29. Gideon
GIDEON
Piper’s scent was still on my scruff when I pulled into the airport pickup area. Ace’s flight had landed an hour ago, which meant I was late. I wasn’t usually late, but if he knew the reason, Ace would forgive me.
Sure enough, I spotted him by the curb with his duffel bag. He looked pissed.
“About time. You’re lucky it stopped raining, oh, an hour ago,” he said as he threw his bag in the back and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Good to see you too, asshole.”
“Traffic?” He buckled his seat belt and immediately started messing with the air-conditioning.
“Something like that.”
“Where are we eating? I’m starving.”
“Thought we’d hit that place on the beach. Zen Lagoon. Good food, cold beer, and it’s right on the water.”
“Perfect. I could use some ocean air after being stuck in airports all day.”
The drive gave us time to run through team updates—we wouldn’t call it gossip—and my recovery progress. But I could tell something was eating at Ace. He kept checking his phone and staring out the window.
Zen Lagoon was casual, loud enough that we could talk freely, and far enough from the country club crowd that I didn’t have to worry about running into anyone I knew. It was perfect. We grabbed a table on the deck overlooking the water and ordered a couple of beers.
“So,” Ace said after the waitress left, “tell me about this pickleball tournament. Are you actually going to win this thing?”
“We might. Piper’s incredible.” Just saying her name made me smile. “She’s got this competitive streak that comes out when she plays. It’s sexy as hell.”
“Sexy, huh?” Ace grinned. “So things are going well?”
“Better than well. I think…” I drained my glass. “I think I’m falling in love with her.”
“Holy shit,” Ace sputtered, nearly choking on his beer. “Did Gideon Bailey just use the L-word?”
“Shut up.”
“No, this is big. This is historic. I need to document this moment.” He pulled out his phone, ready to snap a picture.
“I’m serious, Ace.”
“I know you are.” He set his phone down and leaned forward. “Tell me all about it. How did she win you back?”
I laughed. “It was more me winning her back.”
Ace gave me a pointed look. “After she…lied?”
I told him about Olive and the racket camp, about Piper working double shifts to support her daughter, about all the bullshit she had to put up with at the club. I told him that I understood why she had lied and why I respected her even more now that I know why she did.
The waitress stopped to check on us. Ace ordered us another round of beer and a plate of deep-fried shrimp.
“She sounds amazing,” Ace said. “Goldie seems to think so too.”
“And the kid sounds pretty cool too. For a kid.”
“Olive’s incredible. Smart as hell, funny, completely fearless.”
Ace nodded as he drank his beer. “I’ve got to tell you something.”
The wind picked up, sending ripples across the water next to the patio. I trapped my napkin with my beer glass before it could blow away. “Go for it.”
“You know how Goldie can see things…” He paused. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. The whole psychic thing.” Ace ignored me. “She saw you and Piper, together, in one of her visions. She even saw you with a daughter—our niece, she thought, but now she thinks it was Olive all along.”
Jimmy Buffett’s voice rang out through the speakers, and I thought about what Ace had just told me. “You know I don’t really believe any of that stuff, but out of anything Goldie has ‘seen,’ I’d say this sounds the most accurate.”
“Damn. You really are gone, aren’t you?”
“Completely.”
Our food arrived, and we ate in comfortable silence, the kind reserved for brothers. But Ace still seemed distracted. My phone rang, and the number on the screen made my pulse race. “I’ve got to take this.”
Ace’s brow furrowed as I answered the call. It was short. And it was definitely sweet. By the time I hung up, Ace’s focus had returned, and it was all on me. “You’re back?”
Dr. Maurice had just confirmed that I was cleared to get back on the ice. “I’m back.”
“Fuck yeah!” A few of the Zen Lagoon patrons stared as Ace pulled me from my chair and thumped me on my back as he hugged me.
“Easy, dude.” I slipped back into my seat.
“It’s not a big deal.” It was a big deal, but it had been easier for me to convince myself that getting permanently benched wasn’t an option.
“Alright. Now you,” I said. I nudged the platter toward him, and he ate the last shrimp.
“What’s going on? You’ve been checking your phone every five minutes since you got here. ”
Ace sighed and set down his fork. “Remember Goldie’s best friend, Mel?”
“The Realtor? Yeah, what about her?”
“And you remember Goldie’s dad, obviously. My coach. Your former coach.”
I made the “get on with it” gesture. “Of course. What’s this about?”
Ace ran his hands through his hair. “They’ve been hooking up. For months, apparently. Maybe longer.”
I nearly choked on my beer. “Mel the realtor and Coach? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. I found out by accident when I was down here. I saw them together, looking very cozy.”
“Holy shit. Does Goldie know?”
“That’s the problem. She does now. I told her, thinking she’d be upset about it. Thinking we’d be dealing with drama about her best friend dating her father.”
“And?”
“She’s not upset about them being together. She’s upset that they didn’t tell her. Apparently, she’s been trying to set her dad up with someone for years, and she thinks Mel is perfect for him.”
I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. “So let me get this straight. You thought you were delivering bad news, but actually, Goldie’s mad because her best friend and her dad didn’t trust her enough to tell her they were dating?”
“That’s exactly what happened. She feels stupid for not seeing the signs, hurt that they didn’t trust her, and now she’s not speaking to either of them.
I mean, I’m surprised she didn’t see it either, but again, the whole people-you-love thing.
Mel forgot her hat in Coach’s bedroom, for God’s sake. ”
“And you’re caught in the middle.”
“Yep.” Ace picked at his fries. “I had to get out of town. The man is my father-in-law, but he’s also still my coach.”
“That sucks, man. But it sounds like something they need to work out among themselves. And wait, Mel would be your what…stepmother-in-law?” I shook my head. She was younger than Ace.
“I know. It’s just hard watching Goldie beat herself up over missing the clues. She keeps saying she should have known, should have seen it coming.”
I thought about my own situation with Piper. “Sometimes we miss things because we’re too close to them. Or because we’re not looking in the right place.”
“Very philosophical, Dr. Bailey.”
“I’m serious. A few months ago, I thought I had my whole life figured out. Hockey was everything, relationships were temporary distractions, and I didn’t need anyone else to be happy.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m playing pickleball every day with my neighbor and her five-year-old daughter, and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Ace studied my face. “You seem eally happy. I see it.”
“Yeah. I really am.” I wiped my mouth with my napkin. “Hey, maybe you can help us think of a team name. We need one for the tournament.”
“A team name? Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something clever. All the teams have names.”
Ace’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I’ve got some ideas. How about Deez Nets?”
I groaned. “Absolutely not.”
“Dill Picklers?”
“Better, but still no.”
“Significant Dinkage?” He grinned. “It works on multiple levels.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Dinking Problem? Day Dinking?”
Despite myself, I was laughing. “These are terrible.”
“They’re brilliant, and you know it. Come on, we need something that says ‘we’re here to win, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.’”
“How about Carpe Dinkem?”
“Not bad. I like it.” I had the feeling Piper would like it too.
“I can’t wait to watch Carpe Dinkem win tomorrow.” Ace finished his beer and looked like he wanted to order another. “You used to look like this when you talked about hockey. It’s nice to see the light back in your eyes, brother.”
Surprise tears welled in my eyes. Luckily, I was able to blink them away. I finished my beer and signaled for the check. “We should head back. I want to get some rest before tomorrow.”
As we drove toward home, I thought about what Ace had said. He was right; I had loved hockey. If I could find joy in the sport with a wiffle ball and a paddle, I knew I could feel it again for the one with the stick and puck. And I had one woman to thank for all of it. Piper.