In the quiet of the night, she allowed herself to hope. Hope that she and Liam could navigate this uncharted territory, that their secret wouldn’t shatter the fragile peace they’d built in the house.
It was a risk, a leap of faith. But as Sunny drifted off to sleep, she realized it was a risk she was willing to take. She was more sure of herself now. More sure of her decision. For the sake of two little girls who had stolen her heart. And for the unexpected connection with a man who, against all odds, had found a way to live again, not just exist.
Duty, secrets and love now twined together like vines in the Anderson house.
Liam
“Pleeeeease daddy! We wanna see you play. You promised!”
Liam grimaced as Maddie and Hailey launched into another round of shouts, pleading looks and jutting lower lips. His daughters had been lobbying relentlessly for him to take them to team practice ever since catching a recap of the latest Kansas City Coyotes game on ESPN.
“The school holidays are almost over now and you promised,” chorused Maddie. “You won’t let us go on school days. So this is our last chance.”
“I don’t know, munchkins…” he hedged, scrubbing a hand through his hair in his customary gesture when he was unsure of himself.
The thought of his sweet little girls being exposed to the rink’s notoriously raucous atmosphere made Liam uncomfortable. His teammates could be a rough, crude bunch — especially after the heightened adrenaline and aggression of an intense practice session. Yet a promise was a promise. He did say that he would take them at some point during the school break.
From the kitchen doorway, Sunny sent him a sympathetic yet encouraging look over Hailey’s blonde crown.
“Why not let them watch their dad in action?” she cajoled. “I can be there to keep an eye on them the whole time. It would be really good for the girls to see you in your element.”
Liam’s gut tightened at her words. His “element”. He felt he was a long way from that status. But he forced a thin smile, not wanting to taint his girls’ excitement by voicing the creeping self-doubts about his abilities on the ice.
“Pretty pleeeeease, Daddy!” Maddie pleaded, snapping his attention back as she and Hailey aimed their patented puppy-dog stares at him in unison.
Liam felt his resolve crumbling at their wide, hopeful eyes.
“Yeah, okay then,” he acquiesced, roughly. “If you two little monsters promise to be on your best behavior, I’ll bring you along today.”
The gleeful squeals that erupted had Liam’s lips ticking up in a genuine grin, momentarily buoying his mood with their infectious exuberance. He shot Sunny a look of rueful gratitude over their bobbing curls. Beneath her light demeanor, he could sense her intuitive instruction — that he needed his girls to witness this side of his life to forge a stronger connection, even if he harbored deep-seated apprehensions. As usual, Sunny had a wisdom that belied her years.
***
Suited up in his sweats and skate guards, Liam led his small entourage into the rink’s cavernous interior. The familiar sights, smells and cacophony of macho shouts instantly flooded his senses with a punch of adrenaline and nostalgia. How he missed the thrum of anticipation that used to seize him before every practice session and game. The pure, feral need to obliterate anything in his path once he hit the ice.
These days the feeling was more hollow and guarded, thanks to the aches and niggles that plagued his body. Each grimacing stretch and labored lap around the rink was just another small reminder ofhis dwindling days in the top league.
Still, that inextinguishable flicker of competitive fire sparked to life when Liam’s gaze landed on the burly, strutting form of Alex Pasternak. The cocky forward took any opportunity to mock Liam’s “old man” techniques and declining stats.
Gritting his teeth, Liam tried to ignore the stares and snide remarks as he led Maddie and Hailey over to the rink wall’s safety gate. The girls were practically vibrating with glee as Sunny leaned down to speak softly in their ears, explaining the importance of them listening to her and not distracting their daddy during his “very important practice”.
Satisfied that they were out of harm’s way, Liam glided to the center of the rink.
“Aren’t you a little too old to be bringing your new baby mama along?”
Alex’s sneering taunt, accompanied by a crude gesture toward Sunny’s backside as she settled the girls on their seats, had Liam whirling with an inarticulate snarl already rumbling from his chest.
Alex had just crossed the line. While Liam was used to the ‘old man’ taunts and, generally, took them in good humor, making insinuations about his private life was overstepping the mark. The team had been supportive following Kate’s sudden death, but Pasternak didn’t seem to have a shred of common decency about him.
Before Liam could advance, however, Coach Hendricks’ whistle pierced the rising tension with an eardrum-rupturing blast.
“Save it for the ice, ladies,” he growled in that permanently gruff rasp of his. “We’ve got an hour of conditioning ahead so quit flappin’ those dick-lickers and get your pretty asses movin’!”
As much as Liam’s hackles instinctively rose at the coach’s typical crass vernacular, the welcome reprieve from Alex’s antagonism had him gritting his teeth and falling into line. With one last flickeredglance at Sunny, who nodded reassuringly, he double-checked that Maddie and Hailey were safely behind the protective tempered glass before immersing himself in the punishing routine.
For the next sixty minutes, Liam endured the taxing stretches, weighted strength sets and grueling bouts of laps that had become the mainstay of his training routine season after season. Sweat soaked his top, every tendon and joint screaming in protest by the final scrimmage portion as he fought to keep pace with the younger, sleeker bodies that whizzed and buzzed around him.
“Looking a little rusty out there, gramps!” Alex taunted, purposely crosschecking Liam into the boards mid-deke with enough force to steal his breath. “Can’t see you keeping up with that fine piece of ass you got out there.” He cast a leery glance at Sunny. “Perhaps a substitution is in order.”
