Page 20 of Offside Secrets
“And then, one of those suits, I think it was Harold, had the nerve to tell me I need to bring a date to this year’s donor gala.”
“Really?” Gavin’s sigh slams into my ear. “What year is it and those guys think you need to have a man on your arm?”
“I know, right?” I sip my wine, shaking my head as I put the glass down. “Like I can’t go alone and do what needs to be done. Which, let’s face it, is to make small talk, keep sponsorship flowing, and be a smiling, happy team owner.”
“Nailed it,” Gavin says. “I’m sure you’ll know plenty of folks at the gala, too. The Barringtons are nice people. Mom and Dad always liked them.”
“Well, I’m just glad that you are going to be here, too, for it this year.” I feel a sense of calm flutter inside when I think about having my brother with me when I go to that event. He’s the sibling backup I need. “I found out Victor Lawson is also attending.”
“That guy,” Gavin groans. “Do you know, he had the nerve to email me and say he just wants to stay in front of us in case we ever want to sell. When Jimmy was friends with him all those years ago, I didn’t like him. Not then, not now.”
In the fun way things can be twisty, Victor has been tight with our estranged brother Jimmy for years. Which tracks, even trash needs someone to talk to while it burns. Jimmy used to run the Renegades, until it was discovered he was doing his best behind the scenes to inflate our team and then sell it off. But, like all garbage, we managed to get this pile to the landfill. Jimmy was asked to go, Gavin didn’t want to be in charge, so I became the face of the Renegades.
“Did he really reach out to you?” I could shake my head again, but at this point, I may shake it off my neck. “What a turd. Like he’ll ever get our team. Over my dead body.”
“Yours and mine both.” Gavin chuckles before his tone goes somber. “Speaking of dead bodies, I’ve got some bad news that may make you want to kill me.”
I can’t help the groan that escapes my lips. “Please don’t say you’ve given Victor your shares in the Renegades?”
“Not that. But, oh man, I’m sorry, Sutton,” he says, and even though he’s thousands of miles away, I can picture him rubbing the back of his neck like he always does when he’s breaking bad news. “I was really hoping to get out of here for a visit before the end of the year, but we have too much going on and it’s not going to happen.”
The words land like a punch to my chest. I sink deeper into the couch. “Gav…” I drag out his name, trying to swallow my disappointment. “You promised me last year that this year you’d make it.”
“I know. I thought I could swing it.” He sighs, that weary doctor sigh that sounds older than his thirty-seven years. “But the clinic’s short-staffed. And Sutton, the cases here are?—”
“Life and death,” I finish for him, rolling my eyes at the ceiling even though I understand. I always understand. Gavin saves people for a living. He puts out actual fires while I manage a hockey team and argue with referees. His life is noble. Mine is noisy.
“It’s just a silly gala,” he says gently.
“A silly gala?” I sit forward, indignant. “It may have been that before that last board meeting, but now it’s all about me showing up at events solo. Now you’re bailing, which means I’m stuck.”
He chuckles softly. “C’mon, it’s not that bad.”
“Gavin, these people are watching me so closely that some days I feel like they’ve set up cameras in my office.”
He groans. “Okay, that’s bad.”
“Bad? That’s borderline sociopathic.” I drag out the word for effect. “These board members act like one wrong move from me and the whole ship’s going down.”
“You always were good at steering ships,” he says dryly. “You’ve got this, my sweet but seriously scary sister.”
I snort. “Sweet. Right. Remind me of that when they’re asking me for the color of my pen ink at the next meeting.”
He laughs, and for a moment, I smile, too. But it doesn’t erase the sting in my chest. He’s supposed to be here. He’s supposed to be home.
“Look, I’ll make it up to you,” he says. “Next year, I’ll be there with bells on.”
“You said that last year.”
“I know, but I promise I’ll move heaven and earth next year.”
“Yeah, well.” I press my lips together, not trusting myselfto sound casual. “It’s fine. Really. Go save the world, Doctor Hero.”
His voice softens. “I love you, Sutton.”
I close my eyes. “Love you, too.”
We say our goodbyes, and I end the call, letting the silence of my house swallow me whole.
