SlapShot Sweetheart (Pucks and Promises #2)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

AIMEE

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

Aimee turned in wide-eyed disbelief as someone was currently mashing on her doorbell in the most annoying and rushed fashion. If this was her mysterious person leaving a third passage on the front door, ringing and running once more, she was going to break his freakin’ fingers when she finally caught him.

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

*ding dong*

“ I’M COMING! ” she bellowed hotly, knocking over her chair in a rush to get to the front door to see what the urgency was. As she yanked open the door, she expected to see a piece of paper taped to the storm door once more, and her eyes were focused on the spot where she thought it would be… and then it took her a split-second to realize nothing was there. “What in the world?”

Before her, all along the railing of her front porch, were wax tapers glowing warmly in the moonlight. Someone had unscrewed her front porch light and put candles there instead – blocking off the entrance with rope zig-zagged to prevent her from leaving or chasing them down.

“Hello?”

To her utter shock and disbelief, she saw a shadowy figure in the distance near her mailbox and heard music begin to play as a man serenaded her softly, singing Elvis Presley. Her hand trembled as she raised it to cover her mouth which was currently open in shock, staring tearfully at the sweetest thing she had ever seen. As the song ended, she paused to see if he would say something and saw the figure heading toward a car in the distance.

“Wait!” she called out, her voice choked with emotion. “Wait, please! Who are you?” and heard the car start up amidst rushed voices as she gingerly put a leg over the rope, trying to get off the front porch in the most ungainly manner. “Wait! Don’t leave! Who are you?”

The squeal of tires was the only answer… and Aimee sagged, feeling bereft and so alone as she realized that she would never know who that was. Was it cheesy and corny – very much so- but exceedingly romantic to think that someone had gone through the trouble to do something like this for her.

The poems, the cat scratching post, the songs… what was next? She mused and froze as she heard something, a mewling something, nearby. In her haste and in the dim light provided by the candles, she completely missed the box on the front porch. Climbing back over, she slowly pulled on the ribbon, untying the bow that held the box shut… and gasped.

Inside were two wriggling and mewling kittens and a card. The kittens were trying to get free, climbing up the sides of the cardboard box. Picking up the box, she saw the five-pound bag of kitten food underneath and chuckled. Her suitor was smart and thoughtful, apparently. Setting the box inside, she hefted up the bag of food, blew out the candles, and would deal with the rope later… but that card and those kittens were practically calling her name.

Aimee picked up the tiny little pale calico that was varying shades of white, tan, gray, and pale orange, kissing it gently on the face as the little claws scratched her. She had tears running down her face, touched beyond belief, as she plucked out the little white kitten who had two brown tufts on her ears and a brownish spot on her chin. Kissing it, she put her down, and the two started trying to climb back into her lap once more for attention as she picked up the card, recognizing the handwriting.

It was him… her poet.

For the sweetest woman in the world – may I present two more sweets for you: Donut and éclair.

“Oh my gosh,” she chuckled tearfully, laughing in disbelief. “Which one is Donut? And which is éclair?” and the kittens seemed to answer, mewling angrily at her like they had their own personalities and could talk. “Hmm? Which one are you, sweetie?” As one kitten walked off to investigate its new surroundings, she began sniffing the floor pointedly before she squatted, causing Aimee to roll her eyes in awareness.

“Not so sweet, I guess. I don’t suppose my mysterious benefactor left a fancy new steam cleaner or litter box out there too – eh?” she muttered, chuckling in disbelief as the other kitten also decided to make a deposit on her floor. Rising to her feet, she realized that the litterbox was going to be an urgent thing and grabbed her purse. “Do your worst for the next twenty minutes before we lay some ground rules of the house – number one being the litterbox.”

T hree days later, éclair and Donut were right at home – and Aimee was utterly in love. The kittens were the sweetest little purr-machines in the world and enjoyed snuggling in her lap every chance they got. The two were always playing, cuddling, or running around, but the moment she sat on the couch… it was time to hang out with her.

She plunked several kisses on their furry foreheads, hating to leave the house, but she was going to get a few toys for the kitties, a couple of things from the grocery store, and maybe stop by the donut shop as a treat. She loved eclairs, and the little namesake reminded her of the things every time she talked to her.

“Mommy will be back shortly,” she whispered, kissing them once more before putting them down and listening to their meowing protests as she slipped out the front door. The rope she had left neatly coiled on the corner of her front porch in case her ‘midnight crooner’ returned for another serenade – and left the candles mounted on the wood where he obviously used a smidgeon of wax or something else to affix the tapers.

