Quick Trick (Rough Riders Hockey Book 1)

Faith set up the last table inside the covered arena at the county fairgrounds and shook it to test for stability. The ice sculptures could weigh hundreds of pounds, and she didn’t want this year to be the first year a table gave out and ruined the contest for someone.

When the heavy-duty table held, Faith smiled and ran her hand over the wood her father had handcrafted for this event. But that brought a flurry of other thoughts and emotions. First her mind turned to Natalie and her curt call to Faith early that morning to tell Faith that since she was being so unreasonable, Natalie would forego judging for the greater good so that Holly would benefit.

“Martyr,” Faith muttered, running her finger over one of the many scars in the table. But she was still ashamed of herself for coming down to Natalie’s level. “That won’t happen next year…”

Faith trailed off, realizing next year was one big question mark. She might not be able to make the store profitable enough to hold on to. She might be somewhere completely different, starting over. Alone. No Taylor, no Caleb, none of the people from Holly whom she’d known all her life.

No Grant.

Faith sighed and started moving methodically among the tables to double-check the extension cord connections.

Her cell rang, and she smiled a little, looking forward to the sound of Grant’s voice. As she pulled it from her back pocket, their night flooded back to her. He’d slowly been edging his way into her heart since he showed up in town. But last night he’d impressed the hell out of her. How open he’d been when she’d told him about Natalie. How reassuring he’d been about his feelings for her. How receptive he’d been of her emotions.

And the way he’d made love to her after… God, it had been the most beautiful night of her life. Passionate. Loving. Intense. She’d never felt as connected to another human being as she’d felt to Grant last night, looking into his eyes.

She looked at the screen and saw Taylor’s name. Which made her think of how Grant had been gone when she woke up this morning. And made her wonder if he’d felt it too. And that it had scared him into pulling away.

“Hey,” she answered. “I thought you were going over the books with Grant.”

“I’m headed there now, but I called because—”

“Weren’t you supposed to do that this morning?” It was the reason he’d given her when he’d texted later in the morning to tell her he couldn’t help her set up.

“No, he said he had something else to do this morning and pushed it back.”

A pang of hurt pulled hard at the center of Faith’s body. She winced and pressed a hand to her forehead. “I see.”

“No, I don’t think you do. I just figured out what he was doing.”

Now dread joined the hurt. But Taylor sounded excited, and she would never be excited about Faith getting hurt. “And?”

“Your Christmas Light Fantasia is up on YouTube. It looks incredible. It’s adorable and funny and informative. And the final result is a-freaking-mazing.”

She grinned, excited. “Really?” He’d spent the morning editing her video? “But…I didn’t get around to narrating…”

“Grant did. And he’s really good. He’s got a sexy, professional voice, yet he’s got a really straightforward way about explaining things, and he’s funny. Must be all those interviews he does with the media all the time.”

He did media interviews? She really needed to learn more about hockey and the NHL and… She shook her head. Yeah. Maybe in her spare time.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s amazing.” She couldn’t stop smiling—even though she knew without any doubt her heart was going to shatter when he left. Which reminded her that she only had a couple of days left with him before he returned to DC to reenter hockey season.

“It is,” Taylor agreed. “But what’s really amazing—are you sitting down?”

Faith slid her butt onto the nearest table. “I am now.”

“You’ve already gotten one hundred and twenty thousand views.”

Faith’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

“But it gets better.”

“How?”

“He went online, found the components necessary to put the whole thing together, listed them, and linked to them on the Home Depot website.”

Faith laughed. “Well, that’s great for Home Depot, but it doesn’t do anything for me.”

“It does when you have an affiliate account.”

“I don’t—”

“Yes, you do. Grant set one up for you.”

Her mind swirled. She was still high on the number of views of the video alone. “What? How?”

“This is the beauty of living in a small town, girlie. You bank at Old Town Bank, which is managed by Betty Fleur. Betty’s son, Hank, played hockey with Grant from the time they could skate until they left for college. Grant’s parents also keep their money locally and bank there. So when Grant went in and told her what he wanted to do, Betty did everything short of jumping over the teller counter to help him hook up your bank account to the affiliate account. But I hear she did it without giving him access to your account information. Now, just so you know, the funds for affiliates don’t go in for thirty days, so whatever you see in your Home Depot account won’t be deposited into your bank account for a month.”

Faith pressed a hand to her heart. “But…how do you know all this?”

