Page 54 of Hot Puck
“Sometimes, but you have school to think about.” Although if she needs to be near her brother for peace of mind, I’ll do everything in my power to make that happen.
“Can we watch the home games in the owner’s box?” Cassidy asks with an excited smirk.
“Hey, how do you know about owner’s boxes?” Chase finally injects himself into the conversation.
“I watch ESPN.”
Chase and I look at each other. Neither of us sure how to react to that statement.
“Dad isn’t the only one interested in you being a professional player.” Cassidy lifts her chin as if daring her brother to argue with her.
“I had no idea. What else do you know? What do you want to know?” Chase steps up to his sister and pulls her into his arms. “With all the shit you’ve given me over the years about early morning training and games, I thought you hated hockey.”
“No.” Her words are muffled against his chest. “It’s cool having an older brother who’s set to break records.”
Chase leans back, a look of complete shock on his face. “You think I’m going to break records?”
“You already have.”
“Well, yeah but that was kid stuff.”
“Your first season in college you had more shut-out games than not.”
“Huh.” Chase eyes Cassidy with curiosity. “You know that?”
“She knows all your stats,” Crystal says with an eye roll. “It’s how Dad taught us math.”
“Wow. Okay. Well, I guess it’s about time I got back on the ice so you can continue to pass math.”
“Don’t get a big head about it.” Cassidy says, shoving out of her brother’s arms. “I know stats of a lot of players.”
I study her a little more closely; her revelations aren’t that surprising, and I don’t know why I didn’t think either of the girls might be interested in hockey before now.
“Would you like to tour the arena and training facilities when we get to Baton Rouge?”
“Hell—”
“Hey, language!”
“Yeah!”
Cassidy’s grin says it all. Even with the reprimand from her brother she’s happy. And Crystal’s smiling just as big.
Moving might be a major deal, but it might also be exactly what this family needs to move on from tragedy.
Chase
Once Gem gets an idea in her head, there’s no stopping her until she achieves her goal.
In the two weeks since we made the decision to move to Baton Rouge, the girls and I have barely had to lift a finger.
First a group of women who specialize in moving families with young children turned up at our house in St. Paul and walked the three of us from one room to the next determining what to pack and ship to Gem’s house, what to pack for storage for us to go through later, and what to donate.
Another group arrived to pack everything up and as each room was wrapped and boxed, I breathed a little easier—felt more in control of our lives.
The only day that caused distress was the day we packed up Mom and Dad’s room. Other than a few tears shed as each piece of our parents was packed away, the move to Baton Rouge has been worry free.
And when the same women showed up at Gem’s house to help us unpack and place everything in our new home as the movers unloaded the truck, I could have kissed Gem.
