When I was ten years old, I had outgrown the ice rink here in the Hollow, so my parents took me to a different program in Portland, where Harrison also played. He’s almost two years older than me, so we only played on the same team every other year growing up.
“It’s good. It was a long drive, but I’m almost home now.”
“When is your shipping pod coming?”
I’m moving back into my childhood home, but it’s been empty for the last few years, except for a few things my parents left behind and my old bedroom furniture. There’s a strangeness of coming back here without them living in the Hollow anymore.
I’ve been dodging my mother’s calls for the last few weeks. It’s not that we have a bad relationship or anything like that. If anything, it’s quite the opposite. It’s been hard for me after telling them about my early retirement. Neither of my parents expressed any disappointment, but I still feel it.
And I can’t help but feel as though I let them down.
“It should be here tomorrow afternoon.”
“I’ll come by tomorrow evening and help you get whatever you need inside,” he says.
I pull into the familiar driveway at the end of town that’s closest to the mountain. “You don’t have to do that. I know you’re probably busy.”
Harrison currently works at a rink as one of the coaches, but I know he’s less than pleased with the politics there.
“I’m off tomorrow. Erin has to work but Liam can always come with me. He’d love to see you and help.”
“Don’t feel obligated, Har. I can get it myself or I’m sure Noah would come by.”
Noah Alder is my best friend from the Hollow. We grew up together and we were inseparable, minus the hockey aspect. He played a bit at the rink in town, but he was never super competitive with it.
Not like I was.
I built my whole damn life around that sport and now here I am, no clue what the hell I’m going to do without it.
“Call Noah if you want, but I’m still coming.”
When I park my truck and kill the engine, I let out a sigh and lift up the phone. “All right, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
I end the call and send my parents a text to let them know I got here safely. I slide my phone into my pocket and don’t move at first. I just stare through the passenger's side window at the house. An unexpected mixture of emotions washes over me. I’m truly happy to be back here. This is where I always imagined I would retire.
I just didn’t know I’d be forced into retirement, instead of choosing it myself.
There’s a soft scratching on one of the plastic carriers in the backseat, which draws my attention from the house and saves me from the potential self-pity spiral I was about to fall into. Mycat peers at me, with her single eye, through the grate on the front of her carrier.
“Sorry, Dr. Grey.” I pull my keys from the ignition and slip out of the truck to grab both the pet carriers, and I look inside the other one at Grey’s sister, Snoop. She’s crouched in the corner, her solo eye wide. “Sorry, Snoop.”
Grey shifts in the carrier and Snoop remains silent as I walk up to the front door and let myself in. The smell of home immediately infiltrates my nostrils as the door swings open, and a sense of peace slips over me. This may not have been how I imagined I’d come back to Sugar Hill, but I think this is exactly what I need and where I need to be.
I set the pet carrier down and open the door for Grey and then the one for Snoop. With all the cautious curiosity of a cat, Grey slowly eases herself onto the hardwood floor and begins her exploration while Snoop doesn’t bother to move.
“Welcome home.”
“Coming through,” Harrison announces as he walks in, carrying one of the chairs into the dining room, forcing me to step aside. Liam follows behind him, hot on his heels, a small lamp in his hands that goes in the living room. A smile drifts across my face as I turn around and watch him, a spitting image of his father as he jogs after him.
Harrison and I kept in touch when we both went to separate colleges to play hockey. He even came out and lived with me for a bit after I got drafted. When Liam was born, I came back as soon as I could, just so I could meet the little guy. And when they asked me to be his godfather, there was no way I would ever say no to that.
“Where do you want this lamp?” Harrison calls out to me from the dining room.
“Liam can just set it on the coffee table for now.”
I head back out through the front door and down to the shipping container. Noah had prior obligations this evening, but Harrison and I managed to get everything ourselves. There are only a few boxes left now. Liam comes running down the steps, jumping over the last three, and hops into the container.
“You’re a great helper, buddy.” I smile at him, ruffling his dirty blonde hair with my hand. “I don’t know if your dad and I would have been able to get all this without you.”
