Page 8 of Off the Stick
In fact, Trevor had to prod me forward, front and center, when Coach Thomas introduced me as the newbie—to the entire freaking team!I was so self-conscious that heat rose up my neck and to my cheeks.
It felt like Coach would never stop talking, but when he did, I dared to peek back up, my gaze landing squarely on Dane.
Who grimaced, his brows drawn together.
He may not have remembered me at first sight, but he had to have put two and two together when Coach Thomas said my name.
And the frown that marred his face suggested he was pissed that I was there.
But why?What could I have done to make him angry?
He was the one who never even bothered to respond to my text after the draft that year.Not even a quick hello or thank-you, which only helps prove my case that Lenni and I are better off without him.We’d never come first.He was quick to dismiss me from his life then, and it wouldn’t be any different now.
Dane Axelrod disappeared from my life like a popped bubble and took my heart with him.After that, I blocked his number.
I had to do that to keep myself from ever contacting him again and prevent him from potentially asserting himself back into my life.
As if that would ever happen.
Ax became a touted rookie with Chicago and was then traded to the Vikings.There was no way he was ever going to find room in his life for Lenni.
Or me.
A tiny knock on the door draws me out of my self-pity, and I force a smile on my face.
“Come in.”
The door handle wiggles, sticks, then jiggles again, and finally Lenni’s face appears through a crack.
“Hi, Mama,” she says in that cute little voice of hers.“Papa said it’s time for bed, but I want you to wead me a bedtime story.”
Lenni steps into the small bathroom, wearing her pink Disney princess nightgown—washed earlier today by Dad—the bottom hem swishing around her bare feet.I extend my hand, and she moves forward to clutch it with her tiny one.The pink of her nail polish, done during our nail painting and pizza party the night we moved in, is already chipping away.
I was honestly a bit worried that Lenni would have a tough time moving to Vancouver and leaving behind all that was familiar to her, including her obnoxious but loving uncles.Like me, Lenni is reserved when it comes to new things or people; it takes us a while to adapt to new situations.It took her a good two weeks at her last preschool to warm up to her new teacher and a month before she finally made friends.
Dad has been our saving grace at making this entire transition seamless and easy for both of us.He insists that it’s only fair, a form of payback for all the years I took care of our home when he was on the road.
It’s going to hit like a bucket of cold water when he leaves for Calgary and reality comes at us full force.
Then it’ll just be her and me.
I stretch across the porcelain tub to place a kiss on Lenni’s knuckles.Ripples of water splash over the side as I do and bubbles float in the air, drawing a giggle from my sweet girl.
“Okay, I can do that.Ask Papa to help you pick out a book and get you tucked in bed, and I’ll be there in five minutes.”
She nods and sprints out into the hallway, leaving the door ajar so the warm air of my spa-like bathroom seeps out.
I sink back down into the deliciously scented water and sigh.A mother’s job is never done.
And I wouldn’t have my life any other way.Lenni is the best decision I ever made, and I know my own mother is looking down from heaven with a smile on her face.
I just hope I can manage the responsibility of parenting on my own while working full time and also navigating the possibility of seeing my ex again.
But for now, my brain can only handle one thing at a time.And that’s leaving the warmth of the bath and putting my daughter to bed with a story.
5
Ax
