Page 37 of Comeback
I stumbled around the lounge, eyes wide, running my fingertips over every surface. “How much does a thing like this cost …?”
He shook his head with a silent laugh. He had money, and people with money didn’t like to talk about it. But I needed to know.
“A million dollars?” I gently prodded.
“Less than that,” he bashfully admitted, “but that’s in the neighborhood, yeah.”
A million dollars,I thought. I started adding it all up: the Range Rover, the mansion with the boat house, the yacht.
“How did youaffordall this, Jack?”
“About that.” Just beyond the lounge was the helm. Jack sat behind the wheel and started the engine. I sat on the bench next to him, and Mackenzie wedged herself between us.
Over the quiet purr of the boat’s idling engine, Jack turned to me and quietly said, “Emma, I was a professional athlete.”
Chapter 17
Jack
There wasn’t any point in trying to hide it from her any longer—she was going to find out sooner or later, one way or another. Besides, she’dneedto know, after I made my proposal to her later.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Yep.”
“A professional athlete,” she said. She looked stunning in the playful sundress she’d worn, and I loved to watch the smile grow across her face as she processed that information. “Wow. Just—wow. What sport? Hockey, right?”
“Yeah,” I said as I nudged the throttle, easing us out of the garage. Emma and I shared the skipper’s twin bench-seat, with Mackenzie nestled closely between us. The sunroof overhead shielded us from the bright rays of the sun.
“You played hockey,” Emma said, shaking her head. “That’s crazy.I mean, I can’t say I’mcompletelysurprised … but Iam.”
“You played hockey,” Mackenzie repeated, mimicking her mom’s exasperated disbelief. “That’scrazy.”
“Sure is crazy, isn’t it,” I said, ruffling Mack’s blonde hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Emma asked. “I was starting to think you were a drug dealer or a mafia guy or something …”
I chuckled. “I don’t really want people to know. Honestly, you’re the first person in Bayfield I’ve told.”
“So the rumors are true,” she said.
“Except for the part about me trying to make a comeback. I’m retired.”
“Oh.” She ran her eyes up and down my body. “But you’re still so young, aren’t you?”
“Twenty-nine,” I said. “But in hockey years, that’s getting up there.”
“That’s hard to believe …”
“Believe it. It’s a young man’s game now.” We were clear of the boat house and in open waters, so I kicked the throttle a little higher, and the boat picked up speed. “I just wanted you to hear it from me before you heard it from anyone else.”
“Who else would tell me? You just said no one else in Bayfield knows.”
“They don’t,” I said, stalling. I couldn’t tell her about the TV reports, because then I’d have to tell her how I ended my career. “But according to you, there’s rumors going around town about me.”
“I see,” she said. I could feel her eyes on me. “I bet you were good.”
I looked at her and smiled. “I was alright.”
