Page 8 of Dreams
“Stop, Dad,” she cut in. “You promised.”
“I know, honey. I just miss your input.”
“I told you I want nothing to do with hockey. Not now. Not ever. I can’t deal with that. I don’t want to hear you talk about it. I won’t go to games. I don’t even want to be in the arena. And for God’s sake, keep the guys on your team completely separate from me.”
“Alright.” He sighed.
They ordered their food and then waited for it in silence.
Taylor used to love hockey. She was proud that her dad was a coach. His team in Portland had been like her second family. Stats, prospects, standings… nothing escaped her mind. Until now.
She blamed hockey for taking Danny from her. He’d been training when he went into cardiac arrest. It turned out he had an undetected heart condition, but she couldn’t help wondering if he hadn’t been pushing himself so hard at hockey, would he still be alive?
“Are you excited to move into the dorms next week?” her dad asked, trying to relieve the tension.
“Not really, no.”
“It’ll be good for you.”
“Maybe,” she muttered lowly.
She had already deferred college for a year. When they found out about the possibility of this job for her dad, her mom put in an application for her to Ohio State. And a dorm request. They thought it was time she had a life of her own.
Maybe it was. She didn’t know anything anymore.
With the topics of hockey and college off limits, she found they didn’t have much else to talk about. Lunch was uncomfortable to say the least.
When the bill came, her dad paid and then said he had to head out to make it back for the team meeting. Taylor knew they were both secretly glad to be going their separate ways.
