AN Thanks so much to my awesome beta, Robzbeanie, for being so speedy and wonderful and to Tor for prereading. xoxo
Next thing I knew, I was following Chief Swan home through the blowing snow and bitter, biting wind. Temperatures in Twilight were the coldest of cold, and when you added wind chill to the mix, the temps were almost unbelievably low. The fresh snow blowing around in the darkness created close to white out conditions. Everyone in Twilight knew the town like the back of their hands – the low visibility, coupled with the familiarity, was something you just got used to.
Charlie insisted that I follow him back to his house rather than stay at the bar – apparently, whatever he had to tell me was "top secret" and needed to be "kept quiet from all the busybodies with nothing better to gossip about." The guy had a point – the people of Twilight clung to gossip like leeches – often inventing tall tales to shake things up when the days got long and cabin fever crept in. He'd ordered the special of the day at the pub – mushroom ravioli, that definitely didn't smell special – to go, and we headed out.
A few minutes later, we trudged up the snow-covered steps that led to the front porch of the Swan residence. All of the homes in Twilight were similar – designed by the same pair of builders with only slight changes in each. Unique to the northern homes were large front porches, built to store many months' worth of dry goods. Although we did have a grocery store in town, the majority of folks bought their pantry items off a barge that delivered to town twice a year. Saved big on cost and ensured you'd be stocked up when blizzards hit. The downside? You were stuck with the same kind of cereal for six months, whether you liked it or not.
"Can I get you a cup of tea? A beer?" the chief asked as he hung up his heavy parka and shook out his scarf and gloves.
"No thanks, I'm good. What exactly did you bring me here for though, Chief?" I asked, getting straight to the point. It wasn't that I didn't like the chief – he was a decent enough guy from what I could tell. These days though, outside of work, I preferred to keep to myself – basking in the misery of my own company.
"Well kid, have a seat," he said as he motioned through the porch to his dining room table. His house was neat and tidy, but quite bare – definitely a bachelor pad. The cupboards were painted in the ugliest colour of yellow I'd ever seen, and the fridge was covered in miscellaneous magnets holding up clippings from the New Moon Weekly paper.
"You remember that Hockeyville gig we participated in with CBC last year? I think you'd just shown back up here when it was starting," he asked as he slid out the wooden chair at the far end of the table.
"Sort of," I answered cautiously. The moment I'd arrived back in Twilight, I was bombarded by members of the town council wanting me to volunteer my time to their "Hockeyville" application. Hockeyville was a competition amongst small Canadian towns that was broadcast on television through CBC. Communities had to band together to show their hockey spirit, in hopes of winning funding towards a new arena or other hockey-related prizes. Being an "almost-star," I ranked high on the town's list of names they could use to potentially boost their standings. Coming off a serious injury with a seriously bad temper left me with no interest at all in their reality TV game. I declined completely.
"Well – obviously, we didn't get it. Some tiny ass town in Ontario picked it up, but they liked us – so much that they've offered us something even better," Charlie said with a smirk as he made his way to the stove and picked up the kettle. He filled it with water and plopped it on the stove to boil.
"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest, annoyed that he was still beating around the bush.
"CBC offered Twilight coverage of a game against an actual NHL hockey team. Our guys versus theirs – here, in our town," he said coolly, as he plopped a tea bag in an empty mug that read "World's Greatest Dad" and had a picture of palm tree on it.
"How the hell would that work? Are you kidding? Those guys aren't gonna want to come up here! And besides, who the hell would play them?" I questioned harshly, while questioning Charlie's sanity for thinking this was a good idea at the same time.
"Well – the Calgary Flames have already put in a bid on the idea. They liked us – said we showed a lot of spirit and heart. Apparently there was some movie made years ago that followed the idea – was great publicity. Ticket sales are down, Edward. The league's looking for every marketing opportunity they can get."
"Huh," I snorted, trying to digest what he was telling me. It would be just my luck that it would be the Flames, too – nothing like a kick to the gut when you're already down. "Ok – so the pros are in, which is insane, but whatever. Who's gonna play against these guys?"
"Well – Jasper Hale's been actively involved in the rec team. He and the McCarty boy have been organizing that for years." I nodded, knowing darn well that their names would be coming up in this. I had avoided Jasper and Emmett as much as possible since I'd been back – we were the best of friends as young kids, but you'd have never known now. "The Black kids are incredible on their skates, too; you may not have seen them – but damn, they're fast. And well–" he paused, picking the boiling kettle off the stove – " I was hoping we'd get you out there, too."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I started, "I haven't even put my skates on since I screwed up my leg, Chief. I don't know about the rest of your guys, but I don't exactly want to be made a fool of on national TV. These guys are good – insanely good. Rec hockey is just rec hockey, man."
