Page 109 of Stickhandle With Care
Jenna shrugged. "I'm up for it, but I don't know if Country is. They started construction on the silo yesterday."
Penny's eyes lit up. "I know! Brett showed me the plans. It's going to be incredible."
Emma pulled on her coat. "Tell Country to stop being such an old man. He can handle thirty minutes."
Jenna grinned. "I'll pass that along."
“Should we wait?” Anne asked.
Jenna shook her head. “Go ahead. I’ll text.”
"If we don't see you there, Sunday Supper?" Penny asked.
“I’ll be there.”
Anne, Melissa, and Tina scooted past and walked with Emma and Penny to the stairs. Jenna grinned and turned back to the ice, drawing a deep breath of crisp air as the last of the fans drifted out into the foyer.
She gave it a fifty-fifty chance that Country would be game for One Place. It wasn’t just the silo. They’d been burning the candle at both ends to set up their subscription on YouTube, along with systemizing their process for cross-posting highlights. Since Country and Polk were working the ranch and overseeing construction with Brett’s team, most of that landed on her. It was the first time in ten years she was happy to take on the extra tasks, not because she hoped it would get her somewhere, but because she knew it would.
The game against C-Biscuit had been closer than any of them had expected, but that had produced better footage for their shorts. Now she just needed the Snowballs to have a heartbreaking loss, preferably against Pucks Deep so she could spin a true underdog story before the playoffs. Country was not going to be a fan of that idea.
She glanced up to the top of the stairs where the players would be appearing any minute and saw a cluster of fans and significant others waiting. That had never been her and Country's tradition. She'd always waited for him right here in the seats where she could kiss him and whisper under the sound of the Zamboni engine.
The gate at the far end of the rink opened. Any second now . . .
The clomp of feet on the stairs made her heart leap. Jenna turned and watched as Country dropped his bag and stick at the end of the bench and strode toward her. "Perfect timing."
The Zamboni roared to life as Country pulled her into his arms. "I missed you."
Jenna laughed as he lifted her momentarily off her feet. "You played a killer game."
Country's eyes glinted as he set her back on the floor. "Give it to me straight, McAllister."
She pursed her lips. "You missed a pass to Sean around the back of the net. Could've gotten a score there early in the second."
"And?"
"You could use more conditioning. You lagged a bit in the third."
Country raised an eyebrow. "My legs were more exhausted than usual. Any ideas why?"
Jenna's cheeks burned. "No excuses, Maddox." She clasped her hands around his lower back. "That shot from the corner—the angle was perfect. And your footwork is better than I've ever seen it."
He lowered his head and stole a slow, breathtaking kiss. "Are we heading home?"
Jenna's eyes fluttered open. "Emma wants us to come to One Place."
"Do you want to go to One Place?"
"I want to go wherever you're going."
Country grinned. "I’d be down to go for a bit. As long as I get to prove your bathtub can hold two people at some point tonight."
Jenna laughed. “Have you been holding onto that since December?”
“The second you told Kessler it wasn’t possible, I was ready to prove you wrong.” Country winked and stole another kiss, then twined his fingers with hers and pulled her back down the row.
She let go of his hand while he retrieved his equipment and paused to watch the Zamboni make perfect, glistening loops across the ice. This had always been her favourite part. To see the scratches and gouges in the ice smoothed out and covered up like none of it had ever happened.
"You coming?" Country asked next to her.
Jenna nodded. She took one more look at the ice, then turned and took his hand to climb the stairs together.
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