Did it look awful from the street? Sure.

Did she care? Not a lick.

Nope – if her mysterious man was coming back, she wanted to make it as easy as possible to have her Romeo woo her once more. In fact, after the kitten-escapade, she thought of texting Theo and stopped herself. She didn’t want to open the doorway if it wasn’t him, because then he would ask her out again, and she wasn’t sure if she was interested.

He was nice enough, but she was looking for something more… and now that someone was obviously romancing her, it was harder and harder to think about the handsome man who’d been glaringly late and underdressed for their first – and only - date.

An hour later, Aimee had a few groceries in her car, two little wands with feather ‘birds’ at the end dangling from a string in two different colors so she could tell them apart, and was pulling up to a small bakery that made the best eclairs in the universe. Stepping inside, she nearly moaned aloud at the sweet, yeasty scents assailing her senses, already thinking of the ‘haul’ she was going to take home.

There were the Boston Cream eclairs, the chocolate Long Johns that were stuffed with overly sweet filling, and then Madeline made these pistachio eclairs that were utterly sinful.

“… Three maple sugar donuts and one of the blueberry eclairs.”

“You want the sweets today, eh?”

“Only from here, ma belle Madeline.”

“Stop…” the woman giggled, and Aimee saw red as she realized just who was flirting with her – Theo. The pesky man was leaning on the glass counter like he owned the place, smiling at Madeline and touching the glass. “Hazelnut, too? Let me ‘ave one of those for the guys, as well.”

“Of course, Theo,” Madeline crooned, saying his name with an accent, making it sound like ‘Tee-oh’… and Aimee almost gagged at the thought. The two were laying it on thick, and it was disgusting. At that moment, there was not a donut in the place that she needed this badly, so she promptly turned to leave… only to hear her name.

“Aimee?” Theo’s surprised voice made her pause – and wince. “It’s nice to see you again. How are you doing?” Drawing in a deep breath, praying for patience, she closed her eyes and then turned slowly, opening them.

“Very well – thank you. How are you doing, Theo?”

“Better now. Do you come here often?”

“I try not to – no offense, Madeline,” she quickly stammered at the woman’s shocked look. “I love the place and the food, but I can’t afford to keep buying new clothes from the number of calories I could pack on easily.”

“I bet you look beautiful with a little extra weight,” Theo sighed softly, causing Aimee’s sharp gaze to turn toward him in shock as Madeline smiled.

“What’d you say?”

“I think you would look beautiful with a little extra around the curves, you know… ‘ow do you say it? Plump?”

“Are you saying I would look better if I were fatter?”

“Did I say something wrong? My English is pretty good, but…”

“No, you said it right,” Madeline volunteered, Theo smiled, and Aimee frowned.

… And Theo’s smile faded.

“You don’t look ‘appy?”

“I should go,” Aimee replied bluntly, turning away quickly and hating the way she was responding to his dark eyes watching her. At least his bruised and puffy eye was healing now, and she hated that she wanted to touch his brow to see if he was still hurt or had any stitches left. She was almost out the door when he touched her elbow.

“Aimee, arrêt…” he uttered and then spoke again. “Stop, please.”

“Look, we don’t get along…”

“But we could if you would stop running for a moment,” he whispered, his dark eyes searching hers. “Please, let me try again and…”

“Sometimes things just don’t fit together – like you and me.”

“Sometimes you just have to keep working at it and not give up right away.”

“Some would say that is craziness or sheer stubbornness. When do you draw the line and quit – because I see the invisible line, you know?” she whispered back in a hushed voice and glanced at Madeline, curious to see if the woman could hear them. “I don’t want to air our problems around people.”

“There are no problems.”

“We’ve got big ones.”

“Like what? ‘Ow can we have problems when you won’t give me a chance?”

“You had a chance, and you were thirty minutes late.”

“I ‘ad a game, Aimee.”

“So the game was more important than making a good impression?”

“It’s my job.”

“What?” she blurted out, completely taken aback. “What do you mean, ‘It’s your job?’ Are you a gambler? Are you talking about poker games? Is that why you were beat up?”

“I play ‘Ockey professionally,” he said, giving her a soft smile, which made her glance back at the tooth that had fallen out, completely freaking her out at his reaction. “I have a great dentist and ‘e ‘elped me keep my tooth.”

“It looks nice,” she whispered distractedly.

“Merci…”

“Hockey, huh?”

