Epilogue
Santa Fe, NM, three months later
“Hey, Puck! You want anything else to drink?”
Hawk rolled his head to one side and looked at the beer sitting on the little table next to his lounger before he called back to a former teammate. “Nah, I think I’m good. Caleb? You want anything?”
Caleb waved a hand in the air, not even bothering to look at him over the top of his sunglasses. “I am so good right now. I think I will just sit here and have a nap.”
Hawk grinned because that was what they’d been doing anyway. They were at a fancy-ass resort in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one with a couple of different pools and a huge area to cook out. They also provided attendants to grill hot dogs and hamburgers and chicken.
The whole place had been rented out by the former hockey player, Kane Dubrow, who wanted to start a hockey franchise in Santa Fe called the Zia Suns.
Hawk knew him from when they’d played against each other, and he’d been invited because of his podcasting, to cover a scouting session for a practice arena.
There were hockey people—from coaches to current and former players, to broadcasters, and investors—hanging around, eating their weight in grilled meat and vegetables and laughing and having a ball together.
They’d all been invited to bring a plus one with them too, and Caleb had been happy to take a summer session off and come down with him and hang out for a week or two.
God knew Kane Dubrow had more money than sense.
He nudged Caleb’s foot with his toes, finally getting a glance over the top of the dark glasses. “You doing okay?”
“Shit, are you kidding? This is the life man. We get an all-expenses-paid vacation because someone wants you to do a half an hour of podcasting? You can’t beat that.”
Caleb was learning to appreciate hockey too. They’d started watching games together during the finals, and they’d watch the Stanley Cup final with Hawk explaining the rules as they went.
So now Caleb could talk hockey to Hawk’s former teammates when they got together, and to his broadcasting buddies and all sorts of other people. Just like he could tell people all about snowboarding tricks and amplitude and landing crisply.
Kane Dubrow came and sat next to him on the side opposite from Caleb, a plate of food in his hand. “You having fun?”
“Hell. yes. This is great. The weather is amazing.” The temperature was a balmy eighty-five degrees. The sun was just right in the sky. The altitude didn’t bother him because of where they lived in Colorado, and honest to God he was having the best time with his boyfriend.
Caleb had moved in as soon as his folks had left, and the day-to-day joy of having Caleb there with him, waking up, having breakfast with him… Hawk couldn’t really express it.
“Yeah, I love it here. I’m in the process of buying a house. This is where I’m from originally, you know?”
“I think I did know that. Your dad retired here and went to coaching junior hockey, right?” A glance at Caleb showed he was listening intently, his dark glasses were sliding down so he could see them clearly.
“Pretty much. I think he just wanted to focus on me getting ready to have a hockey career, you know? I was able to get on with the Ice Wolves down in Albuquerque and not have to go billet someplace far away.”
“Nice.” He liked Kane a lot, which he didn’t expect because they had been bitter rivals on the ice.
“Anyway, I know you’re mostly working for the ThunderSnow, and you’ve got a lot on your plate with your podcasting and everything, but I was hoping you’d help me out with something.”
Hawk glanced at Caleb, who raised an eyebrow, then nodded just the slightest bit.
“Lay it on me.”
“I know you have a lot of contacts in the hockey world, and your podcasting stuff does a lot of good for the sport, so I was hoping you’d sign on to help me hype up this project.
I really think the New Mexico market has room for a team, and if not, building a practice arena here won’t hurt anything. ”
“So what you’re asking me to work with you part-time or something?” Things he said didn’t have to be socially acceptable with a hockey player. They were all rough and ready.
“That’s exactly what I’m asking. That would mean you’d have to come down here every so often, but it’s not far from Denver, and it’s a great place to spend time.”
“I like the idea, but I’ll have to talk to Caleb here about it and get back to you.”
Kane lanced at Caleb waggling his eyebrows. “Convince him, Lancaster. There’s a lot of good ski mountains around here, and in the summer there’s good hiking, rafting, anything you can want.”
“Ooh, now you’re bribing me.” Caleb chuckled. “I like it.”
“I always go for the significant other.” Kane raised one shoulder and a shrug. “I’ll shoot you some specifics via an email, okay, so you can see what kind of money we’re talking about, what kind of living situation you might be able to arrange, that kind of stuff.”
“I appreciate you, and I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.” He reached over with the hand not holding the sweaty beer bottle to shake Kane’s hand.
“Just remember I can always use good people like you, and you can always supplement your income.”
Hawk laughed, shaking his head as Kane got up after that and strode away.
“That was wild,” Caleb said, sitting up straight on the lounger and scooting over to where they were, only a few feet apart. “What do you think?”
“I think we should ponder it. It’s worth not saying no right away, and it could be a great opportunity.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. My school is mostly remote. You’re very part-time right now with the ThunderSnow, and you can do your podcasting anywhere.” Caleb reached out to grab his hand, toying with his fingers. “You know I would go where you went anyway.”
“I do know that.”
Caleb had sold his condo in Vail and had then sunk the money into three areas. His school, the house in Idaho Springs, and the rest in savings so he would never have to worry about his medical bills and stuff. They were together now lock, stock, and barrel.
Hawk had never been more proud of anything in his life, not even his hockey career. And that was saying something because hockey was his first great love.
Caleb reached over and squeezed his hand. “I say we take this very seriously. This is an amazing place, and I would love to spend more time here. It’s not like we can’t keep your condo and the house in Idaho Springs, right?”
“Right, and if things work out down here then maybe the condo could go.” He liked his place in Denver, but it was worth a fortune, and they could always get a second house in Santa Fe for a lot less.
“We have plenty of time to figure that out. Baby steps.” Caleb bent over and kissed him, a slow lingering touch of lips and on lips just the right amount of time.
That caused an avalanche of hoots and hollers, and somebody screamed, “Go, Puck!”
Caleb pulled away, resting their foreheads together and grinning like a maniac. “Yeah, this whole hockey people thing is going to be quite a wild ride, isn’t it?”
“No wilder than anything else in our long history together, baby.” It was crazy to him that they’d known each other for nine years almost, but they’d been together for such a short time. He thought it made them more solid than it would a couple who was just starting fresh, so it worked for him.
“I can’t wait to see what comes next.” Caleb kissed his hand before going back to lay on his lounger, sighing and grabbing his drink to have a long swallow.
Hawk grabbed his beer to finish it off before laying back, face up to the sun, pulling his sunglasses back up into place. “I feel the same way. I love you, baby.”
“Mmm. I love you too.”
One way or the other he and Caleb would be together no matter what they chose to do, and that fact made all the hard landings worthwhile.
End