Page 91 of Wild Ever After
The ladies continue to chat and they’re all smiles and laughs until the puck drops. Then, all their attention is on the game. Some of the ladies are quiet, nerves making it hard to do anything but watch. While others, like Scarlett, are loud, cheering like she wants every person in the arena to know she’s Leo Lohan’s girl.
I’m caught somewhere in the middle. Not because I’m nervous, but because I feel the weight of everything hitting me at once. I know what family, or rather the lack of one, did to Declan. It sent him spiraling for years until he found it in the guys on the team.
I can’t risk that for him. Which means I can’t quit the magazine, no matter how much I might want to. Besides, it’s my mess. Walking away feels like giving up. Even if someone else wanted to hire me, I doubt Melody would make that transition easy.
When Declan’s on the ice, it’s hard for me to focus on anything else. He skates hard and fast from one end to the other. On one shift, he slams a guy into the boards. On the screen, they capture Declan’s half smile as he takes off in the other direction, leaving the other guy stunned for a second. I wince and my pussy throbs at the same time. Damn, that’s hot.
I don’t know a lot about hockey, though I should for as many games as I’ve watched with Scarlett over the years. Even before Leo, she’d occasionally drag me along to a game, so she could cheer on her dad.
Coach Miller. Another reason I can’t risk everyone finding out that Declan got married to help me keep my job. Scarlett’s dad is the closest thing to a father figure I’ve ever had. I don’t want my mistakes to mess up anything for him or the team.
I can do this for eight more months. Maybe if Declan and I attend a few more events, that’ll get Melody to relax a little on the articles.
At the first intermission, I spend a few minutes talking with the girls about the first period and then find a quiet corner and call my mom. We haven’t spoken since I left her house, almost a month ago. I hurt her feelings, but she hurt mine too.
“Hello?” she answers, hesitation in her tone.
“Hey, Mom.”
A few seconds pass in silence. “I wasn’t sure I’d hear from you.”
“You could have called me.”
“When someone storms out of my house, I’ve found it best to let them approach me in their own time.”
“Why didn’t you try to stop me?” Like Declan had. It’s bugged me for weeks. I expect men to walk away or let me walk away, but not my mom.
“I figured you needed some time to sort through things on your own. That’s why you came home in the first place, right?”
I hadn’t told her that, but I guess it isn’t surprising she figured it out. “Yes.”
“And did you sort through it?”
“Mostly.”
“Good,” she says. The buzzer sounds, signaling the end of intermission. “Are you at the game?”
“Yeah.”
“Declan is playing well. Or that’s what this announcer is saying.”
“You’re watching the Wildcats?” I got my love, or rather lack of, sports from my mom.
“It’s on. I wouldn’t say I’m watching it exactly. I started a new cross stitch. But I thought I should see if this new son-in-law of mine is any good.”
A laugh slips free. “Yeah, he’s pretty good.”
The guys take the ice and Mom and I fall quiet again.
“I’m sorry for the things I said about you and Declan,” she says when I’m sure the conversation is over and she’s going to excuse herself and hang up. “You were right. I don’t know anything about healthy relationships or staying married. I hope you two are really happy together for a long time.”
“I’m sorry, too. I was awful to you. No matter what choices you made when I was a kid, I’m an adult now and I can’t put this on you.”
“No, you can’t, but you weren’t wrong. I gave up on finding love a long time ago. I’ve settled for companionship. But when I met Declan, I thought you’d found what I hadn’t. I guess it was a little bit of a shock to find out it wasn’t real.”
“I think love is like the color pink. It’s ageless. You can still have more than companionship, Mom.”
She lets out a small chuckle. “Maybe you’re right.”
