I looked at them both before responding, trying to see if they recognized me. The kid for sure didn’t. But the mom? If she wasn’t a hockey fan, it was highly unlikely she would.
“I’m a little rusty myself.”
She reached for the bag. “I’m sorry for keeping you late here. Come on, Jax, we’ve got to run.”
The kid groaned. “I know, I know. You got work to do all night.”
Her shoulders stiffened and she placed a hand on his back. “Okay bud, let’s go before people start getting the wrong idea of what kind of work I do all night.” She rolled her eyes at me and I couldn’t help my laugh.
“Thank you again, for the extra pair.” She covered the kid’s ears. “Let’s just hope he sticks with it.”
I winked at her and she smiled back.
And they both walked out of my store.
4
Saturday morningI sat with my coffee, paying some bills and getting more reports done before Jax’s game. With only four hours of sleep, Jerry’s offer was becoming more tempting by the minute.
Jax’s practices had gone well the last few days. I’d even hoped he’d forget the whole hockey lessons thing. I looked it up and it would cost like a hundred dollars an hour for decent lessons.
Maybe I could teach him?
Yeah right.Maybe you should whip out your old cheer uniform,while you’re at it, Ray.I cringed remembering my days on the ice, cheering for Max and our university team. The days when he seemed to have a bit of a heart. The days his smile didn’t make my spine crawl.
Sam was up shortly after I was. Then again, probably all of Buffalo woke later than I did on a Saturday morning. Normal medical professionals who didn’t have sixty-hour schedules and then still managed to be behind on paperwork.
Sam pushed a plate of pancakes in front of me. And I took the bait. She wanted to talk me into taking the offer of going back to work at the arena with the team doctors. I hated that I was considering it. I hated even more that I let my seven-year-old talk me into getting him lessons.
Something I would relentlessly try to put off as far as possible.
“What’s the score?” I asked, leaning to a dad of one of the parents from our team, squinting at the scoreboard that was hazy in the sun.
“Seven-nothing.” He shook his head, not taking his eyes off the field.
I winced. “I take it we’re the nothing?”
“Yep.” He glanced in my direction and did a double take. One worth rolling my eyes for. But I managed to just grin politely. “Sorry, hi, I’m Jonah’s dad,” he smiled.
I’ve seen the man here with his wife before, so I knew this was probably innocent. Still, it bothered me.
“Jax’s mom.”
“Jax.. Jax…”
I pointed to him, furthest away from center. “Second baseman.”
The guy squinted in the direction of my kid. “Oh yeah. Good lookin’ kid.”
I smiled. Jax got that a lot. He was a looker. He had my eyes and hair, his father’s cheekbones and chin. The best of our features. I grinned fondly at him when he ran past us behind the fence as the teams were switching.
“Good pair of cleats he’s got there.”
“Oh thanks, they’re new. I got them at T’s Sporting Goods on Main. They’re actually having a two for one sale, if you need a pair.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw the guy jerk and laugh, his eyes on the field. “Yeah I bet they do. For hot blonds.”
My smile faded instantly and I snapped my head to him. “Excuse me?”