"I figured this would happen," Charlie said with a sigh, his back turned to me as he reached for a plate from the mustard yellow cupboard. "What if I switched the offer up a little for you? Huh?" he asked as he sat the plate down on the table, and started unwrapping the ravioli he'd ordered. He flipped the little foil container over and the pasta slipped out with a wet plop.
"That looks like dog food," I murmured, aware that I was being rude, but unable to find it in me to care.
"It does, but it tastes good. Now – listen here," he said, his tone sharp, his casual smile and demeanour gone. "I'm not an idiot, Edward – I played enough hockey in my own day to know what we'd be up against. Do you really think I'd send those kids – kids who I care about – out there to be mocked and made fun of? If I didn't think they could stand up and equally match the pros, I wouldn't be doing this. If you'd give me a damn minute here, kid, I can give you this offer – and if you don't like it, you can take a hike. Got it?"
"Yeah," I mumbled, caught off guard by his change in tactics, "Go ahead."
"I know you've got a lot of experience. That team you were on would've been prepping you well for the big leagues. If you don't want to play with the rest of them, what say you come out and help me coach? Work on the skills they need to make this game happen?"
"I don't know, Chief – When would this even be? A few weeks from now? Months? That's hardly enough time to turn a bunch of rec leaguers into an NHL-calibre team, man. I'm working a lot right now, too – I don't know if I've even got the time," I lied, knowing damn well if my heart was in this, I'd make it work.
"It would be in eight weeks. I'll tell you what – you go home and think about it tonight. Listen – I know there's some tension between you and some of the guys around here. I'm not stupid or blind. Let's just say that this might be a good opportunity to put some of that behind you, no?"
"Maybe I don't want to put it behind me," I barked. Who the hell did he think he was? I barely even knew the guy, and here he was meddling in business he had no matter in.
"Dad?" a girl's voice called out, drawing both of our attention to the doorway. I glanced over at her and was stunned – she was gorgeous. Dark brown hair, smooth flawless skin, and rosy pink cheeks from the cold. Her parka was unzipped already – underneath it looked as though she was wearing scrubs.
"Hey hun," he said softly as he made his way to her and kissed her quickly on the cheek. "Do you remember Edward? Carlisle's boy?"
"Um, I don't think so," she said, giving me a quick glance. "Nice to meet you – I'm Bella."
"Hi," I said stupidly, feeling like a 16-year-old, and gave her a quick wave.
"Edward here used to play hockey, Bells. Almost made it to the Flames, right Edward?" Charlie said, and I cringed.
"Yeah, something like that," I mumbled.
"Hockey, eh? I think Carlisle mentioned that, actually," Bella said as she sat down in front of the plate of ravioli. "Thanks for this, Dad – I didn't get time to eat more than a snack all day."
"You know my dad?" I asked, confused. I was shocked that I hadn't seen Bella around. As I'd said – everyone in Twilight knew everyone, and someone as beautiful as Bella wouldn't go unnoticed.
"Yeah – of course. I saw him enough times as a kid here, and now I'm his nurse," Bella said with a smile as she pushed her pasta around her plate.
"Oh. I didn't know you lived her before – how old were you?" I asked, still confused.
"Bella left here at eleven, Edward. Me and her mom separated, and Bella moved all the way down to Phoenix with her. Let me think – hmm – yeah, you guys would have spent a year in school together," Charlie added, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I was super accident-prone? Mousey? Quiet?" she laughed, taking a slow bite of her pasta. My eyes were drawn instantly to her mouth, her bottom lip full and pouty.
"Wait!" I said, suddenly making the connection. "You aren't the girl that fainted when Jessica Stanley got that puck to the nose at recess, are you? There was blood everywhere!"
"Yeah – you got me," she grinned. "Obviously got over it though – and wow – that was a really long time ago! I just got in last night, and started with Carlisle today. Your dad's a really great guy," she added.
"Thanks – he is. I'd better get going though," I said, ready to retreat home to think about this whole hockey situation. "It was nice to meet you, Bella."
"You too, Edward. I'm sure I'll be seeing you," she said with a pleasant smile.
"Think about that offer, Edward," Charlie interjected as I stepped in to my heavy snow boots. "I'll track you down tomorrow."
So, the offer is out there…what will Edward do? =) Thank you for reading guys – always love to hear your thoughts! The next chapter will be ready in a week or so. XOXO
