“I’m sure we don’t know what you mean.” Franklin grinned, as the others chirped and teased.
“Just pray I have wisdom. It’s got the potential to get messy, and things are so good with her I don’t want to blow it up.”
That instantly calmed them down, and they nodded.
Then he remembered. “Oh, and they still haven’t found the person who was sending her creepy messages, so please pray he’s found soon, too.”
Franklin nodded. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Poppy.”
“Anytime. She’s family, right?”
“We all are,” Ryan said.
Family. A close family. Like the one with secrets that he wanted to be part of.
CHAPTER 23
The slap of sticks on ice, the cries of “Here, here” and “Hey” filled her ears as the scent of hot dogs and beer filled her nostrils. This was a world away from the refined concert halls and performance spaces she had danced in. But while this scene was so unfamiliar, it still held an excitement not unlike what she’d known when she’d performed on stage. Not that it was her turn to shine, but watching Luc, with his deft turns and spins, the very physicality he demonstrated as he crunched the opposition into walls, made her tense, anxious, and literally sitting on the edge of her seat.
“Come on, Bails, relax.” Poppy tugged her back. “You won’t make a good impression if you fall off your chair.”
That drew the laugh of Molly, Travis’s girlfriend, who had insisted Bailey and Poppy sit with her. “That’s true. Have you seen how many times the camera has panned up here tonight?”
It had been a few, but she thought that was normal.
But apparently not. Nothing about tonight felt normal for her. And she could suddenly understand why Luc had felt so lost when thrust into the dancing world. Dance was a whole different field to this, and hockey’s rough-and-tumble was far removed from the grace and elegance which filled her world.
Molly nudged her. “Don’t worry. He’s doing well.”
She nodded. “There’s just so much to get used to. And I’ve never really known much about hockey.”
“Oh we know. You should’ve heard Travis laugh when you said that on TV.”
She winced. “I hope I didn’t embarrass Luc.”
“Embarrass Luc? You? Girl, you transformed a bear into a prince, and you gotta be proud of that. Nobody knew Luc had those moves in him.”
“Luc included,” she agreed.
“And don’t tell anyone, but I think it’s inspired Travis to get lessons for when we finally get married.”
“Really?”
Molly nodded.
Poppy leaned across. “I happen to know a local dance studio that might be able to help you with that.”
“Is that so?” Molly grinned.
Bailey’s attention returned to the ice as a portion of heavy rock blared. “Why is there music?”
“It’s a time-out,” Poppy said, pointing to the side. “Ice over glass, which means Vancouver gets a penalty, and Zac Parotti goes to the penalty box and is off the ice for two minutes.”
“He’s the really good one, right?”
“He’s hot,” Poppy agreed.
“And single, so I heard,” Molly added, winking. “But it was careless, so it means Winnipeg has an advantage with an extra man on ice.”
Bailey so didn’t understand all this new terminology, but was doing her best to keep up. She plucked the edge of her brand-new Blanchard jersey with nervous fingers. The music cut abruptly as the play resumed.
Luc had the puck, and was skating to the opposite end where Chris Thomas guarded the goal. Chris looked huge padded up in his goalie getup, but she guessed he needed it to protect him from all the missiles of flying pucks and sticks and elbows and sharp skates.
Her breath suspended, as Luc’s number 34 passed to Travis who passed it back to him, then he shot and scored.
“Whoo!” Poppy and Molly stood, cheering, clapping, and Bailey stood too, clapping as Luc skated around the back of the goal and was patted on the back by his teammates as another rock classic blared through the sound system.
As Chris sucked down a drink, she noticed Luc glance up at them, and she waved, smiling, and he grinned and pointed her way, before skating to the side and doing a bunch of high fives with his teammates.
“Aww.” Poppy hugged her. “Someone out there must be in love to dedicate the very first goal of the team’s season to you.”
“Preseason,” Molly corrected. “But yeah.”
The song abruptly cut off, and play resumed with another scuffle in the center that was apparently called a face-off.
Molly offered them more popcorn. “So that was Luc’s goal song? Nice.”
