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“Oh. Lucky guess.” I can almost hear the shrug in his voice. “I figure you would be making something to cheer the kids up and nothing cheers them up quite like chocolate chip cookies.”
I sigh. Yeah, it’s also Chase’s favorite dessert. Although to be honest, I’m not sure even chocolate chip cookies can cheer my son up today. He didn't say more than two words to me the entire car ride and the second we got home, he went up to his room and locked the door. I’m trying to give him some space to process what just happened, but I just want to get in there and hold him tight. My heart is breaking for him.
I almost wish I didn’t introduce him to this damn sport in the first place. He loves hockey so much but seeing him like this is destroying me.
But no. The sport isn't the problem. Because I know that Chase isn't actually upset about the loss. His team has lost before, and my son is always a good sport about it because he knows that he lost to a better team.
But losing to last year's worst team in the district must be a blow. And Chase is a pretty smart kid. He must know that the only reason why he’s losing is because the other team has superior gear which I can't afford.
I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it must be to know that you tried your absolute best and it still wasn’t enough. It still will never be enough.
Before I called Liam, I looked up the cost of the new hockey blades he talked about. Just one pair will be over two hundred bucks and I’ll need to buy them again, next season, because of how quickly he outgrows them. And a better performing stick is nearly two-hundred dollars. It’s criminal.
For kids! How on earth does anyone expect any average parent, in this economy, to afford that?
Any parent that isn't Luke Hardy that is.
That's probably why he bought it for his team. Because he knew it would be difficult for any other parent to catch up.
Why did that damn bastard have to move back into town?And why has he stayed so long?
Typically, Luke is the kind of person who can’t stay in one place for too long. Even after he retired from hockey, he kept on traveling from place to place, never staying anywhere for more than six months, according to Liam.
But then this year, he moved back to Redwood California, and started renovating his parent's house next door, causing a giant inconvenience to the rest of the street might I add. He turned his folk's cute, idyllic cottage into a several-story, ultra-modern monstrosity that sucked out all charm in the neighborhood. Not to mention, it ruined my view of the ocean.
And yes, we complained to the city board and the homeowner’s association, but it did nothing because Luke probably shut them up with money or his connections.
I tolerated it because I figured he would move soon. He can never stay in a place for more than a few months. But it’s been a year already. How much longer must I tolerate the infuriating billionaire next door?
Maybe my brother will know.
“When’s he leaving town?” I ask Liam.
“What makes you think he’s leaving?” Liam asks still sounding amused by the entire thing.
“Because he always leaves,” I say. “He’s usually just in town for a few months and then he’s jet-setting to one of his other houses. I mean don’t get me wrong I love Redwood but there isn’t much to do here, and it’s not close enough to San Diego to make it feel like a real city. Doesn’t he want to go somewhere like New York or LA…”Or to the other end of the earth?
“I don’t know, Mia. I think you’d probably have to ask him about his travel plans yourself. Or maybe he wants to settle down. Maybe he’s tired of moving so much.”
"A leopard never changes its stripes," I tell him, and Liam chuckles.
Then I’m distracted by the sound of movement from upstairs. Chase.
“You ok sweetie?” I call from downstairs. “You need something?”
There’s no answer, and my heart feels like it’s cracking from the inside out. I feel so helpless to aid my son right now in what he’s going through. I can only talk and give him words of encouragement as always, but I think he’s tired of them.
“Hey, he’ll be fine,” Liam says as though he can sense the direction of my thoughts. “If he’s serious about hockey, then this isn't going to be his last loss. He needs to learn how to deal with it.”
“Yeah, but it’s just about the unfairness of it all,” I sigh, and then a thought occurs to me. A thought that I haven’t let myself dwell on in the past, but with my son’s pain aching in the air, I want to give it a chance. “Hey, you don’t by any chance know any of your former hockey buddies who live close by, who aren’?”
“Why?” Liam feigns ignorance but I can tell he knows exactly what I’m about to ask, even as it chafes me to ask it.
“I just…” I shrug. “Maybe it would help Chase…and the team if they got some tips from actual hockey players.”
Liam gasps dramatically. “But that’s cheating. Doesn’t that go against the code of ethics?"
I roll my eyes. “Come on, Liam, it’s not like I’m asking you to get them a session with pros. Maybe just former high school hockey players, those who didn’t go pro. And they don’t have to help me coach or anything, but one session talking to the boys might help.”
