Page 69 of Fake-Off with Fate
As soon as the plane lands, I text Callie.
Me
You still at my house?
Callie
Still here. The fires are holding their distance.
Me
I just landed. I’ll hop in an Uber and with any luck I’ll be there in an hour.
Callie
See you then.
I run through LAX like I’m in hot pursuit of my favorite french fries. When I get outside, I discover the Uber line is long. Panicked, I shout, “I need to get to my house before it’s evacuated. Can I please cut in line?”
I’m met with a wide variety of nos. One woman glares at me and says, “I have an audition. I can’t be late for that.” The man in front of her adds, “We all have problems, honey. You’re going to have to wait your turn.”
I look around, wildly wondering if I should try to rent a car, but there’s no telling how long that could take. That’s when I notice the back window of a nearby limo rolling down. A stunningly good-looking man pops his head out. “Where are you headed?”
I’m not one to take a ride from a stranger, but there’s something about this guy that seems familiar. I give him the address, and he says, “I can drop you. I’m on the way to the hospital. My wife is in labor.”
I don’t want to keep him from his wife, but I’m also not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. The door opens so I hop in next to him. “Thank you so much,” I say. “I didn’t even know the fires were so bad.” Then I ramble like a total idiot. “I was in Washington and was preoccupied with all the troubles in Maple Falls, and I just …”
“Maple Falls?” he asks. “Why were you in Maple Falls?”
“I’m from there,” I tell him. “Do you know it?”
He looks shocked. “I met my wife there. My brother lives there.”
Talk about a small world. “Who’s your brother?”
“Troy Hart,” he says. “He owns the …”
“Ice Breakers!” I say excitedly. No wonder he looked familiar. “Troy’s been very helpful helping us raise money.”
He sticks his hand out to shake mine. “Zach Hart,” he says. “I’ve heard about your troubles.”
Zach Hart? This guy is a billionaire! Before I can beg him to help us—especially as his wife is from Maple Falls— he offers, “I’d be happy to contribute to the cause if you can’t make your number.” Then he pulls out a business card and hands it to me.
I’m not sure if Zach is good for it or not, but what are the chanceshewould offermea ride. I’m starting to think Jamie might be onto something with his beliefs about fate. I mean, there’s no way any of this is happening by chance.
CHAPTER 32
JAMIE
I hatethat Ashlyn is in LA and I’m in Maple Falls. She’s been great about calling and texting updates, but even so, the size of the fire has grown significantly in the last few days. The last time I talked to her was this morning when she told me the winds had shifted again. She’s been alerted evacuation is imminent. If the Ice Breakers didn’t have their first game tonight, I would be by her side instead of on my way to the arena.
Driving up to the stadium, I have to temporarily put my worry for Ashlyn on the back burner. I slowly allow the thrill of game day to build inside of me, and before long I feel like I’m a kid about to take the ice for the first time. I hurriedly park and walk through the locker room entrance.
My old teammate Cade Lenox is the first person I run into. As a new team, we truly lucked out getting a star winger like him. “Hey, man,” I say. “You ready to rock this thing?”
He looks up from his task of putting on his pads. “I’m in the mood to smack some pucks.”
“And any fool stupid enough to get in your way?” This was something we used to always say when we played for New York.
