Chapter Twenty-Nine Rhys
After the boys have eaten their fill of chicken sandwiches, fries, and milkshakes while parked at a nearby park that Sadie took me to months before, I open my phone and pull up Ro’s contact, stepping out of the car and slightly to the side before dialing her.
It rings twice before a gruff voice snarls, “What the fuck do you want, asshole?”
I pause, nearly choking on my own spit at the furious male growl that definitely isn’t Ro. Something uncomfortable slithers down my spine.
“Is this not Ro’s number?” I ask, my voice steady, slightly calm, but still firm: my “Captain Rhys” voice, some on my team might call it.
There’s a long pause, then a much lighter sounding, “Rhys?”
My eyes bug out and I cough. “Freddy?”
I’ve never heard Freddy sound like that in my life.
I hear some fussing in background, before Matt fucking Fredderic is back. “We’re, um, studying right now.” His voice drops, like he’s farther away from the phone, and I can just make out a quiet, “It’s Rhys, princess—I can handle it.”
Suddenly, he’s back at full volume. “Sorry—um, wait—why the fuck are you calling Ro?”
His voice is almost gruff, like he’s a little annoyed with me.
“Why am I—” I cut myself off from the tirade I’d like to spring on my forward that definitely ends with Find a new fucking tutor and leave that girl alone . Instead, I run a hand over my face and sigh. “Sadie wants me to bring her brothers to Ro at the dorms.”
Another bout of rustling, and I can hear Freddy complaining in the background as Ro takes over.
“Hey,” she starts, voice light and airy. “Sorry, I’ve been having a problem with spam calls. Um, I can—I won’t be back for a few hours. Shoot.”
“It’s fine, Ro.” I smile and look back at my car, seeing the boys dipping the last of their fries into the shakes, chocolate smeared all over Liam’s mouth.
They look calm—even Oliver has relaxed just a bit.
“I can keep them with me until later if you want. Just let me know when you’re ready for them, okay? Take as long as you need.”
She sighs into the phone with an audible smile. “Thanks, Rhys.”
“No problem.”
As I pull up to my parents’ house, I hear Oliver almost choke on his milkshake—that is somehow not empty—while Liam audibly squeals.
“You live in a castle?” Liam asks, blinking wide at the colonial that’s been completely refurbished.
The front retains its original style, but the back has been added on to and stretches farther than it did when it was first built.
The house is painted gray, but it’s bursting with life from multiple trellises and trees; one of the gardens, where brightly colored flowers dot the canvas of summer green, is visible even from here.
It’s a pain during the winter months, but my mother’s green thumb shows brightly in the spring and summer, and even now in the beginnings of fall.
I smile. “No, but my parents do.”
“His dad played hockey, Liam, what did you expect?” Oliver mumbles beneath his breath, even as he stares out the windows with wide eyes.
“Our dad played hockey,” Liam snips back, but the withering look from his brother shuts him up before I can ask more about it.
Speaking of, I see my dad come out of the garden, hearing my car approach.
His face is all happy surprise as he steps down from the raised terrace, dressed in slacks and a button-down that are speckled with dirt, indicating he was somewhere for an interview or meeting, but didn’t bother to change before joining my mother in her gardening.
My windows are too tinted and I want to give him a warning, so I idle the car and tell the boys I’ll be right back before slipping out.
He sets his hand on my shoulder, eyebrows dipping as I whisper, “I need your help.”
“What’s wrong, Rhys?”
My voice is shaking as I tilt my head toward the car. “Sadie’s brothers are here with me. She needed help—”
“Rhys, calm down,” he cuts me off, squeezing my shoulder lightly.
Why am I so upset?
Because Sadie has been taking care of them alone and you made her take care of you too. Selfish.
I close my eyes tightly. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” I swallow again, brushing a hand through my tangled hair.
“I, uh, I took them for food. Sadie—she wanted me to drop them off with a friend, but—I don’t know.
It’s complicated. And they’re kids, so I didn’t want to take them to the Hockey House in case some of the players were there, or what if they don’t like strangers?
But… she asked me for help, and that’s—”
“Rhys, it’s fine.” He nods to the car and smiles, waving to the boys inside. “Just get them out of your car and we’ll bring them inside, okay?”
“Okay.”
He stands back as I return to the car and open their doors. They both hesitate. Liam looks at my dad with wide awestruck eyes, straining over the seat to see him out of the window.
“Is that Coach Max? He’s your dad?”
