Rebounding Hope

  Rebounding Hope

  Kat Obie

  Copyright © 2020 by Kat Obie

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  Contents

  1. Chapter 1

  2. Chapter 2

  3. Chapter 3

  4. Chapter 4

  5. Chapter 5

  6. Chapter 6

  7. Chapter 7

  8. Chapter 8

  9. Chapter 9

  10. Chapter 10

  11. Chapter 11

  12. Epilogue

  What's Next

  Hockey Heartthrob

  Also by Kat Obie

  Hockey Hottie

  Taking A Chance

  Acknowledgments

  What's Next

  Chapter 1

  Michael

  Arriving in Butler was never fun. Hell, he'd avoided the area as much as he could since he got drafted into the NHL. Too many hurt memories that haunted him and not enough ice rinks. He was a professional hockey player for the Cleveland Sound, and he needed to train with elite athletes like himself even in the off-season. At least, that's what he told himself.

  If he really wanted to, he could make something work. It wasn’t like Pittsburgh or Cleveland were that far away. Sure, it would be a pain in the ass to drive down to Cranberry daily to get some ice time, but it wasn’t like he didn't do that as a kid trying to break through.

  Going to the small coffee shop on Main Street, he swore the moment he realized who was working behind the till. If he were smart, he would have walked out. Unfortunately, he needed coffee, and Butler didn't have many options. It didn't even have a Starbucks, and he didn't want gas station coffee.

  "Get out of here, Michael. Your business isn't wanted or needed." Tiffany looked gorgeous, even with her auburn hair pulled back and venom coming from her mouth.

  He knew the chances of running into his high school ex were high any time he was in Butler. It was a small town, and everyone knew each other’s business. It didn’t help that he was still hung up on her, even so many years later.

  Not only did she break up with him the day he got drafted, she now controlled whether he could get coffee. It sucked, 'cause she seemed as angry as ever with him. The funny thing was he didn’t know what he’d done to make her so mad in the first place. While there was little chance of getting back together with Tiff, there had to be a strong chance he could get coffee.

  He leaned up against the pastry display case. "Come on, Tiff, you may not need or want my business, but I need your coffee. A large, black eye coffee—is that too much trouble?" He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

  She stared at him. "Go elsewhere."

  "Why? You sell coffee, and I want coffee. Besides, where else should I go? It's not like there is another coffee shop down the road." He threw a twenty onto the case. "Please, Tiff."

  She blew up her bangs in a huff and said, "Fine. But I still don't like you." She snatched the twenty out of his hands. She rang it up but didn't give him any change. He wasn't going to ask for it. "Do you need room?"

  "No." He waited for his coffee with the two shots of espresso. The aroma perked up his senses. It was what he needed. He looked around the shop. "Is this place yours?"

  "None of your business."

  She was a firecracker, and he loved that side of her. Hell, if he was honest with himself, she was the only girl he’d ever loved. Everyone else had been a fuck buddy, and he’d had a lot of those.

  He still didn’t understand why she’d hung him out to dry and then cut him out of her life. He’d always known he would be drafted and wanted to get far away from Butler for his career. It was a broken-down town with no future, especially if you wanted to be a professional hockey player. But they’d had plans to move back to Butler, and she would open up a coffee shop very similar to this one.

  It didn't take long for her to hand him his coffee. He took a sip of the brown liquid and closed his eyes. It was a damn good coffee.

  But when he opened up his eyes, Tiff said, "You can go now."

  He gave her a salute with two fingers and headed out the door.

  His mind drifted towards why he was in town for the first place: to help with a fundraiser for his best friend’s sick little boy. He cursed the fact that he wasn't allowed to just pay off the kid’s medical bills. Instead, his best friend wanted him there at the event and didn't want to abuse their friendship. Besides, his being present at the event would get it a lot more attention. He couldn’t say no to his best friend, so he’d come to town to support the fundraiser and hang out with Timmy in case he couldn’t beat this round of cancer.

  That meant lots of chances of running into Tiff while he was in town, especially if she owned the coffee shop. Unless she hid. In the past, when he’d come to town, she seemed to make herself scarce, just like he kept himself away most of the time.

  He just hoped it wouldn’t be a week of getting attitude anytime he wanted coffee.

  Tiff

  Seeing Michael Dykstman walking into her coffee shop reopened old wounds. From the moment she didn't show up at his draft party, she’d regretted it. Well, that was until she found out he was screwing as often as he could. That made it easier to hate him.

  The fact he was a local icon didn't help anything. Him and his stupid hockey talent. Well, that stupid hockey talent did keep him away from town. Since they broke up eight years ago, she'd barely seen him.

  As she was bussing some tables, her phone went off. She looked down to see it was her best friend, Susan, calling. She accepted the call. "Hey. What's going on?"

  "I wanted to warn you that Michael Dykstman is coming to town for Timmy's fundraiser."

  Timmy was Susan and David's child who was battling leukemia for the second time. It was tragic to see a seven-year-old go through so much.

