When my phone chimed in the middle of the night, I was wide-awake, thinking about Delaney. Telling myself I’m only imagining the feelings I’m having and there’s no way she’s feeling the same. Her message changed everything. It wasn’t a declaration of love, or a plea for us to take things to the next level, but a heartfelt note, which has given me clarity. The problem is, I don’t know what to do with it, which is evident by the way I’ve avoided the winter festival all day until now.

As soon as I pull into the parking lot by the town’s ice rink, Holly jumps out of the truck. Her friend Shawna is waving rapidly for Holly to join her. The girls take off running toward the rink, both falling multiple times in the knee-deep snow.

“I think they’ll be best friends for life.” The voice of Shelby catches me off guard, causing me to drop my gear onto the pavement.

“Yeah, Holly talks very fondly about Shawna.”

“We would like to invite you over for dinner tonight.”

I run my hand over my stocking cap and nod. I’m not good at telling people no, and I know Holly would like some more time with Shawna. “That sounds nice.”

“Holly is more than welcome to spend the night.” Shelby falls in step next to me as I make my way toward the rink where there are a few people already warming up for our game.

“Yeah, sure. I think she’d like that.”

Shelby starts to slip, and I catch her easily. Her hand lands on my forearm and mine ends up around her waist. She licks her lips and smiles. “Thank you. You’re my hero.”

I nod again and step back, putting some space between us. Shelby doesn’t though, and links her arm with mine, holding onto me until we get to the rink. Being the gentleman I am, I make sure she’s at the bleachers before jumping over the wall.

“Shelby Whittensby, huh?” James Alvarez holds out his fist for me to bump. I don’t. Instead, I look over my shoulder to find Shelby staring at me. She gives me a little finger wave, but it’s the sound of Holly yelling out Delaney’s name that has my attention focused elsewhere.

“Nothing going on there,” I tell James, who happens to be on the force with me. He and his wife moved here a few years back when he was hired. “Our daughters are friends.”

“That’s not what she’s been telling my wife.”

“Can’t listen to everything you hear.”

James slaps me on the back. “She’s the most eligible woman in town. You’d be a fool not to be with her.”

Then call me a fool because the attraction isn’t there. Sure, Shelby is beautiful, but she comes on too strong and I don’t like that quality in a woman. Not to mention, she talks a lot about me as if we’re dating when we’re not. I’ve been over to her house once for dinner and nothing happened. Still, according to my sister, I’ve upset Shelby because supposedly Delaney and I were making out. This town, I swear.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Alvarez, but there’s nothing going on between us.”

“Does she know this?” He points over his shoulder, which causes me to turn around and see her in the stands, holding a sign with my name on it. Not only that, but Delaney sees the same sign and immediately looks at me, with an expression I can’t decipher. I open my mouth to talk to her, but she heads over to the other bench without giving me a second glance.

“Wonderful,” I mutter as I slip into my pads.

“Ah, I get it now,” James says. “You and the actress.”

“That’s my sister you’re talking about, Alvarez.”

James holds his hands up. “No harm, Du Luca. Only making an observation.”

Dominic grunts as he sits down. I pull my skates on and bend over to tie them while Dom continues to make unintelligible sounds. “What’s up?”

“You tell me. Delaney has been in a bad mood all day and warned me to stay away from her on the ice or I’m ‘going to get it.’”

I look down the bench to find her talking with Calvin, who thankfully isn’t changing into any hockey gear. I can’t imagine him on skates. It’d be like going against Chára and I don’t think my body can handle it.

With my skates tied, I hit the ice for a few warm-up laps. Tomorrow, I’m going to be hurting. I haven’t skated or played hockey since last year’s game, and honestly I spent most of the time on the bench because I wasn’t feeling it. It was our first Christmas without Heather and I had to force myself to feel the festive spirit when all I wanted to do was wallow in self-pity from losing my wife. Except when you have a child to look after, you can’t. It wouldn’t be fair to let her lose the magic of Christmas.

I come to a skid in front of Delaney, spraying ice shavings all over her skates. Her hands pause, but only for a second. I expect her to look up or push me away from her, but she does neither. “What’s up?” I sit down next to her, our shoulders touching, only for her to stand and skate away.

Dom stops in front of me, blocking my view of Delaney. “Man, what did you do?”

“Nothing!” I throw my hands up in the air.

“You sure? Because she’s upset and clearly at you.”

My knees wobble a bit as I stand. “Why? What’d I do?”

Dominic shrugs. “Don’t know, but I have a feeling she’s going to take it out on you once the game starts.” He skates away, leaving me there to watch Delaney and Mindy as they practices hitting the puck into the net. Every so often, Mindy looks over and glares. Perfect.

