Page 43 of Icing on Top

“Seriously? I thought for sure you’d jump at the chance to play.”

I pressed my hand hard against my chest where my heart was running at a full-speed gallop. Playing in the league hadn’t even crossed my mind before now. Getting on the ice to coach the Puffins or playing one-on-one with Miah and Charlie were ways to dip my toes back into the world of hockey. Baby steps I could handle well enough. But actually competing? That was diving headfirst into the deep end, and I was nowhere near ready for that.

Doubts began to spiral through my mind.

You’ll never be as good as you used to be.

You’d be the worst player on the ice.

Going into fight or flight mode, I hurried to tidy up the piles, my hands needing something to occupy them. If my knees complained about me standing up, I didn’t notice with all the adrenaline pumping through me.

“I’ve got too much on my plate with work, coaching, and this.”

It was a poor excuse, but the best I could come up with in my current mindset.

“That’s true,” Miah—thankfully—agreed. I placed the stack of forms on the corner of his desk, and he leaned forward, encouraging me to meet his eyes. “I appreciate you making the time to help with this. And to just… be together.”

The sincerity in his gaze—and that small hesitation—pulled me out of my spiral enough that I no longer felt like I was drowning. Like a lighthouse beam cutting through the fog, he’d guided me back to solid ground.

“I will always make time for you,” I assured him, my voice barely more than a whisper. “And Charlie. Especially Charlie.”

We both grinned at that, and his laughter dissipated the tension in the office.

“So I come second to my own daughter.” He nodded once. “Got it.”

“Now I didn’t say that.”

“It’s those big, brown eyes of hers.” He let out a sigh, shaking his head slightly. “They get everyone.”

Little did he know that I was weak for his eyes as well. Possibly even more than I was for Charlie’s, it seemed.

Chapter 18

Jeremiah

Holding a pie in my hands while standing outside of my parents’ home gave me déjà vu. I half expected Sadie to round the back of my car with Charlie’s hand in hers at any moment. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Charlie skipped up the driveway to me by herself, dark locks bouncing around her shoulders.

“Do you think Grammy made deviled eggs?”

I chuckled. “I think she knows better than to forget your favorite dish.”

We always celebrated Thanksgiving early because my parents took their annual cruise during the actual week. When I was playing hockey, it’d worked out as I had a Thanksgiving game more often than not. Now it meant not having to make it to two family gatherings in one day, which was a blessing as a single father of a young child. Charlie could enjoy spending time with her cousins on Sadie’s side of the family without me having to drag her away to my parents’, and she didn’t get so utterly exhausted that she turned into a grouch. It was a solid tradition all around.

My mom opened the door before we’d even stepped foot on the porch, most likely having been watching for us while Dad prepared dinner.

“There’s my little turkey.” Mom hugged Charlie close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. At this point, there really wasn’t much more than a foot of difference in height between them. She held the door open wider for us both to step in. “What did you bring?”

I held the pie out for her to see, and her cheery smile slipped, her eyes darting up to mine.

“Did you ma—”

I shook my head before she could finish. “Got it from a bakery.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Zoe did in fact make it at work in the bakery.

“It looks just like hers did,” Mom said, staring at the pie once more as if it were a mirage that would disappear if she blinked.

The apple pie had a lattice crust with a bundle of leaves in the center. After our conversation, Zoe had been more than happy to create it for us. She’d apparently gone through two prior attempts at the crust before she deemed it good enough. Personally, I thought it was stunning. Sadie would have been proud.