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Zach shook his head and faced forward again when the light shifted to green. “I can tell you’re hung up on the wordHempstead. Am I right?”
I was. I knew he was renting here, but my silly little brain had formed this tiny fantasy of Zach buying a home here. Here…with me.
“Yep,” I admitted.
“It’s a house, not a home. I spend barely half of the year there. I’m mostly here.”
Mostly.
Zach chuckled. “God, I’m not good at this. Now you’re focused on the wordmostly.”
“Right again, Mr. Renshaw.”
“It’s the nature of the beast, Jessa. I go where the team goes. I go where I’m told to go.” He shook his head. “How about another topic? You know my last name, but I don’t know yours. Or your favorite color.”
“Cole. I like yellow,” I mumbled, tracing my finger up and down one of the thin pinstripes on my pants. “I’m not used to…this.”
“To what? Being asked about yourself?”
“That…” I glanced over at him again.
He held the steering wheel with one hand, his other rested on the center console, and his head was on a swivel as he looked from the traffic in front of him to me.
“And being on a date.”
“I gathered that you’re not a frequent dater from the way you froze in the café the other day.”
“I’ve never been on a date before, Zach. There, I said it.God, I’m such a loser.”
“You’re not.” He reached out and snatched my hand, holding it in his, squeezing. “You’re far too incredible to be a loser.”
“You say a lot of nice things for a hockey boy.”
“What’s wrong with being a hockey boy?”
“My dad told me to stay away from them.”
A slow smile began to spread across his face at that admission. “That’s because he knew you’d be smitten with a certain hockey boy.”
“And you think that’s you?”
“I know it’s me,” he replied with a chuckle. “Look at you. You’re blushing and you’re holding my hand. I’d consider that smitten. Plus, youhavebeen on a date. With me. And now we’re on our second date.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled and peered forward, watching fat droplets of warm rain cover Zach’s windshield. “How come you needed Power Play?”
He ran his thumb tenderly back and forth across mine. “My mom worked two jobs just to keep me fed and clothed, so sports were out of the picture. I had always wanted to join hockey, but I knew it wasn’t in the cards for me…until it was. I remember the day my mom came home with a little package she had pulled out of the mailbox from Power Play. It was an acceptance letter, telling her where to bring me, what time, and what I needed for my first day. We were both so happy. I think that was actually the only time I saw my mom cry.”
He paused and peered over at me. “But they were happy tears, because she was giving me the one thing five-year-old Zachy wanted the most.”
“The chance to play hockey.”
Zach nodded slowly. “The chance to play hockey. We went to the Power Play office the next day, and they brought me into this big room filled with gear and set me up with an entire kit. I tried on skates for the first time in that room, and I left there so excited, I didn’t sleep for three days.”
I laughed softly, and Zach faced me with the most genuine smile.
“That’s incredible.”
“Your program is incredible. I wish there were more like it around. I don’t think people realize just how life-changing it is. I wouldn’t be where I am…I know I’ve said it already, but it bears repeating. Thank you, Jessa, for all you do for these kids. I’m amazed by the program, but I’m amazed by you more.”
