Page 106 of Rookie Move
Back in the locker room faces were long. And they only grew longer when Coach, Hugh, and Nate all entered the room, standing together, facing the team.
One by one conversations died as everyone gave his attention to the men in charge. “We have a change to announce,” Hugh Major said.
Oh. Fuck. Leo braced himself.
“Silas Kelly will head to Hartford tomorrow morning. I would like to personally thank him for his service, and his excellent attitude at every turn. And if we make it to the postseason, we’ll probably see him in Brooklyn again.”
O’Doul began to clap, and Leo joined immediately. But his mind whirled. Silas gone? The last-minute roster changes had begun. Karl obviously wanted to give someone else the backup job going into the play-offs.
Across the room, Silas was already stuffing things into his duffel. They’d probably only told him five minutes ago. Now it was back to the minor leagues. His two-way contract made that an easy decision for the team. But then... Leo felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. If Karl went shopping for a goalie, he might trade Leo to get one.
And poor Silas. Leo felt terrible for his roommate of four weeks. This business was rough. Nobody was ever safe.
When Leo came out of the showers a few minutes later, Silas was beside his locker, tossing gear into a hockey bag. He’d have to carry it out himself tonight, and put it on a plane to Hartford tomorrow.
“Man, I’m sorry to lose you,” Leo said. “This should have been the start of a beautiful relationship.”
Silas gave a bark of laughter. “Don’t get all teary on me now. And hey—my buddy thinks he’s getting traded to Anaheim now. You might be off the hook.”
“We’ll see I guess.” Leo wasn’t counting onanythingafter Coach’s outburst today. At this point, he was probably willing to trade him to a beer league just to get him the hell away from Georgia.
“If you make it through the deadline, would you think about taking over my lease? There’s five months left.”
“Sure I’d take it over,” Leo said quickly. “But that’s a big ‘if.’”
Silas gave him a sad grin. “Let me know. It’s a lot of rent but I’ll miss that place.”
“I sure will.”
They shook hands.
Leo got dressed and wondered where Georgia was. The jet would take them all back to New York tonight on a late flight. Leo was looking forward to going home. He slipped on his shoes and went to find her.
But when he stepped into the hallway, someone stopped him. “Leo. Could you come here a minute, son?”
Leo’s head snapped up with surprise. It was Karl Worthington who stood frowning at him. “Sure,” he said, wondering why Coach’s voice sounded so dire.Here itcomes, he thought as he followed him down the hallway. “What’s the problem?”
“No problem.” The coach stopped and crossed his arms. “I just want to apologize to you.”
Leo just blinked for a minute. “You do?”
“Yeah, for being an asshole.” Karl stuck a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. “Georgia’s senior year of high school was really hard on me.”
“No kidding,” Leo said quickly.
But Coach shook his head. “Not just the last part. The whole thing. You two were gonna fly the coop. I helped my little girl pick a college. Then I helped you get onto that D-1 team where I knew you could become great. And everything was fuckingover. Georgia was my whole family. No—Georgia andyouwere my whole family. When I thought you two were going to break up, I was angry at you for leaving both of us. And then...” He looked down at the rubber matting on the floor, shaking his head. “I blamed you even though it didn’t make any fucking sense. I just wanted to go back in time to where the two of you were happy, sneaking around boosting Georgia through her bedroom window after curfew.”
Leo’s chest was tight. “We broke a lot of rules. But I loved her.”
Coach’s voice was gravel. “I know you did. I trusted you completely.”
Yikes. “Thing is...” Leo rubbed his chin and tried to form words that made sense. “Who knows what would have happened? Maybe Georgia would have gotten sick of the long-distance thing. It happens. Or maybe I would have. We were so fucking young.”
Karl gave him a sad smile. “I know. But I met my wife in high school. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. And you had a good heart and you made her laugh. Meanwhile, I’d just spent a decade coaching some real punks in college. At seventeen, you were twice the man as most of them. I had faith in the two of you. Until I didn’t anymore. I’m sorry.”
Leo leaned back against the wall and tipped his eyes toward the ceiling. What waswithhis eyes today? They kept getting scratchy and hot. “Apology accepted,” he said.
Karl exhaled. “Now go find my girl and make her happy. You both deserve it.” He held out a hand.
