Page 91 of Puck You Very Much

Groaning, Lucy walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer. “There’s no reason for that, Maddie! I’m fine… I’m… Everything is…” She cleared her throat. “I’m fine! Dax and I simply ended our fling. So what?” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “It happens to me all the time.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “Matt told me that you two were in a relationship, but neither of you realized it.”

She snorted and flipped her sister the bird. “Bullshit.”

“Well, I believe him. You’ve never been in a relationship and you don’t know what one is like.”

She gritted her teeth. “You sound like Dax.”

“Dax who…loves you?” she asked softly.

Automatically, new tears welled up in her eyes. “How do you know he said that?” she asked, perplexed.

Her sister sighed heavily and rose. “It’s the only thing I could think of that would make you panic enough to end the relationship immediately.”

Lucy bit her lower lip, clutched the beer bottle in her hand tighter…and nodded. “He seemed so serious when he said the words. Like he honestly meant them.”

“Oh, Lucy…” Maddie pulled her into a tight embrace. “Of course he meant them. You’re incredible.”

“But I can’t be in a relationship!”

“Why not?”

“Because I…because I don’t know how. But I do know how it will end! How bad it can be…” The tears tumbled down her cheeks and dripped from her chin.

“Lucy.” Maddie stroked her back gently. “I understand, okay? You’re afraid of becoming so dependent on someone that you won’t be able to function if you lose them. Because of Dad, right?”

Lucy swallowed and nodded.

“Okay. But…do you love Dax?”

She nodded again, because if she didn’t love him, there was no other good explanation for her various heart attacks.

“And you lost him, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Good?” She laughed dryly.

Her sister pushed her away by the shoulders and gave a shallow smile. “Yes, good. Because you’re still functioning! You have food in the house, your kitchen counter is clean, you pay your own bills, and you go to work. It broke your heart but not you. Because you’re not Dad.”

Lucy swallowed. “But what if it gets worse? I’m still functioning now, but if I marry Dax and love him forever…what then?”

“Then you will have had the time of your life with someone you love. Do you know how much that’s worth? How many people search for that every day? I know, because those people come to me looking for it every day. You have that opportunity. You’re in love. You have a man who is there for you and who would put your well-being above hockey—Matt’s words, not mine. So don’t screw this up. You owe it to me and everyone else who’s still looking for that person to try.”

“I don’t know if I’m brave enough,” she whispered, wiping her damp cheeks with her hands.

“Of course you’re brave enough!” Maddie replied angrily. “God, put your shoes back on. We’re leaving.”

Lucy blinked in surprise. “What? Where?”

“To the source of your malady,” Maddie said harshly, pressing Lucy’s shoes into her arms.

An hour later, when they opened the door to the house they had grown up in, they were greeted by the familiar smell of dust, old upholstery, and lavender that had become the norm over the last few years. Maddie didn’t bother to knock, so her father, who was standing in the kitchen next to a pot of pasta, appeared justifiably surprised when his daughters streamed into the room.

One was confused—that was Lucy—the other had pursed lips and an angry glint in her eyes—Maddie.

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