Happy wasn’t a word I used often, but it had been a constant since Remy had arrived in Garland Grove.
I leaned against his side and he slid his arm around me, pulling me closer. He radiated heat and I soaked it in. I was so used to being cold, or at least chilly, that heat was a luxury. It was addictive and a little scary.
“You two are adorable,” Tandy said, sinking down beside me. “But it’s time to get everyone out of here, clean up, and go home.”
“I think it was the busiest one yet,” I said, looking around.
She nodded. “Over three hundred people showed up.”
“Last year we topped out at one-ninety,” I said. “So that’s a good increase.”
“But how much did we spend on hot chocolate and popcorn?” Remy asked.
“I know how many packages of cocoa I used,” I said. “But I’ll need to check inventory for the amount of popcorn. Then we’ll get a number. But we absolutely broke even, and this isn’t about making money; it’s about the holidays and community fellowship and goodwill.”
“That’s all well and good,” Remy said, “but this is a business. Sure, we can do something like this once or twice a year for all those reasons, but the rest of the year, it needs to be about profit.”
“Is the rink profitable?” Tandy asked curiously.
“I’ve been looking at the numbers, and it is, but money seems to just disappear. There are expenses I don’t understand, which makes me think my dad had money being taken out and put directly into one of his accounts. I still haven’t sorted them all out, but my accountant is working on that now.”
“Is that bad?” I asked carefully.
“It’s not bad, but now that I own the place, I don’t need the money and I’d rather it go back into the business or at the very least, to the employees.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to sell it?” Tandy asked, meeting his gaze without hesitation.
“I don’t know.” Remy’s arm tightened around my shoulder. “I haven’t been in town that long, but it feels so familiar here, like the rink and the town are one and the same.”
“And it’s hard to think about selling the soul of a town,” Tandy said softly.
“Exactly.”
We were all quiet for a few seconds as his words sunk in.
“Well, time to get everyone out of here.” Tandy got up and started shooing skaters off the ice.
I lifted one of the urns of hot chocolate and Remy grabbed the other one. They were both almost empty and we brought them into the small kitchen behind the concession stand.
“If you’ll go get the rest of the stuff,” I told him, “I’ll wash these.”
“Okay.”
He disappeared and I dumped out the urns, absently turning on the water and grabbing a sponge. I was lost in thought, wondering when Remy had begun to think of the rink as the soul of the town. I didn’t even think of it that way, but now that Tandy had said it, it made sense. Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped seeing the magic of Garland Grove, the rink, and even the holidays. I didn’t believe in magic, literally, figuratively or any other way. But when I was with Remy, there was always something magical brewing just beneath the surface. If I could bottle it, I’d probably be richer than he was. Since I couldn’t, I had to settle for enjoying the magical time we were having together.
We went back to Vancouver the following Monday. We were spending the night again, and he’d invited Anatoli Petrov and his wife Tessa to town. The guys were meeting this afternoon while Tessa and I went shopping. I was completely out of my element, but Remy had asked me to hang out with her while they had their meeting, and I couldn’t very well say no.
“What do I tell her about our relationship?” I asked Remy as we waited for them to arrive at our hotel suite.
“I don’t know.” He met my gaze. “The truth? That we’ve just met but can’t seem to keep our eyes, hands, and mouths off each other?”
I snickered. “Yeah, okay, I’ll lead with that.”
“Just be honest. It’s new. We don’t know yet.”
I nodded, nervously running my hands down my dark gray leggings. I hadn’t worn anything but jeans or sweats in so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to get dressed up. Luckily, I’d been able to dig these ribbed leggings, a cute red sweater, and low-heeled boots out of one of my suitcases so I looked presentable.
I was nervous but super excited about meeting one of my all-time favorite hockey players. Remy said Toli was incredibly down-to-earth and not to worry. I still did, of course, until the knock came on the door and the tall Russian and his wife came in. Toli was about six-two, and lean and fit, with cropped blond hair and a twinkle in his blue eyes that instantly put me at ease. Tessa was shorter, about my height, with curly blond hair and a friendly smile.
“I have a car waiting to take you and Noelle shopping and wherever else you want to go today,” Remy told Tessa once we’d all been introduced. “And then we’ll meet at a restaurant downtown at seven. Does that sound okay?”
“Anything that involves shopping and food is good with me,” Tessa said, smiling up at her husband.
He leaned down and lightly kissed her. “See you later.”
“See you later.”
Tessa and I headed down to the car. He was pulling out all the stops because he really wanted Toli to be his new head coach, but they had four young children at home, and they weren’t sure that moving away from everyone and everything they knew was the best choice for their family. Remy was going to use today to change his mind, and had asked me to be as positive as possible. Since I’d never been to Fort Lauderdale and didn’t know much about the new team, I couldn’t offer any personal experience, but I could talk about what a good guy Remy was. And that, at least, was a hundred percent the truth.
“Can we start at the Coach store?” Tessa asked me. “I need a new bag and haven’t had time to shop lately.”
“Sure. We can go wherever you want. I’m not a big shopper.”
She glanced at me. “No?”
“I’ve been broke since graduating college, and before you ask, Remy and I are really new together, so I’m not down with letting him buy me things.”
“I see. How new is new?”
I grimaced. “Two weeks.”
“And he’s already bringing you along to big meetings like this? It must be pretty intense.”
“Yeah, it really is. It’s a little scary how intense it is.”
“Toli and I fell hard and fast too,” she mused. “And look at us now. Five kids and—”
“You have five kids?” I wrinkled my nose. “That sounds exhausting.”
“Well, that includes Toli’s son from another relationship, Anton, who’s an adult, so he doesn’t live with us. And it also includes my daughter, Raina, from my first marriage. She’ll be nine next month. Then we have the babies, the three boys Toli and I had together. Alex, Andy, and AJ.”
“Raina must be the princess as the only girl,” I said, grinning.
Tessa laughed. “She rules the roost, no doubt about it. Has Toli wrapped around her little finger.”