On the Ice (Stick Side, #1)

by Amy Aislin

“You know, Judd,” Grandpa Forest said, “you might not have made it past midget hockey, but Alex, he’s got the heart of a hockey player. He’ll make it big one day, you’ll see.” Alex’s breath faltered and the wetness behind his eyes appeared instantly. Three years ago, he and Grandpa Forest had sat on the outdoor patio of a tiny café in Montpelier at the beginning of Alex’s senior year. It was the day Grandpa Forest had told Alex how bad his Alzheimer’s was getting, although he hadn’t stopped recognizing Alex until almost a year later. He’d never gotten to see Alex play in the NHL. “Alex, my boy,” Grandpa Forest had said on that late summer morning, the sun reflecting off his bald head, “this disease, it’s going to kill a part of me, a part of me I fear might include you.” He’d clasped one of Alex’s hands in both of his aged ones. “I want you to know that no matter what you decide to do with your life, if you choose horse ranching, or dentistry, or teaching, or something else entirely instead of hockey, know that I will always be proud of you. Keep being the generous and kind person I know you are and you’ll go places, my boy.” Grandpa Forest would be ashamed of Alex for what he’d said to Mitch yesterday. Turning his face away, Alex discreetly knuckled the tears out of his eyes, his heart aching for that lost part of Grandpa Forest that had taken Alex with it. “Judd!” Alex jolted at the shout and shot out of his seat. “What? What’s wrong? Do you need the nurse?” “Your arm’s ...