  Susan knew that Tiff had never recovered from the heartbreak of that last night with Michael. Whenever he was in town, Tiff would make herself scarce. It was why she hadn't seen him in person since they broke up eight years ago. It also proved how small her town was. It was big news whenever he came to visit.

  So it was surprising that he’d just showed up at her coffee shop with no one saying a word beforehand. She assumed that if he were coming in for the fundraiser, people would be talking about his arrival. Unless he came early? He was best friends with David growing up, and they were still hammering out final details for the event.

  "Oh, I know. He was just here."

  Susan giggled. "Oh, I wish I was there to see your face when he walked in."

  "Yeah, I told him to get out. Then he laid down a twenty, and I had to serve him."

  While she would never admit it to anyone but Susan, the coffee shop was struggling. The town was barely big enough to support it, but she was busy daily, and she loved most of her customers. She couldn't really afford not to serve everyone.

  "I still don't understand what happened with you two."

  Tiff couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. Susan didn't even need to see her reaction to know she hated hearing that statement. It was all people said when the subject of her and Dykstman came up.

  "Don't you roll your eyes at me. I need you to play nice when he's in town."

  "Why didn't you say he was coming sooner?"

  "David didn't mention it until this morning. He didn't think it mattered that Dykst was going to be helping with the fundraiser. He forgot that you two don't get along."

  That was crazy. There was no way her husband could be that dense. But then again, David was best friends with Michael and knew both sides of the story. She just hoped he wasn’t trying to play
matchmaker with them.

  Tiff huffed. It was almost time for the lunchtime crowd, so she couldn't stay on the phone for much longer. "Well, thanks for the heads up. I would have liked to have heard about that sooner."

  "Oh, and one more thing: Dykst will be coming to the house today to see Timmy. No idea when."

  "Thanks for the warning."

  The door opened. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw that it was the mayor. It wasn't Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous trying to come by the coffee shop. Although, she'd be seeing him a few more times since she knew Sammy wouldn’t be picking up any more shifts.

  Chapter 2

  Michael

  It was so crazy seeing Tiff, and he couldn't get her off his mind. She was gorgeous and seemed to have gotten better with age. She had the perfect amount of curves. He wished her hair had been down, but it was pulled back in some sort of twist with a hat over it. It had to be a sanitary measure, but she used to have the softest and most luxurious hair.

  She was also a grade-A bitch today, but that made her so hot in his eyes. He loved how she hadn't put up with his shit in high school.

  One thing was undeniable: she made a good cup of Joe. He would definitely be returning to get more coffee from her. It was going to be torture seeing her every day.

  I want her even if she wants to live in Butler forever. Too beautiful, too sassy, too perfect.

  He looked at the time. It was still too early to stop by David's house to hang out with Timmy. So he had time to kill in a town where there was literally nothing to do.

  He could drive over to Slippery Rock and use their gym. Sweat it out and stay in shape. Thank God he was able to get a deal to work out at the university. It saved him the time of having to drive to the burgh for a good gym. He really needed to upgrade the gym at his house.

  Well, he should upgrade the amenities at his house in general. He’d built the dream house that he and Tiff talked about shortly after he got his first contract. It was his first major purchase. Looking back, it was such a waste of money. He couldn't stand being in town when it meant he couldn't be with Tiff.

  This town was her whole world. She never wanted to leave. He wouldn’t make her leave, but man, seeing her again brought back everything to him. He was still in love with her.

  Tiff

  It'd been a long day. An even longer day after she promised Susan she would stop by to look after Timmy while his parents took care of some business for the fundraiser.

  Pulling into the driveway, she saw a fancy Mercedes convertible. There was only one person it could belong to, and she didn't want a second run-in with him again so soon, but she had been warned that he might be there today.

  As she walked up the stairs to the house, Susan was already heading out the door. "Hate to just run, but I need to get going. Also, be nice to our guest. I know he's not your favorite person, but he's brightening up Timmy's day."

  She nodded her head and said, "Shouldn't he be going with you?"

  "He'll come in a little bit. Let him be with Timmy for now; you know the kid is obsessed with him."

  She didn't say another word. She just hoped for all their sakes that Dykstman would head to the fundraiser meeting soon rather than keep the little seven-year-old awake with tales of hockey glory.

  The blind idolization of Michael Dykstman was the kid's only fault. It didn't help that the guy was all charm when he was around Timmy. With Timmy going through his second battle with leukemia, he needed all the cheering up he could get.

  As she opened up the door, she took a few calming breaths and then headed to the living room, where she knew they would be. She could hear Dykst’s voice echo down the hallway. He was telling the kid about lifting up his second Stanley Cup. Of course, he embellished the role that he played in that final game.

  There was a break in the story, which meant Timmy must have said something, but it was too soft for her to hear.

  She walked into the room. She saw Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous sitting next to Timmy, smiling and showing a much softer side. A side she’d practically forgotten existed. He loved to be the high-flying playboy who loved to flash his cash around or the serious hockey player who just wanted to win.

  Michael looked at her and said, "It looks like Tiff is here. That means I should get going."

