Page 114 of The Grumpy Defenseman
Sam stayed quiet.
“I was wrong.”
The words held.
That surprised me.
“The thing he wanted for me already happened,” I said. “I made it. My family is secure. My mother is going to retire. Lena and Tommy are fine. The number mattered, but it was not the life.”
Sam’s hands were still in her lap. Her fingers were linked tight enough that I noticed.
“So, what is?” she asked.
Clean question.
No rescue inside it.
“The life?”
She nodded.
I looked at the city again.
“This,” I said. “San Antonio. The team. My sister’s kitchen. My mother is close enough to show up without warning. Ranger acting like he has joint custody of me.”
That got a smile.
Small, but there.
I turned toward herfully.
“And you.”
Her smile faded. She wanted the word, but she understood the weight of it.
“Evan.”
“I need to say this right.”
She went still.
I had practiced this part the least because it mattered the most.
“I meant what I said at the rink,” I told her. “Clearfield made it harder to hide from it.”
Her breath caught.
I kept going before fear could find a way in.
“But I want you in that life. Not as the reason I stayed. Not as the person I can blame if I get scared later. As the person I choose after I choose it for myself.”
She looked away for one second, out toward the city.
When she looked back, her eyes were bright.
“That is a lot,” she said.
“I know.”