I smile as I unbuckle him. He should probably be in a car seat, but that’s not something I currently have on hand. I barely stop myself from pulling out my phone to blindly order one off Amazon. “Yes, that’s him. He’s my dad.”
“That’s so cool. He plays hockey with you.”
Oliver rolls his eyes, but keeps looking a little nervously at his sometimes coach.
“Yeah?” I ask, pulling him out and into my arms.
“Yeah,” he mumbles, his little hands reaching up to play with the ends of my hair as they loop around my neck. “I wish my dad wanted to play with me.”
At that, Oliver lets himself out and slams the door, standing on the side of the car and waiting for us.
“Oliver,” I hear my dad greet him. “Good to see you, champ. How’s your season going?”
The question seems to relax the older of the Brown brothers, as he starts to reluctantly brag about his stellar season.
Liam interjects a few times, wild compliments about his brother being “ the best hockey player in the world ,” but it only serves to make Oliver blush.
He doesn’t show it often, but I’m starting to see that to Oliver, Liam’s and Sadie’s opinions hold more weight than even the praise of an NHL Hall of Famer.
The garden gate opens again, a loud creak that makes both kids jump a little, before my mother appears, tucking her hair back as she slowly steps out in dirty overalls and equally dirty green gardening boots.
“Who is that?” Liam asks, holding on a little tighter to me, his mouth nearly in my ear and voice a little too loud.
“That’s my mom.”
“Oh.” He nods and looks again at her, like he can’t peel his eyes away from her.
While Liam is almost plastered to me, like he wants to be invisible, Oliver is suddenly standing like an army sergeant, glancing warily at her as if he’s worried she’ll get too close.
I’m starting to think that there’s something deeper here, anxiety spooling out through my body, tightening like a noose at my neck.
“Is she nice?” Liam asks, his voice a little softer as my dad turns and waves to my mom, who stays there.
“Yeah,” I say gently, fighting over the lump in my throat at the question. “She’s very nice. She would love to meet you.”
Liam nods, but his eyes never leave her.
“That’s nice,” Liam mumbles quietly.
“What is, bud?”
He tucks his head into my neck. “That you have a mommy. And a nice one.”
I have to close my eyes for a second. Fuck fuck fuck.
“Yeah, bud, I’m very thankful.” I am now, and always will be, because this kid is hurting my soul.
My mind wanders back to Sadie again, the distraught look on her face at the very thought of asking for help—anger mixed with fear roils in my gut at the thought that keeps circling and I can’t let it go now.
Sadie is more alone than I thought.
Previously, I might’ve seen her as stubborn, but the words from her brothers, the image of her house… it’s plaguing my brain like a waking nightmare.
I decide to carry Liam inside, since I suddenly don’t want to set him down. His arms are wrapped around my neck anyway, head ducked—the first time I’ve seen the brave little one shy about anything.
Oliver walks just a step behind us as we approach the door where my still-smiling mother stands.
“Hi there,” she offers, her attention solely on Oliver first. “I’m Anna, Rhys’s mom. What’s your name?”
“Oliver. I’m Sadie’s brother.”
My mom smiles brightly. “I’ve heard a lot about you. My husband says you’re a really, really good hockey player.”
“A star,” my dad says, standing at Oliver’s back.
Oliver blushes under her attention, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck and nodding.
My mom doesn’t reach for him, but I see her hesitate with her hand raised like she wants to.
Maybe she can see what I see, what my dad clearly sees—that he’s a bit like Bennett, tense and desperate for space, at least physically.
“And who are you, love?” She gentles her voice further, stepping up to look at Liam, who’s ducked his head back into my neck while his little fingers play with the collar of my shirt.
He doesn’t speak, just continues to glance at her, like he doesn’t want to look away.
“Jesus,” Oliver sighs, rolling his eyes while his cheeks blush like he’s slightly embarrassed by his brother’s hesitancy. “You can tell her your name.”
“Liam,” he finally murmurs, slinking from beneath my chin just barely. But I know, if I look at him, I’ll see the same stars in his eyes from before, like she’s a magic fairy who’s come to grant his every wish.
“Liam,” she savors his name and I watch him raise his head from my shoulder in response. “It’s nice to meet you. Let’s go inside now and have some dessert, yeah? You can help if you want.”
“Really?” His eyes go wide. “I can help?” He wriggles until I finally let him down from my arms.
Liam pauses, staring at her outstretched hand and raising his, but checking back over his shoulder to his older brother. There’s a hint of fear there, like he’s just trying to make sure that this is safe, that it’s okay.