Page 23 of Home Ice

“It’s my day off, sue me.” She plants her hands on her hips. “And I need you to know that you’re interrupting my plans.”

“What plans?”

“Binging the newest season of Love is Blind.”

I can’t think of anything more boring. “Well, we’re going on a Kasen-shaped adventure, so⁠—”

“Give me five.”

She disappears inside the house and is back exactly five minutes later, dressed, and, by the smell of her, heavily covered in perfume with freshly brushed teeth. “So, are we kidnapping him instead?”

“No, but we only have a few hours to get to Burlington, pick up some … stuff, and then get back here.”

“I have a lot of questions, but I’m invested. Let’s do this.”

Ignoring the headache that’s creeping back in, I pull away from her place and get us on the road. Kasen’s booked for training at three, so if I’m going to pull this off, I need as much time as possible.

As we drive, I have Gigi look up where I can get everything, and once she’s plugged an address into the car’s GPS, she side-eyes me.

“Does this mean we’re not ignoring Kasen’s existence?”

I frown. “Why the hell would we do that?”

“Because you’ve been so weird about it.” Gigi throws her hands up. “I’m trying to be a good sister here, but I have a fucking nephew. That’s huge.”

“I thought you said it was nothing?”

“Of course I said it was nothing. You looked like you were about to vomit all over me. I was trying to avoid that.”

“I wasn’t going to vomit all over you. I was having a panic attack. A minor one. Easily managed.”

She snorts, and I don’t blame her. Yesterday was not my finest moment. Neither was last night. Or this morning.

But I’m starting to feel more like myself and less like the helpless mess I was unraveling into. By the time I head home, no one can say I didn’t try.

My flight back to St. Louis is supposed to be on Wednesday, but I surprisingly thought ahead when I bought my ticket and made sure it could be exchanged. Almost like in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t going to be the easy trade-off Amelia wanted. If everything goes to shit, I still have the option to jump on that plane out of here. If it doesn’t … I might get to see more of Watesburg than I have in years.

Our first stop in Burlington is a hockey supply store. I’ll have to guess his sizes, and while I’m confident in my guess, I make sure that everything can be exchanged in case I’ve gotten it wrong.

I still remember coming to places like this as a kid. Seeing the lines after lines of sticks, the impressive goalie helmets, the team jerseys, the padding, the racks of skates. You don’t walk out of a place like this without spending an arm and a leg, but every time we visited to pick up something else we needed, I always knew this was where I belonged.

I could feel it.

A small part of me hopes that Kasen feels the same. He might not have grown up with me in his life, but it’d be nice to know I had some small influence on who he is.

With all the gear in the back of the rental, I drive us to the next place.

We pull up in the parking lot of the dealership, and Gigi turns to me.

“What are we doing here?”

“Getting Kasen the second thing he asked for.”

She stares at me. “A fucking car? For a kid?”

I unclick my seat belt and climb out. I’m not wasting time today, so as soon as we’re in the lot, I find the closest salesman.

“What do you have in stock?”