Page 126 of Bagging the Blueliner
Running a hand down his face, Dad dropped back into his chair. “Hannah, I have to tell you something.”
I knew him too well. I knew he would try to convince me to stay. And I knew if I let him try, I might cave. Being a daddy’s girl my whole life, I wanted to please him. So, I turned around and hurried toward the open door to the office, nearly shouting, “I don’t want to hear it!”
“I told him to end things with you!” Dad’s voice boomed, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.
As his words sank in—making so much sense that I wanted to scream at myself for being so stupid to believe Cal when he’d told me he didn’t want me anymore—I spun around to face my traitor of a father.
“You did WHAT?” I screamed.
Seeing the fury on my face combined with the high pitch of my voice, Dad at least had the good sense to look ashamed. “Hanny, please—”
“Oh, no. Don’t you fucking ‘Hanny’ me.” Yeah, I was swearing at my dad; I was that pissed.
“Please, don’t be upset. I was only trying to protect you,” he begged.
“No.” I shook my head. “You were trying to protect yourself.”
His flinch told me I hit the nail on the head. The sadness in his eyes was almost enough for me to backtrack and try to make this okay for him. But then, I remembered everything he had taken from me. I would never get back the days I’d spent crying over Cal, thinking he didn’t love me, watching almost robotically as the team I loved had won a championship tainted by my broken heart.
“I need you to understand, sweetheart,” Dad began. “The day Cal took that hit, I watched my baby girl fall apart. It ripped my heart to shreds. I would have doneanythingto ensure you never felt that kind of pain again.”
I scoffed. “So, ripping my heart out of my chest was the better option?”
His shoulders sagged. “I thought, in time, you’d heal and move on.”
Narrowing my eyes, I went in for the kill. “I wasn’t just fucking him, Dad. For the first time in my life, I’d found someone who brought out the best parts of me. He was always there, makingme feel whole and loved. Until you decided to play God, we were living together for months. We talked about our future together. I fell in love with him, and I’m pretty sure he was in love with me, too. He just never got the chance to say it.”
“I know.” The words were barely above a whisper.
“You know?” I accused. “And you pushed forward anyway? What kind of person does that to their own daughter?”
His eyes dropped to the floor. “I was in the room when he woke up that night. As soon as he realized where he was and what had happened, he immediately asked to see you.”
Even through my anger, tears spilled down my cheeks. I should have fought harder.Heshould have told me the truth.
“Unbelievable,” I forced out.
“He told me he loved you.” Hearing those words—confirmation of Cal’s feelings—sent a fresh wave of pain crashing over my heart. “He offered to retire at the end of the season, but I told him that wasn’t enough. The way you unraveled in Jaxon’s arms was too fresh in my mind. I couldn’t allow him to put you in that kind of situation again, even if the season was nearly over.”
Hands on my hips, I asked, “So, what if the injury never happened? What if we came to you after the season like we fully intended to and came clean about our relationship? You’d have accepted it?” Dad opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off, adding through gritted teeth, “Don’t you dare lie to me.”
Sighing, Dad rubbed his jaw. “I wouldn’t have been pleased about it. I made it exceedingly clear to my players that you girls were off-limits for nearly two decades. I should have known better. You never were one for the rules. I guess I thought my players valued their careers enough to keep their hands off.”
Venturing closer, I took a seat on the edge of his desk. “Dad, when will you realize I’m a grown woman? I should be allowedto make my own mistakes. But I can tell you this: Cal wasn’t a mistake.”
Staring up at me, he smiled slightly. “You know the truth now. What are you going to do about it?”
For starters? Wring Cal’s neck for letting my dad call the shots in our life.
Standing, Dad pulled me into a hug, smoothing my hair like he’d done when I was a little girl. When he pulled back, tears were swimming in his own eyes. “If you love him the way you say you do, go get him. Life is too short to spend one more day apart. Live your life the way that makesyouhappy, and I will support you however I can.”
Wiping away the moisture from my face, I tested his sincerity. “Even if that means moving to his family’s ranch in Alberta?”
He looked like he’d swallowed something that didn’t agree with him, but he nodded anyway. “Just so long as I can visit when the Comets roll through town.”
I kissed him on the cheek, whispering, “Always, Daddy.”
Rushing out of the office, I pulled out my phone and headed for my car. There was only one person I knew I could call to help me with this.
