Page 122 of Home of the Brave

“Do you want a relationship?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to get married?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want children?”

“Maybe?”

“Okay, do you want to live in the city or slow down?”

“I want a dog,” I blurted.

She laughed. “That’s something.”

“I want a backyard and a dog.”

“So no city.”

I let out a heavy sigh. I hadn’t realized that was something I desperately wanted, but now that the words were out in the universe, it felt so right.

“I still want to travel, but not as much.”

She nodded. “Keep going.”

“I want to be involved with hockey—men’s and women’s.” She motioned for me to continue. “I like the videos.” I admitted. “Asking the fans’ questions, the silly things, the predictions. It’s fun.”

“It makes you happy.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah.”

“And so does Josh.”

“Yup.”

“Well, it sounds like you do have a pretty good idea of what you want, personally and professionally.”

“I guess, but I have no idea how to get any of it.”

She grinned. “It’s a good thing there’s no time limit. You can start taking steps toward what you want little by little.”

That felt far less intimidating than blowing up my life and searching the rubble for the pieces I want to keep when I rebuild.

“I can do that.”

“I know you can.”

The buzzer sounded again, signaling the end of the second intermission. “Come on, let’s go cheer on your man.”

I smiled and resumed my position against the glass.

East scored again, but we recovered another point, limiting them to a one-goal lead that lasted until there were only five minutes left in the game. Then, the energy shifted, and we scored again, tying the score.

“We’re going to go into overtime,” I told her, my gut tightening.

“They’ve got this.”