Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…
Italics indicate character thought.
"Where were you tonight? We were worried." Guy and Cole were leaning against her door and she barely turned around from her computer. On the long drive home from visiting Adam her thoughts had been swirling. She was working hard now, living up to her promise to Guy, hopefully mending fences with Adam, and with the huge hand of luck on her side, reaching out to Charlie. She didn't look over her shoulder but acknowledged their presence.
"Hmm?" She kept typing but stopped and frowned when her small bed pillow smacked into the back of her head. She whipped around and glared at Cole who was looking up at the ceiling innocently and pulling at one of his blond curls. "Jackass."
"Aren't I, though?" He grinned and then gave her a stern look. "You missed Adam's game. We were worried about you."
She shrugged. "I left a message on your phone saying I wasn't going to be there." When he only looked at her blandly she rolled her eyes over to focus on Guy. "I left him a message."
Guy turned his head and looked up at Cole who, as usual, was oblivious. Finally he got the message and took his cell phone from his hip. He read the display aloud. "One missed call. Missed number: Beau Cell." He laughed, looking up at them. Beau smiled sarcastically.
"I left you a message."
He held up the cell in her direction. "So you did." He replaced his phone and crossed his legs at the ankles. "So what's up with you and Adam? We mentioned your name and he started bristling."
When Beau only sighed and looked sadly at them Guy added his two cents. "And it wasn't normal Adam bristling. He was really upset."
She twisted a piece of curly hair around her finger and avoided their eyes. "Yeah. I'm not exactly sure Adam counts me on his list of friends anymore."
Cole opened his mouth to protest but Beau stopped him, gesturing back to her computer screen. "I don't really want to get into it right now, but I'm trying my best to change his mind. We'll see."
Guy wasn't convinced. "Beau, I know it has something to do with Charlie." She nodded, almost imperceptibly. "I have his new number, Beau. I'll give it…"
"Guy, stop." She stood up and walked over to them, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I appreciate the gesture, but…Adam was right. I can't put you in that position. I can do this alone." With that she shut the door gently on their bewildered faces.
They had an hour before they had to be back on the bus to return to Detroit. All day he had fought the urge to send someone out. He didn't need it. He certainly didn't want it. But he couldn't stop thinking about it.
Charlie checked his watch and turned to the doorman outside of their hotel. "Is there a bookstore anywhere near here?"
The man smiled affably and pointed up the busy road. "Yes sir. Just up three blocks and then take a right on 54th. You can't miss it."
Charlie nodded, trying to smile but already angry with himself. "Thank you."
In just a few quick minutes he found himself standing outside of Barnes & Noble and berating himself for giving into his heart. Or his brain. He really wasn't sure which of them was doing more of the thinking. Probably neither.
He rode the escalator inside up to the second floor and found himself feeling very out of place standing in the middle of the children's section. He had thought he would have to search for the book but right in the center of the brightly colored area there was a massive display. A table stood covered in stacks of books and next to it a cardboard cut out, taller than Charlie himself, of a drawing of a young man dressed in the Ducks jersey, dark brown curly hair, a huge smile, and looking eerily like him. A huge banner hung from the ceiling touting the release of The Mighty Ducks #2: Cooper and the Triple Deke. There was also a sign offering pre-order of #3: Cody and the Hawks.
He quickly grabbed up a copy and rode the escalator back down without even looking at the paperback in his hand. Before he realized it he was back to the hotel and climbing on the bus breathlessly. He nodded a quick greeting to one of his teammates as the bus pulled into the busy traffic and finally pulled the short novel out of the plastic bag. He looked at the front for a long time. The character was him, definitely. He had no doubt that Beau had supervised the illustrator.
After a very long while he finally worked up the courage to turn the book over tentatively and read the author bio. It was a black and white picture of Beau up close and laughing. She was looking past the camera and he knew her well enough to know that she was really laughing, not just posing for the picture. He couldn't help but wonder what had made her laugh like that. It used to be him. Who was it now?
Underneath the picture were a few brief sentences. He tried not to read them more than twenty…thirty times. Beau Mayland attends Pennington State University in Minnesota and is a starting player on their varsity hockey team. She lives with her three roommates and also calls North Carolina home. It was so simple and yet he felt like this book was the only connection he had left to her.
How pathetic can you be, Conway? He leaned his head forward to rest against the seat in front of him and slowly began to thumb through the book.
"There you go. My end of the deal…done." Beau tossed a packet of bound papers in Guy's lap where he sprawled on the couch. He sat up, flipping the pages in confusion.
"What is this?"
She reached down, turning to the last page and pointing at four signatures. "This is an agreement on behalf of myself, Adam Banks, Fulton Reed, and Don Tibbles of Hendrix Hockey to jointly fund all travel and purchase of equipment and uniforms for a hockey team if formed at your high school." She smiled proudly and dropped down in the well worn armchair.
Guy sat up and read a few sentences on each page, his jaw dropping farther with each word. She was serious. "When this says you, Adam, and Fulton…" He looked up at her and she nodded for him to go on. "Does it mean from your personal funds?"
Beau gave a quick nod. "All of us have this money we're not sure what to do with. I mean I have the book profits and I'm sharing a four bedroom place with you guys and living on Cole's parent's old furniture. And it's the same for Adam and Fulton. We all wanted some way to give back. And if we can do it and help you at the same time…how perfect." She smiled sweetly at him. "And when I talked to Don he was excited to work with us again. You know how much he enjoyed that year with the Goodwill Games."
Guy didn't know what to say. "Beau…I…" he looked at her quizzically. "I'm assuming you had to talk to Adam in order to get his done." It made him happy to think of his friends speaking again.
She nodded, looking sadly at him. "We've emailed, but mostly we dealt through lawyers. He's still not really interesting in talking to me, but he was civil. For him this was about helping you, Guy."
Guy tried to lighten the mood and jumped up to give her a huge hug. "You have no idea what this will mean to that school…to me." He tugged on her pony-tail. "So you found the money, and I talked to Dr. Hodge, but did you live up to the other part of our bargain?"
She shoved him back a little, glowering in his direction. "Calling Charlie?"
Guy dipped his head down, looking at her like an angry father. "Beau…that was part of the deal."
She held off his tirade by flapping a sealed envelope before her. "I couldn't call him," she held up a hand, stopping him from offering up Charlie's phone number. "And I refuse to put any of my friends in the middle of this. But," she waggled the envelope back and forth, "I put everything down in writing. I poured my heart out. I said everything I've wanted to say over the past months. I'm sending to his Minneapolis address. I mean, he has to go home sometime, right?"
Cc: This is absolutely the most flattering review I've ever gotten. I am so glad that they are coming alive. That jsut made my day. Thank you! And thanks for the sympathy on my nosebleed. It was crazy. I was choking on it, it was coming out of my tear ducts...it was really really the most disgusting thing of all time and I had to call 911. Scary! I'm good now though, thanks!
hockey-girl90: I'm glad you find it different. That's what I was aiming for. Thanks for reviewing.
B: Thanks! Adam is just caught in the middle. Give him time!
flyinghawk: Yeah, Guy's not really the intimidating type. I think he'd be so nice that they would take advantage of him. Poor guy.
ShiggityShags: Yay! It's always great to get a review from a new reader. Thank you for taking the time to read this monstrosity of a story. I'm glad you're enjoying and hopefully you'll like what happens!
BellaLou: Thanks as always. Glad you liked the Adam. I'm never too sure about writing him because he's a little tough to peg I think.