“Yes. Would you like to go to a game?”

“I don’t know anything about hockey. I don’t follow sports or… anything. I mean, I program webpages and do coding – like on computers,” she breathed, looking away from him to where he was holding her elbow.

“Think about it,” he whispered, trying to catch her eyes and she kept looking away, tugging at her elbow to step back from him. “Give it time, think about it, and if you decide you’d like to go – then I’ll get you tickets.”

“I’m not sure. I mean, there’s something going on, and well…”

“Something going on?”

“It’s nothing,” she blurted out, casting her eyes anywhere else but him as her face flushed hotly. “Nothing. I’m talking with someone, and I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.” He stiffened slightly and gave a quick nod as he looked at her closely – and Aimee looked away again.

“Do you like ‘im?” he said tightly, releasing her elbow.

“Maybe?” she confessed nervously. “I don’t have to answer to you but you’ve been so polite that I thought you should know. I barely know him except that he’s awfully romantic with a beautiful voice.”

“I have a nice voice.”

“A singing voice?”

“Wait… ‘e sings to you?”

“Once, but that’s none of your business and I don’t know why I’m blabbing on about this. We’re barely acquainted, and this guy seems to know me or see right into me. He leaves me poems, gave me kittens, and… why are you smiling?”

“So you ended up getting a kitten?”

“Two of them,” she replied loftily. “They were a gift.”

“I see. What are their names?”

“Donut and éclair,” she replied and angled her head to the side. “Did you get a kitten that day that we ran into each other?”

“I decided to make sure my ‘ousekeeper wasn’t allergic – and she is.”

“Oh no. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m probably not the best person to adopt a kitten anyhow. I’m away from ‘ome quite a bit. They need lots of love and attention.”

“Tell me about it,” she chuckled. “The little fur monsters tackle me every time I sit on the couch.”

“I’m ‘appy for you,” he said gently, smiling softly and watching her with this weird expression on his face. “The offer is still there, and just because you are talking to someone doesn’t mean you can’t become my friend too. People have lots of friends in their lives, and I would like to consider you one of mine – even if I ruined our first date.”

“Ruined sounds so harsh…”

“Maybe we can try again someday – if you are available?”

“We’ll see,” she said nervously, pulling back from him. “I need to go.”

“I’m leaving, please – go ahead and place your order. I’m due at the practice arena soon, and I’ll be late.”

“Again?” she murmured, unable to resist and heard his soft laugh as he winked at her.

“Again – which means I get to skip those nasty protein shakes they are always trying to shove down my throat,” he volunteered – and shivered, causing Aimee to smile as they shared a look. “Maybe you can text me sometime, just to say ‘Hello’ to a friend.”

“I can do that,” she murmured, nodding.

“Then I’ll go – and ‘ope to ‘ear from you soon,” he replied softly, nodding and moving back to the counter before smiling at Madeline. “ Merci beaucoup, Madeline.”

“ Bienvenue ,” the woman said easily, waving as Aimee walked up to the counter, frowning. “What can I get you, Miss Aimee?” She turned to watch Theo walking out of the bakery like he had not a care in the world and hesitated, pointing, before looking back at the woman.

“He didn’t pay?”

“ Mais non ,” Madeline chuckled smiling as she waved off the question easily. “None of them do, but my brother handles their bill every month.”

“Your… brother?”

“Yes, my brother is Dustin Lafrenière- the goalie for the North Texas Coyotes Hockey team and Theo’s teammate.”

S everal hours later, Aimee was sitting on the couch, glaring at the donuts painfully each time she shoved a bite in her mouth, ignoring the kittens who were playing next to her. Theo wasn’t flirting with Madeline; he was getting a free meal for the team because the woman’s brother was the goalie – and he actually bought the business for his sister as a wedding present.

Un-freakin-believable.

When people said, ‘oh, what a small world’… Aimee realized that this place was getting smaller and smaller all the time. She left the house and suddenly was running into Theo everywhere. Was he stalking her? And what about her mystery man? She had yet to hear from him in the last day or two, which in itself was frustrating… only to hear a knock at her door.

“Fwaaap!” she hissed, cramming the last of her third éclair into her mouth and grunting as her belly decided to give a painful cramp. Her Midol hadn’t kicked in yet, and she was feeling miserable, having all sorts of cravings, and just feeling wretched in a way no one else could understand or explain – except perhaps another woman who had her period. Looking down, she saw the blob of cream on her shirt and grimaced, licking her finger and scooping it up before pausing.

