Page 96 of Josh’s Play

“Thank you,” I said as I lifted the top of the box. Inside was a festive winter sweater in navy blue, with white snowflakes and splashes of red here and there. There was a matching scarf and hat in the box.

Chase lifted his sweater, which matched mine in design but was primarily red with blue highlights.

“It’s tradition, boys; we have to get the photo done!”

Campbell hadn’t opened his box, but he stood up and hugged his mom. “Thank you,” he said, bending down to bury his head in her shoulder.

He reached for my hand, and I stood, and soon he was buried in my neck instead. I could feel the tears falling.

“Campbell Ryan, you know how splotchy you get. You stop that crying right now!” his mother chastised. Campbell laughed into my shoulder before standing up and heading to the sink to splash water on his face.

“Camille, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say ‘thank you,’ son. Then the two of you need to go to the bungalow and put on your good jeans before we lose the light.”

From the sink, Campbell surfaced from behind a dish towel to say, “These are my good jeans.”

My heart started pounding as I realized what was about to happen. It was just a simple picture, but I knew that the Ryan family tradition was to take a photo in front of Little Pond each year and use it as their holiday card. Camille was asking me to be a part of it.

She had no way of knowing how much I had been thinking about being a part of their family since Campbell had joined me in Buffalo. The year before had been hard but manageable as I was able to travel most weekends and stay with Cam at HU. We even somehow convinced the PR team that it should be part of my job to be at some of Cam’s games for his final year of college, as a representative of the Blizzard. I think my boss may have had a soft spot for Cam and me that resulted in that particular job duty.

I rented a room in a group house in Buffalo with some local college students for that first year, staying there as little as possible. Once Cam started drawing his NHL salary, we looked for a place together. I had been offered a full-time job at that point and was able to contribute to our household.

We’d only been living together for a few months, but after spending too much time apart the year before, I was certain I wanted to be with Campbell for the rest of my life.

I’d ordered rings online and had them delivered to Jamie and Devon in Brooklyn. Devon had assured me he’d packed them and would hand them off to me at Pond View Acres. It hadn’t been my intention to present them to Cam that weekend, but I found myself texting Devon and picking him up by the barn on my way to the bungalows.

I changed into my jeans while Devon went to his cabin. I met him there, and he passed the rings to me, keeping hold of my hand when I went to grab them.

“Can you believe the two of us?” he asked.

“No, I really fucking cannot, Mr. Did you eat your vegetables.”

“I thought we’d grow old in the club scene.”

“Yup. The coolest, hottest daddies you’ve ever seen.”

“I think I like this better.”

“I know I like this better.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

I laughed. “You know I can.”

“True. Jamie and I are thinking of moving up to Hampstead.”

My eyes went wide as I gasped. “Jamison Duncan Gordon leave Brooklyn? Wait a minute, Devon “Wolf of Wall Street” Miller leave Wall Street?!”

“You know I don't work on Wall Street. I can work from home anywhere. And there’s this job at the college where Jamie can do some counseling and even teach a course or two. He’s really excited about it, but your parents don’t know yet. It’s not a done deal, and we don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up.”

“Holy shit, Dev. Holy shit. We’ll be less than three hours away. And Vera will get to live near my parents. Her Aunt Rosie’s already left the state, so you’ll only be leaving AJ and Jackson behind.”

“Yeah, well, you know those two are always going to do their own thing no matter what.”

“That is too true.”

“All right, I told you my secret.” He grabbed my hand again and squeezed the box. “What’s the plan for these?”