Page 14 of Rainbow Kisses

“No.” Maddy broke in, her eyes wide and a little frantic. “You don’t need to talk to the principal for me.”

I opened my mouth to say it was no problem, that I knew the principal, and she was a really nice person, but something in Maddy’s expression made me pause and regroup.

“I don’t want special treatment.”

Her mouth flattened with determination, and she reminded me more of her uncle with every minute.

“Sure. No problem, but you’ll probably meet her when we get you registered tomorrow. Like I said, it’s a small school. She likes to get to know all the kids.”

And I’d lost her again. It was like she’d flicked a switch and shut down.

I hated to lose. And though this definitely wasn’t a game, I hated knowing Maddy was so closed off. When I looked at Brian, his expression as he stared at his niece showed pained frustration. I just wanted to reach over and squeeze his hand, tell him it would be okay. But I couldn’t do that in front of Maddy because… Well, just because.

Time to switch tactics.

“So, Brian. I had a few thoughts about your living situation.”

I didn’t get to say anything else because our server appeared out of nowhere, head bent over her notepad. Which just meant I hadn’t been paying attention.

“Hey, Rain, how are ya tonight?”

“I’m good, Chrissy. How are you?”

The blonde, who’d graduated a few years behind me in school, shrugged, looking harried. Couldn’t blame her. This was her second job, after the bakery, where she made some of the most delicious pastries in the state, and before her third job, which was working at the arena on game nights.

“Busy. Can’t complain. No one listens anyway. What can I get you guys to drink?”

After we ordered sodas—and she did a double take at Brian—she nodded and hustled away.

I glanced back at Brian and found him staring at me. Our gazes locked for several seconds before I blinked, feeling my cheeks start to get hot.

Stupid response. Didn’t mean anything.

I snorted silently. At least I could admit to myself that I still had a few (ha!) lingering feelings for the guy.

But then Maddy shifted in her seat, like she couldn’t get comfortable, and my mind immediately went back to the problem of how to get this girl to relax. To make her feel like she belonged. Because she clearly didn’t feel comfortable, and it was kinda breaking my heart.

“So,” Brian said, “you have a suggestion for our living arrangement? That’d be great, ’cause the hotel’s not ideal.”

“Right, right.” I snapped back into focus, my brain practically whirring like a plane propeller. My mom had made the analogy when I was a kid, and it’d stuck. “So, player housing is full, and we can’t bunk you with another player for obvious reasons. Mom and Dad are renovating the guest house, so that’s out, and I’m not sure you’d want to stay that close to Dad during the season, anyway. He’d always want to talk hockey and you’d be right there, like a sacrificial lamb.”

Brian’s brows arched, just slightly enough that I noticed how much darker they were from his hair. Huh. Anyway, I just shook my head and kept going.

“And let me know if you think this totally won’t work for you, but Mrs. Travers converted her garage into an apartment that no one’s renting right now. A couple of the Yingst kids had been living there while onrumspringa, but they went home a couple of months ago, so the place is empty. And I know Mrs.Travers is kind of, um, grumpy some of the time, but the garage is detached, so it’s not like you’d be living in the same building.”

I stopped to take a breath because I realized I needed to. Damn it, I’d been running at the mouth again.

“What’srumspringa?”

I turned to Maddy, smiling because she’d perfectly repeated the Pennsylvania Dutch word. “It’s the time when an Amish teenager can be away from their family and live in the modern world and use modern things like cars and cell phones and computers without getting in trouble.”

Maddy’s brows rose in a perfect imitation of her uncle’s. “Seriously? That’s like a real thing?”

“Yep. The Yingst kids decided to go to school here for a couple of years. The youngest was a really good hockey player. The school team was sorry to lose him. And honestly, it’s good for Mrs. Travers to have someone living so close. She hates to admit it, but she’s getting old, and she could use some help sometimes. Not that you’re there to take care of her. She wouldn’t let you anyway. But sometimes she needs help getting packages and stuff inside her house and when her neighbors offer, she tells them she can do it herself, and no one wants to tell her she can’t. If you’re living there, you can just do it, and she might not yell at you for it. Then again, she probably will, but you’ll learn to ignore her.”

That faint smile was back on Brian’s lips, the one that made me feel giddy. Such a stupid word, but damn, it was descriptive as hell.

Chrissy saved me from making a complete fool by gazing longingly into Brian’s eyes when she returned with our drinks and took our order for dinner. Since I knew the menu by heart, I ordered my usual, fish and chips. Maddy went for chicken fingers and French fries and a side of applesauce, which made me smile, because it was exactly what Krista, my brotherRowdy’s almost-daughter, always ordered. She was seven. It made me think that Maddy wasn’t as old as she fronted.

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