Page 61 of Two for Holding
“Around,” Tom said.“I don’t think he heard any of the…racist, homophobic parts?”
Phil grunted in displeasure and levered himself out of his chair in his crutches.At least he had crutches now, a definite improvement from ten days ago when Tom had last seen him.
Jax took his vacated seat and cracked open a beer, then made a face.“Light beers.Blech.”
“You’re a massive hedonist, aren’t you?”Tom realized.
Jax glanced away shiftily.
“I mean, the hotel pillows, the reconstituted egg thing, the beer…”
“Okay, I know you think life will reward you for denying yourself or something, but some of us can enjoy nice thingsandwin awards.”
Tom opened his mouth, but he couldn’t get any words out.
Pointing at him and narrowing his eyes, Jax went on.“And I know you feel the same way about the eggs and the hotel beds.I’ve seen your couch.Talk about hedonism.”
“I…” Tom looked down.
“I’ll make you enjoy life if it kills me.”
He was about to ask Jax what enjoying life would entail and if it could involve tying him to the bed when they were mercifully interrupted.
“…this is exactly the sort of shit a coach is there for, Ben.What were youdoing?”Phil’s voice and the uneven thump of his crutches preceded him by mere seconds before he returned to the kitchen, Coach Morris in tow.
“I can’t do my job if I have to spend all day babysitting temperamental hockey players!”
“Babysitting temperamental hockey playersisyour job.”
“Phil—”
“Nope.You’re doing Thanksgiving with us, and you’re going to solve this clusterfuck.”
“Phil.”
“We all want a functional hockey team, don’t we?”
Phil stared Tom and Jax down until they agreed.
With a sigh, Coach Morris fell into place next to Jax.He wore glasses and a T-shirt with a graphic of a seal making a thumbs-up gesture with its fin.The caption read, “Seal of Approval.”Tom wondered if they sold that in the merch store now or if Morris just happened to have it.
“Stuffing smells good,” Morris said.
“Uh…” Tom wasn’t sure if he was allowed to ask, but he didn’t see how he couldn’t.
“My apartment is being renovated,” Morris said.“I moved in here to help Easton until his knee is better.Win-win.”
Given what Tom knew about how long it took to rehab an ACL tear, the renovations must be set to last a long time, but at least Phil wouldn’t be alone.
Phil maneuvered his way onto a stool next to Jax, and Morris wordlessly pushed the spare chair into place for him to put his leg up.Their silent interaction, more than anything Morris had said, convinced Tom he’d done the right thing in letting Coach know Phil needed help.Morris remained a mystery in terms of coaching style, neither authoritarian like Trout nor interested in the team’s psychological wellbeing like Edwards.Tom wished he could get a sense of Morris as a player to help him understand, but the highest level he’d reached before switching to coaching was college hockey in Utah, which no one filmed in the early 2000s.
“So the new lines were a bad idea,” Morris summarized.
“No!”shouted all three hockey players in the room.
“Luca really is good,” Phil said.“Did you see his assist in the third period in Montreal?”He whistled.“He plays smart.That’s a defenseman who can stop goals going in and rack up his own points while he’s at it.”
“But Hayes—”
