Page 78 of He Has Charm (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
We go back to the townhouse and I realize the jig is up. We have to move out because I’m no longer on the team. And Harper will be going back to New York City because I’m no longer the Jett Agency’s client. Fuck. I need to move out and I have no place to go—not even NOLA since my realtor told me the place finally sold. Of course mom and my sisters invite me to stay with them for as long as I need. But I can’t go there.
We sit at the kitchen island and I look around, already wistful and missing the bright space. My eyes wander around until they reach hers and we stare. For a tense moment, we communicate in silence all the mutual disappointments, the longing, the need and the uncertainty.
“Where will you go?” she says.
“I’d move in with my mom, but she has her own life with all the retirees in Carolina and I wouldn’t fit in there, would have nothing to do there and no friends there. I could go back to the old neighborhood where I grew up on the Hudson in New York and stay with my sister Laurel til I find a place.”
“That sounds good,” she says, sounding like she means the opposite. I shrug.
“No pro hockey team. I’m not sure what the hell I’d do there. Same for staying with Katy or getting a place in Connecticut near her.”
The truth smacks me like a bullet-train. The place that feels like home is here, the townhouse in Boston with Harper. Because it’s where Harper is, where we’ve made a partnership, a life of sorts and my gut clenches until I want to hurl at the idea of leaving. Leaving Harper, not the townhouse or Boston, although I’ve acquired a soft spot for all of it while I wasn’t paying attention.
“Maybe I’ll stay in Boston,” I say, testing the possibility out loud.
“I’m flying back to New York tomorrow,” Harper blurts and I frown.
“Oookay. I thought you had two weeks—”
“I have some business to take care of.” I wait a few beats for her to share.
“Secret business?” To my surprise, she nods. I think about it as I watch the firm line of her mouth shut tight. Not sure of what to expect except that if she thinks she can ditch me by going to New York, she’s wrong, I revert to my stand-by response. I laugh.
“You’re turning into a real ball-buster, aren’t you? Hanging around with Delaney so much she’s rubbing off on you.”
“I hope so,” she says and smiles.
