“We’re glad she’s on the mend.”
Dan shrugged.
The GM peered more closely at him. “She is on the mend, right?”
Perhaps this was another time to be open and honest about things. “It was our third miscarriage, and to be honest, it’s been a little overwhelming.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” The team owner—a father to three daughters—clapped him on the shoulder. “Truly.”
“I have to say the results when you were away weren’t what we wanted,” the GM said.
“But perhaps proof that we need him around,” the owner said.
The GM nodded. “I hope you’ll be signing on again, Dan.”
“I hope so too.”
And an emotion he hadn’t felt for a long time—something that felt like hope—buoyed his spirits on the drive back to see Sarah. Maybe they could discuss this tonight over dinner in Muskoka.
CHAPTER8
“This is so nice.” Sarah glanced around the restaurant that was often heralded as Muskoka’s finest. Alphonse, the Paris-trained chef whose name graced the resort restaurant, had a flair for cooking Canadian produce with a French twist. And even though it wasn’t a special occasion, the fact that they were out socializing again made it feel special enough. Especially with Dan’s encouraging news from Toronto.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“I figured a positive conversation like that deserved celebrating.”
He smiled at her. “I think from Kris’s latest email the negotiations are heating up now.”
“I’m not surprised.” She reached across the table and held his hand. “The team management are fans of yours.”
His lips tweaked higher, the sparkle back in the golden glints of his chocolate eyes. Her heart spasmed. He seemed so much happier than two weeks ago.
And while she’d like to celebrate with him properly, her bleeding had started again, which put a dampener on their reunion earlier. Still, maybe that meant it was just her cycle reasserting itself, which meant the time for true reconciliation wouldn’t be much longer. She hoped so, anyway.
“So did Kris have anything good to suggest regarding sponsorship?”
“A few things. Nothing that grabbed me.”
“But if you’ve got another year then the pressure is off a little, isn’t it?”
“A little. But it’s still something to be aware of. I can’t pretend to be living the high life when I’m no longer playing.”
“But you’ve invested wisely, and it’s not like we’re lacking money.” It still amazed her how different her life was now to how she’d grown up. Strangely enough, there wasn’t a thatched hut to be seen in the big smoke. “We’ll just have to keep praying that God will open the right doors at the right time.”
“Amen.” Dan clasped her hand and gently squeezed.
She used the last of her dinner roll to mop up the remaining sauce. “Hopefully you can get this sorted soon, and then go do your camp and have fun there.”
His brow lowered. “I can’t believe I forgot that.”
“I can’t either. I know I’ll never forget my one and only time.” CampingSurvivor-style in the Canadian wilderness with a bunch of city teenagers. There was a reason she had a vintage-styled magnet on the fridge that declared, ‘I love not camping’.
“I need to get onto Boyd and see where he’s up to with it all.”
She nodded. Boyd was one of Dan’s long-time friends who worked as a youth minister in Toronto. They’d started this camp for underprivileged youth together a bunch of years ago, and it was one of the highlights of Dan’s year.
“He’s usually pretty organized, isn’t he?” She grinned as he nodded. “Gotta say, rather you than me.”
