“Can we go outside and play?” Remi’s jumping up and down at the thought. It’s been a few days, and as much fun as she’s having at the house, she’s been near desperate to go outside and play in the snow.
I hesitate, my eyes lifting to find a matching pink winter jacket on the hook.
“Please, please, please, pleaseeeeeee,” Remi persists, until I finally sigh out ayes.
Grabbing the coat and boots, I bring her back downstairs and get her dressed. While she’s admiring the adorable new winter footwear on her feet, I find my sneakers. Rory was nice enough to lend me some clothes to wear, so I have on her leggings and sweater, but I don’t have a jacket. I pick up the hoodie Koen gave me back at the warehouse and pull it on.
“Okay,” I tell Remi, before unlocking the sliding door out to the stone patio behind the house. “But just for a few minutes, okay?” She nods in agreement. The jacket and boots are a good start, but she still doesn’t have gloves or a hat, and it’scold. An icy blast of winter air catches me right in the face as I pull the door open and I tuck my fingers further into the sleeves of Koen’s sweatshirt.
I shiver watching Remi run straight for the snow, laughing while she jumps up and down in the soft, white, fluff. After a few minutes of playing happily, she notices the guys down on the lake.
“Mom, look! Hockey!” I glance down the hill. Aidan and Liam have shoveled out a clearing and dragged a hockey goal out onto the lake, and are skating around, shooting pucks.
By the time I see her running, she’s already too far ahead of me.
“Remi, no!”
I take off after her, but for having such little legs, Remi is goddamn fast, charging full speed ahead for the lake, and my sneakers keep slipping in the snow.
Aidan and Liam hear the commotion and look our way, seeing the little pink blur flying at them down the hill. Liam pushes forward on his skates, intercepting her at the edge of the lake just before she careens out onto the ice.
“Princess Remi! What do you think you’re doing?”
“I wanna play! Can I play? Liam pleaseeeeee! I love hockey!”
“You do?” Liam asks, eyebrows lifting in surprise. He looks up at me when I finally catch up to them, fighting to catch my breath.
“It’s new,” I explain. “She just got back from New York. My friend’s brothers play, and I guess she fell in love.”
Koen’s youngest brother’s eyes light up. “There’s a youth league at the Edge Arena that Aidan and I help with sometimes. You should sign her up!”
“Umm, yeah, maybe,” I say, shifting uncomfortably, still uncertain what the near-distant future looks like for me.
“But can I play now? With you and Aidan?” Remi pleads with him.
The other O’Rourke brother leans on his stick a few feet behind Liam, watching us.
“It’s okay with me, but we gotta ask your ma…” Two sets of green eyes flick up to me, and I’m surprised that Liam would even care to ask my opinion.
I squat down until I’m at Remi’s level. “You don’t have any skates, Rem…” I wince, certain we’re heading straight for a tantrum.
But before Remi can cue the tears, Liam pipes up. “No, we do! Back up at the house.”
Confused, my eyes shift to him, but before I can question it, he’s unlacing his own skates and leading us back up the hill.
Liam guides us through the house and up two flights of stairs to a small room on the second floor that has shopping bags covering just about every surface. He rummages through the mess, snatching up a bag with Power Hockey printed on the side, and pulls out a brand new pair of hockey skates.Teeny-tiny hockey skates.
“Here we are.” He hands the skates to my daughter, who takes them from him with a look on her face like he just gave her the world.
“Where did those?—?”
“There’s probably a helmet around here somewhere too,” Liam says absently, scratching his head, poking through some more bags. “Maybe even pads, if I know Koen…”
“Koen?” I can’t hold in my gasp. “All of this is fromKoen?” I’d just asked him for stuff for her this morning… And I certainly didn’t ask for all ofthis.
“Mom, look!” Remi’s eyes light up as she drags a pink helmet out of a bag by the edge of the bed, holding it up for me to see.
Liam looks up, catching the expression on my face for the first time, and he just smirks. “Yep,” he says with a nod of approval while he appraises the pile with me. “Hemayhave gone a little overboard…”
