Page 60 of Hot Shot
“You do?” she whispers, her fingers tracing the muscles on my forearm.
“Yeah. He’s older. We haven’t seen each other since we were kids. That is until he contacted me recently. We’ve talked a few times since. Maybe one day we’ll have one.”
I take a deep breath, letting the warmth of her skin sink into me before I speak again. “His dad and my mom worked together and apparently on one of their work trips conceived me. She never wanted to have kids. Something I got to hear a lot growing up.”
“That’s a terrible thing to say to a child.”
“We stayed in Colorado until I was ten. She and my father had an agreement in the beginning. I spent summers with him and his family so Mom could focus on her career. God only knows why his wife—Beth—was okay with it. Funny thing is, Beth was always super nice to me whereas my father barely tolerated me. She tried to include me in things. I think she felt bad that I was stuck in that situation.”
I take a deep breath. I don’t know why I’m telling her this, but it feels good to get it off my chest. I feel like I can tell her anything.
“I play hockey because my brother did. I wanted to be like him. I guess I thought if I did what he did, I’d get a little more affection from my father. Turns out that wasn’t the case. I was the second son he never wanted.”
“Your brother plays hockey too?”
“Yeah, he got drafted out of high school. Spent a couple of years in the AHL. He’s been playing in the NHL since he was twenty.”
After Elias and I talked I looked him up. He knew all about my hockey career so I wanted to know about his.
“Hockey must be in your genes.”
“I guess. Except he’s better, he’s been playing longer.”
“I don’t think that’s true, you just took different paths. Do you want to have a relationship with your brother?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since we talked in Nashville. “I always thought he hated me. Didn’t want me around. Once we moved back to Minnesota, I never heard from either of them.”
“Oh?”
“He started texting me recently. I actually saw him when we were on the road last week. We played against his team, and he came into the locker room after the game to talk.”
“It’s a big decision that you’re not going to know the answer to right away. He reached out so that must mean something.” She yawns.
“Yeah, I know. I keep hoping I’ll wake up one day with the answer about what to do.” I sigh, running a hand through my hair and down my face.
She nods and yawns again.
I stifle a yawn too. The day is suddenly catching up with me. “How about we head to bed? It’s getting pretty late.”
She falls asleep quickly, her head on my chest. I, on the other hand, lie awake for a long time thinking about all the memories that I stirred up talking about my childhood.
I think about calling Elias and taking him up on his offer to get to know each other again as adults. What it would be like to have a brother to talk to, especially a brother who also plays professional hockey.
But then I think about how long it took him to reach out, and I’m torn about what to do.
Chapter twenty-four
Madison
“Morning.Yougotaminute?” Rachel steps into the kitchen carrying two cups of iced coffee.
I turn away from the cake I’m working on, wiping my hands on my apron before taking the cup from her. “Thanks. What’s up?”
“How about we sit?” She points to her office. Alarm bells start ringing in my head as I follow her.
She sits down at her desk and takes a sip of her coffee before saying, “What happened to you starting your own business? When we were in school that was your dream. When you moved here that was still your dream. You and I both knew this was temporary.”
She waves her hand around. “A place to get your bearings. Test out some recipes. See if there was even a demand for cakes. Which there clearly is. Didn’t you even meet with a lawyer a few months back? What happened to that?”
