Skirting the Ice (The Bannister Brothers #3)

by Jennie Marts

  “Yes, that’s what I’m asking.” She glanced down at her feet, avoiding his eyes. “But apparently I’m not asking very well,” she mumbled.

  He chuckled, and his laughter brought her head popping back up.

  Was he laughing at her?

  “No, I’m not seeing anyone.” He set the brush across the can of pan and laughed again, but this time it seemed to be more at himself. Narrowing his eyes, he gazed down at her. “How about you? Anyone buying you dinner?”

  The corners of her mouth tipped up in a grin. “Nope. Not lately.”

  Not anymore was closer to the truth.

  The doorbell rang, and the sound brought Winston racing down the hall toward the door.

  Not used to the ladder being in the room, the dog ran headlong into its side, knocking into it and sending the can of paint tumbling off its precarious perch.

  Murphy shrieked as Jack scrambled to grab the can as it tipped toward her, spilling buttery minion yellow paint all down the front of her shirt.

  Chapter Three

  “Shit. Oh shit. Sorry.” Jack scrambled down the rungs, trying to grab for the paint can and keep the ladder from tipping over.

  Murphy bobbled the can, trying to steady it as yellow paint dripped down her shirt and off the sides of her arms.

  “Let me…” He didn’t even know what to say or how to help. He reached for the can, his hands glancing off her breasts. Realizing what he’d done, he reared back, snagging the can and tipping it toward him, spilling a fresh glob of paint across his shirt.

  The sides of the can were slippery with paint, but he grasped the bottom of the can and held it steady. “I got it.”

  She said nothing, a splatter of yellow paint streaking across her cheek, as she stared at him.

  “You okay?”

  He watched her blink then glance first at the splotches of paint splashed across the floor then back at him.

  He held his breath, not knowing if she was going to scream or break into tears.

  She pointed at his waist.

  Looking down, he saw a splatter of paint had hit him square in the crotch then dripped down looking like a cartoon simulation of him wetting his pants.

  He shrugged. “So, maybe the color is actually pee yellow?”

  Her eyes widened then she burst into laughter, bending forward, and clutching her paint-covered middle.

  There was nothing to do but join in, especially after she let out a snort from laughing so hard. She reached out, grabbing his arm as she cracked up. He held on to her, his own laughter gushing out of him.

  He gasped for breath as he tried to stop, then she let out another round of giggles and that set them off again. It had been so long since he’d laughed like that. It felt good. Really good.

  It sucked that a can of paint had spilled down her front, but right before that, she’d asked him if he had a girlfriend. Like she was really interested in knowing.

  So everything was good in his world in that moment.

  The doorbell rang again, and Winston let out another round of barks. He’d run through the paint as he darted to the door and was now racing back and forth, leaving a set of yellow footprints along the carpet.

  Murphy straightened and let go of him as she turned to answer the door.

  He glanced down at the perfect yellow handprint she’d left on his arm and smiled.

  His smile fell from his face as Murphy opened the door, and he saw his brother standing on the other side.

  “Owen?”

  His brother walked into the house, stepping over the paint-smeared tracks of the dog, as he set down an extra ladder and a large toolbox. His gaze shifted from Murphy to him then his face broke into a grin. “I knew you’d screw it up, Jack. The paint is supposed to go on the walls, not on your clothes.”

  Jack felt the heat creep up his neck. Owen meant the comment in his normal jest, but it rankled just the same. How was it that everything Owen did seemed cool and everything he did seemed dorky? Like why hadn’t he thought to bring tools? That would have been more helpful than donuts.

  Murphy gasped in mock surprise. “Really? Well, it’s a good thing you showed up to let us know. We’ve been doing it wrong this whole time.”

  “Yeah, it’s a good thing you showed up,” he grumbled.

  His brother gave him a funny look, then his attention was taken by the dog running around his legs. “Hey, Maggie-girl.” Owen bent down to scratch the dog’s neck.

  “That’s Winston, my dog,” Murphy told him.

