Page 64 of Until He Scores

Jagger’s dad chuckled. “Good for her.”

“Wait, she did that?” Lily-Mae said, pointing to the kids. “Crap. I’m sorry she hit your son. We teach the kids to use their words, not their fists in our home.”

Jagger’s father lifted his hands while shaking his head. “He needed a wake-up call. He’s protective of his siblings andcousins, including his deaf cousin. I’ve told that boy a million times the way he handles things would get him into trouble. He learned that lesson the hard way today. I’m sorry if he’s agitated your daughter. His mother and I will put a stop to that tonight.”

“I’m not jerking your chains when I tell you they’re the best I’ve seen. There was only one other combo better, and that was me and Thier. With that said, I think we can get the youth championship this year if we can nip this in the bud. But I need your help.”

Lily-Mae nodded. “I’ll talk to Rick tonight. Dahlia too. Thank you, Pope.” She glanced at her daughter. “You really think she’s good enough?”

“More than. I think with the right training and teams, she could play for the US Women’s team someday.”

Her eyes rounded. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit,” I agreed.

After the kids and their parents left, Thierry took my hand on the way out to his truck. “Interesting afternoon you had.”

“He said she was hisBoom.” Pope looked at me. “Guess you guys really know, huh?”

Thierry grinned. “Told you.”

I shook his head. “If I can get them to work together so they understand the fundamentals, it’ll be so much easier when divisions come looking for kids, especially travel teams. Like we had.”

“She’s good. You were right to tell Lily-Mae that. Her and Rick will correct course for her as will Jagger’s dad. The first step to fixing issues is to always face them head on. Might as well rip the bandage off now.”

“Like you did with me?” I teased.

He laughed, rolling his eyes. “Oh yeah, like I did with you.”

“Well, then, husband,” I murmured. “Take me home and feed me. I’ve had a helluva day.”

“As you wish, husband.”

Pope

Twelve years later...

I stared at the Women’s National Hockey Team posed to enter their first Olympic games as a squad. Dahlia stood to my right with a look of determination on her face. I took her as far as I could go, then handed her off to the professionals. Who knew eight years later we’d meet back up again under auspicious circumstances.

This wasn’t the plan for me. Thierry was the hockey person of our family. Me, I wanted to tattoo everyone, famous and not. I’d done so too, until about five years ago when I was approached at a junior league game. From there, everything took off. I sold the shop to Clancy and his brother while Simone continued to work for them. For me, I took the job offered while Thierry was promoted to the NHL.

Standing there, with these amazing young women, we only had five minutes left in the last period of the game against Finland. If we won, us and Finland would advance our respectiveteams to fight each other another day. If we lost? Lithuania and Finland would move on, and we’d have to wait four more years.

“I know you’re tired,” I said. “You guys have made me so proud out there. But give me five more minutes of the best damn game you can play. Show the world you’re meant for greatness. I leaned forward with the tablets we’d been given, between us. “I need to show you this. See that hole. I need my wingers there. I flicked to the next photo where the player from Finland scored on Dahlia, I need my defenders to plug this hole too. I know we’re splitting duties, but it allows for you to have the upper hand on breakaways. Trust me. Trust yourselves and above all trust your goalie to see you through. Hands in.”

When the buzzer sounded, they were back on the ice. I glanced up in the stands. What a hell of a place to hold a tournament for the Olympics, Park City, Utah. Some of the guys from theMountaineersjoined Thierry along with Jagger, Lily-Mae, and Rick. We needed one point to end the game, breaking the tie. I didn’t want them to go into overtime. They were already gassed. Overtime also had the habit of not going the way we wanted it to.

The puck dropped and the crowd got to their feet. The cheers for both teams echoed around the box. If I had to make substitutions, I’d have to get close to the girls. Real close. Dahlia looked strong in the box. Her stick at the ready, her eyes trained on her opponents. They raced up and down the ice as the clock wound down. The girls checked their opponents and passed the puck until their moment came to fruition, and Gee put herself into position as Dahlia stopped the puck then shot it up ice toward Gee. She was ready too. The second the puck smacked her stick; she skated straight for the goal. Everything slowed as she reared back, and I knew.

It's that feeling I used to get in the middle of my chest whenever Thierry went for the goal. I held my breath. Herstick struck true and the puck shot across the ice. The world disappeared around me as I stood there waiting, watching the play. Eight seconds wound down on the clock.

This was it.

When the buzzer went off, the puck slid back out onto the ice, and everything exploded around us with wild excitement. The screams from the crowd mixed with hands banging against the plexiglass. The girls on the ice celebrated before heading back to the bench to high-five their teammates. The timer stopped at point-three seconds. Enough time to drop the puck one last time. Excitement bubbled within me.

This was their chance.

“Alright team,” I yelled. “One more time. You’ve got this. I’m so proud of you. Win this!”

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