Fresh Ice (8 page)

“Hey, we should throw a party for Sarah,” Abigail s
houted above the music. “You know, give her a proper Red Valley welcome.”

Everyone’s face lit up, while Sarah’s shoulders sagged. “Oh,
no, you really don’t have to go to all that trouble,” she protested. She’d been hoping to slide into her new life relatively unnoticed and the last thing she wanted was a lot of fuss over her arrival.

“Nonsense,” Peach waved her
peach painted nails in the air and turned the music down. “That sounds like a
great
idea.”

“It’ll be a good way for you to meet people,
Sarah,” Destiny chimed in.

Meeting new people wasn’t high up on Sarah’s list of priorities. She just wanted to keep her head down, work as much as
possible and save up for a nicer, er,
nice
apartment.

“Except no one wants to drive all the way out to
your house in the boondocks,” Kim complained.

Abigail frowned. “That
’s true. I do live a bit far out of town.”

“I’d love to have it at my house,” Peach said, “but Tony’s remodeling is a
n ugly mess. It looks like a tornado blew right through the middle of the house.”

“We could have it at my place,” Kim offered.

Sarah felt uncomfortable about her least favorite coworker hosting a welcome party for her. Imposing on Kim sounded like a bad idea.

But the girls thought otherwise. They oohed and
aahed because apparently Kim lived in a luxurious condo overlooking the Red River.

“That’s so nice of you, Kim,” Peach gushed. “Our next party will be at my house after the rec room is finished. But, at the rate Tony is working,
that will be when you girls are grandparents!”

“So when
are we having this party?” Destiny asked.

“How about
this Friday?” Kim suggested.

Abigail clapped her hands. “Perfect. That gives us a few days to buy all the food and make goodies. I have a new cupcake recipe I’ve been
dying
to try.”

Sarah stifled a laugh as she watched the other women try to feign excitement over more of Abigail’s infamous baked goods.

“I’ll bring chips and snacks,” Destiny volunteered.

“I’ve got
the alcohol covered,” Kim said.

“And I’ll bring soft drinks,” Peach added.

“What should I bring?” Sarah asked. If necessary, she could pick up something cheap at the grocery store to contribute to the party.

“Just bring
yourself,” Peach said cheerfully.

“Yeah, you’re the guest of honor, Sarah
,” Destiny assured her. “You don’t have to bring a thing.”

Before Sarah could object, Kim
told Peach, “Peach, be sure to invite TJ, okay?”

“Good idea. I’ll make sure he brings some of his hockey buddies
, too. A party’s not complete without some hunky hockey players, right ladies?”

Chapter
Eight

Hello

The next day at the salon,
Peach approached Sarah with a worried look creasing her face. “Have you seen Bean?” she asked. “He’s got an appointment at the groomers and I can’t find him
anywhere
.”

“I’ll find him,” Sarah
offered.

“Thank you, sugar.”

After looking all over the salon for the little dog, Sarah didn’t find Bean in any of his usual spots. He wasn’t in his bed in Peach’s office where he usually spent most of the day sleeping. He wasn’t in the break room snooping for crumbs. And he wasn’t in the reception area hamming it up with the clients.

“Bean?”
Sarah called out down the hall. No answer.

At the end of the hallway t
here was an opening in the plastic partition. Bean must have slipped through to investigate the activity on the other side.

Sarah
pushed the plastic aside and spotted Bean safe and sound…on the tall stranger’s lap.

Gosh, she didn’t even know his name. It would have been easy to ask Peach or one of the girls but
Sarah didn’t want to draw any extra attention to herself. And it probably wasn’t a good idea to let Peach know she’d been spying on the men working next door when she was supposed to be doing hair.

Tony
, TJ and the man were taking a break from their painting. He sat on an ice chest and TJ sat cross-legged on the floor across from him. Tony leaned against the ladder.

The
tall man affectionately scratched Bean behind the ears. “How you doin’ little guy?” he asked Bean.

In response,
Bean snorted and wagged his tail a hundred miles an hour. His little body wriggled with pure joy. Bean really did look the size of a kidney bean against the tall stranger.

Sarah
watched from the doorway, amazed at his gentleness with the dog. When his hand went for Bean’s throat, she tensed. When he scratched under Bean’s chin, Sarah almost couldn’t believe her eyes. It took a few minutes for her to comprehend the scene in front of her. The man had no intention of harming Bean. He was giving him
affection
.

“Hey, Sarah!”
Tony greeted cheerfully.

Oh no, she’d been spotted.
“He…hello Mr. Pomatto,” Sarah stuttered in reply.

“Please, call me Tony. Come on in.
The guys and I were just taking a break.”

She blushed. “Oh…” She cast her eyes to the floor and looked at her shoes. “Thank you
, but I shouldn’t, I uh…”

Tony must have noticed
Sarah’s eyes dart back to the man holding Bean because he asked, “Sarah, have you met Nathan?”

She swallowed and took another peek at the man. So, his name was Nathan. “No, I haven’t,” she answered
meekly.

“
’Scuse my manners, Sarah. This is Nathan Connors. He’s an old friend of the family and he’s helping us out with the painting. Nathan, this is Sarah, Peach’s new stylist.”

Nathan’s gray eyes locked onto hers and she blushed. Her body fluttered and she clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”

H
e said her name like it was something special.

