Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
I just nod. “Thank you for telling me that.”
Ella gives a soft smile, a little bit sad, a little bit perplexed. “Good night, Jim. See you Wednesday at the debate.”
“Goodnight, Ella,” I murmur, watching as she disappears inside. I have a lot of ruminating to do—a hard analysis of how I treated my wife and how that led me to losing her.
CHAPTER 5
Steele
Coach Perron is at the locker room entrance, slapping us on the back as we shuffle in. We pulled off another win tonight—2-1 against the Vancouver Flash. It was a stalemate-type battle, as the score was 2-1 at the end of the first period, but we held our ground and didn’t let them score again to tie it up.
Of course, we didn’t score either after the first period, but their goalie was on point tonight after he let those first two biscuits slip in.
Once again, I offered Lucy tickets to the game, and she declined. I can’t figure out if she has truly decided she doesn’t like hockey anymore, she doesn’t like going without her mom, or she’s trying to punish me for past sins.
I don’t think it’s the last as things seem to be going well between us. I’m sure part of it is the puppy request, and I also think part of it is because I’m trying. Not going to lie… it hurt last night when I attended Lucy’s debate match and when she saw me in the second row sitting beside her mom, she did a double-take of surprise. This even after I had texted her a few hours before the match to tell her I couldn’t wait to see her kick butt.
Lucy did great—I always knew my kid could persuasively argue—but her team as a whole did not and they lost. She was consoled with my offer to take her and her mom out for ice cream, and while I could tell Ella was a bit uncomfortable, she wasn’t about to deny Lucy when she was excited.
It was a good time—twenty minutes of eating ice creams and making family small talk like we used to in the past—like how the school week and Ella’s work were going. Of course, while neither attended the games this week, they knew all about our wins and losses, so we talked hockey some.
It was easy and reminded me of better times, even though I could sense it made Ella uneasy.
It’s not that Ella, Lucy, and I haven’t done family things since the separation. There have been school events where Ella and I sat together. Plus, Lucy’s birthday was two months ago, and Ella threw her a party with all her friends. Of course, I attended. As always, Ella and I got on fine.
But now… Ella knows I have certain intentions, and it seems to be throwing her off. Like she expects me to lay a deep kiss on her right in front of Lucy or something.
At any rate, the debate and ice cream after was the highlight of my week, my short evening with Ella the night I snuck into her backyard being the second.
It’s a testament to how much I’ve changed because I’ve played three games since Sunday, yet those came in a distant third. In my heart of hearts, I know there was a time when those games would have occupied my thoughts far more than my own family did, and it makes me ashamed.
But now, I follow Kane into the locker room. Coach gives him a back slap, and Kane grumbles to himself because he had a bad game. During the first intermission, I told him he needed to get his head out of his ass as it certainly wasn’t in the game. He’d then informed me that he and Mollie had just broken up.
I immediately felt like shit, but then pulled it together to give him some sage advice. Before our seventeen-minute intermission was up, I had Kane in a bit of a more optimistic mood, but he still didn’t play up to par the rest of the game.
My second line once again congregates near our cubbies, chitchatting as we get undressed to shower. Kane is a little grumbly, Jett and Bain are making plans to party at the Sneaky Saguaro, and Riggs may have even tipped one corner of his mouth up when I told him he played a great game.
Elbowing Kane after wrapping a towel around my waist, I ask, “Want to go out for a quiet beer somewhere?”
His expression is one of gratitude because even though what I told him during intermission made logical sense to him, I can see him getting back in his head. He nods. “That would be great, man.”
♦
We’re halfway through our first beer, and I’ve let Kane ramble on about Mollie. Their story is kind of cute… best friends since college, but, in the blink of an eye, they became lovers. Things went fast as they had a strong, underlying love for each other.