We pull apart and Callie turns to my son. She smiles brightly.
“Hey, Con!” she calls out excitedly and jogs over to him with her arms out.
“Callie!” he shouts with a grin, and I’m happy he remembers her. They did spend a lot of time together at my youngest brother Cole’s wedding last summer. She scoops him up in her arms and swings him around, causing him to burst into a fit of giggles. I smile as I watch Callie drop him into a junior swing and start to give him small pushes. He kicks his feet as he grins. God, I love my kid.
“What happened?” she asks me softly as she pushes and Conner starts humming to himself. “I know you guys were having issues this summer but I didn’t know they were this big.”
I nod. “Neither did I. I thought…I mean, I knew she was angry I wanted another kid but…I didn’t think that was a deal breaker.”
“She doesn’t want more kids?” Callie looks stunned, which makes me feel better about the fact that the news stunned me too.
“She says it’s too hard raising Conner by herself and she can’t imagine having another one as long as I’m in the NHL,” I say, repeating Ashleigh’s rationale almost word for word.
“She’s not raising him alone,” Callie argues quietly. “You’re the most dedicated dad I have ever seen—besides Wyatt. And you’re not going to be out of the NHL for at least another ten years, for crying out loud. She knew this going in.”
“I know. I told her that too.” I nod in agreement. “But she says she didn’t know how bad it would be, how lonely it would be, until it happened.”
Callie just shakes her head and sighs. Her chocolate brown eyes find mine and they’re filled with concern. “Are you sure it’s just about that?” she asks softly.
My brow furrows. “Yeah. I mean what else would it be?”
She doesn’t say anything for a minute and then changes the subject. “Does anybody else know?”
I shake my head. “I almost told Luc…but changed my mind.”
“Your parents? Jordan and Jessie? Cole and Leah?”
I shake my head. She gives Conner a fairly big push and he squeals in delight. She turns to me, letting him swing solo for a few.
“You need to tell your family,” she insists. “They love you, Devin. They’ll help you.”
“I don’t need help,” I counter and give her a small, tight smile. “I just need her to make an effort. And she will, eventually.”
She doesn’t say anything. In fact, I see her bite her lip like she’s fighting to keep her mouth shut. She turns back to Conner and stops his swing, tickling his sides for a minute before she lifts him out of the seat.
“Is he staying with you tonight?” she asks.
“He’s supposed to, but he doesn’t like his room in my temporary place,” I explain. “I usually have to bring him home around nine o’clock, wailing. And then he cries when I leave him there. He wants me to stay with him and mommy.”
Callie looks heartbroken. She glances down at Conner. “Hey, big guy, how about we go get some ice cream?”
“Really?” he asks hopefully.
“Yeah! Let’s go!” Callie says as she links an arm through mine and holds Conner’s hand and starts walking toward the street. “Is there ice cream around here?”
“It’s New York. There’s everything around here,” I tell her with a cheeky wink.
As we walk the block and a half to a gelato place I’ve taken Conner to a few times, we talk about her little sister Rose and our good friend Luc and how well things seem to be going with them since Rose moved to Vegas to live with him. She tells me about the show she’s here to work on. It’s a teen drama about a poor family with four daughters who are all in love with the same rich boy. Typical teen angst—the type of show Ashleigh would love.
“Where are you staying?” I ask her.
“A motel in Jersey,” she replies sheepishly. “At least until I find a place.”
“Stay with me,” I blurt out suddenly. I didn’t plan on offering but it makes perfect sense. I am renting a furnished three-bedroom townhouse that is too big for just me and sometimes Conner. And she knows my only secret now. It would be nice to have someone around. Someone who is such a good friend.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I have the space and…I could use the company,” I confess. I hate how much of a fucking loser it makes me feel like to say it aloud.
