Page 82 of Puck Drop
“He would love the opportunity to make amends,” she informs me. “And I would be very appreciative if you gave him a chance to do so.”
I am temporarily stumped by this turn of events.
“What is my father to you?” I ask, a suspicion taking root in my head.
“He is my boss,” she replies, maybe just a tad too fast.
It is now my turn to sigh into the phone as I mull things over and figure out what to say to her.
“Look, Leyla, I appreciate you trying to get yourself involved in that, but that is not what I need your help with,” I tell her.
I start pulling on a piece of thread that’s hanging from the bottom of my shirt, twisting it around my finger as I try to buy myself a little more time.
“I need your help with Logan,” I tell her. “If he wants to leave the Aces, where else can he go? How does it work? Is there a portal he can enter his name?”
Leyla laughs, but only out of frustration. “Your father would be the best person to talk to about this. I also think that Logan is making a mistake. You can’t just quit at the first sign of trouble…”
“They wouldn’t let him come see Sebastian,” I try to explain.
“That is not true,” she argues. “When you sign a contract, you are under the obligation to respect the rules set forth. While these are special circumstances, you still have to make some hard choices. The Aces’ first line goalie had what they thought might be an injury that would bench him for that game. They needed Logan to be ready, just in case.”
“But…” I try to further argue, but she cuts me off.
“Logan knows this, and he understands.” She makes it sound like she went through all this with him already. “There is no need for anyone to stir this particular pot anymore. Once he is done here, he is going back to Austin to complete the remainder of his contract. No one is going anywhere.”
“But Logan said…”
“Logan misspoke,” she snaps at me, albeit in a gently tone. “I will make sure to call him and clarify the terms of his contract with the Aces.”
My forehead wrinkles when I frown at that. “How do you know the terms of his contract with the Aces?”
She sighs, but it’s hard to tell if she does that because she is annoyed with me, or because she is exhausted by the entire conversation.
“Your father negotiated the entire deal for Logan…”
“What?” I yelp out loud.
“He personally called the team manager for the Aces, and they worked out a deal. He made sure that Logan would get a better deal than what he had with the Sliders, even if not necessarily in monetary compensation.”
“Why?” I whisper when she stops talking.
Leyla sighs again, and this time I can tell for sure that she is tired. “Because he is a very complicated man. And even though he hated the idea of losing his daughter to a hockey player, he couldn’t make himself destroy his career because of it…”
My mouth trembles, like I am about to cry. “Does Logan know?”
“Absolutely not,” Leyla responds right away. “He would hate for anyone to think that he’s not actually heartless.”
I press my fingers to my lips and drop my eyes to the floor. Mona rubs her hand in circles against my back in support.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper into the phone.
“Just promise me one thing, Elizabeth,” Leyla asks in a much gentler voice. “Talk to your father while you’re in town. You two need to make peace.” She then chuckles. “He’s driving me crazy.”
I have no idea what she means by that, but it’s something I’ll have to analyze once I can think straight.
“I will call him,” I promise.
We hang up, and I let the phone drop to the floor. My mind is exhausted, and I don’t know where to start between Logan and my father.
