Frozen Play Bonus Scene

Skye

I adjusted the plastic tablecloth on the picnic table, making sure the clips holding it down were straight. I might have insisted we not fancy up this barbeque, but everything was going to be perfect. The plates (paper because there weren’t enough real ones in the cottage but the good paper ones), napkins and condiments were on the table. Christine, my sister-in-law, was inside finishing up her strawberry shortcake. We had potato salad and macaroni salad in the fridge, and a tray of chopped veggies and dips ready to go. The cooler at the end of the table was full of beer, wine coolers, water, and juice for my nephew.

A squeal, followed by a splash proved Rowan and his dad, my brother Riley were playing jump off the dock. It kept Rowan out of trouble and should tired him out enough that the meal would go smoothly. Rowan was prone to making drama.

At the grill, my other brother Oscar, and my boyfriend, Phin were studying their work like it was game tape from the Stanley Cup finals. Phin played hockey, and I swear, he’d had that same look on his face.

A sound jerked my head the other direction, and I saw the glint of sun on metal, and then the car.

“They’re here!” I yelled.

A black Jaguar bumped its way down the gravel driveway. Of course. What else would you drive for a barbeque?

Phin left Oscar at the barbeque and joined me. I heard Riley coaxing Rowan out of the water, and crossed my fingers that everything would go well. This mattered to Phin.

The car pulled to a stop, and his father, brother and stepmother got out of the car. Quin and Mr. Collins were in short sleeved shirts and shorts, and Lina was wearing a sun dress with a hat. But where the rest of us had well worn and casual shorts, the three of them were in expensive, new looking clothing. almost pristine.

A petty part of me liked seeing creases in Quin’s linen outfit. He had cut off all contact years ago, and I wasn’t over that.

Phin stepped forward, hand holding mine. “Dad, Quin, Lina – thanks for coming.”

“So this is the property you bought?” Mr. Collins asked.

“We’ve only had it for a couple of weeks, but we’ve got big plans.”

Quin muttered “I’m sure you do.” I glared at him.

“I’ll show you around. I don’t know if you remember Oscar and Riley?”

My brothers stood just behind us, side by side, arms crossed. Mr. Collins smiled at them. “You’ve grown up a lot.”

“It’s been a while.” Riley said. I noticed he didn’t say it was a pleasure, and Oscar didn’t say anything. His gaze was on Quin, who shifted his feet uncomfortably.

“That’s Riley’s son, Rowan—” The slam of the screen door turned out attention that way. “And this is Christine, his wife.”

“Nice to meet you.” Again, Mr. Collins was the one keeping things polite.

The tensions was almost visible between the two groups. I have Phin a nudge. “You go ahead and show them the place. We’ll get the meal ready.” And keep Oscar away from Quin. The way Oscar was glaring was kind of disturbing.

Phin let go of my hand and headed to the dock with the three guests. I stopped by the grill. “Don’t let Oscar have a knife.” I muttered to Riley.

“I don’t need a knife.” Oscar retorted.

“Remember this is important to Phin.” I looked around. “And we want happy memories here.”

“Shouldn’t have invited them then.” Oscar held up his hands. “I’ll behave. Well, I’ll try.”

I left my brothers to the chicken and ribs they were cooking, and went inside to help Chris bring out the rest of the food.

“If we can just get this too the table without anything spilling…”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I appreciate you doing this. When his family reached out, Phin was so happy.”

“I don’t know why. They aren’t nice people.”

“Mr. Collins used to be, and Quin was our friend, before.”

The salads had lids on them, the vegetables wrapped in plastic, so we got everything to the table without any disasters. Christine made sure the table was just so, serving utensils for every dish, enough cutlery, and a booster seat strapped down for Rowan.

Chris looked over at her husband. “Ri, where’s Rowan?”

He blinked up from the barbeque. “I thought he was with you?”

“Shit.” Christine said. “I’ll check the house—”

Just then we heard a splash.

Phin

Things were awkward, and I wished I knew how to make that go away. Dad and Lina and Quin were here, which was something I’d never thought would happen. And the Duvalls had invited them, which was a big deal, after what my family had done to them. But there was still a lot of history to overcome, and it might be too much.

The Duvalls had accepted me, forgiven me for my selfish actions back when I was a teen, and made me part of their family. But part of me still wanted my blood family to do the same. This could be my last chance, and those nerves weren’t helping.

We’d gone around to the front of the cottage. It was one story, but larger than the cottage we’d had growing up. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor, all the rooms larger and with more modern plumbing than the old place. The kitchen was large enough to eat in, but there was also a big room with a fireplace that had a lounging area, and a larger table for bigger groups. Right now Riley and Christine were sharing a bedroom with Rowan, but I had plans they didn’t know about.

Skye and Chris were out of the kitchen when walked through, stepping out the back and down to the water.

“It’s a large lot – over to those rocks there. The lake is smaller than where you guys are, but we have more waterfront.”

They hadn’t said much. Did they think it too rustic? Not for me. This was comfortable. This was home.

“How did you manage to find this place? Real estate out here is hard to find, and pricey.”

Was Quin worried about my finances? He didn’t need to be.

“The owner hadn’t listed it. His family had moved away, and it was too much for him, but he didn’t want it to become part of a resort, or torn down and…” I stopped, because tearing down an old place and building a showstopper was what Lina had done with the cottages we and the Duvalls had owned all those years ago.

“You’re not replacing it?”

