On the Fly (41 page)

I didn’t really
want to take the kids to sit in the owner’s box
during the game, but I also didn’t want to explain why we weren’t
there to the kids or anyone else. I hadn’t sorted it all out in my
mind yet, so I definitely couldn’t explain myself.

Brenden had tried to pull me aside
after lunch so we could talk, but I still wasn’t ready.

I’d shrugged him off, telling him I
had too much work to do and needed to get back to it. That we could
talk later.

Later would be here soon,
and I still didn’t know what I was going to say other than I needed
there to be an end to our relationship as it was. It was too soon
after everything that Maddie had been through for me to even think
about getting involved with someone, and it was
way
too soon for me to leave the kids
with babysitters so I could go out on dates.

When we walked into the box, my eyes
immediately landed on Dana and her parents. Just perfect. They were
sitting near the front of the box and snacking on some of the
offerings from the buffet table.

I got Tuck set up in the corner with
some toys and turned to Maddie. “What’s the plan for tonight?” I
asked her.

She squinted at the ice, then looked
up at me. “Can I try the sunglasses from Mr. Nicky?”

She hadn’t had a headache all day, but
there was no telling when one would come on and what would cause
it. Still, we wouldn’t know how the sunglasses would work for her
if she didn’t try them. I fished them out of my purse and handed
them over. She put them on and went to the seat in the far corner
at the front, where it was likely to be as quiet as anything she’d
find up here. Most of the players’ wives and girlfriends tended to
sit in groups and talk, and most of the kids stayed near the back
and played.

Dana waved me over as soon as she
caught my eye. She moved over a few seats, giving us a little
privacy from her parents at the same moment Sara came in and joined
us. I was going to have to put on a show tonight, as
expected.

“
Worst. Date. Ever,” Sara
said dramatically as she flopped into the seat on my other side. “I
think all the booze he kept buying for me during that game
seriously impeded my ability to discern how insanely boring he
was.”

“
Then maybe Laura can
somehow keep all her duckies in a row,” I replied, trying to keep
my tone light.

Her eyes shot up to my face. “Oh God.
What’s wrong?”

Crap
. I hadn’t made it through two minutes of pretending
everything was all right, and they could already tell.

“
Nothing’s wrong,” I lied.
“It’s just been a long day.”

“
Hmm,” Dana said, narrowing
her eyes. She left it at that, though.

“
Anyway,” Sara said with a
wave of her hand, “I’m miserable. Daddy
loved
banker boy. I made the mistake
of introducing them before we left. Daddy invited him over for
dinner after the team gets back from this next road trip. What was
I thinking?”

Dana winked at me. “Maybe you should
give Laura’s idea of dating one of the guys on the team a little
more thought.”

“
Not gonna
happen.”

We all turned to the ice because the
game was getting started. The Storm was playing the Anaheim Ducks
tonight, another division rival, which only made the necessity of a
win even more important.

I checked on Maddie more than normal
after what had happened last night, but no one went near her and
she seemed to be adjusting to the sunglasses well.

The first period was more than half
over, with the Storm leading two to one, by the time Laura, Katie,
and the rest of the Weber kids came into the owner’s box. The
younger two took off to sit with some other kids they knew. Even
though they had their hair and makeup done, it wasn’t difficult to
see that Laura and Katie had both been crying. Recently, too. Their
eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and they had matching red
noses.

Katie scanned the room and made a
beeline to join Maddie in her quiet corner. That shouldn’t bother
Maddie. I gave her a quick glance to be sure, but she smiled when
Katie sat down. Laura watched her daughter get settled, and then
she found the three of us.

As soon as Laura sat down, Dana asked,
“What is it? Today was the doctor, right?”

Laura shook her head, her eyes
brimming with fresh tears. “Yesterday. They did some tests and just
called us back with the results a little bit ago. Dave had already
left to come here…” She stopped for a minute, staring down at her
hands. She had them folded together on her lap while she twisted
her wedding band. A tear spilled down her cheek. “It’s leukemia. We
don’t know how advanced yet. They’re going to send us to an
oncologist to get more tests done and figure out what to do from
here. It’s silly for me to be such a mess like this already, right?
I mean, we don’t even know what we’re facing yet.”

I took her hands in mine and held
them, trying to keep my own nausea over the thought of one of my
kids getting sick like that at bay. This was one surefire way to
get me to forget about my own problems for a little while. “It’s
not silly. It’s normal. You’re a mom. That’s what we do—worry about
our kids.” I knew that all too well.

“
Have you told Dave yet?”
Sara asked. “Or the other kids?”

Laura shook her head. “I didn’t want
to tell him on the phone. I didn’t want to tell him before the game
and screw with his head that way.” She pulled one of her hands away
from me and brushed at the tears going down her cheeks. “I don’t
know what to say to the younger kids. God, maybe I shouldn’t even
tell Dave until after the road trip, you know? He’s going to have
to go, and it’ll just eat at him if he knows but can’t be
here.”

“
No,” Dana said firmly. “He
has to know. You have to tell him tonight before they
leave.”

“
I don’t know
how…”

“
Of course you don’t,” I
said. “There’s no class they teach about how to deliver news like
this, no rulebook.” I let go of her hands so I could pull my
cellphone out of my purse. “But you’ve got to tell him, and you
aren’t going to be alone when you do it. We’ll be with you. And Jim
will, too.” I knew he would have his cell on him during the game,
so I sent him a text. He’d need to know.

Laura Weber has health
news about Katie. She needs to tell her husband. Can you come talk
with her before the end of the game?

