“Hath …” Dane trailed off. “He didn’t really have anyone. Anytime he talked about family, which wasn’t often, the details were fuzzy—but I don’t think his parents raised him. Anyway, hewasengaged to a girl, but that fizzled out after Soupy’s death, too.”
“He left his fiancée behind, too?”
“Yup.”
Austen’s eyes narrowed. “That’s awfully extreme. Did anyone ask her if she knew what happened to him?”
“She was with the team the entire time we were mourning, like all the other wives and girlfriends. She was just as shocked as the rest of us when Hath went MIA. Last we heard, she split for England. To start a new life abroad or something. He really broke that poor girl’s heart.”
“Seems like she’d be someone you should talk to. What was her name?”
“Megan,” he said. “Megan Smith.”
Austen frowned. “Not exactly the easiest name to track down.”
“Nope,” Dane said. “I’ve tried. There’s gotta be a thousand Megan Smiths in the world.” He blew out a gust of air. “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. All this won’t be my problem after tomorrow. Still. It sucks.”
Austen stared into Campbell and Hathaway’s stalls. “Can I ask why you wanted to show me this? What were you hoping for?”
“I wasn’t hoping for anything. I just thought you should know the story, since it’s what got us both into this mess. It’s part of this team’s history, even if they want it forgotten.” He shrugged. “Plus, it’s important to me. And you’re willing to listen when no one else is.”
She frowned. “I feel like I’m letting you down. But evenifI went looking and found the right Megan—”
“You don’t have to explain—I know your hands are tied. Especially now that you’re getting promoted. Really, I just wanted to show you. That’s all.”
They stood and stared at the lockers in silence.
“Well, thank you for showing me,” she said quietly.
Dane peeked at his watch. “It’s getting late. We should probably head out if you want to make that dinner on time.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Chapter 29
Austen
The Maserati pulled out of the arena’s parking garage with a growl. The sun had already set and now a sea of streetlamps lit the night sky with their amber glow. Dane cracked his window open, and cool air rushed in.
“Brr.” She shivered and pulled her arms tight over her torso.
“Cold?” Dane rolled his window back up. “Sorry about that.”
“I don’t know how you can wear a t-shirt in this weather. There’s not a goose bump on you, is there?” She ran her fingers over his bare arm, finding only hard lines of swollen muscle.
“You Texans crack me up, man. It’s fifty degrees out—it feels great.I’m gonna miss this weather.”
“You’re crazy. It’sfreezing,” she said.
“No, Winnipeg is freezing.” He looked at her. “Hey, if I get traded to Winnipeg, you’ll have to come visit me so you can see whatrealcold feels like.”
She politely laughed at his joke—itwasa joke, right?—before she added, “No, thanks. I don’t think I’d survive that.”
He laughed, too.
The rest of the ride to the restaurant was quiet; just the purr of the engine and the hum of the tires speeding down the highway. The silence between them was comfortable, yet sad, in a way—she knew this was the fork in the road, where their paths split.
Austen took one last swig to polish off the rest of Dane’s strange garlic swill. “Look, I finished your potion! Thanks again for that.”
