Page 58 of Hot for the Hockey Player
He shook his head, brought out his phone, and was most likely Googling it.
“That’s super cool,” Naomi said.“We’ll have to give it a listen.”
I scooped some mashed potatoes onto my plate.The kids all did what they always did when we had mashed potatoes—had a competition over who could make the best volcano.The sides needed to be sturdy enough to contain the gravy a.k.a.the lava, but you couldn’t make the mountain any higher than the Yorkshire puddings.It was one of the ways we got the kids to actually eat when they were younger and far pickier eaters.
My mind flowed back to Maverick.The last thing I needed was to hear Maverick’s deep, raspy rumble.That would just make my perimenopause symptoms get more intense.I was awfully curious about what he and the sports podcaster discussed though.Maybe there would be a transcribed version I could read?
“Fantastic as always, Gabs,” Raina said, smiling in contentment as she chewed her food.
Hums and nods of agreement filtered around the table.
“Feels like we’re missing someone though,” Naomi added, quirking one corner of her mouth at me.
“Mav,” Damon said, all somber and sullen at the other end of the table.“I don’t know why he couldn’t come for dinner.”
“He’s been hanging out with Logan—my cousin—and his friends.Logan mentioned that he, Maverick, Renée, and Penny—Renée’s friend and another server—were going to go grab tacos and watch a movie at Penny’s.”
A flicker of something unpleasant in my belly made me wince.I knew what Penny looked like, but I didn’t reallyknowher.She lived in the in-law suite on the McIntosh acreage.The McIntoshs were a legacy family on the island, but none of them currently lived here.Rather, they rented out their farmhouse to Leslie Blythe, who was a firefighter and co-owned Dirt Flingers—the garden center—and her wife, Phia, a massage therapist at Unger Wellness.Penny lived in the suite just off of the main house.
She was closer to Maverick’s age, and if Logan and Maverick were getting closer, it made sense that maybe he would start to get closer to Logan’s girlfriend’s best friend.
I swallowed down the bitter taste on the back of my tongue.I had no claim on Maverick.In fact, him getting together with Penny would be a good thing.
Scooping up some of the sautéed Brussels sprouts, I shoved them into my mouth.Naomi, Raina, and Danica’s eyes were like six hot laser beams on my forehead and I finally lifted my gaze to theirs.
I glared at them.“Leave it alone,” I mouthed.
They all rolled their eyes.
“See,” I finally said to Damon, “Maverick is just making some more friends on the island.I’m sure he’ll be by next week to see you.”
My son seemed less convinced and just hung his head until his hair flopped over his eyes.
Conversation continued to drift benignly around the table until we all sat back and patted our stuffed bellies.
“I want more,” Jagger said, “but I can’t.I physically … can’t.”He pressed his fist to his mouth to smother a burp.Normally, the big, blue-eyed man with the round, wire-framed glasses sported a thick, long-ish beard, but his cheekbone was shattered and his nose was broken when he rescued Marco.So the doctors had to shave off his beard to put metal plates in his face during surgery.His facial hair was growing back fast, and thick, though.In the next month or so, it’d be like nothing happened.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t need the cane either, and it’d really be like nothing ever happened.
The kids helped clear the table, and while Jagger offered to help, Raina told him to go sit down and put his leg up.He shot her a glare, but it softened when she blew him a kiss.My cousins and I got to work cleaning up the table as Jagger and the boys returned to playing video games and the girls went off to Laurel’s room.
It was nights like this, all of us together—at peace, independent, but also dependent on each other—that made me so grateful for our aunt Dolores.Without her, none of us ever would have been able to escape Idaho and that life, or those men.
Naomi wrapped an arm around my shoulder as I stood at the island, my movements of putting the leftover gravy in a Tupperware container stalled as I just watched Jagger and the kids goof off.“This was exactly what Aunt Dolores wanted.A house full of family and love.She never got it herself, but … she madethishappen.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat.“She’s here.Her energy is here.Her heart is here.”
Naomi kissed my cheek, then removed her arm, and we continued to put everything away.
By eight o’clock, everyone was headed home, and my kids were having their showers and getting ready for bed.While Damon didn’t necessarily have a bedtime anymore, he was typically in his room with the door closed by nine.Laurel read until she couldn’t keep her eyes open.But I never really had to worry about her.It was my emo kid that drove me to have the second glass of wine.
Was Maverick at home yet?Or was he still over at Penny’s with Logan and Renée?Would he drink too much and spend the night at Penny’s?
I drained nearly half my wine glass as I sat at on the couch, watching the raindrops trickle down the picture window.I had an appointment with Justine first thing tomorrow morning.We were going to get to the bottom of these inconvenient hot flashes once and for all.If it was perimenopause, I could deal with that.The burns on the tops of my thighs tingled and itched, and I fought the urge to scratch them.
What movie were they watching at Penny’s?
Stop thinking about it!
