“Yes, us.”
“Aunt and uncle.”
“Husband and wife.”
Her pause is long, making me uneasy. This is probably too much too fast.
“I don’t want to make this your issue. But he’s—I don’t yet know the full story, but his mom basically abandoned him and—” I take a deep breath. “And I just need someone to talk to, to help me figure out things.” Admittedly, this is not my most articulate moment, but what are the words for something like this?
She says, “He’s going to need steadiness and two parents.”
“It might be better than one clueless uncle.”
This time, she doesn’t hesitate. “Where would we live?”
My heart thunders against my ribs.
She saidwe.
She didn’t instantly dismiss what I said like I was a raving lunatic.
In the very least, she’s willing to entertain what I’m saying. Actually, she seems surprisingly understanding.
“As for where to live …” I scrub my hand down my face.
“My place makes the most sense since it’s closer to the Ice Palace.”
“Seriously?” I risk asking. Given the way the bakery looked, I imagine it’s probably homier than my rental.
I realize everything she’s said so far indicates she made a decision. About us. Could that be right? She’s not just willing to talk to me about this sudden situation, she’s willing to try.
Whoa. I did not see that coming.
“If you’re okay with that,” I say.
“Let‘s sleep on it. This changes things,” she says softly.
“Yeah,” I agree. “It does.”
Even though I don’t know exactly where Nina stands, talking to her feels like a lifeline. After telling her about Kai and my abrupt change in status, I can breathe again.
After we hang up, I call my father and stepmother in Utah. Dad answers like he’s shouting into a wind tunnel. “Lane! We’ve been waiting to hear from you. Quite the debut you made on the Knights last week!”
“Dad, it’s not?—”
“Sabrina can’t wait to meet her—the Mustangs plan to crush the Knights in a few weeks, so she’ll join me for once.”
The man is larger than life, but he has never let me get close enough to him to talk about things that really matter. I shut my eyes and count to five. “Sure. Yeah, but it’s complicated and just became more so.”
Sabrina’s voice comes through the line with sweet enthusiasm, “From what I saw in that video, you two looked like you belonged together. Sometimes the best things happen when you’re not planning them.”
“If it works out.” And there it is, the exact kind of doubt from my hockey-hardened father. A man who never gave me anything other than ways to improve my game. I stutter because I’m not sure what to say in response.
“But that’s not all.” I tell him about Desi and Kai.
Sabrina must be out of earshot. All my father says is, “Sounds like your sister.”
Well, then.