Not even thirty seconds passed before
he responded.

Be right there.

A couple of minutes later he came into
the owner’s box. He took Laura and Katie aside, talking quietly
with them, supporting and comforting them while they cried. He
stayed until well into the third period, oblivious to what was
happening with his team.

I watched them instead of the game—but
my thoughts kept straying to my kids and what I would do if one of
them got sick with something life-threatening like cancer. How
would I handle that alone? It would be hard enough for Laura and
Dave to deal with it together, to be strong for each other and for
Katie. But alone? The thought of it was as overwhelming as
everything else I’d been feeling since last night.

For the first time since I’d left
Jason years ago, I felt absolutely nauseated at the thought of
trying to raise my kids alone. And what would happen to them if
anything happened to me? What if I was the one who got
sick?

I was an utter wreck, and all my
thoughts kept turning back to Brenden. To how he wanted to help me,
how he wanted to take care of me and my kids, and yet I had
seriously been thinking about closing him out of my life. Out of
all our lives.

I ought to be doing the exact
opposite. How often was I likely to run across a man as good and
caring and protective as he was—one who would be just as diligent
as I was about keeping my kids safe? Someone who loved all of us as
much as I loved him?

Thank goodness I hadn’t broken things
off with him yet.

When Jim got up to leave, he waved me
over to talk to him by the door. “I’m going to bring Webs up here
after Scotty releases the boys. I’ll stay nearby while Laura and
Katie tell him, and I’m going to encourage him to stay behind on
this road trip. Some things are more important than a
game.”

That was just one more reason I was
coming to love working for this man. He always saw the bigger
picture and always looked deeper than the surface. I had to wonder
how much deeper than the surface he could see when it came to me
and Brenden—particularly after we’d gone to lunch with him today,
and I hadn’t even been able to bring myself to look at Brenden more
than a couple of times.

I nodded and straightened my spine,
trying to pull myself back together again. “That sounds like a good
idea.”

“
I know tomorrow’s one of
your days off, but can I get you to help me out for about an hour
in the morning?” he asked. “If he does stay behind, we’ll have to
file some paperwork with the league granting him personal time and
call someone up to fill his spot on the roster. I promise it won’t
become a regular occurrence.”

“
I don’t mind.” Especially
if it meant that Katie could have both of her parents with her
right now. That would put all of their minds more at ease. And
mine—at least somewhat.

“
Thanks. I’ve got to fly
out with the team tonight, but I’ll call you with what I need you
to do from the hotel.” He glanced over to where Laura and Katie
were sitting with Dana and Sara again. “I’ll be back with Webs
soon. You’re a lifesaver, Rachel.”

I went back to wait with the other
women. None of us really paid much attention to the game anymore.
When the final horn sounded, the Storm had won four to
one.

Brenden and Nicky came over to our box
not long afterward.

I walked straight into Brenden’s arms
as soon as I saw him.

“
Jim said to tell you he’ll
be up with Webs soon,” he said, his voice gruff as he wrapped his
arms around me and held me close. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Yes. No. I need to talk to
you when we get home.”

“
Thank God. Let’s
go.”

“
Not yet,” I said. “We need
to stay right now.” I put my arms around his waist and held onto
him as though I was afraid he would vanish if I didn’t keep a tight
enough grip on him. He didn’t seem to mind, using one hand to
lazily rub the tension out of my shoulders.

A few minutes later, Jim and Dave came
in. Jim sat with Laura and Katie while Laura told her husband about
Katie’s diagnosis. Brenden and I watched as Dave pulled them both
into his arms and held them tight.

Brenden held me in his arms in just
the same way, keeping me close, as though he could ward off any
danger. “Do you know what this is about?” he asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Can you tell
me?”

“
No.”

“
Okay.” He held me just
like that until the Weber family started gathering themselves up to
head home.

He didn’t release me until Laura and
Katie came over to hug me.

“
Thank you,” Laura said,
her voice still as watery as her eyes. “You were right.”

I could only nod and squeeze Katie’s
hand.

Once they were gone I waved to Jim,
who gave me a brief nod. Brenden helped me herd Tuck and Maddie out
to the parking garage so we could go home. He held my hand as he
drove, and he helped me get the kids settled. After I’d tucked them
both in and read them a bedtime story, I went back to the living
room.

Brenden was waiting for me on the
couch with his foot up. “So are we talking? You’re not running me
off, tonight?”

I answered him by crossing over to him
and taking a seat on his lap.

He gave me a quick, chaste kiss. I was
glad he’d stopped there, because I didn’t know how much I’d be able
to get out otherwise.

“
A strange man scared
Maddie at the arcade last night,” I said. “Nothing happened. She
went back to Jamie and Tuck, and everything was fine. But when she
told me that, I freaked out. I was going to break things off with
you.”

He opened his mouth to interrupt me,
but I stopped him with a finger against his lips.

“
I’m not going to do that,”
I said. “I had it in my head that the only way I could protect her
was to be with her all the time, and that meant never being alone
with you anymore. Never going on another date with you. Not
allowing you to be in our lives.”

The rapid, staccato beats of his heart
pulsed in time with mine, and his chest was rising and falling with
uneven breaths. His eyes kept searching mine, but he didn’t
interrupt me.

“
But something happened
tonight that made me look at things in a new light. I can’t promise
that I won’t freak out every time something happens with one of my
kids, but it might be nice to have someone else around to freak out
with me.”

With that, Brenden laughed—a big, deep
laugh that nearly jostled me off his laugh. “Is that an
invitation?”