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Max looks up at me. “I watch you on TV with Daddy! Daddy loves hockey. I love hockey. I’m going to play hockey soon. On a real team and everything. When did you start playing hockey?”
“As soon as I was old enough to hold a stick.”
Her eyes widen. “Did you play when you were my age?”
“How old are you?”
She glances down at the hot pink digital watch on her wrist and then says, “I turn eleven in ninety-seven days, ten hours, and nine minutes.”
“That’s very specific.” I laugh once. “And no, I was younger than you when I learned how to play hockey. My dad was a professional hockey player. He taught me.”
“I like the fights,” Max says. “The last time I was at Daddy’s house, I watched a bad fight. The player in the orange jersey was hurt. Daddy was upset. He said our season is over.”
I feel like shit the second it all sinks in. Dr. Devine gives me a look of apology because she knows the fight is the reason I’m here. Her daughter watched me beat the shit out of Dean. It hadn’t occurred to me until now that I have disappointed more people than I can count. I remember being her age, obsessed with my favorite hockey player. Meeting Max puts everything into perspective for me.
“Can I come to one of your games?” She sits up straight, her hands folded on her lap. “Daddy stood me up last time,” she says with a frown.
Now, I want to break Ted’s face. My dad did the same thing to Kat for most of her childhood. The calls were always last minute or not at all. Austin and I were there to pick up the pieces, while Dr. Devine is left to do the same with Max.
“I’m not playing right now,” I tell Max, “but I’ll take you to a game.”
If my coach will allow it.
“Did Daddy tell you he’s a liar?”
I laugh, confused as I glance at Dr. Devine. “He’s a liar?”
“Ted’s a lawyer,” she corrects. “Sometimes, Max gets it mixed up.”
“No, I don’t,” Max snaps. “Daddy lies for a living. That’s what he does. He tells lies. He told me so.”
Dr. Devine laughs so hard she snorts, but her soft demeanor turns to stone. “He’s good at lying.” The anger in her tone is palpable.
“Did you know that snakes can predict earthquakes?” Max says in a singsong tone.
I shake my head, unable to contain my laughter. This girl is killing me.
“Nagini would feel it coming five days before,” she continues. “I read about it on Google. I like Google. It has a lot of cool stuff. You type in a question, and it does all of the thinking for you.”
I laugh again because this kid is too much.
“Nagini is Max’s pet snake,” Dr. Devine says. “We named her after Voldemort’s snake from the Harry Potter books.”
“Mommy read Harry Potter to me when I was in her belly. She still reads to me. Every night.”
Kat calls Theo and Travis the Weasley twins because she’s a huge Harry Potter fan. I read the books to Kat after our mother passed away. She begged me to read to her every night, something my mother did before she got sick.
“You remind me of someone I know,” I tell Max.
“Who?” Max asks.
“My sister.”
“What’s her name?”
“Kat.”
She balls her little hands into fists and pushes them out in front of her like a cat and says, “Meow.”
