“Mom,” he groaned, ducking away and smoothing over his unruly hair likeIhad been responsible for messing it up instead of all the running, bouncing, and spinning he’d done after we’d brushed it this morning. “It’s nothing. I told you. I just want to ask him for pointers. Mason isn’t backing me up the way he should be on the ice. He’s too slow, but Coach Gage keeps putting him on left wing anyway and we’re not going to win if he can’t keep up.”
“Winning isn’t everything, baby,” I reminded him gently as we walked into the bright sunshine on the sidewalk. I slipped my sunglasses on and unlocked the car. “Mason is your friend and he’s still learning, too. That’s why you’re all there. To learn.”
Brody shook his head, bouncing in his seat the entire drive over to the rink. “After practice, can we go to the driving range?”
I glanced at him in the rearview. “I was thinking maybe we could go to a museum, or maybe the library.”
He groaned. “Mom, that’s boring.”
“It’s educational.”
“So is golf,” he shot back, dead serious.
I smiled, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes. Brody was still small enough that his feet were only just above the floor of the car instead of touching, but as the days went by, it was like Icould feel him slipping further away from the little boy who used to cling to me in grocery stores.
Now, he wanted slap shots and tee-offs, not story hours and art projects, and the truth was that I wasn’t sure I could give him everything he needed to grow into the man he was meant to be. That was a big part of the reason I’d answered that silly ad.
It hadn’t been for romance but for security. I’d been hoping to meet someone who could fill in the spaces in Brody’s life that I couldn’t quite reach.
“Let’s decide once you’re finished up here,” I said as I parked. Then I followed him into the ice rink and crouched down to help him tug the laces of his skates nice and tight once he had them on. I looked up, meeting his gaze and ignoring the echoes of laughter and shouting from the other kids in the rink. “Listen to your coach. Keep your head up and don’t push anyone, okay?”
He grinned, his gaze already mostly focused on the ice. “Got it. Oh, yes! There’s Coach Gage! See ya, Mom.”
Pumping his fist in the air, he weaved his way through a cluster of kids warming up, bursting through the gate and onto the rink all without a second look at me. I watched him for another beat before I climbed the stands and settled onto a cold metal bench, pulling out a stack of homework I’d brought along to grade.
Halfway through the first worksheet, I heard practice getting underway with the familiar chant Gage had taught the kids, and I looked up, smiling until movement beside Gage caught my eye. Right there next to him was another grownup.
A familiar face. Too familiar.
I froze at the sight of him only a few feet away from Brody, the paper in my lap forgotten. It couldn’t be, but as I leaned forward to get a closer look, I realized that it absolutely was.
The very last person I would have expected to see here today, at myson’shockey practice, was not even just here, he washelping with Brody’s team. That knot in my chest quadrupled in size, my gaze glued to the scene I never thought I’d see.
CHAPTER 7
CALLUM
Ileaned against the boards with my arms crossed, watching the last of the older boys make their way off the ice. Coaching wasn’t my job, but when Gage had mentioned they could use an extra set of hands at the rink, I’d volunteered immediately.
Hell, it’s fun giving these kids a hard time.
Plus, this was hockey in its simplest, purest form. Just a game that gave the kids a healthy outlet for all that energy they had to burn.
“Good hustle today,” I called to the older boys, earning myself a few tired salutes and cocky grins. I remembered when that had been me, and damn, I missed it. I shook my head. The next session was starting soon. This wasn’t the time to reminisce.
Two smaller kids waiting nearby started roughhousing, already shoving each other as they skated toward their coach. I smirked, watching the taller one effortlessly dominating the other.
“Isn’t that the Brody kid?” I asked Gage as I watched them stumble closer, seeing the taller one cut in front of the little one without even seeming to try. “That kid you told me about the other day?”
Beside me, Gage snorted. “Yeah, that’s him. I’ve been talking to the head coach to age him up. He’s ready, bigger, faster, and way more skilled than the other kids in his age group. I honestly think the kids in his team are frustrating the heck out of him, but it’s a non-starter because Brody’s mom won’t allow it.”
“Why not?”
“She’s cautious.” Gage shrugged, then glanced at me. “You might know her, actually. His mom. Maisie Morgan? She went to Cal Poly too. A couple years behind us. She was on the dive team.”
The name hit me like a puck to the chest. “MaisieMorgan?”
“Yeah, I’m sure I remember seeing her with you a time or two. She was that hotshot diver we partied with for a while. She had a full ride. Olympic aspirations. All the talent in the world to make it too, but then she just fell off the map. You have to remember her.”
