Page 197 of Over the Line

I cleared my throat, and somehow I didn’t break as I said, “A day doesn’t go by that I don’t miss my friend.”

She teared up again and came in for another hug. Neither of us spoke. Maybe we didn’t need to.

Eyes closed, I just held on to my daughter and let the relief roll over me. Six long years ago, all four of my kids had been furious with me and their mom. Especially me. It had taken months to start smoothing things over with my eldest and youngest. It had taken another few years to get back on speaking terms with Chris.

And today, finally, by what felt like a dozen miracles, I’d reconnected with Ally.

There was no undoing the past. There was no pretending there’d never been a rift or that I’d never done anything to create that rift. There was still a lot of work to be done.

But I had my kids back.

Maybe I hadn’t been great in the past, but I had a second chance to do better in the future.

I couldn’t ask for anything more.

CHAPTER 47

LIAM

Waiting for Garrett today, I was honestly more nervous than I’d been any other time.

He needed things to go well with his daughter. There was no telling if they would or not, but my God, he needed it to go right.

While I waited, I wandered my house, restless and desperate for something to pass the time. I checked my phone constantly, sure I’d missed a text somehow. Though I wasn’t much for praying, I sent up a few whispers into the ether, hoping somebody heard me and came through for Garrett.

The rumble of my garage door opener had me damn near sprinting up the hall from the laundry room. Heart thumping, I opened the kitchen door as he was getting out of his car.

He looked absolutely wrung out and exhausted, but that tired smile was the brightest thing I’d ever seen. It reminded me a little of how he’d looked after his grandson was born—utterly wiped out but flying high at the same time.

He declined my offer of coffee, though, and we moved into the living room, where he sank onto the couch and slung his arm across the back. As I settled against him, he exhaled hard.

“So, I take it things went well?” I asked.

Garrett laughed softly, his arm closing gently around my shoulders. “Yeah. It was a tough conversation, but we got there.” He paused, and his voice cracked as he said, “She hugged me.”

“That’s great.” I leaned in closer, holding him to me. “That’s really great.”

“It is. It’s still going to take some time. Stuff like this—it doesn’t go away overnight.” He blew out a breath and wiped a hand over his face. As he let his hand fall to his thigh, he said, “But man, today was a lot of progress.”

“Good. Is she in town for long?”

“A few days. I, um…” He turned to me, brow creased. “I’d love to have you meet her. If you want to grab dinner one night or something.”

“Sure, yeah. That would be great.” I paused. “Does she want to meet me?”

Garrett smiled and brought up my hand to kiss my palm. “She does. I guess Chris raved about you, and she’s followed his career enough to know who you are.” He chuckled. “She’s willing to give you a chance as Dad’s boyfriend.”

I laughed. “No pressure, right?”

“None.” He sobered a little. “I’m the one she was staying away from, not you. Meeting my boyfriend is her taking a step closer to letting me back into her life. So… the pressure’s on me.”

“Okay, true.” I clasped our fingers together. “Well, I’ll follow your lead. I’m happy to meet her or—okay, I’ve met your other kids, but as your boyfriend this time.”

Garrett grinned. “The next Phantoms’ family skate could be interesting.”

“True. The one after that, too, since, I mean, I’ll be there as a family member myself. Not a player.”

He straightened. “Oh. You’re right. You—and you’re still sure about that? Retiring?”