* * *

My body’s sore. It aches in places I didn’t know existed. Never mind the fact that I have bruises where I shouldn’t. I blame Delaney and Mindy. Every chance they had to hit me, they did. It was a tag team effort and one they executed flawlessly.

At the end of the first period, I yelled for a team switch, but the girls refused to be on my team. That’s when I knew I was their target. The reason – I still have no idea but it didn’t matter where I was on the ice, they were coming after me. And forget it if I had the puck, they gladly took their penalties and sat in the sin bin for cross checking and tripping. I swear I think I saw Mindy and Delaney high-five each other after I went flying into the boards, head first no less.

What’s worse I promised Holly we’d go over to Shawna’s for dinner. I’m all for her staying the night because it gives me a chance to sleep off the pain but I’m not in the mood to stay. I don’t care if Shelby is a good cook. I have a feeling she’s the one spreading rumors about our non-existent relationship, and I have no idea how to approach her about that. The last thing I want to do is upset her, but on the other hand I need her to stop.

The hot spray from the shower does nothing to ease away the throbbing in my muscles. It might be time to face facts; I’m too old for this. Or I’m too old to play when Delaney is in town. I know it’s been ten years since I’ve seen her play, but I don’t remember her being this violent.

I gingerly dry off, careful not to twist the wrong way. I can hear Holly singing Christmas songs, loudly and out of tune, but still I smile. She’s the best part of me, which is why I’ll keep my promise to her and go over to Shawna’s. As much as I want to drop her off, I also don’t want to be rude. We were invited to dinner and I said we’d go. If anything, I’m a man who keeps my word.

After dressing and making sure Holly’s overnight bag is packed, we make one stop at the store to buy our host flowers or a thank you gift. My parents raised me right and never allowed me to show up empty handed. Although, bringing flowers might send the wrong message so Holly and I decide on a poinsettia. It’s Christmas and everyone seems to like them.

Shawna is staring out their big picture window when we pull up. Holly, once again, bolts from the truck before I have a chance to even shut it off. She’s inside and running around when I rap my knuckles on the door before stepping in.

“In here,” Shelby yells out from her kitchen. I walk in with her poinsettia in one hand and Holly’s bag in another.

“This is for you.” I present the red cellophane potted plant to her. Shelby steps forward, her hand touches mine and lingers there for a minute.

“This is beautiful. I know the perfect place for it.” I follow her out of the kitchen and into the living room where she sets our gift down on her end table. Her tree catches my attention. It’s bare, other than a string of lights.

“You don’t have any decorations on your tree.” I point out the obvious.

Shelby giggles. “We’re decorating tonight.”

“Oh, Holly will love that.”

“Hopefully, you will too. I thought we could do it together.”

It’s not very often I’m rendered speechless, but here I am, stunned into silence. Decorating a family tree should be something families do together. With that said, I know Delaney was there helping with mine, but I’ve known her for years and when we were younger I was often at the Du Luca’s and spent many holiday eves there. This though, screams relationship status and I’m not entirely comfortable with it.

“Um…”

“It’ll be fun and the girls will love it.”

Think about Holly, I tell myself. “Yes, I’m sure they will. Speaking of, where should I put her bag?” I hold it up to show Shelby it’s still in my hand.

“Follow me.” Shelby takes us to Shawna’s room where the girls are coloring. Holly doesn’t even notice I’m in the room, but does say hi to me. “The girls play so well together.” Shelby places one hand on my forearm and the other on my stomach.

As casual as possible, I step away from her and go to Holly under the premise I want to see what she’s coloring. Delaney’s name is in the top right corner. The thought of Holly coloring something for Delaney brings a smile to face.

“Dinner’s about ready, girls. Go wash up,” Shelby tells them. Both girls hop to it, chatting the whole way to the bathroom.

“Do you need help?” I ask, trying to be polite.

Shelby shakes her head. “Just make yourself at home, Aiden.”

Home. It’s where I want to be right now, but instead I’m lingering near the bathroom door, using my daughter as an excuse so I’m not caught off guard by Shelby. I shouldn’t feel like this. Shelby’s a beautiful woman, but not the right one for me. Or maybe she is and I’m just too blind to see it? Would I be in a relationship with Shelby had Delaney not come back? The question weighs heavily on my mind as I trail behind the girls. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer and it’s not like I can ask my best friend or sister for advice. Dominic will tease me relentlessly and Meredith will tell me to do the right thing and date Shelby. Not because she’s the safest option, but probably because she’s the only option. I’m a fool to think Delaney will ever be anything more than a friend.