Page 29 of Frozen Play

Oscar growled. “I didn’t ask to be named after a Muppet.”

“I’d trade it for Phin and Quin. Like, what was my mother on?”

Oscar and Phin insisted on doing dishes while Christine took Rowan up for a nap he claimed he didn’t need, and Riley went out to take care of the deep fryer.

I cleared the table and put things away once the boys had them clean. I paused for a moment.The boys, like Phin was one of us. Like he belonged to us. I looked at him and caught him staring at me.

My cheeks heated and I quickly returned to the dining room. This wasn’t good. Phin needed to get back to where he belonged before I caught feelings.

It might be too late.

We gathered in the living room after the place was cleaned up and Rowan was, finally, sound asleep with his new skates. (Skate guards on till he fell asleep and then his mom moved them out of his arms.)

“Can I talk to all of you, seriously?” Phin asked.

Christine started to stand. “I can leave?—”

“You should hear this too,” Phin said.

Christine settled back down with Riley’s arm over her shoulder, and we all turned our attention to Phin.

“So, again, I’m sorry for what happened to your cottage. It started from my thoughtless words.”

Riley shrugged. “Water under the bridge. What your stepmother did is on her. I was just pissed we never heard from you again.”

Phin looked down. “I didn’t deal well with Dad’s remarriage, and I hurt a few people. I totally focused on hockey, which isn’t a good excuse. I’m really sorry.”

Oscar reached over and slapped his shoulder. “You going to ghost us now?”

Phin ran his hand down his thigh. A tell? I didn’t watch that longer than was reasonable.Nope.

“I won’t be able to, if I convince”—for a moment, I thought the next word was going to beSkyeand that there was something happening between us—“you to go into business with me.”

Something inside me tumbled to land on the excessive turkey in my stomach.

“Business?” Riley asked.

Phin nodded. “I want to invest in your garage.”

For a long moment no one said anything. Riley looked at Christine, and Oscar mouthedWhat the hell?at me. I shrugged, because I didn’t know anything about this.

“Phin, you don’t owe us anything,” Riley said.

“That’s debatable. But while that might have inspired my idea, it’s not the whole thing.”

Oscar looked at me before asking, “So what’s this about?”

Phin rubbed his thigh again. “I’ve been…a little lost. I love hockey and hope to play for years yet, but in the summers I’m at loose ends. Mostly trying to avoid my stepmother and whatever she’s planned.” He shifted in his seat. “The team had a few days off for Christmas, my shoulder was sore, and I wanted to come up here. When I needed a place to hide out, this was where I thought of.”

“And then you landed in the ditch.”

“Yeah. And ran into a Duvall, and spent time here. And I realized this is where I’ve been the happiest. Even after Mom died, coming up, hanging out with you—outside of hockey, those are my best memories. I want to put down roots here. And when I’m done with hockey, this is where I’ll live.”

“Really?” Oscar asked. I shared his surprise.

“Really. I don’t want to just be one of the summer people. I want to belong. I’m going to look for a place, something on the water where I can come in the summers, and retire eventually. I thought building up the business with you would be the first step.”

Christine leaned forward. “You sure about this? Not to rain on your parade, but the garage is struggling. And we’re down to one tow truck.”

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