but without those women,” she shook her head and laughed again, “who knows where they’d be.”

I instantly liked this woman. I’d heard the word pride a few times over the week but didn’t ever put it together.

“They have been very on top of things. Chloe and Sydney made it pretty easy for us.”

Mrs. Wells scoffed, but I ignored her. A tall man with Noah’s bright blond hair joined us, and we made the introductions again. A teenage boy was next to him, Evan, Noah’s little brother.

“His older brother was supposed to be here, but his little boy got really sick. They’ve been in and out of the hospital this week. He feels absolutely terrible, but I said we could do a video call so he could at least watch,” Mr. Malkin explained.

See, that was a valid excuse for missing a sibling's big day, and he was making an effort to still be included. I glanced at Mrs. Wells, but she was staring at her phone.

“We’ll check and make sure there’s service there so he doesn’t miss a second,” I promised, and the Malkins smiled.

“Can I go find Noah?” Evan asked, and his parents sent him off.

“Would you guys like a moment to freshen up, or are you ready to see what we have planned?”

I expected Mrs. Wells to take me up on the offer, but they all said they were ready.

“If you leave your bags here, I’ll make sure they’re taken to your rooms.”

“What great service.” Mr. Malkin beamed while the Wells just walked away.

I smiled at him and led them to the private area reserved for events, giving them the same tour I gave the Pride at the beginning of the week. They didn’t have very many questions, and the Malkins were blown away by the cake Robbie was still working on. He’d painted the first layer of waves on the bottom tier and the coral, so they had a decent idea of what the finished product would look like.

Once we were done, I showed them to their rooms.

“If you have any questions or requests, please let me know.” I said goodbye and went back to the office where Maggie was waiting.

“Anything crazy?” I asked as I fell into my chair.

She shook her head. “No. Mrs. Wells requested that the front row be reserved for them, but we already do that. She wanted to sit at the head table for dinner, but I told her Colby just wanted long tables together in the shape of a U so everyone could see each other.”

“Not too bad.” I’d been expecting a much longer list, but there was still time for her to come up with a few more.