  He glanced up at Jack. “This dog looks exactly like yours.”

  “I told you.”

  “I can see now why you tried to steal it.”

  “I didn’t try to steal it.”

  “Yeah, he totally did.” Murphy laughed then crossed to the stairs. “I need to wash up and change my shirt.”

  “I’m really sorry. I feel bad that your shirt was ruined.”

  She looked down at the paint already drying across her front. “Me, too. It was one of my favorites. But it was old anyway. And nothing special, I got it a couple of years ago at Kohl’s. I just liked the color. And besides, it wasn’t your fault. It was my dumb dog that knocked into the ladder and spilled the paint.”

  “I still feel bad.”

  “Well, your shirt’s ruined too.”

  “Mine’s no big deal. I was planning for it to get dirty. And I buy these by the pack at Target, so I’ve got another one just like it at home.”

  She grinned. “Smart. Just like always.”

  Owen was wandering the living room. He ran his hand over a quarter-sized hole in the sheetrock. “Why are you guys painting already anyway? You need to patch up all these holes and prep the walls before you try to paint.”

  Shit. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

  “Oh yeah,” Murphy said. “We didn’t think about that. I guess it is a good thing you showed up.”

  Jack sighed. “I’ll run home and change, too. Be right back.”

  It took him less than five minutes to run across the driveway to his apartment and change into a new shirt and a fresh pair of shorts. He washed the paint from his hands but left the yellow hand print on his arm.

  By the time he walked back in, Murphy was showing Owen around and filling him in on her plans for the house. Jack stood in the doorway watching them.

  “This all sounds great. You have some really good ideas,” Owen told her, basically echoing Jack’s earlier statement, as he studied the wall that she was talking about taking out.

  “A lot of ideas that take a lot of work.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I called in reinforcements.” Owen nodded to the door.

  Jack looked behind him to see his parents and his twin brother, Nate, coming up the sidewalk. His dad carried another tool box, and his mom’s arms were full of bags of food.

  “Owen told us Murphy was back, so we came to help. Plus Mom made taco pie,” Nate said, holding up the crockpot.

  “Look how beautiful you are.” His mom walked in, her eyes shining with tears as she set the bags on the floor and opened her arms to engulf Murphy in a big hug. “I’m so sorry about your grandfather.”

  “Thank you,” Murphy said against her shoulder. “I can’t believe you all are here.”

  “Good to see you, Murph.” His father took her into a giant bear hug as his mom let her go and directed him and his brothers to take the bags of food into the kitchen.

  Nate passed him the crockpot. “You can take this, bro. I’m getting in on the hugs.”

  Jack followed Owen into the kitchen and set the slow cooker on the counter. Owen pulled paper plates and cups out of a bag.

  His mom had thought of everything.

  “Thanks for inviting them,” Jack told him.

  “Are you kidding? Once I told Mom I was coming over here, I couldn’t have kept her away if I’d tried. I think she started baking at the crack of dawn. And Nate didn’t know what he was getting into—I think he just stopped by for taco pie
.”

  Figured.

  Jack grabbed his brother’s shoulder as they walked back into the living room. “Hey, when I was gone, did her dog pee on you?”

  “What? No. That’s gross, dude. Why would you ask me that?”

  “Sorry, no reason,” he answered as his face broke into a smile.

  Murphy couldn’t believe the whole Bannister clan had shown up to help. She marveled at the way they all set to work, cleaning and plastering holes in the walls. Owen and his dad had been working the last few hours to demo the kitchen while Nate and Jack had pulled up the old carpet and hauled it out into the front yard.

  She’d plastered the holes in the walls while Jack’s mom, Barb, cleaned every surface in the house, then set about feeding all of them.

  They all filled the paper plates that she’d brought with taco pie and stacks of corn chips. Barb set out a large tray of cut veggies and opened a bowl of sliced watermelon.

  Murphy’s plate overflowed with food as she balanced it on top of a red plastic cup full of iced tea. Barb really had thought of everything.