“Hello
,” she replied.

She spoke so softly that
Nathan almost had to strain to hear what she was saying.

“Sarah is the one
who the girls are throwing the big party for tomorrow,” Tony told Nathan.

“You’re coming, right, Con?”
TJ asked.

“Yeah,” Nathan answered, his eyes never leaving Sarah. “I’ll definitely stop by.”

TJ grinned and slapped Nathan on the back. “Thought you might change your mind, buddy.”

Sarah cleared her throat
and remembered what she was there for. “Um, Peach just wanted me to find Bean for her. He has an appointment to go to.”

“Bean sort of found
us
,” Nathan said, dodging a slobbery kiss from the dog in question.

Sarah moved toward Nathan so she could get
Bean and get the heck out of there. Being alone with three men, large or not, was not a situation she wanted to be in. Tony and TJ still made her a little nervous and Nathan made her heart thump too fast behind her rib cage.

Nathan stood up and Sarah reached for Bean. She
kept her eyes on the dog, refusing to meet Nathan’s gaze. When he made no move to hand over Bean, Sarah was forced to look him in the eye. Way, way up in the eye. Wow, he sure was tall. And very, very handsome.

Nathan
smiled. It was a nice, warm, friendly smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. Gray eyes, the color of misty rain.

Only when
Sarah returned his smile did Nathan hand over the dog. “Here you go,” he said, placing Bean gently in her arms.

During the transfer,
his hand lightly brushed hers. She shivered at the warmth of his skin and hurried out of the room.

“Watch out,
” TJ called after her. “He likes to kiss!”

* * *

On Thursday, business at the salon was slow. Sarah walked down the hall toward the supply closet and heard the voices of her coworkers coming from the break room. When she heard her name, she stopped mid-step. Her heart thudded in her chest. They were talking about
her
.

“So, what do you guys think about
Sarah
?” Kim asked from inside.

“She seems really nice,” Destiny said.

“I like her.” This from Abigail.

“We don’t even know
anything
about this girl,” Kim complained.

“I know that Miri highly recommended her and that’s all I need to know,” Peach answered.

Oh goodness,
all four
of them were in there gossiping about her!

“Yeah,” Destiny agreed. “I don’t think Miri would send us some
freak show.”

“She’s so
bony,” Kim said with obvious disgust. “I mean could she
be
any thinner? No,” she answered her own question. “Because then she’d be a friggin’ skeleton.”

“You think
everyone’s
too thin.” Destiny pointed out.

“The girl can cut hair. I’ll give her that,”
Abigail put in.

“
She sure can,” Peach agreed. “And I tell ya, she never seems to stop working. And the clients absolutely love her.”

Abigail and Peach’s positive praise didn’t register. All Sarah could hear was Kim’s
harsh criticism.

“And her
clothes
,” Kim continued. “They’re just plain…
sad.
”

“So sorry if we all can’t afford to shop at Ne
iman’s,” Destiny defended sarcastically.

“
What’s
with
her though?” Kim went on, the irritation rising in her voice. “It’s like a hundred degrees out and she’s wearing long sleeves.”

“She’s probably freezing
,” Abigail suggested. “Lord knows she doesn’t have any meat on her bones.”

Besides the churning in her stomach,
Sarah suddenly felt the hair prickle on the back of her neck. Somebody was behind her. Great, someone else had come to join the party.

But who was left? The entire staff was already in the
break room picking her apart piece by excruciating piece.

Slowly, she turned around and was met by Nathan’s steel gray eyes. She
pressed her back against the wall so he could get by, but he made no move to pass her in the narrow hallway.

“Sorry,” she said meekly and
tried to move by him. She had to get away from the voices but she staggered mid-step.

Nathan
reached out and put his hands on her upper arms to steady her. The poor girl looked like she might pass out at any moment. “What are you sorry for?” he asked.

“
They’re talking about me,
” she whispered.

I know
, he wanted to say. He’d heard them and their catty comments about her weight. He’d heard them criticizing her wardrobe. He’d heard all of it.

Sarah’s
eyes filled with tears and he could feel his heart breaking for her.

The
voices came closer and louder. Four women were about to emerge from the break room to catch her eavesdropping and Sarah’s feet wouldn’t budge.

“In here
,” he said.

Sarah numbly let Nathan pull her away from the situation
and he guided her into the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

All of the emotions from the last week bubbled up inside her chest and she couldn’t hold back the tears.
Her chest squeezed and her shoulders shook as her body wracked with sobs. The next thing she knew, she was crying right into Nathan’s T-shirt. His arms came around her and held her like she was made of glass.

“It’s okay
,” his voice soothed. He ripped off a strip of toilet paper and handed it to her. Gently, he rubbed her back. Nathan knew firsthand how it felt to have people talk negatively about him. It hurt like hell. Two years ago, the nation had had a field day with his name and it had nearly destroyed him, not to mention his career. But he’d gotten through it with Kayla’s support and now Sarah needed his.

“
I didn’t know they thought those things about me. I’ve tried so hard to fit in,” she hiccupped and gasped for breath. “
And they don’t like me
.”

“That’s not true.
” His palm grazed over her spine, up and down and back up again. “It sounds to me like everyone but that Kim girl loves you and thinks you’re doing a great job.” The instant he said the words out loud he winced. Dammit. He was supposed to comfort her, not rub it in.