  It was actually nice that Michael seemed to recognize she wanted space from him and was ready to leave. It lessened her hate for him. She almost saw him as she once did.

  Timmy immediately pouted and said, "But that's no fun. Why can't you stay longer?"

  "I need to meet up with your dad." Michael gave the kid a fist bump and said, "I'll come back tomorrow. I promise. By the way, are there any players from the Sound that you want to meet?"

  "CC," the kid said with a grin.

  That got a sinful chuckle from Michael. His laugh should have been illegal for its panty wetting quality. Sadly, he knew what it did to women and used it to his advantage. "I should have guessed that one. I'll give him a call, but I think he has some medical appointments coming up. If he can't make it right away, do you have a backup?"

  "Scotty."

  "Okay. But I'll see you soon, kiddo. Be good for Tiff, okay?"

  Damn, Michael was pulling out all the stops. It made it hard to hate the guy. Thankfully, he walked out the door before he could pull down all the walls she’d put up around her heart.

  Chapter 3

  Michael

  The hockey gods weren't smiling down on him today. After two run-ins with Tiff, he was stressed out. Normally, when he got stressed, he would want to bang it out. Sadly, that strategy would only fail, and she would completely shut down any chance of rekindling their relationship.

  Unlike earlier in the day, he couldn’t just go work it out at the gym. He needed to help David with the fundraiser planning.

  As soon as he got into the car, he used the bluetooth to call Corey Corso, known to many fans and coaches as CC, the cancer survivor.

  The phone rang a couple of times before he heard Corey's jovial voice say, "What do you want?"

  Slightly taken aback, he asked, "Why do you think I want something?"

  "'Cause you never call. Ever. So what's up?"

  Sadly, Corey wasn't wrong; he didn't really call or hang out with the team like some of the guys did. Michael loved getting attention from the ladies when he wasn’t on the ice. It helped him forget about losing the best thing in his life over no discernible reason—Tiff. He felt like a jackass since he was calling to ask for a favor. "So, I went home to help out a friend with a fundraiser for his son's cancer treatment."

  "Stop right there. Just give me the details, and I'll be there." That was the reaction he should have expected from Cor. He’d been supportive of cancer causes since his own battle.

  "You sure? I know you have stuff going on this summer."

  "Yeah. Just text me the details, and I'll be there."

  "Thanks, Cor. I owe you." He was elated that Corey would drop everything to help him out.

  "Nah. I'm just impressed you are helping out the cause. What's the kid's outlook?"

  "It's not great. It's his second cancer battle, and he's only seven. You would like him. He has a great personality and wants to be just like you when he grows up." That got Cor laughing. It might have been stretching the truth some. Timmy loved Michael’s play, but the kid started to like CC after his cancer battle. "I'll get you anything you want. I'm just about ready to go to their fundraiser planning committee meeting now. But thanks, I really owe you."

  "Don't sweat it. I'm happy to help out. Plus, I get to see where you're from, and I get to finally meet the girl that makes you want to find an orgy every time we are in Pittsburgh or New York."

  I smirked. "Didn't realize you knew there was a girl involved with regards to my libido."

  "Well, it was either a girl or you're an asshole. You're not a complete asshole, so I figured it was a girl."

  If he hadn’t added that last bit so quickly, Michael wou
ld have been pissed. While he knew he wasn't close to all the guys, they were his team. He didn't want to be the asshole or problematic one. He was in the locker room to win games and score goals, which he was very good at. That’s why he’d been on the top line with Scotty and Lager for the past four years. Hell, the local media loved to call their line "the musketeer line." They just worked together really well. Corey was on the second line.

  He pulled into the church parking lot. “Well, I don’t know if you’ll meet her, but we’ll see. I got to go. Thanks again for doing this for me.”

  There were five other cars in the lot, so it looked like everyone else was there. But he’d expected that, since David wanted him to hang out with Timmy as much as possible. He texted Cor the details as he walked into the church.

  Everything seemed closed up despite the unlocked doors; almost all the lights were off, except for a flicker here and there. It reminded him of The Shining. At the end of the hall, he saw an open door and could make out the sound of people talking.

  As he walked through the door, David looked up and said, "Look who's finally here. Did Timmy stop talking your head off?"

  "For now.” Michael took a seat and relaxed into the chair. He wanted to keep as low a profile as he could with his celebrity status. Thankfully, David was always great about treating him like the old friend he was. “As long as you're cool with it, I'll stop by again in the morning."

  "Perfect. He'll love that," David said with a smile.

  Susan coughed to get David’s attention. She clearly wanted to keep the meeting rolling.

  Michael knew he needed to be updated, so he asked, "What did I miss?"

  "You're on setup duty next Saturday,” said Susan, “and we're still looking for a good speaker since you declined this morning."

  Michael raised his hands in defense. He didn't think it was that big a deal when David asked him about it last minute and gave him an out. Michael didn't like giving big speeches. Small audio clips were fine, and talking one-on-one was fine, but he avoided big talks because he’d had a stutter as a kid. He was still giving his name to the cause, donating some stuff, and doing whatever he could.