Read Online Zero Visibility by Georgia Beers - Free Book Online Page B

happen,” he said again.
    They chatted absently between cheering. A few moments later, he squeezed her shoulder. “There’s Tina. Gotta run.” He kissed her cheek.
    “Tell her I said ‘hi.’”
    “Will do.”
    “I’m proud of you,” she said again, and he waved over his shoulder as he made his way around to the other side of the arena. It was much too large for a simple high school hockey game, so the majority of the seats were empty. But Lake Henry was also home to several winter sports championships and tournaments, so the rink was big, the ski slopes were plentiful, and there was a bobsled run just three miles out of town.
    As she watched Michael leave to meet his wife, the owner of one of the bars caught her eye and waved at her. “Hey, Carl!” She waved back as somebody took the seat next to her for the second time.
    “Do you know everybody in this town?”
    Surprise washed over Cassie as she looked into the startling blue eyes of Emerson Rosberg. It took her a moment to collect herself, but she did and replied, “Pretty much.”
    “Seems like it.” Emerson gazed out onto the empty rink. “Is it halftime?”
    Cassie grinned. “Um, no. Hockey doesn’t have halftime.”
    “No halftime? What kind of sport is this?”
    “Hockey has intermissions. This is first intermission.”
    “Did I miss anything good? Is that even possible?”
    “I will pretend you didn’t just mock the great sport of hockey and simply say that, sadly, it’s been an uneventful first period.” Cassie studied Emerson. She wore jeans and the same running shoes she’d had on this morning, a long-sleeved white blouse open at the throat, and a navy blue jacket that Cassie thought might have been Caroline’s, as the sleeves were a bit short on her long arms. Her short, blonde hair shone in the arena lighting, and dark mascara accentuated her eyes. Slightly flushed cheeks topped it all off. She was beautiful. Stunningly so. Cassie thought so immediately, and she had to consciously pull her eyes away from the teasing peek of collarbone inside the shirt. And sexy. Don’t forget sexy .
    Catching her gaze, Emerson said, “You didn’t think I was coming, did you?”
    “You weren’t, were you?”
    “No.” They both laughed. “I have a lot to do. I’ve been working on it and…I just needed a change of scenery.”
    “This is a pretty big change,” Cassie remarked as the timer sounded and the kids skated back onto the ice.
    “So, round black thing into the goal, yes?”
    Cassie laughed. “The puck. Yes.”
    “Got it.”
    They watched for several minutes as the boys skated around the rink, passing to each other, taking shots on goal, and slamming one another into the boards.
    Finally, Emerson commented, “This is kind of rough.”
    “Not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.”
    “You know these kids?”
    “Some of them. And my nephew plays, but he’s riding the bench right now.”
    “Bummer.”
    “It’s okay. He’s young. He’s learning.”
    One player crushed another into the Plexiglas close to their seats and Emerson winced. “Okay, that can’t be legal.”
    “Actually, that was a clean hit,” Cassie told her. “He had the puck. You can’t just hit a guy who doesn’t, though.”
    Emerson suddenly sat up straighter and looked at Cassie. “Didn’t you say you coach girls ’ hockey?”
    “I did. Assistant coach.”
    “Are they this brutal with each other?”
    “They’re worse.” At Emerson’s shocked expression, she laughed. “Believe me. It’s true. Girls are much meaner. These boys generally want to hit each other. The girls? They want to kill each other.”
    Emerson gave it some thought, nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”
    They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Emerson asking an occasional questions, Cassie explaining as best she could, and soon the buzzer sounded the beginning of second intermission.
    “So, tell me about the bike,” Cassie said, turning slightly and giving Emerson her