Insert Cheesy Love Title About Mr. Johnny Toews

The beginning of November came and my birthday was coming around. I never liked making a big deal about my birthday and especially this year I wanted to keep it under wraps.

So, that Tuesday, the day of my birthday, I tried to sleep in as late as possible as to wait for my brother and Kris to high tail it to practice.

Once I heard the front door close, I jumped into the shower and then proceeded to clean the house. Tuesdays and Saturdays were my cleaning days and usually on those days I’d go visit the boys, but I wasn’t risking it. I just wanted a normal day. No presents, no excitement, no nothing.

Around one, Andrew called. “Where are you Tess? The boys are wondering why you aren’t here. Seabs is feeling pretty hurt. He apparently had this great prank for Sharpie and you’re not here to help with it.”

I was surprised. I knew my brother and I knew the Hawks. They knew my birthday was today because Kris wrote it on the team calendar. “Um, sorry. I got lost in the cleaning.”

“Well drop it all and come on down. Some of us are going out to lunch and we’ve got nothing in the fridge. Actually, we’ll come pick you up. It’s going to be quick though. We’ve got to be back for the game tonight.”

I sighed silently in relief. They had forgotten my birthday. Thank God. “Okay, sounds good.”

Half an hour later, the car pulled up with five players already smashed into the car. And where was I supposed to fit?

“Hi Kris, Andrew, Seabs, Sharpie, and Kaner. Where am I supposed to go?” I asked the crew of dumb hockey players.

“You’ll sit on Kaner,” Sharp said and opened the door for me to climb over two other players to get to Kaner.

“Um, am I too heavy?” I asked Kaner, self consciously, shifting, trying to make the ride comfortable for him.

“Tess, I don’t even think you weight 110 pounds.”

“I weigh 111 pounds actually,” I told him as Andrew drove towards the restaurant.

“Okay, before we go eat, we’ve got one stop to make, okay everyone?” Andrew said, making a left and more into the city.

He parked in a parking garage after finding no spots on the street. Everyone piled out of the car and looked at Andrew. “Hey Tess, will you grab Johnny Two Toews? He can’t find us. He’s downstairs and two doors down on the left.”

I shrugged. “Sure thing.” Honestly, I was more than happy to find Johnny. Ever since the breakfast we ate last week, we haven’t seen each other and I really did miss him.

I skipped down to the first level and looked to the left and sure enough I found Jonathan Toews, incognito two doors down. He waved me over and I wandered over to where he was standing.

“Everyone’s looking for you,” I told him.

“They all know where I am,” he said.

“Then why’d I come down to get you?” I placed a hand on my hip, trying not to be sassy, but I failed.

He laughed and looked around, a common habit of his. “I asked Laddie to bring you here for a reason.”

My heart sped up just a little. What was he going to say? “Why’s that?”

He looked into the shop and my eyes followed, only the shop was actually an empty room.

“Do you remember when you told me you had a dream of owning a boutique?” he asked.

I nodded slowly, my brain trying to figure out where he was going with all of this. “Yes.”

He turned back to me and smiled. “Happy Birthday Tessa,” he said and nodded towards the empty retail space.

My mouth dropped as I stared at the Captain for a moment, speechless. “What?” I asked him.

“This store is for you,” he said. “I already paid off the rent for three months and if you do like it here we can most definitely make it more permanent.”

“Jonathan,” I used his full name. “I. . .I can’t accept this from you. I mean, this is just wow,” I gaped.

He smiled nervously, and stared at his feet for a second or two. “I want you to build up your dream again. That jerk had no right to deprive you of your happiness and you deserve to be happy.”

“Deserve is a strong word,” I said carefully.

He shrugged. “There are a lot of strong words out there, like hate and love. But you truly deserve to be happy and I hope this will help.”

I threw my arms around the tall player and I could tell he was surprised because it took a minute before his arms wrapped around me. “Thank you Mr. Johnny Toews. Thank you so much.”

“Of course Tessa,” he whispered into my ear. “Like I said, you deserve to be happy.”

We walked back to where the boys were waiting and once they saw my big grins, they were laughing and talking all at once.

“Okay, lunch and then game. Tessa, you’re coming,” Kris ordered, not really giving me a chance. “And afterwards, we will go back to our house to celebrate.”

And for the first time in years, I was happy to have my birthday and to actually celebrate it. Maybe it was because I was being given a second chance at my dream, or maybe it was because I was with people that actually cared about me. Either way, I was pretty happy.