Ryan pulled on his shirt. “It’s like trying to herd cats. Half of them think they’re already making the World Juniors, and the other half don’t know how to skate backward without making permanent ass prints. Boyd’s been spending more time chasing loose pucks than coaching.”
Brett grinned. “Better than Gary teaching them how to tie their skates.”
_____
At the end of week one, Ryan dropped Amaya off with Laura and Russ, then drove home and dropped his hockey bag just inside the door. He made a fat roast beef sandwich, ate an ice cream sandwich from the freezer, then tossed his dishes in the sink and trudged to his bedroom. It was barely a ten-second walk, but it felt like a marathon. He flopped onto his mattress, not bothering to change, and was asleep before he could pull the covers over his shoulders.
The weekend passed in a blur, and week two of hockey camp sped by faster than the first. The kids enrolled were a bit more experienced, plus he had Amaya and Bailey in his group. Every day around five forty-five, his eyes started drifting up to the stands. It only took him a few seconds to find Aelin. She tended to sit in the same spot on the south side of the rink.
“Always have an influx of energy in those last twenty minutes or so, eh, bud?” Tyler grinned as he passed him on the way to his truck. “Enjoy your week of vacay.”
Ryan tried to flip him off without Amaya seeing and failed.
“Dad! You said?—”
“I know what I said. This was a special circumstance.”
When his alarm went off Sunday morning, he was pretty sure he hadn’t even moved during the night. He groaned and reached over to his nightstand to shut the damn thing off. Any chance of him snoozing disappeared when he realized what day it was. A thump from the other room told him Amaya remembered, too.
He pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, shoved a toothbrush and paste into his kit, then grabbed his pillow to add to the pile of their gear already sitting by the front door.
“We’re going to a real lake!” Amaya bounded down the hall, her hair brushed and . . . was she wearing make-up?
Ryan frowned and walked closer. “What’s on your eyes?”
Amaya pursed her lips. “It’s eye shadow.”
“Where the hell did you get that?”
She scoffed. “Aelin got it for Bailey, and Bailey shared.”
Ryan ground his teeth as Amaya ran back down the hall to grab her backpack. When she reappeared, Ryan went through the checklist. “You have five changes of clothes, pajamas, and underwear.” She nodded. “Toiletries.”
“Yep.”
“Entertainment for the car?”
Amaya pointed at her bag. “Books, pencils, crayons, paper, my tablet.”
Ryan nodded. “Snacks?”
“Check.” She pointed at a grocery sack by the door. “Ooh.” She ran back into her room and returned holding her pillow and a stuffy she got the previous year for Christmas from his parents. It reminded him he hadn’t called them in a few weeks.Add it to the list.
The streets were quiet as they drove to Aelin’s, the sun already well over the horizon at eight a.m. When he turned onto her street, it was like a scene from a painting. The trees lining the road were a collage of greens, the summer leaves lush andvibrant. The morning dew clung to the grass, sparkling like a thousand tiny diamonds.
And there, on her front porch, was Aelin, sipping from a steaming travel mug and looking like she belonged front and centre in that masterpiece. When she spotted his car, she got up, and Ryan wished for a moment he would have stalled a little longer at the end of the block.
He parked, got out of the car, and walked up the path to help carry their luggage. “Morning.”
"Hey." Aelin gave him a tired smile and hoisted a laundry basket with sand toys, swim gear, sunscreen, and two life jackets.
“Was I supposed to?—”
“No.” Aelin shook her head. “Leo has plenty of adult jackets, my sister just asked me to bring a couple for the girls.”
He nodded, still uncomfortable with the fact that she may have purchased an extra jacket for Amaya. He grabbed the handle of her suitcase.
“You got the notarized letter okay?” He assumed she’d gotten permission to take Bailey over the border since she hadn’t cancelled the trip, but after receiving one text from her reminding him to get it signed, he hadn’t heard another thing about it.