“Yeah, I’m a real catch, all right…” and walked toward the front door, praying that her MM – mystery man – wasn’t standing there and yanked it open only to see Theo’s shocked face holding a piece of paper.

“YOU!”

“Me?” he blurted out, paling in horror. “Me… what? Me, me? Me, me, me? This is yours – I think and…”

“I thought you didn’t know where I lived?” she snarled, grabbing her paper, knowing it was the third bit to her poem.

“I didn’t – I don’t. I had to look you up and happened to see some guy running in that direction from this house looking kinda creepy and well…”

“What?! He’s here?” Aimee raced out the door, not caring that her shirt was jiggling as she bounced down the steps, racing across the yard… and then came to a stop. She didn’t see anyone running down the road. Turning to Theo, she looked at him and crossed her arms. “You saw him? What did he look like?”

“Who? The creepy guy?”

“Was he creepy?”

“I thought he was…”

“What did he look like?”

“Shortish-tall...”

“Shortish-tall? That makes literally no sense. Was he blondish-brown too?”

“You saw him too?”

“Theo! Are you lying to me? Did you put the note up there?”

“Did you want me to?” he blurted out, his eyes wide as he stared at her, swallowing and looking slightly alarmed. “Is that éclair on your shirt?”

“If you want to date a woman, try to refrain from pointing out her messes,” she grumbled and walked back inside, lifting her shirt slightly and sucking the remnants of the cream filling off the material. “Just come inside and shut the door,” she ordered easily over her shoulder. “I’m not sure how or why you are here, but hey – I guess you’re here if MM couldn’t bother to show his face.”

“I’m confused. Who is MM… and you sound upset.”

“I’m not feeling good, and MM is my mysterious man .”

“Ahhh…” Theo said simply, understanding. “Are you getting a cold? Too many eclairs?” Aimee gave him a flat look and pointed at the package of maxi pads on the dining room table that hadn’t made it to the bathroom yet.

“Oh.”

“Yeah – oh.”

They stood there looking at each other for a moment, and then she sighed, shrugging and hanging her head in defeat before looking at him. “I’m going to rejoin my heating pad and my kitties. If you want a soda or something, help yourself.”

Without a word, Theo disappeared into the kitchen and she almost said something smart at the sound of him opening cabinets and milling around nosily – yet kept quiet. She’d been rude, snapped at him, and cut him off repeatedly, yet he still came around and was still trying to talk to her. Maybe he’d been hit with a puck one too many times in the head, she thought silently and hesitated as her belly panged at the thought of him getting hurt.

“Should I feed the kittens?” Theo called out, and she felt like the biggest heel as she heard the two little moochers meowing pitifully at the intruder who had no idea that they had already been fed today. She still felt guilty, though, especially after shoving eclairs in her face and pouting. She was just so out of sorts, especially after seeing him a few hours ago.

“Sure,” she grumbled and heard his knowing chuckle as the kettle started to whistle. Flipping through the channels on the television, she happened to see his face scrolling and paused, shocked that he actually was some famous hockey player. For a moment, she thought maybe he might have been exaggerating or lying to her – but sure enough – there he was on the screen as bold as could be.

“Ugh,” Theo muttered, entering the room with a cup of hot tea and rolling his eyes. “Why do they insist on showing footage of me talking smack and looking intense? When there’s no sound, then I could be saying anything… and let me tell you, not all of us in the hockey league have clean mouths.” It was such a strange and outrageous thing to say that Aimee couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her, especially as she saw his snarky expression combined with the emphatic eye roll that looked so very dramatic. “Besides, we both know my good side is my left one.”

“Oh mercy…” she muttered, and this time it was her turn to roll her eyes as he smiled, handing her the cup. Leaning away, she sniffed at the cup warily and looked at him once more. “What’s that?”

“Arsenic.”

“You know that’s not funny.”

“Don’t be such a grump then when I know you are a sweetheart deep down inside… it might be located in the deepest trench on the ocean floor, but it’s still there.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Gee, you’re welcome,” he smirked and knelt before her as she accepted the tea. “My mother used to always swear by onion tea or hot ginger tea with a bit of lemon. It helps everything, and I always have it when I get a cold or feel bad.”

“Did you say onion tea?”

“Yup. I could make you some… if you had onions.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Smart girl,” he chuckled, looking at her. “Drink up.”

“I’m concerned it might actually be arsenic. I’ve not been the nicest person lately.”

