Page 124 of Twisted Collide

“Great. Let’s say noon at the bistro. We can either walk together or meet there.”

“Let’s plan on going together. That is, if I’m done making my cute Canva montages of the players skating for the day.”

Molly laughs. “I can’t imagine Dane is happy about being in these videos. Hudson? Yeah. Dane? Not so much.”

“He really doesn’t have a choice. Plus, he doesn’t even know I’m taking them half the time. I’m stealthy with my camera.” I wink.

“Nice. Okay, well, I should go find that man. I have a list of one million things he needs to do, all of which he will protest. Bet you don’t miss working with him.”

Oh, but I do. Every single minute of the day. “Nope. Have fun with that list,” I respond, biting back the real answer to her question.

Once Molly leaves the room, I head off in search of Laurie.

A few hours later,I meet Molly at the exit of the practice arena. Together, we walk to a bistro a few blocks away. Molly chatters animatedly about her trip. How it was the best summer of her life.

The question on my tongue that I don’t let out is, why did you come back early?

It only takes us a few minutes to walk to the restaurant, and when we get there, we find an empty table right away.

This area of Redville is much less crowded than the downtown area where the team plays their games. Plus, the ambience is adorable. It reminds me of a bistro you would see in the movies, like it belongs in France.

“I love this place.” Molly beams as we approach the small, checkered table. The scent of freshly baked bread wafts in the area.

“It reminds me so much of France.”

My assessment was right. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never left the Midwest. Well, not counting since I’ve started working for the team.”

Molly stops walking and looks over her shoulder at me, brow lifted.

“Really?”

“Yep.”

I can tell by her narrowed eyes that she has a ton of questions.

Get in line. So do I.

Like why on earth did my mother never tell me about him? Or better yet, why on earth did she obviously never tell him about me?

While I haven’t confirmed that, it’s pretty apparent from the paternity test.

Oh well. One day, I’ll get up the nerve to ask him.

Just not now.

Or anytime soon.

It’s bad enough that my mom rejected me. I don’t think I can handle another rejection.

“I haven’t actually ever left Redville. To live, I mean. Obviously, I’ve left to go on trips and vacations. But I grew up here.”

I slide into the chair, and she takes the one across from me.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean you might already know this from working with Dane while I was away, but our parents died, and well, he raised me.”

I knew he raised her, but I never asked what that entailed.

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