“Faith, seriously? The same way I know his car’s been outside your shop two nights in a row.”

She said the last with a how-could-you-not-tell-me you’re-gonna-hear-about-this-later tone. Which meant that between friends and family members, Taylor had probably gotten that information from half a dozen different sources, vetted it, and pieced together a very accurate story.

“Oh my God.” Her stomach jittered so hard, she felt sick. She dropped her hand from her heart to her stomach, then gripped the table edge. “That’s…” Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh my God.”

“I hope he’s good in bed, girlie, ’cause that boy is a winner in every other way. I just pulled up to the store. I’ll call you if I find out more, but I have a feeling he’ll be seeing you before I do, so you’ll probably already have the scoop by then.”

Taylor didn’t bother to say good-bye before she disconnected. And Faith lowered her phone, staring at it in awe. She couldn’t begin to fathom having anyone think of her so…unselfishly. Anyone but her father. And even he hadn’t been able to do that for years. Not since he’d gotten sick.

Faith didn’t know how to respond to such a kind act. How did she go about thanking someone for something like that? It wasn’t just the time he’d spent working on the video and setting up the accounts. It was doing it for her when he knew she couldn’t do it for herself, yet needed it so badly. It was his ability to think ten steps ahead of her and anticipate her needs, then fill them while she was still struggling moment to moment. It was the sheer fact that he’d not only listened to her, but he’d heard her and then taken that next step and actually made something happen for her.

She wished Taylor wasn’t with him. Faith wanted to leave here right now and find him. Beyond wrapping him in a bear hug and kissing him until he couldn’t breathe, she didn’t know what she’d do to thank him. Because she already gave herself over to him completely on a nightly basis and would continue to do so until he returned to his real world.

“That’s an awful deep look of concentration.”

The male voice startled her out of her thoughts. Dwayne strolled beneath the arena’s cover, hands in his pockets, a big grin on his face. Faith’s mind shifted gears. “Hey, there.” She turned to face him. “That’s the biggest smile I’ve seen on your face in a while.”

“Grant’s had that effect on a lot of people in town.” He came up beside Faith and slipped up onto the table next to her. She loved the way no one even thought to question her father’s craftsmanship. “You should see the effect he’s had on the boys. He’s given that whole team an infusion of pure energy. They’re working twice as hard and having twice as much fun doing it. I’m really glad you and Grant became friends. You’re both orphans in a way. Both such good people. I love it when good things happen to good people.”

He sighed happily and looked around. “Where is that boy? He told me he had to move practice until this afternoon because he was helping you set up.”

“He was going to, but something else came up that he needed to take care of.”

Dwayne nodded. “Well, I’m glad he got home even if he did have to deal with his family while he was here. That didn’t turn out all bad. And it gave him a break from all that baloney he lives with.”

Faith shook her head confused. She couldn’t tell if Dwayne was talking about his family here or… “Baloney.” She smiled, remembering how her dad loved that phrase. “That reminds me of Dad.”

“Yeah. I miss that man. We knew what baloney was. These young men, they haven’t figured it out yet.”

“And that would be…?” she asked.

“All the smoke and mirrors around him up there in DC. All the ESPN interviews, the newspaper articles, Sports Illustrated features. Money, power, and women—they’re the three common denominators in the downfalls of all great men. In Grant’s case, power comes in two forms—money and fame. He’s already got more money than he’ll ever spend in his lifetime, and I always see him with a different woman on his arm at all those events he attends for the team to please charities, sponsors, owners, and managers. And each of those women is just as rich, beautiful, and powerful as Grant.”

Dwayne waved it away like he was swatting a fly. “It’s all baloney. It’s not real. And when it all disappears…well…if that’s all you had, you’re left with nothing. At least nothing substantial.”

Faith was still trying to absorb all Dwayne had just told her about Grant in the span of two minutes. It opened up a whole new perspective on both the man and his life back in DC.

Her excitement had been relegated to a corner, and her heart dropped a little lower in her chest.

“Ah,” she said, as if it all made sense now, when in fact, the more she learned, the less she understood. “That baloney.”

Dwayne chuckled and patted her knee. “What can I help you with, darlin’?”

“Uh…” Faith refocused and looked around. “Actually, nothing. I’m done with all the big stuff. Now I’m just wandering around double-checking things.”

Dwayne gave her a long sweet hug. “Your daddy’d be proud of his little girl.”

Unfortunately, Faith seriously doubted it. “Thanks, Dwayne.”