Page 85 of Of Pucking Course

“Excuse me, are you Miss Richards?”

I look up a see a tall guy with light brown hair standingin front of me. Henry’s standing next to him. This must be his dad.

I smile. “Yes, how can I help you?”

“Dad, guess what? I threw away the trash I found on the ground,” Henry says excitedly.

I smile down at Henry and look back at his dad. “And he did it without anyone asking him to. He’s such a good boy.”

I expect his dad to smile and tell Henry good job, but he just stands there and frowns at me, completely ignoring his son.

Henry tries to grab his dad’s hand, but he pulls it away.

“Are you alright?” I ask him.

“No, I’m not alright,” he says. “It is true that you took my son’s class to a hockey rink yesterday for a field trip?”

I lean back slightly, shocked at the curtness of his tone. “Um, yes. I did. Both kindergarten classes went to the Bashers practice rink yesterday when the Children’s Museum canceled on us.”

Henry’s dad shakes his head and rolls his eyes at me. “Are you insane? You let a bunch of five- and six-year-olds skate around an ice rink by themselves?”

I stammer, totally thrown by how angry he is. “No, of course, not. Miss Taylor and I were both there to watch the kids. And six players from the team were on the ice with them the whole time, helping them skate and making sure they were safe.”

He lets out a bitter laugh. “Really? Then how do you explain this?”

He reaches down and grabs Henry’s arm, then pushes up the sleeve of his shirt. There’s a small bruise on his upper arm.

“Oh, Henry, are you okay, buddy?” I ask. “I didn’t know you got a bruise yesterday.”

He nods, still smiling. “Yeah, I was racing Theo and Xander, and I fell, but I still won,” he says excitedly.

I smile at him, despite feeling on edge at how upset his dad is at me.

I gently pat his head. “Good job, buddy. How does your arm feel?”

“It feels good. Xander said I was as tough as a hockey player,” he says proudly. He turns to his dad. “Dad, remember when I told you that yesterday? How they said I was tough like a hockey player?”

“Quiet, Henry,” his dad scolds.

Henry’s smile falls. My heart breaks for him, being dismissed and ignored by his dad in this moment when he’s so excited to talk to him.

“You’re lucky my kid only made out with a bruise. He could have gotten seriously hurt. He could have cracked his head open,” his dad says.

“Sir, all the kids wore helmets the entire time they were on the ice,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “No one fell and hit their head. We would have taken them to the hospital if that had happened.”

“You should have cleared the field trip change with me,” he says, totally ignoring what I just said. “Where the hell do you get off taking them to a dangerous place like a hockey rink without even telling their parents?”

“We did call the parents. I called all the parents of the students in my class the night before the field trip to let them know the children’s museum had canceled and to make sure that they were okay with us taking them to the ice rink instead. All the parents said theywere fine with it, including Henry’s mom. I just assumed she would have told you?—”

“Well, she didn’t,” he barks, cutting me off. “We’re divorced and she doesn’t bother to tell me a damn thing. You should have called me too.”

I take a breath, trying to stay calm. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but Henry’s mom is listed as his direct parent contact, so that’s why I only called her. If I had known that you wanted to be contacted too, I would have called you as well. I can add your name and phone number to the direct parent contact list for Henry so that from now on, you’ll be looped in with whatever’s going on.”

“God, this is such bullshit,” he mutters. “She has full custody of my son and leaves me out of crap like this all the damn time.”

My nerves are on edge as he raises his voice. That’s when I notice that the parents standing near us are looking over. A few of the kids are staring at him with wide eyes, clearly freaked out.

“Sir, please don’t raise your voice. And please watch your language. There are kids around you right now, and you’re scaring them.”

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