“First of all, we’d never let her be alone, Leo. When you’re not here, we’ll be here for her. Second, did she express dissatisfaction at that prospect?”
“You know how she feels about her family—”
“I also know how she feels about you,” Dad cut me off and rubbed his jaw. “Leo, if I told you that right now I could guarantee you Sophia for the rest of your life or a full, Hall-of-Fame-worthy career with the Bruins, what would you say?”
“I’d ask you how to get her back here,” I said, dropping my fork and letting the tears spill out.
He nodded. “You love hockey, Leo. I’ve watched you excel at it, love it, and focus on getting better at it your whole life. You’re amazing on the ice, you’re happy and free and you really were born with a natural gift. But I’ve seen the way you look at Sophia. I’ve never seen youthathappy, not even on the ice. The way you love her? That kind of love doesn’t fade with time.” He pointed to the tattoo on my bicep. “You made yourself a promise a long time ago. You chose that tattoo as a reminder not to settle for anything other than once-in-a-lifetime love. So, stop settling, Leo. Never settle for a life without her.”
“You think I should choose her over hockey?” I asked.
“I don’t think you have to choose at all. But if you do, I want you to think about the choice that’s going to be the most satisfying for your life,” Dad said. He leaned forward and put a hand on my knee. “You need to get creative. You’re talking about giving Sophia up for the rest of your life for a career that you’ll only have for the next fifteen years, tops. When you’re done with hockey and you’re in your midthirties, what do you want your life to look like? I’m not saying it’ll always be easy. But I think what you feel for her is worth it, and I think if you talk about this, you’llfind a way to make it work. You’ve been so focused on why it can’t work that you’ve failed to see a whole host of possibilities.”
He’s right.My mind started turning with possibility rather than despair for the first time. Maybe if we’d talked about the future instead of pretending it didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have gotten here to begin with. We could still do this. We could find a way to make this work. I had eleven hours on a plane to start figuring it out.
“Can I take the jet?” I asked, perking up.
“It’s already prepped.” Dad smiled. “Go get her.”
Chapter Fifty
Sophia
I sped around thecafé on Monday morning, trying to get through the morning rush before I left for the airport. I probably shouldn’t have come in at all if I wanted to be on time for my flight, but Kennedy needed the extra help right now. She needed to be off her feet as much as possible with her high-risk pregnancy, and she failed to sit down unless people supervised her.
My family had been entirely supportive last night when I’d grabbed my laptop and booked a flight to Boston while we sat around the fire. It had been a bittersweet night, knowing I’d be moving away. I didn’t know how often I’d visit yet but I was planning to talk all of that through with Leo as soon as I had him in front of me again. I knew it wouldn’t be my last Sunday dinner, and maybe the change would be okay.
“You shouldn’t have come in this morning,” Kennedy chided as I put the freshly cleaned espresso machine back together. “You’re going to miss your flight.”
I glanced at my smartwatch. “I’ll make it. Sit down, Kennedy,” I said. Dad had given me strict orders to make her sit if I was going to insist on working this morning.
“Izzy doesn’t like when I sit down. She starts kicking the shit out of me,” Kennedy said with a sigh. “She’s going to be a handful. You better come back and babysit once in a while.”
I laughed and ripped my apron off, tossing it on the counter. “I love you, Kennedy. If this goes the way I hope it does then I’ll see you when I come back for my stuff and I’ll be here when you deliver that adorable little sister of mine.”
“I love you too, Soph,” she said as she gave me a tight hug. As we let go, the bell on the café door dinged. I turned to leave and froze when I saw him standing just inside the café in a pair of jeans and a Bruins T-shirt, watching us with a wary smile on his face.
“Leo!” I exclaimed, heart skipping as I ran to him and threw my arms around him. “What are you doing here?” I asked. If he’d been even a moment later, I would have already been on my way to the airport.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tight to him as he inhaled deeply, his face buried in my hair. “Fuck, I missed you, Hawaii,” he said.
I pulled back to look at him and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he’d lost weight and I wondered if he’d been eating or working out in the last two weeks.
“Well, this looks familiar,” Kennedy mumbled. “It’s a good thing I bought this place or how would they ever find us?”
I chuckled, still staring at Leo and wondering if I was imagining him.
“You can probably cancel that flight,” Kennedy said as she walked behind the counter.
“Flight?” Leo asked, with a small smirk on his face.
I smiled at him, the hope on his face was so endearing. I’d never walk away from this man again. “I was on my way to Boston,” I said.
“You were?” His smirk grew into a grin. “Were you coming back to me, Hawaii?”
I tossed my arms around his neck again, needing to feel him against me. “I was, and you just saved me eleven more hours without you.”
He squeezed me tight. “Can we go outside and talk?”
