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Authors: Joanne Rock
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J.C. and Shea construct the ice rink.
J.C. had texted her uncle Will who had taken his wife to visit her family in Ohio for the holidays. Will was on the road, but he’d taken time to send a link to the Cloud Spin hockey page on a popular social media network. After he’d posted a call for volunteers to help, people had started showing up within the hour, proving how much local residents had missed the tradition. Half the parents of Walt Walker’s mites and peewee teams had come and brought their players with them. John and Lisa Elliot were one of the first on board, bringing their son Riley. Shea was with them now, pulling sleds out of one of the storage barns behind the ice rink.
Most of the volunteers were shoveling snow for safe paths from the field near the Walker house. Although a couple of guys had cleared a parking area for cars on the empty field near the house, the hill behind the house needed to be shoveled by hand. The more skilled of the volunteers were finishing up the brackets for the boards so they could start filling the rink. Two of the families had brought firewood and carried it down the hill to the bonfire pit where late night hot cocoa parties or even midnight picnics occasionally took place after games. All around him, the sounds of pounding and hammering, shoveling and laughing filled the air.
“You’re a good man to take this on, J.C.” A strong hand clapped him on the shoulder and he turned to find Shea’s oldest cousin, Warren.
Built like a lumberjack, Warren looked the part with flannel over a thermal shirt, a heavy vest covering it all. A knit headband covered his ears, but his cheeks were bright red from the cold. Sandy haired and freckled, he looked like the rest of the Walkers and shared the easy temperament that could turn competitive once a puck was dropped.
“Thanks for coming by.” J.C. straightened from checking the antifreeze level in the new refrigeration he’d paid to have installed five years ago. “Shea will be glad to see you. She’s in the big barn with the Elliots, but she was looking for some of her family members last night at the Peaks.”
He didn’t mind putting the two of them in touch with each other this afternoon since J.C. suspected Shea would probably choose to stay at his place over her bachelor cousin’s house.
Especially now that she was committed to seducing J.C. as often as possible. He still hadn’t wrapped his brain around that turnabout of hers, but he didn’t plan on letting her leave Cloud Spin until they’d made progress in burying the hatchet from their past.
“Everyone’s out of town this year.” Warren spread his arms wide in good-natured disbelief. “It’s the damnedest thing. But maybe once Walt decided to go to Hawaii, all the rest of them figured it would be as good a year as any to hit the road.” Warren crouched down beside the refrigeration unit to inspect it. “This thing’s a beast, by the way. The last year Walt filled the rink, we played halfway through April.”
“Is that right?” Struck with a sentimental notion to upgrade the rink five years ago, J.C. had called a rep for the company who made the units and had a team go out to the Walker place to install it. He hadn’t been back much to enjoy it himself, but he’d thought Walt would at least be getting some use out of it for his family, his players, and community.
He’d been disappointed to find out Shea’s dad hadn’t even filled the rink for two years, but when he’d driven his old coach to the airport the day before, the guy had seemed genuinely excited to have J.C. open it for him this year.
“Damn straight.” Warren gave the chiller an affectionate fist bump. “And now that you’ve shown my uncle how easy it can be to get the rink going with some extra hands to help, I’ll make sure he calls in the troops next year to do this.” Looking around the field at all the activity, Warren grinned. “This is awesome. How can I help?”
Remembering
J.C. had texted her uncle Will who had taken his wife to visit her family in Ohio for the holidays. Will was on the road, but he’d taken time to send a link to the Cloud Spin hockey page on a popular social media network. After he’d posted a call for volunteers to help, people had started showing up within the hour, proving how much local residents had missed the tradition. Half the parents of Walt Walker’s mites and peewee teams had come and brought their players with them. John and Lisa Elliot were one of the first on board, bringing their son Riley. Shea was with them now, pulling sleds out of one of the storage barns behind the ice rink.
Most of the volunteers were shoveling snow for safe paths from the field near the Walker house. Although a couple of guys had cleared a parking area for cars on the empty field near the house, the hill behind the house needed to be shoveled by hand. The more skilled of the volunteers were finishing up the brackets for the boards so they could start filling the rink. Two of the families had brought firewood and carried it down the hill to the bonfire pit where late night hot cocoa parties or even midnight picnics occasionally took place after games. All around him, the sounds of pounding and hammering, shoveling and laughing filled the air.
“You’re a good man to take this on, J.C.” A strong hand clapped him on the shoulder and he turned to find Shea’s oldest cousin, Warren.
Built like a lumberjack, Warren looked the part with flannel over a thermal shirt, a heavy vest covering it all. A knit headband covered his ears, but his cheeks were bright red from the cold. Sandy haired and freckled, he looked like the rest of the Walkers and shared the easy temperament that could turn competitive once a puck was dropped.
“Thanks for coming by.” J.C. straightened from checking the antifreeze level in the new refrigeration he’d paid to have installed five years ago. “Shea will be glad to see you. She’s in the big barn with the Elliots, but she was looking for some of her family members last night at the Peaks.”
He didn’t mind putting the two of them in touch with each other this afternoon since J.C. suspected Shea would probably choose to stay at his place over her bachelor cousin’s house.
Especially now that she was committed to seducing J.C. as often as possible. He still hadn’t wrapped his brain around that turnabout of hers, but he didn’t plan on letting her leave Cloud Spin until they’d made progress in burying the hatchet from their past.
“Everyone’s out of town this year.” Warren spread his arms wide in good-natured disbelief. “It’s the damnedest thing. But maybe once Walt decided to go to Hawaii, all the rest of them figured it would be as good a year as any to hit the road.” Warren crouched down beside the refrigeration unit to inspect it. “This thing’s a beast, by the way. The last year Walt filled the rink, we played halfway through April.”
“Is that right?” Struck with a sentimental notion to upgrade the rink five years ago, J.C. had called a rep for the company who made the units and had a team go out to the Walker place to install it. He hadn’t been back much to enjoy it himself, but he’d thought Walt would at least be getting some use out of it for his family, his players, and community.
He’d been disappointed to find out Shea’s dad hadn’t even filled the rink for two years, but when he’d driven his old coach to the airport the day before, the guy had seemed genuinely excited to have J.C. open it for him this year.
“Damn straight.” Warren gave the chiller an affectionate fist bump. “And now that you’ve shown my uncle how easy it can be to get the rink going with some extra hands to help, I’ll make sure he calls in the troops next year to do this.” Looking around the field at all the activity, Warren grinned. “This is awesome. How can I help?”
Remembering
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