“Drew?!” I exclaim, not knowing if it’s her, but praying anyway.
“No, it’s the other woman in your life.”
I slide onto one of the stools at my island and get comfortable.
We could be here a while.
“Did you see the video?” I ask.
Mom sniffles down the phone, voice barely above a whisper. “I did, and, oh my goodness, William, it was absolutely beautiful.”
“Tell him it was so cute that I puked a little in my mouth.” My sister’s sarcastic voice filters down the phone.
“June, don’t be so gross!” Mom scolds. “Don’t you have videos to edit for YouTube?”
June grumbles something I can’t make out before a door closes, and Mom continues speaking.
“First, you and your father kept the whole secret-dating thing from me, and now I wake up to find my son pouring his heart out to the whole world!”
I’m pretty sure if I were in the same room as her right now, she’d have her arms around me. I’m also pretty sure I have the best mom on the planet—and definitely the scariest.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I ask her, trying to sound like my whole fucking world isn’t falling apart.
She doesn’t need to witness her only son’s breakdown if I don’t hear from my girlfriend.
Mom puffs out a breath. “I don’t have any client meetings scheduled, and I’m trying to introduce one day a week for admin, I need to start taking it easy now I’m getting older and retirement looms. I’d actually get something done if yoursisterdidn’t make so much goddamn noise.”
I attempt a pathetic laugh and check my phone when it vibrates.
Just a random email.
“Have you heard from her yet?” Mom softly questions.
I shake my head, knowing that Drew will be done with her meeting by now. “Nothing.”
“Will …” Mom’s shaky voice trails off. “Did you … did you really mean it when you said that you’d quit hockey if Drew’s career didn’t recover?”
I close my eyes, praying it will never come to that for us both, but mainly for Drew.
“Yes.”
I fully expect her to tell me I’m an idiot for making such a bold claim, so when she says, “I get it,” I open my eyes and stare straight ahead. “And I want you to know I have never been prouder of you than I was in that moment.”
Teeth dig into my lips as I press them together. I bite down harder, anything to prevent me from losing it on the phone.
That comes after Mom concludes that I’m okay.
“I anticipated this call to play out differently.” I chuckle without humor. “Like you telling me to issue an immediate statement, retracting my intention to quit if everything goes south for Drew.”
“Will, honey …” Mom releases a forlorn sigh. “Did you forget what your grandparents were like?”
I just growl at the memory of Mom’s evil parents, Violet and Henry.
“All I have ever wanted is for my children to be happy, to love and be loved in return. Nothing—not a career, money, or social status—should ever come before integrity and what’s morally right. And from a woman’s point of view …”
She sucks in a sharp breath, and I push back my stool, now pacing the living room with blurry eyes.
“Your statement was the perfect way to align your life with the woman who I just know you will marry one day. You showed that you two are a team and demonstrated her value in the most powerful way possible—you put your own heart and career onthe line, just as she did for you. Your dad and I are so damn proud, and I know Jessie and Mia will be too. Even if he’s benched you, it’s because he has no choice but to follow team protocol.”
