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“He likes hockey. The regular season ends sometime in April, so there might be some games Saturday.”
She didn’t know the first thing about hockey other than the fact it was played on ice, but she’d give it a try. If there was a team in the area, she’d check and see if they had a home game this weekend. “I’ll look into it. Anything else? Does he like the theater?”
“The only play I think he likes is A Christmas Carol. Again, wrong time of year. But maybe I’m wrong.”
Planning this date was turning out to be more difficult than she anticipated. “What about music?” Numerous venues in the area featured live bands on the weekends.
“He likes the big hair bands from the 80s or anything that sounds like that and classic hard rock similar to Trent.”
Finding bands, which fit Addie’s description playing on Saturday, would be a breeze. “I’ll check for any hockey games first, and if there aren’t any, I’ll look for concerts. How about restaurants? Does he have a favorite type of food? Anything he absolutely hates?”
While her sister-in-law listed Rock’s favorite types of foods, Allison did a search for professional hockey teams on her tablet. She vaguely remembered a team called either Virginia or DC home, but she had no idea of their name. The list of professional hockey teams was much shorter than she expected. Scrolling through the names, she found the link for the team based out of DC and clicked on it. Immediately, the team’s website popped up providing her with their entire schedule.
Perfect. They had a home game on Saturday. “Looks like we’re heading to a hockey game,” Allison said when Addie finished her sentence.
“Rock will love that. Can I help with anything else?”
“All set for now. Thanks for your help.”
“Okay. Trent’s home now, so we’ll be going soon, but call later if you need me,” Addie said. “If you don’t mind, call me on Sunday. I’d like to hear how the night went.”
After promising she would, Allison ended the call and turned her attention to eating dinner and planning out her and Rock’s date. The game started at seven o’clock according to the website. That should give them enough time to grab a quick dinner before the game if they ate at a nearby restaurant. Or should they eat after the game so they didn’t need to rush. How long was a hockey game anyway? With a search engine already open on her tablet, she typed the question in and right away a list of sites providing the answer came up.
The average hockey game lasted two-and-half hours. If they stopped for dinner after the game, it’d be closer to nine or nine thirty before they ate. She’d prefer to eat earlier than that. When Rock called, she’d ask if he could pick her up around five so they could stop somewhere before the game. If he couldn’t, she’d plan for dinner after the game and make sure she had a snack before he picked her up.
Speaking of snacks, she wished Derek would call her back soon. More than anything, she wanted to be right about the bear and chocolates being from him. Deep down, she couldn’t accept it. Only once had he sent her something without his name on it, and it had been so long ago. Why would he do it now?
As if merely thinking of him conjured him up, Derek’s ringtone erupted from her phone. She loved talking to Derek but couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy he called her back.
“How’s my little sister?” Derek asked once she answered the phone. Although only five minutes older than her, he loved reminding her he’d been born first.
“You might be the older twin, but don’t forget I’m the smarter one.
” It had always irked Derek that she’d scored eight points higher on her SATs than him and had graduated college with a higher GPA.
“Anyway, what’s up? I got your message. Did you say something about chocolates?”
Another chill spread through her body, making tiny goose bumps appear on her arms. So he was denying he sent them. She’d expected that. “Knock it off, Derek. I know you sent the teddy bear and chocolates from Favre to the office today.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t send anything. Didn’t it come with a card?”
The chill seeped deeper inside her, sinking into her bones. “The card wasn’t signed. It only said ‘Thought you’d like something sweet while you worked’ but I know you sent it. You know how much I love chocolate from Favre.”
“Allison, honest, I didn’t send you anything.” The carefree tone he’d used when she answered the phone disappeared. “If you got something at work today, it was from someone else. Call the delivery company. Maybe they’ll tell you who ordered it?”
Her scalp prickled as his words sank in. “I don’t know where it came from. There was no business information on the card, just the typed message.”
“Did whoever delivered it have on a uniform or a nametag?”
She should have thought of that. “I’ll check with the receptionist tomorrow. It was left with her.”
“Call the police.”
“And tell them what? Someone sent me a present? There’s not a law against sending gifts.” Perhaps there should be though. “And don’t tell anyone about this, especially Dad,” she said before her brother could offer any other advice. If he opened his big mouth and told their dad, he’d probably hire a bodyguard to sleep outside her bedroom door, and then he’d be on the first plane to Virginia. He hadn’t wanted her to move away from Providence in the first place. She loved her dad, but she didn’t need him going into overprotective father mode. “You know how he gets sometimes.”
“Getting gifts from strangers isn’t normal, sis. I won’t tell him if you promise to call the police or consider hiring some security for a little while.”
She didn’t want to do either, but she didn’t need Derek calling their dad either. “If it happens again, I’ll call the personal security firm we’ve used in the past.”