I shook my head. “I want to put a master suite on a second floor, but it won’t be the whole footprint, and I won’t change the main floor. I’ll up the insulation, fix the drive—” I heard a mutter behind me and figured it was Quin. It was his Jag that had been bumping over the ruts in the current driveway.

“What else?” Dad asked, keeping the peace.

“I’ll build out the dock a bit and put up a boat house. The Duvalls don’t know this yet, but I’m going to build a couple of smaller cottages, guest houses, so Riley and Oscar each have their own place.”

“What the hell?” Quin wasn’t muttering now.

I faced my brother. “I want them to have what they used to have, before they lost their place.”

Quin’s face flushed with anger, and Lina had gone stiff. This was the wedge between our families – that Lina had forced Mr. Duvall to sell. Quin opened his mouth to say something, I didn’t know what, when a splash near us sounded.

We all looked at the lake. Rowan’s head popped up, so I thought his parents would get him out. But then he disappeared, and didn’t come back up.

Everyone ran to the dock, but Quin and I were the closest. I dove in, desperately searching for the kid I already loved. I didn’t see him under the surface, but I saw Quin’s white linen shirt at the edge of my field of view.

When my lungs started to burn, I pushed to the surface. Dad, Lina and Skye were on the dock, looking for signs of Rowan. Riley and Oscar must be underwater. I pulled in a long breath, ready to dive, when Quin popped up, holding the toddler.

Chris screamed and jumped in, hands reaching for her son. Quin swam to her, Rowan limp in his arms. Riley and Oscar’s heads popped up, and we headed for shore.

I’d forgotten that Quin used to lifeguard, back when Lina’s big place was being built and there was nowhere to go out of the city. He soon had Rowan coughing up the water in his lungs. We’d all been frozen, watching him work, and now we came back to life.

Oscar ran for the BBQ which was smoking. Skye wrapped herself around me.

“There’s a doctor in a cottage not far from here.” Lina already had her phone out, scrolling through her contacts.

“We couldn’t—”

Lina shook her head. “He should see a doctor, and the emergency rooms will be full on the holiday weekend. She knows me, and will take the time to make sure he’s good.”

Her phone pinged. “Quin, you drive.”

In minutes, Riley and Chris had climbed into the back of the Jaguar with Rowan, Lina in the passenger seat and Quin driving.

For the first time in years, I was with my dad without Lina.

“Oscar, help me deal with the food.”

Oscar started to open his mouth, but Skye gave a head shake, and the two of them loaded their arms with food and headed to the cottage.

Dad turned to me. “Can we talk?”

I’d been wanting to talk to him, just the two of us, for years. I nodded.

We ended up by the water, far enough from the cottage to not be overheard.

“Lina told me to tell you this, years ago, but I was too ashamed.”

My first response was anger, that Lina had to instigate this, but the last phrase captured my attention.

“What?”

He sighed. “I was going to sell the cottage.”

What the hell?

“Before I met Lina. I hadn’t been handling our finances well. The house was mortgaged, and so was the cottage. I couldn’t cover the payments.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was covering your hockey expenses.”

I sucked in a breath.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you . I didn’t want you to feel guilty. I was juggling till you were drafted. I figured you’d be playing, and could help pay things off.”

I would have, for sure.

“I’d just listed the cottage. I didn’t know how to tell you and Quin. He was already upset because I’d told him I couldn’t keep paying for his hockey – you were so much better than he was. I couldn’t afford his as well.”

Fuck. No wonder he was pissed with me.

“I went to a bar, and got drunk. That’s when I met Lina.”

I knew they’d met at a bar, but not this background.

“This gorgeous woman comes and sits beside me, and I end up crying in my whiskey, spilling out all my problems to her.” He glanced over at me and the corner of his mouth tugged up. “She promised she could help. And she did.”

I had no idea what to say. I’d resented her. She was forceful and rode roughshod over anyone but her inner circle, but maybe that had been more of a help for me and my family than I’d realized.

Dad was looking over the lake again.

“She got a loan for me, with no payments for a year, and absurdly low interest. We started dating, and it felt wrong, so I gave her the deed to the cottage. She said she’d only take it if I married her so it was still our family place.”

“I…” I shrugged. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t want you to know how badly I’d messed up. And despite how things started, what I feel for her isn’t about money. So I just hoped things would work out.”

They hadn’t. I’d escaped into hockey. Quin was close to Dad and Lina, and I was on the outside, and didn’t want to be part of their world.

Dad looked back at me. “I didn’t know she’d pressured the Duvalls out of their property, but that’s how she is. She’d do anything for her people, but those outside of her inner circle don’t matter to her. She’s trying, but…”

She’d come here, knowing how Skye’s family felt about her, because she wanted to bridge the gap. I didn’t know if she’d planned for Dad and I to talk, or if Rowan’s accident had made it happen, but it felt like there was a possibility to build a bridge between my families.

“Thanks for telling me.”

“I don’t want you to feel responsible. I was the adult back then, and I made the poor choices I did. But Lina has been one of the best things in my life. I just don’t want to lose you.”

My dad wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t the strong figure I’d imagined him to be when I was a kid. But Lina wasn’t the monster I’d thought. Maybe there was a way forward.

Skye stepped out the back of the cottage, and looked towards us, a questioning expression on her face. I smiled at her, letting her know I was good.

“Come on and properly meet Skye as my girlfriend. Riley and Chris are going to feel positive about the three of you after this thing with Rowan, but we should probably keep Oscar and Quin apart.”

The chicken might be burnt, the salad’s warm. Rowan would bounce back, because that was the kind of kid he was. And maybe, we could find a way to get along.