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Chapter One
Penelope
I hear Phil Carlton's voice against my father’s door as he opens it to exit but then stalls.
“I guess there’s nothing we can do about it—Ryker’s gone and can’t return for two years. And he’s right about who he thinks should replace him.”
The walls in the corporate offices are relatively soundproof, but Phil and my father’s booming voices and Phil opening the door just a bit allow me to hear every word now.
I practically hold my breath to hear their conversation about the plans for filling Ryker’s spot as our Center, though the captain position was already given to one of our alternates, Lake Powers. Ryker getting deported right before the playoffs has the entire franchise rattled. He kept the team in sync and was the glue that held everyone together.
And who did Ryker suggest should fill his Center position?
“Pulling a player from our Canadian farm team makes the most sense, and the kid is a killer center. With playoffs starting April 17th”, three weeks from now, he needs to be ready,” Phil continues.
Wait… did he say that the Hawkeyes are replacing Ryker with a player from the Canadian farm team?
There’s only one player on that team good enough to complete out on the ice with zero notice and thrown in during a championship season. But my father would never do that to me.
He’d never bring back to Seattle the man who single-handedly ruined my chances at getting to compete for a spot on the USA Olympics figure skating team four years ago.
“And we have to make a move quickly. Coach Bex has been moving guys around to different positions they don’t usually play in and using our roster to its fullest capacity to cover Ryker’s absence the last month. Our team has risen to the occasion, but we’ve only narrowly won our last few games. Luck is about to wear out as we head for the playoffs. We can’t sustain the gaping hole Ryker left for much longer.”
“How does Coach Bex feel about the new recruit?” Phil asks.
“Coach Bex is concerned he’s not a team player. He has a tendency to hog the puck, but I assured Bex that he can be coached back out of it. And besides, we need a permanent replacement for Ryker, and we need it now. He’s the best suited and is already a part of the franchise family. In addition, I think it will stir up huge media attention that we’re looking for,” my father agrees.
“Definitely. Sports media is going to go bananas over this. I’m surprised a kid with that much talent has spent so much time on our farm team. He should have signed with an NHL team years ago when they all wanted to recruit him right out of high school.”
Phil’s words instantly hit a nerve, and I practically feel my blood run cold. I don’t have to hear the player’s name to know who they’re discussing now. I know only one player who had multiple offers to play in the NHL and turned them down to attend college first.
Slade Matthews.
My father knows what Slade did to me in college, which is precisely why he delayed Slade's career and sent him to Canada to play for the farm team.
Still, to this day, I don’t know why Slade agreed to it to go to Canada. Maybe it’s because he was always the Coach’s pet in college and has always worshiped my father. It’s the exact reason he ruined my life all those years ago—practically my father’s watchdog. But somehow, he got off the leash and took it too far. Scaring away any prospects I had for a new partner to skate with for the qualifier at the Olympic tryouts.
My old couple's skating partner had broken his foot in three places during a skiing accident a month before we were supposed to compete for the Olympic team. I had been looking for a new partner, but Slade ensured no one showed up for tryouts with his stunt.
“I’ve already called up the farm team coach and he’s agreed. He’ll send him down tomorrow and our new center will start training the day after. That will give him a day to unpack and settle in at The Commons,” my father says.
The Commons?
Most of the team's players live at The Commons, which is only a few blocks from the stadium and offers seasonal rates for the Hawkeyes. But will my father seriously let this man stay in the same apartment building as me?
“Very good,” Phil confirms, opening the door wider.
Phil’s stocky body in a navy-blue fleece zip-up and tan dockers peek through the doorway as he turns again to say one last thing to my father. “This is the best option we have with short notice. Let’s hope he’s ready to play at championship levels.”
“Slade Matthews is ready. And he won’t miss his opportunity, I can guarantee it,” my father says.
My mouth runs dry at the final mention of Slade’s name. For the last few moments, I held out hope that there was another player who mirrored my college tormentors' earlier professional prospects, but now that my father has uttered his name, the reality hits.
Slade Matthews will be skating back into my life within twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and there is nothing I can do to stop it… besides quit.
But I won’t do that.
I won’t run away again, though my stomach gurgles uncomfortably at the thought of working in the same franchise together.
