Page 104 of One Kind Goal

Epilogue

Five weeks later . . .

“One of those hockey guys must be looking for a good time.” Brooke placed her perfectly lipsticked mouth around the straw in her drink. “I should have brought one of my good cameras to zoom in and get a better look at them from here.”

“I’m sure most of them are looking for a good time.” Morgan handed Nia a napkin when nacho cheese dripped from the tortilla chips she ate. “You can investigate tomorrow night. Sawyer invited the team to his house for a party before we head back to Vermont.”

Brooke’s shoulders slumped. “It’s so weird knowing you don’t live in New York with Claire and me anymore. You’ve been gone a few weeks now, but I still keep expecting to see you come marching in.”

“I’ll be sure to march in when I visit.” Morgan stole a chip from Nia, her gaze going to the rink below them. The game hadn’t started yet, but she was eager to see Sawyer on his first night back on the ice.

Dr. Miller Danahy in Maplehaven had cut Sawyer’s cast off last week, deeming him fully healed. Overjoyed, Sawyer had wasted no time letting his team know he was back in business. His coach demanded a full week of practice before agreeing to put Sawyer back in the starting lineup. The entire team was ecstatic to have their famous center forward back. From the chatter of the fans around them, pretty much everyone was ecstatic to have Sawyer back.

“I don’t think I want a hockey player,” Brooke said.

“Why not? Is there something wrong with hockey players?” Morgan was only teasing her sister. She actually couldn’t picture Brooke with an athlete. Brooke had zero interest in sports. In fact, Morgan was surprised she’d agreed to come to this game tonight.

“There’s nothing wrong with them.” Brooke looked around the arena. “I just don’t see myself doing this more than once.”

“Well, what are you looking for then?” Morgan asked.

Brooke shrugged then peeked down the aisle to Austin and Charlie huddled together. “I want to find that.” She gestured to their brother and his wife with her drink then to Morgan and the ice. “What you found with Sawyer.”

Morgan squeezed her sister’s forearm. “You’ll find it. Keep your eyes open.”

Brooke sighed as if she didn’t believe Morgan.

“There’s Daddy!” Nia squealed.

Morgan looked to the ice. “That’s weird. Usually an announcer says some stuff before the game starts.”

Brooke’s mouth turned up a little at the corner, but she didn’t say anything.

When Sawyer skated to the middle of the ice, the Anchors fans went absolutely insane. Everyone was on their feet, cheering and whistling. A moment later, the chanting began.

“Lundin! Lundin! Lundin!”

Sawyer skated around the rink, waving to people and generally looking like the hottest thing on two skates. Morgan was surprised the ice beneath him didn’t melt. His smile was huge and she knew he loved being back in the game.

“I remember taking him to his first hockey practice,” Sawyer’s mom, Ellie, said. “He fell in love with the game in mere seconds.”

Just as Ellie had fallen in love with her granddaughter in mere seconds. Watching Ellie and Nia meet, along with Sawyer’s adopted sister, Shanae, had made Morgan wish her parents were around even more. They would have made excellent grandparents.

“Where’s the rest of the team though?” Morgan asked, ready to see the Anchors decimate the Colorado team.

No one in her group answered her. All of their gazes were trained on Sawyer. He’d skated to center ice again and someone was skating out to him with a . . . with a microphone?

Morgan glanced at Brooke who still had that silly grin on her face. When she looked down the aisle at Austin, Charlie, Claire, Teddy, Samira, Ellie, Shanae, and Nia, they all had silly grins on their faces.

“Hey, everyone!” Sawyer’s voice boomed over the speakers and the crowd went wild again. He gave them one of his killer smiles. Cell phones were raised all around the arena as people snapped pictures of him.

Morgan looked around her again, making sure no one was taking photos of Nia. The girl had an Anchors baseball hat on that somewhat covered her face and Carina had let go of trying to keep Nia completely away from Sawyer’s fame. If Morgan could reduce the chances though, she wanted to help.

“I’m so happy to be back tonight,” Sawyer said, capturing Morgan’s attention again. He held up his right hand and wiggled it. “I plan to let this puppy work for all you Anchors fans out there in this game!”

Another roar shot up from the crowd, but Sawyer motioned for them to ease up.

“But before the game starts,” he said, “I have some important business to conduct.”