Chapter 4
Jeremiah
Just call me Super-Dad.
I’d spent the morning at the rink in meetings and still managed to vacuum the entire house before Hurricane Charlie came barreling through the front door, my mother-in-law following in her wake.
“Daddy! You’re never going to believe it!” Charlie cried.
From the looks of it, she was definitely on a sugar high; pupils blown wide, crumbs clinging to her plump cheeks, and tiny body literally vibrating. I gave Terri a small look, but she just smiled amiably and shrugged.
I directed my attention back to my daughter.
“What’s that, Tot?”
“Nana and I went to the bakery for lunch and Coach Zo works there!”
My eyebrows rose higher. “Bakery for lunch?”
“Yeah. But, Daddy, did you hear me? Coach Zo works at the bakery.”
I chuckled. Clearly, I wasn’t paying attention to the correct part of her story.
“I heard ya, Tot. What a surprise running into her. I’m sure she was happy to see you.”
“I think so.” She held up a container of mini cupcakes, two still left in the six-pack. “She told me to save some for you and Mom.”
Her voice was soft, eyes now locked on the small swirls of light blue icing. I glanced at Terri before kneeling down in front of Charlie, encouraging her to look at me.
“That was very sweet of you to save them for us. How about I eat the one and then you and I can split the other? Mom would want us to share.”
“Even though I already had two?”
I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them and giving a slow nod as I took the container from her hands. I kept her sugar intake at a healthy level, and Charlie was always good about brushing and flossing. No cavities in sight. A few mini cupcakes weren’t going to hurt.
“Why don’t you go check on Delilah first? I vacuumed, so she’s been hiding out in your room.”
Charlie’s eyes widened again, this time in concern for her beloved bunny, and her bottom lip pouted out. “My poor baby.”
“Give Nana a hug before you go,” Terri said, bending down and opening her arms. “I’ve got to get home.”
Charlie bounded into her embrace and hugged her tight. “Bye, Nana. Thank you for the cupcakes.”
“Thank you for having a girls’ day with me.”
Terri placed a kiss to the crown of her head, and then Charlie was off, hurrying down the hall, but not so fast that she would startle Delilah. I braced my hands on my thighs as I pushed myself into a standing position and then joined Terri in the foyer.
“I didn’t tell her coach about Sadie,” I apologized.
Terri shook her head. “It’s not something you have to disclose every time you two meet someone new. Charlie handled it well enough.”
I didn’t bring up how it might have affected her. Charlie and I weren’t the only ones who had lost Sadie.
Terri’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I met her dark eyes. “You do such a great job of making Sadie still a part of her life.”
A lump appeared in my throat, and I struggled to swallow around it.
“I try.” My smile was small; it never felt like I talked about her enough. “I just want her to know her mom.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Moments like today are inevitable. You can’t protect her from them all.” She patted my arm soothingly.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I can’t thank you enough for taking her today. I know she would’ve been content at the rink while I worked, but I wouldn’t have been able to watch her on the ice, so—”
“Thank you for letting me steal her for the day,” Terri interrupted. “You know I’ll watch her anytime.”
I tugged on the hem of my shirt while shifting my shoulders, the fabric feeling a little tight.
Usually, I didn’t have to be at work very long on Saturdays, but with the hockey season starting up, there was a lot more to do than usual.
When Charlie was little, it was easy enough to make her a pallet in my office and let her play with her toys while I worked.
Now that she was bigger, it was impossible to keep her off the ice.
“Yeah, of course.” I reached for the door knob and held it open for her. “Drive safe, Terri.”
As always, I watched until she’d made it out of the driveway and sent one last wave. Then I headed to the kitchen and retrieved a glass for Charlie’s milk. One glass may not counter the effects of two and a half mini cupcakes, but the extra calcium wouldn’t hurt either.
Charlie returned and scrambled up onto the stool at the island.
“So, what flavors do we have?” I asked as I cracked open the container, sliding it over between the two of us along with her milk.
“This one is orange creamsicle and this one is lemon,” Charlie explained, pointing to each cupcake respectively.
My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Did you know lemon cake was your mom’s favorite?”
Sadie had wanted a lemon wedding cake so badly, but our mothers had convinced her to get a more generic flavor that everyone would enjoy.
While she’d given in, I could tell she was disappointed, so I’d made sure that a personal-sized lemon cake was waiting for us in our hotel suite that night.
We’d sat on the bed in our wedding outfits and ate every single crumb.
Charlie’s face lit up. “Coach Zo said it was her favorite, too.”
She grinned down at the cupcake as if it were the most magical thing she’d ever seen. And right then, it did feel pretty magical. Like Sadie was sending us some sort of sign that she was here, watching us.
“Then this is the perfect cupcake to split in Mom’s honor. What do you think?”
“Absolutely!”
I cut the cupcake in half and handed Charlie’s share to her. She took it carefully and then lifted it in the air.
“I hope you’re eating all the lemon cupcakes you want, Mommy. And with no tummy ache.”
Tears stung my eyes, but I held my half up and lightly tapped it against hers before taking a bite.
I could see why Zoe said this was her favorite flavor. The sweetness of the frosting balanced the tart lemon perfectly. It made me wish I’d had the whole thing instead of just half. Hell, I’d take a whole dozen of them.
“Wow! These are delicious.”
Charlie nodded her head adamantly. “We should get cupcakes more often.”
Her innocent smile didn’t fool me, but I just laughed. “We’ll see. Maybe we can come up with a deal where you get a cupcake if you save a certain number of goals.”
And I would be getting a cupcake for myself as well. Rooting for my daughter and stressing over a game—even a Mite League game—was exhausting. I deserved a treat, too.
Charlie held out her hand, her expression serious. I took her small, sticky hand in my own.
“Deal,” she said.
I finished off the creamsicle cupcake in one bite—not as good as the lemon, but still delicious—and then stole a quick sip of Charlie’s milk. That earned me a playful glare before she reclaimed the glass.
“Uncle Wes is going to be in town in a couple weeks,” I shared as I carried our empty plate over to the sink to rinse it off.
“For a game?”
“Yup. They’re playing Denver,” I confirmed. “And he said he has a ticket for his best girl ready to go.”
Wesley wasn’t biologically Charlie’s uncle, but he might as well have been my brother.
We’d signed on with Seattle the same year and had hit it off right away.
Every away game, we shared a hotel room, and he ate dinner at our house so often, Sadie just started setting the table for three every night.
He was the first person in the waiting room whenever Sadie went into labor, and he was right next to me in another waiting room whenever she had her accident. He was the one who held me together when everything fell apart.
My retirement from the NHL and move back to Denver hadn’t affected our friendship in the least, though. Charlie and I visited him in the summers, and he spent Christmases with us and our family in Denver.
“Not up in the box, though, right?” Charlie double-checked.
I shook my head. “Nope. He got you a spot next to the bench.”
Charlie did her little happy dance, and I wondered if Wes knew what he’d signed himself up for having Charlie sitting on the other side of the glass from him and the team.