Aiden: Hear that, fellas??
Brooks: Sara! Aiden just walked into practice, and he said you said you needed to borrow his phone.
Aiden: Oops. New number, who dis?
I chuckleas I click out of the chat and send a quick text to Sav.
Me: Baby girl, better check your messages. It seems the girls are taking bets about when I’m going to propose. If you want to win, I can give you the inside scoop.
I add a wink emoji and shove my phone into my pocket. In the other is the ring I just picked up. I want to ask her before my sister comes to town. For so long, I haven’t been able to celebrate the big moments in my life with my family. Cora was gone when I was drafted into the NHL. She missed the Stanley Cups and the celebrations.
But now that we’ve rebuilt our relationship, I want to celebrate with my sister after I pop the question to Savannah.
And since Savannah has made it clear that she isn’t close to her parents, I’m doing something a little unconventional. I’m headed to her old apartment building to ask Rosalie and Nick for their blessing and to convince them to help me with the proposal. And the Donovans. The people in that building are her chosen family. Along with Josie, Addie, and Sutton. They’ll be my next call.
I want to show Savannah that the people she cares about care about her in return. And that we’ll always choose her. That she’s ourfamily. And what better way than by throwing a big engagement party? And tonight is the night. I’m going to ask while I make Rosalie’s meatballs for her. I’ve planned a simple night with my girl. One of thousands of nights together we’ll have if she agrees to forever.
Not that I’m worried she’ll say no. For the first time in my life, I’m confident that someone will choose me.
I feel like I’m floating as I navigate through Savannah’s old neighborhood.
I’ve even started looking at facilities in Boston that could handle my mother’s care. My sister deserves to choose where she wants to live, but she loves Boston, so I have an inkling that if we can get Mom here, Cora will be ecstatic. And I want them both here. I hope that one day I’ll have a child of my own, and I don’t want my family to miss out on any time with them. My relationship with my mother will always be complicated, but Cora and I are in a good place, and I’ll do anything to continue to foster our relationship.
As I jog up the steps to the building, I smile at the snowman that’s fallen over. I’ve just reached the door when it swings open, so I step back, making room for the person heading out, bracing myself for a conversation with one of the Donovan kids. They’re adorable, but Piper is the only one who speaks clearly enough for me to understand.
Rather than Rosalie or Nick or one of the Donovans, an unfamiliar woman with platinum blond hair steps out, gripping her chest in surprise. “Oh. You scared me.”
“Sorry about that.” I take another step back, hands in my pockets—one cupped around the ring box—and give her a cordial smile. “After you.”
She narrows her brown eyes, the lines on her forehead creasing severely. “Camden?”
I frown. I don’t recognize her. Yeah, fans still spot me sometimes, but the way she said my first name only, as if she knows me, makes me hesitate. With another quick scan of her face, I confirm that I don’t recognize her. A fan, then. So I offer the kind of easy smile I save for situations like this. “Yes, that’d be me. Hockey fan?”
She coughs out a laugh. “Oh my god. What are the chances? I wasjust telling my daughter about you, and here you are.” She throws herself into my arms, squealing. “I can’t believe how long it’s been.”
I cup her upper arms and push her back. “I’m sorry, I, uh—” I study her again. I guess maybe she looks a little familiar. But she honestly looks like dozens of blondes I’ve met over the years.
Shit. My stomach drops. Because the longer she looks at me, her eyes full of excitement, the more obvious it is that we probably fucked at some point, and she apparently thought it meant more than I did.
“You seriously don’t recognize me?” Her shoulders sag, her tone chiding.
I shake my head and give her an apologetic frown. “I’m sorry.”
“TaraBrewer,” she says with a tight smile.
My already uneasy stomach pitches.Fuck.It’s been years. Probably fifteen since I saw her that last time in that bar. What the fuck is she doing outside Savannah’s old apartment? Unease slithers through my veins and anger sets in. “Are you stalking me?”
She jolts back, her eyes going wide. “What? No. I was just visiting my daughter.”
I glance over her shoulder at the building. Erin is her daughter?
“What are you doing here?” She squints at me, like she’s considering that I’m the one following her. Fuck no. I’d be happy if I never saw this woman again.
“My girlfriend lives here,” I grumble. I guess that’s not true anymore. And thank fuck. I don’t want Savannah anywhere near here. Poor Erin. I can’t believe she was raised by this sorry excuse for a woman.
She peers back, surveying the building. “Really?” Then, wearing a flirty smile that causes bile to climb up my throat, she says, “I was hoping I’d run into you while I was here. Do you have some time? I’d love to grab a drink and catch up.”
I scowl. “You are the last person I’d ever want to catch up with.”
