He’s in his wheelchair with his feet up on the tufted ottoman coffee table in front of him. He’s got a mahogany TV tray next to him that I recognize from my childhood, with a big green smoothie beside him. I smile. My dad would never be drinking that if he weren’t sick. Now he lets Jude talk him into all kinds of weird health foods, and he doesn’t complain at all. I throw myself dramatically on the couch to his left, sprawling out across it. He smiles. “What have you been up to today that has you so wiped out?”
“Just work,” I explain. “They asked me to write the press release for Elijah Casco’s call-up, and the press requests are blowing up my inbox.”
I see the pride in my dad’s face I heard in Jude’s voice and it makes me smile. “My Little D is a PR rock star,” he says and winks. “I bet the Thunder needs you even more than they need Jude.”
I laugh. “Please tell Jude that. And make sure I’m there and my camera is ready to catch his reaction.”
Dad chuckles at that, his blue eyes glancing back to the screen. He lifts his right hand and points at the game. I look over. I think it’s Brooklyn versus Seattle. “These games get so much hype, the Barons versus the Winterhawks, because the Garrison brothers play each other. I assume the hype about Eli and Levi being on the same team is just as big.”
“It is.” I nod and take a deep breath. “It’s a lot of pressure for Elijah.”
“Levi is tough. I haven’t met the kid brother yet, but if he can bounce back from that neck injury, he’s got to be tough too,” my dad says.
“He’s not quite the player he was before the injury,” I reply softly because I hate admitting it. It’s like his struggles are mine. “Not yet.”
“He got back in that net after an injury that could have cost him his life,” my dad says, his voice serious. “That alone makes him a tougher player than half the guys out there.”
I smile and file that nugget of wisdom away in my brain to tell Elijah later if he needs a pep talk. Maybe I can give it to Jude to tell him, because I probably shouldn’t be giving Eli pep talks, or talking to him at all unless it’s work related, now.
Dad coughs. It’s deep and wet. I sit up in concern as Sadie wanders into the room, eating a bowl of cereal in her pajamas. Our eyes meet as the last of Dad’s cough rattles out of him. Sadie chomps quickly and swallows down a mouthful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. “Daddy, is the cough getting worse?”
“I don’t think so,” he replies, eyes focused back on the game on the TV. “Jesus, that Deveau kid is a hell of a defenseman.”
Sadie looks back at me. “I think we’re going to swing by the doctor tomorrow, Dad. Just in case.”
He sighs loudly but doesn’t argue. I know he loathes doctors, and he’s had them up in his face for over two years now. I lean forward and drop my hand over his. “Humor us, Dad.”
He grimaces. “Fine.”
Sadie swallows the last of her cereal and then yawns before tipping the bowl to drink the remaining milk. “Are you just waking up?” I ask.
She nods. “I woke up when you buzzed. Winnie’s still asleep. We went to a wine bar last night to celebrate the move. We called you to join, but you didn’t answer.”
Right. I didn’t.
“Figured you were with the boy again,” Sadie says right in front of Dad.
He pulls his eyes from the game and looks at me with a smile. “There’s a boy?”
I groan and throw Sadie a vicious glare before turning to my dad. “No boy.”
“Sadie doesn’t lie, Little D, and so if she says there’s a boy…” He lets his sentence fade, and when I just shake my head no, he continues, “What are you embarrassed to tell me? Why? You don’t think I’ll approve? Is he like my age or something?”
“Ha!” I squawk and grin. “God no.”
“Good. Guys my age that hit on girls your age are all pervs,” my dad announces, and I can’t stop cringing inwardly over the slight slur to his words. “So why won’t you tell me about him?”
“Because it’s not anything,” I promise. “It was over before it began.”
My dad seems to ponder that a moment, and then he gives me a wistful smile. “Okay, Dixie, if you say so. But I worry about you. You work so hard, but there’s more to life than the office, honey.”
“I know,” I say. “But I’m focusing on my career right now. Besides, women have to work twice as hard as men to move up the corporate ladder just as fast.”
“Just don’t forget to enjoy life, Little D.” He pats my hand and goes back to watching the game. I stand up and stretch, leaving my bag on the couch. “I’m going to grab some of that cereal Sadie has.”
As I walk out of the room, I grab my sister by the arm and drag her out with me. Before I can even yell at her, Sadie says, “I’m sorry! I’m a little hung over. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have brought him up in front of Dad.”
“What if he brings up the mystery boy in front of Jude?” I snap and tuck my hair behind my ears as we enter the kitchen. “Jude won’t let it go until he figures out who it is.”
