Not even noon, and two celebrities had already walked through the door of Noel Verden’s little patchwork emporium. First came country music superstar Jack Beauford—who maybe shouldn’t have been such a surprise since his ancestral home, Beauford Bend Plantation, was located nearby. He’d come with Noel’s friend, Emory Lowell, to bring a quilt that Noel needed to make a pattern from. But if Jack Beauford’s appearance had surprised Noel, seeing Nickolai Glazov, who played center for the Nashville Sound, walk into her shop had practically sent her into outer space. True, a hockey player—even one of Nickolai’s caliber—wasn’t as recognizable to the world at large as Jack Beauford, but Noel wasn’t the world at large. She loved hockey—and the Sound in particular—the way other Southern women loved football. Much as hockey had been late in coming to the South, Noel had been late in becoming a fan, and there was still a lot she didn’t understand about the game. But, merciful heavens, she loved the chaos, the fast pace, the noise, and—if she were going to be honest—the fights.
