chapter one ;

June 2009
I'm gunna kick off my shoes and run in bare feet, where the grass, the dirt, and the gravel all meet. Gunna go back to the well, and visit old friends, and feed my soul where the blacktop ends
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My brother was Duncan Keith, the star defencemen for Chicago Blackhawks, and he was coming home today. We still lived in the same house in Kelowna, British Columbia since I was born. He was going to be 26 in two weeks, I just had my 22nd birthday last month. Despite his team coming up short in the western conference final, he made me proud. He always did.

"Ally!"

He dropped his bag at the door and tackled me, causing me to giggle. He always did this when we were younger, and it never changed. I missed him, but I was lucky that the hawks played the Canucks in the playoffs, so I got to see him play three times in Vancouver last month, and twice during the regular season.

"I missed you, how are you?" he asked.

"Just working," I groaned thinking of my job. I was a personal trainer, and a yoga instructor. It was only until I could afford to move to Chicago though.

Duncan always told me he would pay for me to move down there, but that just wasn't the way I was brought up. I told him I would do it myself. I was also attending Simon Fraser University to finish my athletic medic degree. Of course, I was done for the summer. I only had a year left, then I was off to Chicago for good.

"Well, I hope you don't work tonight, cause I'm having people over."

I raised my eyebrow, "who?"

"Some guys from the team. They wanted to see our place, so be nice."

"Aren't I always?"

He threw his head back in a laugh, "not entirely. Now c'mon squirt, take me the store. We need to get food, and of course, booze"

He walked back outside into the warm summer wind. I rolled my eyes, not even home five minutes and he's out the door already. That was typical of him, I guess. I fetched my keys off the counter and headed out, not knowing what was in store for me tonight.