Jenna frowned. "What do you mean 'called up'? Was he playing for the Heat?"
"He used to. He played for the Admirals a few years after I did, then transferred to the Heat. Only for about three months before they let him go. Turns out, you're not the only one who's been sick this weekend."
Jenna leaned forward, pressing the phone tighter to her ear. "The Flames are missing players?"
"Yep. A lot of them. They tried to get a couple of guys from the current AHL team for tomorrow night's game and struck out. One of their coaches remembered Jack and called him up."
"Holy shit. So he's playing in the NHL for one night only?" Jenna stood and marched back into the kitchen, searching for a pen and paper. "When did he find out?"
"He got a call while we were sitting down for Sunday Supper. The whole team was there."
Jenna laughed out loud. "Country, this is incredible. Do you have his number?"
He gave it to her, and Jenna scrawled it across an old Moxie's receipt she found in her junk drawer. "He'll be okay if I call him?"
"I told him to expect it. I'm not sure how long it'll be before other news outlets get a hold of this, but if you hurry?—"
"Got it. I'll get a hold of John now." She pulled the phone from her ear and was about to hit the red button when she hesitated. Jenna replaced the phone to her ear. "Gentry?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
“You’re welcome. Hey . . .” he trailed off, and Jenna wondered if she’d misheard him. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. “What were you talking about last night? You said something about wanting to eat strawberries.”
Jenna’s heart skipped a beat. Had she said that? “I was a little out of it.”
“Yeah, I know. It just . . . I don’t know. It sounded like it mattered.”
Goosebumps rose on her skin as she remembered his arm draped over her, his breath tickling the back of her neck. “Sometimes I want what I can’t have.”
“Only sometimes?”
Jenna’s stomach dropped out from under her. Not only sometimes. Jenna pressed two fingers into the space between her eyes. “Thanks again, Gentry. I’ll keep you posted.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jenna called John immediately but only got voicemail. This wasn't something she was going to leave for him to find later. She needed to talk to him immediately, and if she couldn't get a hold of him, she was at least going to start the process of getting socials ready to post. She sent John a text expressing with three exclamation points that he needed to call her the second he was available, then bolted up the stairs for her laptop.
She sat down at the desk in the loft and opened it, then clicked into her email. She would need to contact Tasha, see if she could create some graphics for their posts, possibly pull some of the Snowball footage to include with the announcement. She'd call Jack, of course, before they posted anything and make sure she had all the details correct. Then?—
Jenna's eyes narrowed as her inbox repopulated and an email appeared from Owen with the subject “Job Transition.” She clicked on it.
____________________
Sender: Mary Murphy
Recipients: John Allen, Archer Holt, Glen Kessler, Jenna McAllister, Owen Allen
Subject: RE: Job Transition
All,
I’m looping in McCall from HR so he can review the timeline and prepare contracts accordingly.
M
____________________
