“Mmm, coffee.”
“Apparently it’s Hannah’s coffee.”
Keeley’s lips turned up in a smile, but she didn’t open her eyes. “She loves babyccinos.”
“I’m not sure how y’all take it.”
“Honestly, at this point, it could be black sludge, and I’d drink it.” She gave me a small smile, brought the mug to her lips, and took a sip of the brew. “Thank you. I’m sorry I snapped, Brayden.”
I smiled at the way she was back to using my first name and said, “You don't need to apologize. I understand stress.”
Hannah coughed again, her body rattling, and I patted her back, trying to ease it. My heart hurt. I wanted to ease this cold, take it away from her in whatever way I could.
“Your ex gave her this?” I asked.
She nodded and held her hands out. “I can take her.”
“Y’all relax for a minute. I’ve got sweet pea.” I plucked a tissue from the box on Keeley’s desk and wiped Hannah’s nose before pressing the washcloth to her forehead.
“You can’t be late for practice.”
“I won’t be. Spencer will be here in a few minutes. He'll take Hannah while y’all finish up here. Then he'll come home with y’all and look after Hannah while you get some shut-eye. I'll come over after practice with some lunch.”
Tears sprang to her eyes and she nodded. “Thank you.”
***
We were on our day off between game days. We had a string of three away games that we were flying out tomorrow for—San Francisco, New York, and Winnipeg. It was a light practice day today before tomorrow’s flight, feed, skate, pre-game rest, and evening game.
Now that practice had wrapped, I had the remainder of my day free, and I knew exactly how I wanted to spend it. I stopped in at the Italian deli Spencer and I had tried out when he’d first arrived, picked up subs, and headed to Keeley's house. Her front door was unlocked, so I let myself in and immediately grinned. It was quiet except for the sound of splashing and Spencer’s low singing in the bathroom. I walked the length of the corridor, pausing as I passed the living room. Keeley was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep, her laptop still open on the coffee table in front of her and papers surrounding her.
I dropped the subs off in the kitchen and backtracked to the bathroom. When I pushed the door open, Spencer looked over his shoulder and smiled. He was beautiful there, dressed in black and kneeling on the tiled floor, holding a toy boat. He bobbedit in the air and kept singing, “Row, row, row your boat,” as Hannah splashed in the water. The whole scene was adorable. My sexy rockstar husband was in socks, jeans, and a black tee, his hair flopping in front of his eyes, on his knees for a beautiful baby girl. I wanted to remember this image forever.
“Your reputation as ornery will be dashed if anyone else saw y’all like this.”
“Good thing my only witnesses are the two of you, then, isn't it?”
“How has she been?” I gestured to Hannah.
“Your fever’s broken, hasn’t it, Hannah?” he cooed. “But your cough’s terrible, ey?” He turned to me and added, “I gave her a spoonful of honey, so it's settled a bit, and we decided on a bath to get rid of that fever.”
“Play, bath,” Hannah agreed, bobbing her head in an exaggerated nod.
“Yeah, baby girl, we did.” He smiled at her, and my heart squeezed. He’d be such a great dad. Oblivious to my musing, he continued, “Keeley's exhausted. She hasn't slept for two days. Work is killing her, and with this little one sick, she's been extra stressed. Apparently, her ex gave Hannah his cold. Shithead came here when he was sick and tried to talk her into selling this place so he and his piece on the side can buy somewhere with her.”
“She told me a bit about it that day I spoke to her in her office.”
“Yeah, I remember.” He shook his head and chuckled. “She called him over to tell him to shove it.”
“Good for her. He sounds like a piece of work.”
“Dude's two sandwiches short of a picnic.”
I snorted out a laugh at Spencer’s Aussieisms. “He's more than dumb letting her go.”
“Complete fuckwit to boot.”
I had to agree with him there. My husband was nothing if not blunt.
