Page 68 of Pipe Dreams
Her head was back in the game, and she worked through lunchtime, only glancing up at threeP.M.to realize she was starving. She called down to room service to order a salad.
A knock came just ten minutes later, and she was impressed by the kitchen’s promptness. But when she opened the door,it wasn’t a salad that was rolled on a cart through her door, but rather a giant arrangement of blue hydrangeas. She’d never seen anything so large. In fact, it might be an entire hydrangea shrubbery.
“This isn’t a salad,” she muttered to the porter who had brought it.
“Are you Lauren Williams?”
“Yes.”
“Sign here.”
After he left her the flowers, she opened the note which was taped to the vase.
I love you, and I’ll never stop. —M
Her hand paused over the wastepaper basket, where she almost tossed the note in.
But then she set it on the desk instead, wondering how everything had become so confusing.
TWENTY
For the next few days, Beacon set his troubles with Lauren aside the best he could. Given that his team was fighting for its life in the play-offs, he had plenty of other things to worry about. Their veteran forward Beringer was sidelined by shoulder pain that might or might not be something serious. And O’Doul skipped practice for what was rumored to be a stomach bug.
Nonetheless, they managed to win game five in Tampa, where Skews was an asshole, but nothing Beacon couldn’t handle. Then they flew back to Brooklyn for game six, feeling great.
And lost.
That left the series tied 3–3, and required one more trip to Tampa. Taking the series all the way out to game seven meant that everyone was tired. Meanwhile, Detroit beat the Rangers in just five games, so their next potential opponent was resting up and recharging their batteries before the conference final round.
By the time they got off the bus at the stadium, every oneof Mike’s teammates wore an intense expression. They marched through the sticky eighty-five degree air and into the subterranean cool of the arena.
“Good luck out there,” Lauren whispered as he caught up to her in the procession.
“Thanks.” They had barely exchanged any words since their odd conversation about baby-making. He’d gone a little crazy to think that she’d take him back just like that. But it was one of those situations where he knew if he hadn’t at least tried, he’d always regret it. It had taken all his willpower not to blurt out that he hated the idea of her having someone else’s baby.
Caveman, much?
He took a sidelong glance at Lauren as the team moved through the long hallway. She looked as deflated as he felt. “You doing okay?”
“Sure am,” she said quickly. “Can’t wait until the puck drops.” Her smile was a little unsteady, though.
That was something to worry about later. “See you on the other side, okay?”
She gave him a little salute, and he followed his teammates into the dressing room.
•••
Some of Beacon’s teammates were wildly superstitious. They ate the same sandwich before every game, or tucked lucky charms into their hockey socks. Beacon wasn’t very superstitious, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t believe in magic.
The game seven magic began making appearances even before the puck dropped that night.
Doulie felt better, and nobody else came down with the flu. Even better, the MRI on Beringer’s shoulder had cleared him to play. An hour before the game they gathered on a loading dock to play elimination soccer—the team’s favorite warm-up.
Beacon was the first man out, as usual. He was unaccountably bad at elimination soccer, but it was fun to step out of the circle and watch the rest of them duke it out. Tonight’s game got down to Doulie and Trevi and Silas, until Silas won it. He often did, too. The only man who never played for the team was the frequent victor of their warm-up game. Go figure.
Their good spirits held when the puck dropped, and they went out swinging. So did Tampa, though. It was a weird, high scoring game, tied 4–4 going into overtime. Somehow after all that scoring the overtime period was scoreless.
So it went to double overtime. As Mike stretched during the (fourth!) intermission he pictured his daughter in the stands with Hans and Justin, and wondered what Elsa was thinking.
