“How’s it being so close to Harrisburg?” I ask. “With the Hawks there and everything?”
Poppy’s smile goes a little strange around the edges. “Cedar Hollow won’t ever change,” she says softly. “It’ll be a small town forever, but I can’t lie—it’s nice having the city close. People come in for the restaurants, stay at the inn, get married on the beach.” Her mouth curves. “Though, town lore says that Cedar Hollow deals in love almost more than any other currency.”
“That sounds…dangerous?”
“It is,” she says dryly.
“Do Hawks players ever come into town?”
Poppy snorts. “No. They don’t come within ten miles of the place unless they want to get contaminated bylove.” She draws the last out by about ten syllables and I laugh again.
But Poppy’s not laughing with me.
And there’s something sharp hidden in emerald-green of her eyes.
Somethingbroken.
Before I can ask if she’s okay, Rhodes comes up beside us carrying two dripping little girls. “Anyone know what I should do with these two hooligans?”
“We’re not hooligans!” Chloe protests.
“What’s a hooligan?” Holly asks.
A sideways shrug. “I dunno.”
Rhodes laughs and sets them down where they giggle and squeal and dance around before joining in on a game of tag.
He’s smiling as he watches them run, but he slips an arm around my waist, drawing me close.
See? He’s fine. Totally fine. Nothing weird going on at all.
“Poppy and Holly live in Cedar Hollow,” I tell him.
“Where you’re doing the new market?”
I nod, a blip of pleasure sliding through me that he remembers. “And it’s also the site of Chrissy’s new rescue center.”
His brows drag together and he’s quiet for a moment. “Isn’t that also where Storm Harrison grew up?”
Poppy jerks. “Uh, yeah,” she says after a beat. “Actually, we grew up together.”
“How’s it having him back in town?” he asks quietly.
Her gaze drifts again. Then she gives us that brittle smile again. “He’s a hockey player.” A shrug. “Which means he avoids Cedar Hollow—and all the town brings alongside it—like the plague.”
I open my mouth.
But then there’s a cry of pain, and we all turn as one, see that Holly has fallen.
She’s sobbing, holding her knee.
“Excuse me,” Poppy tells us before rushing over to her daughter.
Jean-Michel is barely a heartbeat behind her, first aid kit in hand as he kneels at their sides.
It only takes an ice pack and a bandage to put Holly to rights.
But as I look up at Rhodes and see the shadows creeping back in his eyes, the tension clinging to his shoulders again, I realize what’s bothering him won’t be nearly as easy to solve.