  The whole family sat on the now bare floor of the living room—a family that she had ached to be a part of. They had always welcomed her in when she was younger.

  Barb had fed her and her grandfather plenty of times—inviting them over for Sunday dinner or dropping off leftovers. The love in the Bannister family was apparent in their easy affection with one another and the way they teased and joked. This family was always laughing or hugging.

  She sat on the floor between Jack and Nate and leaned her back against the wall. The two were fraternal twins, so they didn’t look identical, but looked enough like each other to tell they were twins. All of the Bannister brothers were ridiculously good-looking.

  It almost didn’t seem fair that one family should have that much hotness.

  She glanced over at Jack’s dad, Matt—even Mr. Bannister was good-looking. Matt had his back to the wall and his head turned to Owen as he listened to his son, yet his hand rested casually on his wife’s leg.

  Still a romantic even after being married all these years. That was the kind of love that Murphy wanted—easy, genuine, and kind.

  Love was not supposed to be full of anger and rage. Love wasn’t supposed to hurt or leave you feeling desperate and afraid.

  “So, Murphy, Owen tells me you’re still playing hockey,” Matt said. “Atta-girl.”

  She smiled, her chest filling with pride at the simple affirmation. “Yeah, thanks to these lugs who taught me how to play.” She nudged Jack’s leg.

  “She told me she still uses the gloves you bought her when we were kids, Dad,” Jack said.

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded. “Yep. I used them all through high school and when I played club. They’re still holding up.”

  “Tell us about what you’re doing now,” Barb said. “From what the boys tell me, it sounds really exciting.”

  “It is. It’s a brave new world for hockey. They’ve just started a National Women’s Hockey League, and so far it only has four teams. Colorado is a pioneer in trying to add another team to the league, and I’m really excited about being a part of it.”

  Barb smiled. “Your grandfather would be so proud.”

  A lump formed in her throat, and she took a sip of tea to swallow it back. “Thank you. That means a lot to me that you think so. He’s the only reason I can afford to do this. He left me this house and a nice inheritance, enough that I can afford to focus on hockey for the next few years and see if we can really make something of this team.”

  “I think it’s great. And your grandpa always was a saver.”

  “Hey,” Jack piped up. “There’s nothing wrong with saving your money.”

  Murphy laughed. “Well, my grandpa saved more than his money. He saved everything. You should see the garage. It’s so full, I can’t even get my car in there. I guess when he rented the place, he kept the garage locked and used it as a storage unit for all of his stuff. I’m going to have to rent one of those big dumpsters to come and haul it all away.”

  “Or you could have a garage sale and sell some of it. Try to make a little money. And you never know, some of that stuff might be worth something,” Jack offered.

  Owen tossed an empty cup at his brother. “Leave it to Jack to try to make a buck. And he’s a saver, too. Don’t let him in the garage, or he’ll end up taking some of that crap home.”

  “Some of that crap might be perfectly useful stuff,” Jack said, his back going rigid. “And just because something is old doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work or isn’t useful. Everything doesn’t have to be new and expensive to be good. Besides, some of us don’t make a gazillion dollars a year playing professional hockey so we try to make good use of the stuff we have.”

  Owen chuckled. “All right, simmer down. Save all you want. I don’t have to live with you. And for the record, I make two gazillion dollars a year.” He winked at Murphy. “I’m just teasing. It’s more like a gazillion and a half.”

  She laughed, knowing full well that he and Bane did more than fine in the NHL. They were two of the stars of the Colorado Summit—both defensemen that had culled the nickname The Brawling Bannisters.

  “I don’t think I have the time or the energy to go through all of that stuff,” she said. “But you’re welcome to look through any of it, Jack, and see if you can find anything worth keeping. I trust your judgement.”

  She could tell something about the conversation was setting Jack on edge. His jaw was tight, and his mouth formed a thin line. She had a feeling this wasn’t the first time that he’d been given a hard time about his saving. But he’d always taken his brother’s teasing in stride. Why was he letting it bother him now?

