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Conner
Gage leans against the kitchen wall and watches in silence as his wife stretches her arms around my neck for a hug.
Dani pulls back and smiles. “We’ve missed you. Didn’t think you’d make it today.”
“Surprise. I changed my flight.”
She nods, no doubt understanding why I hopped on a redeye to get here. “How long are you in town for?”
Between the grueling weeks of team training and a preseason game schedule on the road, I’ve been on the move a lot. “You’ve got me around for the next ten days at least. The first home game of the season is next Sunday.”
“I know. We’ll be there.” She rubs a hand over her belly, which still looks pretty flat under her loose shirt. “I might have already bought a collection of Cyclones onesies to raise the odds I’ll give birth to a football fan.”
“Conner, watch this. Total learned a new trick.” Charlotte holds a slice of fake bacon in the air above the head of her wiggling dog. “Total, shake hands.”
The dog’s tongue rolls out. He cocks his head to the side. He looks at me for help.
“Total,pleaseshake hands,” Charlotte begs.
Total yawns with a tiny yelp at the end.
Charlotte sighs and gives him the treat anyway. He snatches it out of her hand and runs under the kitchen table.
“We’re still working on it,” Charlotte says, rather grumpily, and then brightens. “Is Robert coming today? His sisters will be here so I thought he might come too. After all, this whole party is for Lita. Do you think Lita might let me interview her for a school project? I need to interview someone who is interesting. She was in a coma for ten years. I can’t think of anything more interesting.”
Dani checks my reaction at the mention of the Marchenkos. Gage remains where he is, a silent observer.
I’m careful to keep my feelings from showing. “I don’t know if Robert will be here. Maybe.”
“But I’ll ask Lita about the interview,” Dani offers.
Charlotte accepts the answer and then wants to know if she can go out to the backyard with Total. She and the dog make a loud racket as they scamper through the house and out the patio door.
Dani moves across the room to slide her arms around her husband’s waist. She gazes up at him. He rubs her back, plants a brief kiss on her lips.
I can take a break from my own angst to acknowledge that the two of them are awful damn cute.
“What should we do to help out?” Gage asks.
Dani lays her head on his chest and stifles a yawn. “Just let me use you as a pillow for a second.”
“Go rest for a little while.”
“Can’t. Catering truck will be here any minute and so will everyone else. I’m all right.” She lifts her head, glances my way, then kisses her husband. “You should go talk to Conner.”
Gage doesn’t keep secrets from his wife. Whatever he has to say to me, she already knows.
Then again, if there was anything earth shattering to share he wouldn’t have waited to tell me. He’s aware that no matter where I am in the football realm my heart has been left behind in Em City’s east side.
Six weeks have passed since I had a moment alone with Haven. The night she ordered me out of the club I was already determined to fight for her. After all the time we spent together, no one could make me believe that she just woke up that morning and decided she was through. No fucking way. Enlisting Gage’s help with the undercover work, I planned to make a pest out of myself, confident that I could smash the brick wall she’d built.
Then Lita woke up. A shock and a miracle.
But it changed my approach. I’m insanely happy for Haven. I know how much she’s suffered over the years, how desperately she’s wished for this outcome. That’s why I had to step back and let her have this time with her sister.
So far Lita has stayed in the care home, working with physical therapists and psychologists while she gets used to the fact that she’s no longer a sixteen-year-old girl. I’ve visited her, never staying long. It’s easy to see that she’s struggling. Tess says she often cries out of frustration, although lately she’s been crying less.
Must be hell to be living your best life as a high school junior and the next thing you know, more than a decade has gone by and everyone has moved on without you. Kind of like you’ve just come out on the other side after a trip in a cruel time machine.
