Page 89 of One Kind Goal

Ignoring the ache in his chest, he continued to the highway and headed south to Rhode Island. “Call Teddy,” he said, needing to talk to someone who might tell him he was doing the right thing.

“Hey, man.” Teddy’s voice filled the SUV. “Saw that online stuff. Tell me it’s not as big of a deal as it looks.”

“It’s a fucking big deal.”

“Shit. I avoided calling you because if we didn’t talk about it, maybe it would go away.”

“Not how the world works,” Sawyer said. “In fact, I now believe the world or the Universe or whatever the fuck it is that’s in charge of shit likes to screw with us. Everything was going so awesome. Then in the blink of an eye, Carina was at the cottage, packing up Nia’s stuff and taking her back to Rhode Island.”

“I’m so sorry, Sawyer.”

“She was so mad, Teddy.” Sawyer blew out a breath. “I let her down, big time.”

“Yeah . . . well . . . she’s let you down too, man.”

That was not what he’d expected his buddy to say. “How so?”

“How so? Dude, she’s dictated when you get to see your daughter from day one. You didn’t get to be there when Nia was born. The first time you saw her, she was, what, like a month old?”

“Yeah, but Carina had a difficult pregnancy.”

“Did she though? What was difficult about it? Did you ever get the details?” Teddy’s rapid-fire questions surprised Sawyer. What surprised him more was he didn’t have any answers to those questions.

“No. I didn’t. I just . . .”

“Believed her. What if she was only saying she had a difficult pregnancy to keep you away?” Teddy asked. “I mean, she’s made a career of separating you and Nia.”

“But she was coming around,” Sawyer said. “She let me take Nia to Vermont. She okayed taking her to a hockey game in Canada. Those are pretty big steps.”

“That have come four fucking years after your kid was born. I wouldn’t exactly call that generous. Or fair.” Teddy sounded fired up, as if he’d been holding in this conversation for years. “It’d be one thing if you were a bad guy, Sawyer, but you’re the total opposite of that. Sure, you’re famous. You’re in the public eye a lot. The reason you’re there, however, is because you’re amazing at your job. People know you because your hockey skills are incredible. You’re a goddamn role model. Why would someone want to keep a kid away from that?”

Sawyer switched lanes to get around a slow-moving tractor-trailer as he considered his pal’s speech. “I always assumed Carina was so traumatized by her childhood around a famous person that she was doing what she felt was best for Nia.”

“Okay, fine, but don’t you think Nia not having her father in her life is traumatizing too?” Teddy asked. “You grew up without a father. How did that make you feel? How do you feel about that today?”

“It sucked. My mom did a kickass job of raising me on her own and I pictured Carina doing that for Nia, I guess. But fuck, you’re right. If a child can have a father, she should get one.”

“Especially one like you, buddy,” Teddy said quietly.

“We were having such a good time together,” Sawyer said. “I want to build more memories like the ones we created over the past few days.”

“Then do whatever it takes to make Carina see that Nia needs you.”

“Right.” Sawyer drew in a breath, feeling energized and determined. “Thanks for the pep talk, Teddy.”

“No problem. That one was for free. The next one will cost you.”

Sawyer laughed for the first time since he’d found Carina in the cottage’s living room this morning. “I’ll gladly pay.”

“Is Morgan with you?” Teddy asked.

“No. I . . . I bailed on that.” Sawyer rubbed his chest, but that ache remained. “Carina was not a fan of Morgan being called Nia’s mother online.”

“But you were a fan of it, weren’t you?”

“She was so good with Nia, Teddy. Like a total natural.”

“Focus on Nia for now,” Teddy said, “but don’t let Morgan fall through the cracks. How many women have caught your attention like she has?”