Page 27

“Mabel?” Milo looked confused, drawing smiles from Mickey and Liam.

“She lives in the woods. Sorta like bigfoot, but instead of hairy she’s leafy.”

Milo cocked his head, and looked at each of us. “Seriously?”

“For sure. My dad swears Mabel helped him find his way out of the woods when he ended up lost and had no phone signal.”

“Coach, this is a joke right?”

“Nope. We’re all believers here and have been for years.” Mickey and Liam nodded to back me up.

“Maybe we could go camping sometime this summer and see if she comes to visit. You want to?” Tommy asked.

Milo looked skeptical. “I’m all in for camping, but I’m not so sure about a big leafy beast.”

“She’s harmless. Not a beast at all.” Tommy bumped into Milo’s shoulder. “We’ll figure out when to camp once hockey's over.”

After we’d eaten more pizza than we probably should’ve, Tommy and Milo left with Liam. Mickey hung back to help clean up the kitchen before heading out. The sun was still setting, so I returned to the porch to watch the colors paint the sky.

My phone buzzed with a text.

Andre: Just wanted to say thanks again for everything you’re doing for the festival. It means a lot. Hope the move went well!

A smile tugged at my lips, and a flutter filled my chest at his random text.

Ethan: Happy to help. And the move was smooth. Lots of boxes of course, and still more to come. But things are good, and the other place is ready for Wade and their team.

I hesitated for a moment, then sent another message.

Ethan: Look forward to seeing you tomorrow to go over the judging stuff.

His response came fast.

Andre: Me too. Get some rest. We’ve got a big week ahead of us.

He wasn’t kidding about that. The festival, the speech, the game, not to mention camp—it was a bit overwhelming.

I brought up the notes app on my phone and had it read out what I’d put in so far for the speech. The sooner I had it completed, the sooner I could memorize it. The quiet, pleasant evening was the perfect time to work on it.

TEN

ANDRE

I loved mornings in the library. Usually just a few people, all of them regulars, came in to read newspapers we’d received from out of the area, use the computers, or get a new book or two to read. Few things made me as happy as coming in to hear the turning of pages, a few clicks on a keyboard, and the murmur of patrons chatting.

At the desk Clara had a pile of papers in front of her and I wasn’t sure what she was sorting through.

“Morning, Clara.” I set my backpack and tea down on the counter.

“Good morning,” she said with her usual perkiness. “How are you holding up with two days to go?”

I chuckled and ran a hand over the smooth skin of my head. “It’s weird. There’s a lot to do, possibly too much, and somehow this morning I’m feeling okay about it all.”

I had a fantastic team around me with Olivia, Wade, and Mickey, and the rest of the volunteers made an enormous difference. Then there was Ethan. I couldn’t discount the impact he’d had on solving a couple of the recent issues that had cropped up.

A feeling stirred in my heart and head—Ethan and I could solve anything together.

I shoved that idea to the side to consider later. “How’s everything with you?”