From their position, they could see the players and coaching staff, and hear the instructions and banter on the bench.Comments like when the players talked between themselves, one saying to another who had been quick to fight, “Those gloves must be slippery, they fell off pretty quick, eh?”
Then, when a puck skidded into the bench and nearly hit one of the younger players, she heard him say he was fine.“I got the reflexes of a goalie.It would’ve cut my beard but I shaved two days ago.”
She chuckled.Bless him.
Then later, when one of the Los Angeles players skated too close to the bench, another of Kyle’s teammates, skating in, “accidentally” tripped him.
“Was that absolutely necessary?”the LA player complained.
“Absolutely.”
Marco chortled.“These guys are funny.”
Then later again, when the captain complained to the ref, she heard Kyle’s tease.“You gotta excuse him.English is his second language.”
She smiled.Kyle was witty.
Their position so close to the team area also meant that when Kyle skated in, he looked up and saw them and his face lit.He waved, and they waved back, Marco too.
Then he had to listen to the coach, who was giving instructions.
The coach was a tall bald man, and had a funny skin blemish on the back of his head.
“You gals want fries?I want to get there before the crowds.”
“Too much fast food clogs your insides, Marco,” Bella chided.
He winked.“I’ll keep that in mind.So, is that a yes?”
“Yes, please,” Bella singsonged.
Gen smiled, which quickly faded as she peered closer to see the coach’s skin blemish.
“What are you looking at, Mom?Is Kyle there?”
“No.He’s down there.”Seated further along, watching the game.
“Then what is it?”
She pointed to the man’s head.“Can you see what’s on that man’s head?”
Bella peered closer.“His head has a funny spot on it.”
Yeah, it did.It might look weird, but she took a photo, saw one of the players notice, so she gave a sheepish smile.
The coach had moved away, so she couldn’t do anything, but peered at her phone, enlarging the photo.
Bella put a sticky finger on Gen’s phone.“You know, that looks like one of those funny spots you told me about.”
Bella had become her study buddy back when Gen had been studying for an oncology exam and needed to remember all kinds of random and not-so-random facts.They’d talked about moles, the signs that warned could be a malignant melanoma.A large diameter, discolored, raised, with an irregular border, and one that changed over time.And while she couldn’t know about the last indicator, the rest were staring at her from on top of the coach’s head.
Her chest squeezed.Okay.Someone had probably told him, and he’d had it checked out already, but just in case he hadn’t, then she needed to let him know.And while the most obvious thing would be to tell Kyle, she knew nobody liked to have body parts pointed out.She didn’t want to make the coach feel uncomfortable.
But how could she let him know without drawing attention from people who probably didn’t need to know either?
She worried about it through the next period, during which Kyle scored a go-ahead goal.She cheered and clapped and then, when a teammate nudged him to turn around, placed a hand over her heart then pointed to him, which he acknowledged with a nod and a smile.
Oh, this man.She loved this man.
