Page 111 of Lucky 22

I know exactly what she means. “Yeah, I’m not a fan either,but I’ll get over it. I know it’ll all be worth it when I see my husband’s facelater.”

“Any big plans while you’re there?”

Shaking my head, I pick up my suitcase. “Nope. Just livingtogether.” I smile. “He’s got one night off, so maybe we’ll go out to eat orsomething. Other than that, we’re just going to enjoy living like a regularmarried couple.”

She laughs softly before nodding toward the door. “Come on.Let’s get going. The traffic’s going to be a beast.”

I follow her out of the room. “You know you don’t have todrive me, Jen. There’s so much traffic for you—coming and going. It reallyisn’t a big deal for me to take a cab.”

“I want to do this. Besides, I’m going to be traveling thenext time you’re in town, so this will have to hold me over until we’re here atthe same time again. And who knows when that’ll be?”

Unable to help myself, I pull her in for a hug. “I love you,friend.”

“Love you, too. And not just because you’re Ashla Voss andpart of my favorite movie franchise. Because you’re Ella Holt. The best frienda girl could have.”

I go to correct her, and she stops me.

“Don’t even,” she says with a laugh as she grabs her purseand keys. “I know you’re Ella Lucas now, but you were Ella Holt when we met.”

Hard to argue with that logic.

The ride to the airport is long, but we don’t talk aboutanything serious. We sing along to one of our favorite playlists and laugh atsome of the memories it evokes. By the time we pull up at the terminal, I’m ina much better mood. And when I hug her goodbye, I’m so full of gratitude.

“Do you have any idea how precious you are?” I ask.

That makes her laugh even as she hugs me back. “That’s not aphrase I usually hear.”

Pulling back with a smile, I nod. “Well…you should. You’reprecious, like a precious gemstone, and those are rare. Friends like you arerare and hard to find. You completely lifted my mood and my whole mindsettoday, and it makes everything from this point on seem tolerable. So, thankyou.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

I wish I could take her with me, but I can’t.

“Tell Christian I said hello, and you and I will talk soon.Text me when you land.”

“Will do!”

I get out of the car and head into the terminal, which feelslike a second—or fourth—home at this point. It’s loud and crowded, and I wantto get to my gate and settle in. It takes forever to get there, but when I do,I find a seat and prepare to sit for a while.

When my phone rings, I know it’s Christian. He promised tocall after his game.

“Hey! How’d everything go today?”

“Good,” he says. “But, um…change of plans.”

“Excuse me?” I ask with amusement. “What does that evenmean?”

“It means, don’t get on the plane to Toronto. We’re going toArizona.”

“Wait…what?” I’m pretty sure I’m hearing things. Maybe I’mgetting interference from someone else’s call, or an announcement on theloudspeaker or something. Because he can’t mean that I have to fly to Arizona.

But that’s exactly what he’s saying.

“Yeah. So, we just beat New York 6–2, and as soon as we gotto the locker room, I got the call. They traded me to Arizona.”

“But…Christian…how? What about all our things in Toronto?Don’t you have to pack everything first? Or maybe I should still go and thenmeet you in Arizona?”

“You and I both know there’s nothing overly important thatwe’ll need right away. Plus, the team said they would help us arrange to haveour stuff packed and shipped to our new home. Besides, I know how much you hatethe trip to Toronto.” He chuckles—part amusement, part happiness. “This is gonna be good. Plus, I’m on the roster for the gametomorrow night, and I really want you to be there for it.”