Page 22 of His Greatest Treasure

“Yeah, he left the Vancouver Warriors and found a good home in Ottawa. He loves it there,” Addie starts before her eyes take on a haunted appearance. “And Noah, well, it wasn’t a surprise when he went after Tinsley. You remember how attached those two were back when we were kids, right?”

Noah Hutton may very well be more famous than his NHL star brother. His name is all over the news and radio stations as one of the biggest up-and-coming names in rock music. It wasn’t surprising to hear about, considering how attached he always was to music, but I wasn’t expecting such an explosion of talent. Maddox might be one of the most well-known NHL players in the world, but he’s no rock star.

Tinsley Lowry is a pro boxer and has been Noah’s best friend since the moment they both popped out into the world. She, like me, didn’t grow up in Vancouver with the rest of them. Her family is from Toronto, and now, apparently, Noah’s there too.

“Oh, I remember. He’s on tour now, right? I thought I heard about it on the radio,” I say.

Addie swallows hard enough for it to be audible. Concern sizzles in my gut as I watch Cooper scoot closer to her, his arm folding around her back.

I tighten my hold on her hands, not wanting her to tug them free. “What’s wrong?”

“Noah was hurt pretty badly a few weeks ago. Everyone’s still a little on edge about it,” Cooper explains.

Queasiness fills me. “I didn’t hear about anything happening to him.”

Addie sniffles, thick lashes batting with quick blinks. “We did everything we could to keep it out of the media. He’s okay now. Both he and Tinsley will be at the house tomorrow. You should come and reintroduce yourself to everyone.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“You won’t be intruding. You’re family, remember?” Cooper asks.

Adalyn nods in agreement, her eyes clearing a bit. “Please come. We do these family dinners every weekend, and I know everyone would love to see you.”

I push past my immediate want to refuse their kind gesture. It’s an olive branch. One I’ve been ignoring for years and probably don’t deserve at this point.

“Alright. Just tell me when and where, and we’ll be there.”

Both Adalyn and Cooper look pleased with my answer, and I let that settle me a bit. I search the front of the studio for Nova and Gracie, finding them a beat later. Nova’s nodding along with every word Gracie says as she shows her the massive corkboard hung on the wall and all the tacked photos scattered across it. Years of ballet performances and ballerinas are displayed with pride.

I remember Gracie loving ballet. It’s one of my core memories of her. Seeing her passion put to use this way is special. A full-circle moment.

Nova notices me watching and cracks a grin as she waves wildly. A couple of the girls close by watch her, looks of interest on their young features. There’s a boy hovering, his ears tipped with red and olive eyes wide. His arms are full of dance attire, buthe doesn’t pay any of it half as much attention as he does my daughter.

“Ah, shit. She’s already snagged a boy’s attention. Poor Momma Bear,” Addie teases, knocking her shoulder against mine.

I scowl. “She’s only seven. There will be no crushes yet.”

“Isn’t it adorable, though? Look!”

The boy has shuffled closer while slipping a hand out from beneath his pile of things just long enough to push his curly brown hair from his eyes. Nova has spotted him now and has her head cocked while staring bluntly, curiously.

“She’ll tell him to leave her alone,” I say to myself.

But she doesn’t. Mortified, I watch as my daughter smiles in encouragement and brings him into her conversation with Gracie. I should be proud of her for being friendly, but why does she have to be friendly with a boy?

I’m going to age at least twenty years over the next several months.

“It’s cute, isn’t it? She’s already making friends,” Cooper says, his tone hopeful.

“You won’t think it’s cute when your daughter is accosted by a young boy,” I warn him.

He brushes me off. “Easy fix. We won’t have a girl.”

I smirk, shaking my head. “Yeah, okay.”

“What if I want a girl,” Addie says. “Then what?”

I laugh when he visibly glitches, too busy thinking about the right answer to keep his brave face. He’s in for a surprise when and if he and Adalyn have children. Just because I don’t like Nova making friends with a boy who looks at her like he just saw heaven for the first time doesn’t mean that I’ll do anything to stop it.

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