“No, you ‘aven’t, but it’s not. I promise.”

“You’re acting weird.”

“I’m trying to be a friend,” he said simply, rising to return to the kitchen… and Aimee sipped on the tea. He had obviously put some honey in there and a splash of lemon juice from the fridge. It was quite good, and the warmth felt so comforting running down her throat to her tummy. Between the heating pad and the tea, it was like having a hug on the inside and the outside. He returned a moment later, holding a second cup. “How is it?”

“Perfect,” she admitted quietly.

“It just galls you to say that, doesn’t it?”

“Nooo,” she protested and then hesitated. “Maybe?”

“So, the note was from your mysterious man?” Theo prompted, and Aimee coughed, nearly choking on the hot tea. She completely forgot about the note that had been taped to the door – and to her dismay, Theo brandished it toward her with this curious look on his face.

“Yes – and thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She opened the paper, looked at him, and turned slightly away so she could have a little privacy to read the words written carefully on the paper… and sighed. She had the other two passages memorized by this point, mentally reciting them as she added on the newest addition that had just arrived.

Is this the player she should fear,

Or love that’s waiting, ever near?

She finds the truth in every sign ? —

Will she leap and let their hearts entwine?

“Oh mercy…” she breathed, closing her eyes and pressing it to her chest – and cracked an eye, looking at Theo, who was watching her, completely enthralled. “What?”

“G-Good news, I suppose?” he began hoarsely, tugging at his collar and looking away.

“Just a sweet, personal note.”

“I guess you like it.”

“It’s… it’s the best,” she finished softly, looking back at the scrawled words and letting out another heavy sigh. “I wish…”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she replied, taking another sip of her tea. “It’s nothing.”

“You like this guy… your MM.”

“How do you like someone when you barely have a chance to know them,” she began and hesitated, looking at him carefully to see if he was mocking or teasing her. He looked genuinely curious, and a part of her wished once more that they had met under different circumstances. Maybe if she wasn’t so moody and he wasn’t so prickly, then perhaps they could have truly been friends or… more. “I always imagined that falling for someone was not one certain thing or another, but a mixture of things.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, like if you take a little bit of a few special bits of someone’s personality or life - and mix them together. Then you get something great, like an emulsion.”

“I don’t understand.”

“If you take oil, an egg, and a bit of lemon juice… you get mayo. Alone, it’s nothing great, but together, it makes something wonderful.”

“Ohhh,” he whispered keenly, staring at her with understanding. “And you want the mayo – don’t you?”

Aimee felt her eyes sting as her lip wobbled emotionally. She felt awful, completely down and depressed, felt bloated, and so many other things, but most of all – she felt alone. While the notes were sweet, the singing was so romantic, and she loved her kitties, something so special missing right now. Her mysterious guy was winning over her mind, but her arms were empty. She wanted to hold hands, share smiles, and be held during moments like this.

“Aimee?” he said softly, reaching over to gingerly touch her hand as the first tear fell. This guy, who was everything she didn’t really care for or want, was the one who was here trying to comfort her and make her feel better. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t find it in her to give him a chance?

“Oh, Theo… I want the mayo so very badly,” she whispered tearfully, chuckling at the pathetic comment that sounded so weird to her own ears. “I want it so badly that I can taste it – and I’m beginning to think it’s not in the cards for me. Is there something so broken with me that I end up ruining everything or drive people away - remaining alone forever?”

His fingers laced with hers, causing her to look at his dark eyes – and for the first time in her life, she marveled at how warm and beautiful they were at that moment as he looked at her with such emotion.

“Don’t give up,” he breathed. “Never give up because someday you’ll have your moment when you are ready. I don’t think that relationships are something that grow, but rather, a person has to grow themselves. They have to be ready to love someone, and it’s different for everyone. Your time is coming, I promise.”

“You really believe that?”

“With everything in my heart, my friend.”

“I’m so glad you are here – thank you.”

“I’m glad you shared – and that you could trust me.”

“Just don’t throw it in my face,” she retorted with a flat voice, rolling her eyes as she used her other hand to wipe her tears. “I mean, you would see an ugly side of me if you teased me about something so personal that I trusted you with, that I shared with you.”

“I have no doubt,” he chuckled, giving her hand a little squeeze as they shared a smile. “I will never breathe a word – because it would be my last one,” he teased as she chimed in at the same time.

“It would be your last one, Theo.”

They looked at each other in surprise before bursting out laughing in a shared moment and marveled, realizing that she truly considered him a friend.