Page 16 of Hockey Nanny

I stayed in the doorway, frozen, aware that I wasn’t needed here. She had it. She always had it. The laughter, the comfort, the soft humor, it was all Carissa’s magic.

Finally, after what felt like both forever and no time at all, Henry whispered again. “I… I think… I think I’m… okay now.”

Carissa chuckled softly. “See? Told you. Bathrooms are good for more than hiding, they’re good for talking.”

And for the first time in twenty minutes, the hallway didn’t feel like a warzone holding its breath.

Henry seemed to perk up at that last bit, but then his face fell abruptly, and his bottom lip wobbled. “Gage doesn’t like me though.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Gage stiffen. The big guy was still standing there with his arms folded, pretending he wasn’t listening, but that melancholic little comment from Henry made his broad back go rigid.

My hand reached out to him instinctively, a motion I’d repeated countless times before, but like always, Gage was already stalking away. I watched him turn on his heel and storm down the hall, disappearing down the stairs without so much as a backward glance.

“Figures,” Boone mumbled as we both heard the distant sound of a door slamming shut.

Later, was what I told myself. I would deal with Gage later. For the time being, I had Henry to worry about. The kid was hurting, and it was partially my fault. Carissa had done her part, and it was time to do mine, so I drew in a breath and pushed open the door.

“Don’t worry about Gage, buddy.” I slipped inside and crouched beside Henry, reaching over to ruffle his wild hair. “He’s just been a little grumpy lately.”

Henry looked up at me warily. “Because I touched his PlayStation?”

Hell, knowing Gage, he could be right, but I wasn’t about to tell Henry that. Instead, I shook my head and settled down beside him, catching Carissa’s eye over his head.

“No, nothing like that,” I murmured in what I hoped was a soothing sort of way. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” When Henry looked unconvinced, I nudged his shoulder, scratching my brain for any way to lighten the mood. “How about this: tomorrow’s my day off. What do you say you and me go to the ice rink, huh? I’ll teach you a couple of my moves.”

“Really?” Henry’s head shot up immediately, all of his problems forgotten in a flash. “Can we go fast again?”

“You betcha.” I mirrored his sudden excitement, and the tight knot in my chest eased up in light of his smile.

“Can Carissa come too?” Henry bounced to his feet, whipping his head between the both of us, and my smile wavered just a little bit.

Well, shit.

“Uh…” I drew the pause out for way too long and ran a hand through my hair. “Sure. I mean, if she wants to. You don’t have to, though,” I added quickly, glancing up at Carissa. “I’m sure you’re busy and this is a sort of me-and-Henry thing, so—”

Internally, I was kicking myself for being such an asshole, but what was I supposed to do? It was meant so I could keep my distance. I couldn’t afford any kind of distractions, not with everything else going on, and Carissa (nice as she was) was one hell of a distraction.

“It’s okay,” Carissa cut in with a smile, clearly reading the panic I was miserably failing to hide. “You two go have fun tomorrow. I’ll hold down the fort here.”

The relief I felt meant nothing when it was accompanied by a sharp twist of guilt. She was the reason Henry had calmed downto begin with, and she deserved all the credit for saving us all from this crisis. The least I could do was be nice.

“No!” I blurted out, far too fast. “I mean—look, I didn’t mean it like that.” I cleared my throat, ignoring the little voice in my head that was screaming at me to get a grip. “Of course you can come.”

When Carissa winced at my shameful display of indecision, I tacked on a feeble: “If you want to” at the end.

Carissa hesitated, lips parting with what was probably a polite decline in the making, but Henry beat her to it.

“Pleeeease Carissa?” The kid pulled out all the stops with his pleading. The pout, the wide, hopeful eyes; all of it. You would have had to be made of stone to deny him anything in that state.

“Come on,” I decided to help him along, aiming my own version of puppy-dog eyes in her direction. “How can you say no to that face?”

“Well…” Carissa, clearly, was stronger than me, because she still looked unconvinced.

“Hey, no pressure, but it could be fun,” I waved a hand, trying to sound casual, and met her eye for just a moment. “What do you say?”

Carissa swept her gaze back and forth between the two of us, before finally cracking a smile. “Fine, fine. Why the hell not?”

Henry gave a whoop of approval and I mirrored Carissa’s grin tenfold. Despite my hesitations and all of my firm promises to myself, I found tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.