Page 65 of A Loser by Christmas
It says so on Calum’s sweater, and I’ve never wanted to hug anyone harder. I settle for saying, “Oui,” again to someone who’ll fly away a few hours from now. “You will see that sunrise with me one day, but first you need to see something else.” I look over my shoulder where Dad is in his element, busy giving orders.
Other Trelawneys take them from him. A whole tribe of big, blond giants are here to help unload this Christmas present.
“Can we leave them to it?”
Calum nods before changing his mind. “Everyone helps out when a new lifeboat arrives. Guiding it through the alleys to the slipway together is a village tradition I grew up hearing about. I’ve never seen it happen.” He shoves his hands deep into his pockets, his head lowering. “Might be?—”
“Your last chance to see it? Like you’ve wanted to see everything else one last time ever since I met you?”
His head rises like I want to see the sun do someday with him. And not just from the top of a tor here in Cornwall. I want to start more days with him even if I don’t know when, where, or how that could even happen. I haven’t known him for long. All I do know is that Calum told me what kept his lips zipped without once breaking his contract. He needs someone like me to do that for him. Before it’s too late.
That will have to wait.
For now, I watch a hockey player return a favour to the same people who once gifted him rugby boots and swimming goggles. Calum lends them his strength to push a lifesaving boat through narrow alleys, while Dad bellows instructions.
“To the left, everybody. Now to the right.”
At least his shouts will stop anyone else from hearing me whisper, “Your club could count you telling the world about a health dispute as contract-breaking, oui? They might see it as you making a strategic weak link public and make you pay for it in ways you don’t want? Like maybe if they sued you?”
Calum doesn’t say a word, but that’s fine. I’m not pushing for answers. I push a boat instead, shoulder to shoulder with him.
One of Calum’s hands finds mine. He holds fast, and that tightness tells me plenty. It also keeps me talking.
Fuck it.
No contracts zip my lips, so there’s no reason for me to shut up. Besides, I’ve had hours to read up on neuro-ophthalmology as a specialism—searched all the way from a service station to where Calum’s world ends, so I’m pretty sure I know which domino an on-ice collision might have toppled.
Each one of those searches led to this moment.
“Telling anyone might have cost your hockey camps their funding. I know you must already have enough cash to keep them going. Your plans were even bigger?”
His nod is so slight.
I see it.
“You were going to expand them. And you weren’t just wining and dining hockey sponsors whenever you left London, were you?” I picture a pink and healthy web of life hidden by an eggshell. “You’ve been building a network to expand that project you fund for Robin.”
That’s pure guesswork, an evidence-based leap. So is this.
“And not only for Christmas.”
Calum rumbles confirmation. “Go big or go home, right?”
Up ahead, the alley walls must lean in too close for Dad’s comfort. He yells, “Careful, careful,” to his helpers, and I should try being the same while standing on what feels like the thinnest ice in existence. Instead, I skate right up to the edge of what might sink Calum’s entire future.
“Your morning sessions. They’ve been to assess if you’re a good candidate for the same trial as little Violet.”
“Gently now,” Dad booms, but I can’t be gentle about this.I can’t.Not with a truth this important.
“You share the same congenital issue. But even if you are a good fit?—”
“I am. Found that out when they called me back this morning. Violet is too.”
That makes this feel even more vital. “But taking part in the trial would keep you out of the game for longer than the option your club favours?” I make another guess about contract clauses. “Those photos Lito took. Your management bought them?”
He nods again.
“Then what’s the hurry if they’ve locked down that news? Why rush you back to the States unless it’s to stop you from having the time here to explore your options? Someone should tell the fans about that bullshit.”
