Page 215 of Fierce Storm
Sal’s eyes twinkle when he refers to Paige as Isaac’s mom, and I have no doubt he’s feeling the same warmth in his chest that I feel every time I say it. It wasn’t an easy road, but Isaac’s adoption is finally official, and the Wilders couldn’t be happier.
Even Isaac’s smile grows. He’s been calling Paige Mom since she moved into their apartment, but he’s old enough to understand what it means now, and knowing it’s official really changed things for him too. It brought him further out of his shell, something he’d been working on with his therapist. “Mom is in the kitchen with Dad,” he tells Sal, beaming as he points toward the back of Luke’s house.
“Thanks, Buddy.” Sal squeezes my hand as he walks away, and I immediately turn to Isaac.
“How was your day?” he asks, always so polite, nothing at all like his father.
“I had a wonderful day, thank you. How wasyourday?”
“Good, thanks, Keeley.”
Keeley. Not Aunt Keeley, like he used to call me, just Keeley. Without anyone mentioning it, he stopped calling me aunt after the first day he saw Sal and me as a couple. I was worried at first, until he told Paige it was because I was his family on both sides now, and the term aunt didn’t sound important enough.
Bless his innocent little soul.
After our greetings, Isaac drags me toward Juliet, his favorite person right now, and I chat with Amelia, spending the next hour mingling with friends, feeling Sal’s eyes on me the entire time.
It took him a while to feel comfortable enough to attend one of the guys’ events. He’d heard Paige talk about them regularly, but never considered ever being invited. It wasn’t until my mom of all people dragged his ass there, telling him he had to suck it up if he wanted to date her daughter. She had an entire speech planned, but all she had to do was remind him that age was just a number, and that ifIdidn’t care that I was dating an old man, he shouldn’t care that he was dating someone younger. He gave in after that, knowing I’ve been saying the same since we first kissed.
The thought of my mom makes my chest tight, while gratitude fills me. She may be struggling a lot more these days and spending most of her time in a wheelchair, but she’s still with us, and I’ll cherish every moment we get to share.
Thomas ventures over when I’m alone by the bar, his sincere smile always bringing about my own.
“Are you attending the Women in Sports fundraiser again this year?” he asks as he leans against the counter, folding his arms over his chest. “Lainey’s been invited to talk about movement therapy in the sporting world. Her speech won’t be as explosive as yours, but I know she’d love to have a familiar face in the crowd.”
I huff out a laugh as my eyes flash to his wife, Lainey, and I smile. “I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
My explosive speech, as Thomas called it, still elicits such a strong internal response for me now. It’s always a mix of elation and sorrow. Elation because I made a stand against the assholes in the sporting world who thought they could hurt women, whether physically or by other means, and get away with it. I named names, not only Vance and my supervisor back in college, but also our ex-GM Tray, and our ex-owner Gregory for covering up Tray’s many cases of sexual harassment during his time with the Storm.
Suffice it to say, Gregory’s book was never published, and his accusations about the Storm team quickly went away with the focus being on him instead.
Since my speech, hundreds of women have come forward, and that’s where the sorrow comes in. I never could have predicted how many women, and men for that matter, were suffering at the hands of someone that others trusted. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
Thomas thanks me and squeezes my arm before heading back over to the guys, and I smile as they jokingly call him theboss. After rejecting Vance for the quarterback coaching position last season, Wes shelved the restructure idea, opting to wait until the following season. And lo and behold, Thomas accepted the job.
I’ll neither confirm nor deny that he may have been gently coerced by several different people, but the point is, he’s now a part of the family again, and we couldn’t be happier. Even Beckett seems to like having him around.
The night feels long, and by the time midnight strikes, I’m ready to leave.
As though he can read my mind, Sal glances in my direction, nodding his head toward the door.
I laugh, turning to grab my bag until Hayley sidles up next to me. “You and Daddy D are so in sync it’s sickening.”
“Ahh, like you can talk. Did you and Reed mean to color match?”
We both glance over to Reed in his blue-and-white striped tee and laugh as I gesture to Hayley’s dress. “Point taken. I was only teasing in the hope that you would stay longer.”
“I would…” I drag out the word, rocking my head from side to side, “but I don’t want to. I love you all, but I’m ready to ring in the new year with my man.”
I wink, knowing what she’s thinking, but in truth, I’m ready to curl up on the couch and enjoy a nice glass of wine.
I’m ready for Sal and me to be alone just like he mentioned when we arrived.
The second we get home, Sal pours us both a drink and gets comfortable on the couch, leaning back with his armsopen, silently asking me to sit down. I settle into his hold, my favorite position, and he stretches out to reach for my drink, handing me my wine before grabbing his own.
“To our second New Year’s together.”
“And to another great drop.”
