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After we take in every sight possible, we grab a very silent Hayley and find the elevator to go back down. I keep watch on her in my periphery. She says she’s fine. She’s not. I find a way to catch Wes’s attention to use our code to take a pulse on the situation. I can tell he’s as concerned as I am.
I make the suggestion we head back to the house to rest before dinner. I know Dylan could use the time to put her leg up. The air from the outside seems to grab Hayley in a way it does no one else. I can see her eyes glaze over as I see the color leave her face. “Hey. Wes, grab her,” I shout.
“Oh shit.” He holds under her arms as her knees weaken. “She needs to sit for a minute.”
“Hayley, talk to me. What’s going on?” Eli dashes to her other side.
“I’m just…dizzy. Maybe it was being up so high then the elevator ride down. I don’t know.”
“Eli, see if they have some orange juice in the gift shop. Let’s find you a bench.”
“I’m alright. I’m okay,” she protests.
“Humor me for just a few minutes. There’s a bench in the shade by those planters.” We get her to sit and drink part of the juice. Slowly but surely the color starts to return to her cheeks. “There we go. I’ve been there. Juice fixes it every time. The heights and the extra air, it can be a killer cocktail in all the wrong ways.”
“I’m good now. Can we just move on with our afternoon? I don’t want to be the focus.”
“Too damn bad. I think we all could use extra rest and relaxation,” Eli says. “There’s no shame in being lazy.
“Is that what we’re going to call it?” Hayley asks.
“Because I’m your brother, absolutely we are.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elijah
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Garrett play. It will be amazing to see him mixing it up with current and former players including Spencer Broten, who was one of the best this part of the country has ever seen on the ice. I’m glad he’s healed enough in all ways to get back out there for fun.
It's the charity game day followed by an event where I can see my wife dress up. The thought of that will be enough to keep me going all day long.
I go in to wake Wes and Hayley but find the curtains floating in the open door. One step in the room and the curtains move. They flutter away and I see the back of my sister’s head with her hand curled over my best friend’s chest. He’s holding on to her like he needs her to breathe. I know that feeling well.
I close the door behind me and head for the kitchen. Dylan, who’s mastered the crane technique to accomplish most anything, is standing at the stove making a quick brunch. “Are they coming to eat?”
“No. Get this. He pulled the mattress on the balcony so they could sleep outside.”
“Hmm,” my wife says, “brilliant move.”
“Is that a hint?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Our seats are ten rows up from the blue line behind the bench. You’re so close to the action it makes you want to lace up and play. However, there is no chance they’d want me on either team. Garrett and Spencer clock Wes the minute we’re going down the aisle to our seats. He and Hayley keep going down to the glass where she meets them both for the first time. I don’t have to be next to them to know that they’re making her blush with compliments. I’ll take that pink over the white we saw yesterday.
In the row in front of us is Spencer’s wife, Cierra, Lucy, a couple of her friends from work and Sam’s parents. They are an eclectic group that keep us laughing the entire game. We heckle our friends on the ice from time to time and all they do is shake their heads or wave for us to join, which we obviously say no to.
The amount of money raised from the corporate donations is insane and there’s still the dinner tonight with private donations to add to it. We make a stop back at the house to change before venturing on to the dinner.
My stunning wife slides into a little black dress that if she’s not careful won’t stay on for long. She’s also wearing black versions of the tennis shoes she wore the first night we met. Her hair is in a long, messy braid. “Are you going to do all right with your crutches for a long period of time?”
“Well, I’ll be sitting some, but I expect to dance with you.”
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“I won’t if you carry me like I’m pinned against a column.” She winks.
Just before we’re ready to leave, Hayley decides she doesn’t like what she’s wearing and wants to change. She brings her backup dress, as she calls it, down into our bathroom and changes there. She also says that now her hair needs to be down instead of up. Internally I’m rolling my eyes, Dylan offers to go in and help her along, while Wes stands like a statue nearly completely disengaged in the corner.
