was genuinely thrilled about your success with the barcade, she also seemed concerned you weren’t working on your own house.”
“Good lord, Dallas. Does she constantly meddle?” Liddy asked.
“Yes. And no. What mam conveniently forgets? I’ve told her exactly why I can’t live in that house.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s haunted.” Dallas held up her hand. “Normally that shit doesn’t bother me. I’ve been dealing with ghosts since I was like three years old and she knows that. But this ghost? He loves to play dead—in a manner of speaking—meaning, he loves to prank me. He pranked me so well that I bought the damn house because I believed it was spirit-free. Smarmy fucker had just been lying in wait until I showed up alone. Then he pulled the typical ghost tricks . . .”
Never in my life would I have thought I’d have to keep a straight face when a friend mentioned typical ghost tricks.
“He had a serious chuckle-fest about the fact he actually scared me.” She growled. “No wannabe clown magician gets to make me scream in fright in my own damn house. So now, whenever I’ve had a bad day? I go into the house and shriek out all my frustrations. Then I leave. It’s been therapeutic.”
This girls’ night was therapeutic for me.
I’d been fretting since I’d heard back from Wolf Sports North. They’d loved my game calling submissions and had scheduled an interview for the end of next week. Yes, it was thrilling to make it to the third round. But I was leaving tomorrow for an out-of-town hockey clinic and wouldn’t return until Sunday night. Luckily, Liddy had promised she’d help me get into “tip-top” shape for the in-person interview, so I gave in to the pleasant tequila buzz and becoming invested in someone else’s dramas.
“As far as Mom meddling in Ash’s life?” Dallas said. “All he would have to do is tell Mom to quit nagging him. Personally, I think he should take a page out of Nolan’s playbook.”
My stomach jumped at the mention of his name.
“For years, Nolan had a different woman on his arm every time we saw him.”
Nolan’s issues with being called Trollin’ Nolan . . . I hoped Dallas wasn’t about to get snide about it because then I’d have to defend him.
“Anyway, when Nolan stopped being that guy, that’s when Ash should’ve taken up the mantle. Instead Ash’s got Mom convinced he’s secretly nursing a broken heart. And I worry . . .” Dallas stopped. “Never mind. I shouldn’t be sharing Lund family gossip.”
“You know anything you tell us doesn’t leave this room, Dallas,” Liddy assured her.
Dallas drained her drink and poured herself more. “I’ve never said this to anyone. Not to members of my family. Not to any of my friends.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it. For Liddy this was juicy gossip—not that she’d repeat it—but for me . . . it was a trickier situation since I worked for Jax. I didn’t need to hear the Lund family intimacies they’d be unhappy a member of their own family had shared with acquaintances.
As I debated on pulling a Cowardly Lion and sneaking off to the loo, Dallas spoke.
“Ash is avoiding relationships because of my broken heart, not his. A few years ago I met Sasha Igorsky, a Russian hockey player, and we fell in love. He had to return home to Russia for a funeral and no one ever heard from him again—including the NHL. After a few weeks, I hired investigators to track him down, if only to reassure myself he was fine, freed from the gypsy curse and living his best life. But there’s no trace of him. It’s like he ceased to exist.”
Liddy and I exchanged a look. Gypsy curse? Then she said, “You think your brother might’ve done something to make him disappear?”
Dallas seemed shocked. “God no. I suspect Ash might’ve secretly given him money to help him out of a weird international immigration legal issue because he knew Sasha was important to me. When that failed . . . Ash felt like he’d failed me. Then Ash avoided me for months afterward. And when I did see him, guilt lit up his aura like a neon sign. Although he’s never admitted it to me, I know he refuses to let himself be happy until I am. Everyone in my family already thinks I’m flighty and overdramatic. If Mom finds out why Ash is on self-imposed exile into the dating dead zone? She’d freak out