26. Luke
CHAPTER 26
LUKE
I grab Derek’s wrist and check his watch for the third time during practice. Normally, we’re heading to the showers about now, but Gabe’s running us extra hard today in prep for our next game. There’s a lot of expectation riding on this one, for some reason, and I’m not entirely sure why.
Gabe let Ethan leave early since it’s his rehearsal dinner and his bride-to-be would probably go full throttle on him for being late, but I don’t think being the ‘special guest’ of the maid of honor will hold any clout with Coach. Not in the mood he’s in today.
“Got someplace to be, hotshot?”
Derek’s snarky reply isn’t why I’m grinning. I have Sophie to thank for that. To think how close I came to writing her off for all the wrong reasons wipes the smile right off my face. I’m a very grateful man for her determination to correct my erroneous assumption about her.
And I plan to make that up to her for the rest of my life, if she’ll have me. “Yeah, actually, I do. Kind of a date.”
My teammates jump in with the usual catcalls, including Jayce who’s fast becoming one of our MVPs. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get bumped up to the NHL faster than expected. The kid may well be my competition for a chance with Tampa Bay Lightning. But I’m okay with that. I like playing for the Sun Kings. These guys feel like my family now. And Kins and I are doing okay so far. Maybe staying where I’m at is okay too.
Bigger doesn’t always mean better. If I take a page from Sophie’s playbook, staying put in Sarabella with the team could be exactly what I need…and want. I’ve known players who were content to just play the game and didn’t care if they made it to the NHL. Plus, being near Sophie is a bonus.
After a couple more scrimmages, Gabe gives Derek the signal to wrap it up. I’ll be late by the time I get cleaned up and dressed for this shindig tonight, but at least I’ll make it. And I can’t wait to see Sophie and share some of my thoughts about the future. Turns out my sister isn’t the only one she inspired.
I finish showering in record speed and dress in the dressing room, so the slacks and button-up I brought won’t smell like the locker room. As I’m about to leave though, Gabe calls me back.
“Luke, hold up a minute.”
I stop in the doorway. “Can it wait? I’m already late.”
He runs a hand down his mouth and shakes his head.
I knew something was off. First Gabe’s tense mood at practice, and now this? Whatever it is must be more serious than I thought, like he’s being replaced or I’m being cut loose. But the team is performing better than ever. I don’t see how it could be anything like that.
What if…
I shut that fear train down faster than a flying puck. If Kinsley needed me, she’d text. And Sophie’s safe and sound at the Turtle Tide, most likely tapping her foot and wondering what happened to me.
But the pressure in my chest continues to grow as I follow him through the locker room toward his office.
I see Kinsley first. That’s my first alarm. I stride over to her. “Kins, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“This isn’t about quitting school again, is it?”
She shakes her head, but the look in her eyes is a weird mix of concern yet hope. She slides her gaze to someone standing a few feet away. I track mine the same direction and land on an older man with a healthy sprinkle of gray in his hair and beard. I don’t recognize him, but he seems familiar.
Kinsley twines one of her hands into mine—something she used to do when she was little—and gestures to the man. “Luke, he’s our father.”
A hush falls over the rest of the locker room, but then a rasping, robot-like breathing sound breaks the silence.
I glance over to catch Jayce with his helmet over his face as he continues his Darth Vader impersonation. “Luke, he is your father.”
Muffled snickers break out, but Payton slaps Jayce’s helmet down.
Jayce holds his hands out. “What? It’s funny, right?”
“Or is that irony?” Wade pipes in.
Mathéo nods thoughtfully. “Could be satire.”
Payton silences them with a loud whisper. “Pipe down!”
Payton and Wade round up the rest of the guys and heard them out of the locker room.
I fist my hands at my sides, unable to move or speak. I don’t know what to say to, let alone think of, the man standing in front of me—the man who walked out on us, leaving our mother to handle an infant, an eight-year-old, and a mortgage all on her own.
All I can think about is what would our lives be like now if he’d chosen a different path.
And that maybe my mother would still be alive…
If it weren’t for Gabe, I probably would have walked away. But then that would make me no better than him…
My father.
Gabe not only gave us the conference room to have some privacy, but stayed to support Kinsley and me as a friend without saying a word. I can’t shake the irony of the situation, though. Here I thought my future was finally falling into place, and I wind up slammed in a different direction, like a slapshot bouncing off the goal frame.
Add to that the clock on the wall telling me I’m extremely late to the rehearsal dinner, but that’s probably for the best as I’m in no condition to see Sophie, let alone interact with a bunch of people I hardly know.
After sending a text, Kinsley sets her phone on the table and divides her gaze between me and our father as if she’s watching a tennis match. She frowns at me. “Luke, say something.”
I snap my eyes to hers, wishing she didn’t look so much like our mother at the moment because I remember that expression—the one Mom would don when she was disappointed in me.
“Like what?” I slide angry eyes across the table to…him. There’s a lot I want to say right now, but I’m afraid once I start, I won’t be able to stop.
He holds his hand out. “I’m so sorry, son.”
I clench my jaw in an attempt to control my anger but to no avail. “No. You can’t walk back into my life now and call me your son.”
He withdraws his hand as if I slapped him. And in a way, I guess I did. I don’t want to be angry, but that’s all I can feel at the moment.
Kinsley rests her hand on my wrist. “Just hear him out, Luke.”
“Why? So he can make excuses for why he left? For what he did to Mom? To us?” I shoot out of my seat, sending it crashing against the wall. “I have to be someplace.”
Gabe launches toward the door, blocking me. “Don’t you think this is more important?”
If my options are being here with this mess or being with Soph, the choice is obvious. I grit my teeth. “I can’t do this right now.”
Gabe nods, then moves away.
I glance back at Kinsley. The pull of her eyes almost convinces me to stay, but the volcano of emotions brewing within me is dangerously close to exploding. There’s no way I can expose Sophie to this. I need to be alone.
“I’m sorry, Kins. I…just give me some time to think, okay?” Not the whole truth, but also not a complete lie.
She nods, but I don’t miss the unshed tears in her eyes.
I storm out of the oppressive atmosphere of the arena into a flood of cool air and sunlight. The sensation is so strong it stops me in my tracks. I close my eyes and lift my face to the sun, as if begging for some kind of relief I doubt I’ll find.
“Luke?” My father’s voice spins me around.
I glare at him, hoping he’ll get the message, and go back inside because he’s the last person I want to talk to right now.
His hand shakes as he holds out a folded piece of paper that appears to have spent a lot of time in his pocket. “I wrote this while in prison. An amends letter. I—” His voice cracks, so he clears his throat. “I never expected to give it to you, but when I saw your sister…”
I glare at the crumpled, torn paper that’s more symbolic of the mess he left our lives in than the peace he’s obviously seeking.
“Please.” His voice grates in a horse whisper.
I swallow down the retort I’d like more than anything to sling at him and grab the letter from his hand. Then I turn around and stride away toward my SUV, making my escape.
Once I leave the parking lot, I consider finding Sophie but decide against it. The floodgates have opened, and the last thing I want is for her to see me like this.
Here I am again, failing the people I love. My sister…Sophie…
And I do love her. But now I’m not sure it’s enough.