  Jack narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Hey, where’s Gabby today?”

  “She’s at a cupcake convention this weekend,” Owen said with a chuckle. “Who even knew they had such a thing?”

  “Who’s Gabby?” she asked.

  “Gabby is Owen’s girlfriend,” Jack told her. He emphasized the world ‘girlfriend’ as if that somehow made a difference to her.

  “She’s great,” Owen told her. “You’re gonna love her. She’s tough, like you. But also one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I’ll bring her by to meet you next time we’re over at Mom and Dad’s house.”

  “That would be great. I’d like to meet the woman who finally won over the elusive Owen Bannister,” she teased.

  “Ah, don’t believe all that crap you read in the papers. They just make up stuff they think people want to hear.”

  Jack stood. “Well, I know I, for one, could talk about Owen’s love life all day, but we should really get back to work.”

  Barb pushed up from the floor. “Jack’s right. I’ll get all of this cleaned up while you all get back to hauling and painting.”

  “Good idea,” Jack said. He walked into the kitchen, tossing his paper plate into the trash as he went. He grabbed one end of the last cabinet that they had pulled off the wall. “Nate, grab the other end of this cabinet, and we’ll take it out to the garage,” he told his brother.

  Owen had followed him in and took hold of the other side. “It’s okay, I’ve got it.” He picked it up by himself and carried it toward the garage. “Why don’t you bring those drawers? Murphy, wanna grab that door?”

  Jack’s shoulders slumped as he picked up the drawers, but she didn’t have time to say anything as she hurried to hold open the door leading out into the garage.

  “Holy crap. You weren’t kidding,” Owen said. “Your gramps saved a lot of stuff.”

  “I told you.”

  “All right, Jack. I admit it,” he said, as he set the cabinet on the floor. “You don’t save this much stuff.”

  “Nobody saves this much,” she said.

  “Jack’s a pretty serious saver. But that’s why he’s so good at his job, and why we all have him taking care of our finances. He might have saved all of his GI Joes from when we
were kids, but he’s also really good at saving money.”

  “Oh geez, it’s always about the GI Joes,” Jack muttered. “I keep telling you, they’re going to be worth something someday. And it’s not like I’m saving them to play with them, they’re collectibles.”

  “I know. I know. It’s all right, Nerdster. I’m sure someday you’ll prove me wrong.” Owen glanced around the garage and let out a low whistle as he saw the shiny Harley Davidson motorcycle in the corner. “Nice bike. I don’t remember your grandpa riding that.”

  Murphy chuckled. “No, that one’s mine, but I think Gramps would approve. It’s the Street Glide, and I love it. I just got it a few months ago.”

  Owen nodded. “I always did take you for a wild girl. It makes sense that you’d have a motorcycle, and a middleweight bike, too. You take it on the road much?”

  “Not as much as I’d like to. I took it for a short road trip along the coast when I first got it, but I was hoping to do more riding this summer. Maybe I can talk Jack into going on a ride with me. What do you think?” She turned to Jack, hoping to see him smile.

  But she didn’t see him at all. He’d walked out of the garage, letting the door shut softly behind him.

  Chapter Four

  Jack yanked the laces of his sneakers tight as he prepared for his morning run. It was the next day, still early, and he’d hoped to get in his run, then get a few hours of work in before he went back over to Murphy’s.

  She had practice this morning. With so many of the team still holding down part-time jobs, Sunday was one of the best days for the whole team to get on the ice together.

  They’d all stayed late at Murphy’s the night before, and with the extra hands, they got a lot of work done. Between his dad and Owen’s muscles, and the willingness of the rest of them to take orders, they’d accomplished much more than he’d expected.

  The kitchen cabinets had been taken down, and they’d torn out the counters and prepped the walls for the new ones to be installed. His dad had cut out a portion of the wall to open up the kitchen to the living room and prepared it for the new countertop that would turn it into a kitchen island. All of the carpeting had been removed, and they’d plastered and filled the holes and mars in the sheetrock.