16. Kieran
SIXTEEN
KIERAN
Meeting someone's parents had never been on my list of things to do five days after meeting them.
Yet somehow that was exactly where my day seemed to be heading.
I stared at Thane from across the kitchen while my brain attempted to catch up with the conversation we'd just had. The social media disaster, the phone calls, the photographs, and the dozens of texts from people I barely knew had already felt like more excitement than one morning should contain.
Now he wanted me to meet his parents… not after we'd been dating a while. But today.
A few minutes later, we were heading toward my apartment.
The drive seemed too short, which was unfortunate because I could have used another hour to mentally prepare for meeting the parents of a professional hockey player who had somehow become important to me in less than a week.
Instead, I found myself standing in my bedroom twenty minutes later, staring into my closet like it contained the answers to life's greatest mysteries.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Thane asked from the doorway.
I glanced over my shoulder.
He'd changed into jeans and a dark sweater. The casual clothes somehow made him look even more attractive than the expensive suits he wore during interviews.
"Something appropriate."
His expression suggested that the explanation was insufficient. "For what?"
I gestured vaguely. "For meeting your parents."
"Kieran." The warning note in his voice made me look up. "My parents live in a senior care facility. They aren't the royal family."
"That doesn't help either."
His laughter followed me as I turned back toward the closet.
Over the next fifteen minutes, I changed clothes three separate times.
The first outfit felt too formal. The second made me look like I was trying too hard.
The third somehow convinced me I resembled a substitute teacher who had lost control of his classroom.
By the time I emerged from the bedroom again, I was beginning to suspect I had completely forgotten how clothing worked.
Thane glanced up from where he sat on the couch. His eyes moved over me once. Then twice. The look that followed sent warmth spreading through my chest.
"What?"
He smiled. "Nothing."
"Thane."
"I was just thinking you look good."
I rolled my eyes. "You're biased."
"Absolutely." The answer came without hesitation.
Something embarrassingly soft unfolded inside me, because he sounded so certain. Like there had never been another possible answer.
Unfortunately, being told I looked good did absolutely nothing to solve the problem that awaited us on the other side of the apartment door.
Meeting his parents.
The thought followed me all the way down to the parking garage. It followed me into the passenger seat of Thane's SUV. And it continued following me as Seattle drifted past the windows while we headed toward the senior care facility.
"What are you thinking about?"
Thane glanced over briefly before returning his attention to the road. One hand rested casually on the steering wheel. The other tapped lightly against the center console in time with the Christmas song playing softly through the speakers.
The man looked completely relaxed.
Meanwhile, I felt like I was preparing for a final exam I hadn't studied for.
"Nothing."
He snorted. "That's a lie."
"It wasn't a lie."
His eyebrow lifted. "It was a terrible lie."
I hated that he had a point.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Come on."
I stared out the windshield for another few seconds before giving up. "What if they hate me?"
For a moment, the only sound inside the SUV was the hum of the engine and music.
Then Thane shook his head. "Kieran. They're not going to hate you."
The certainty in his voice should have helped. It didn't. "You don't know that."
A faint smile touched his mouth, but there was no teasing in it. "Actually, I do."
I folded my arms across my chest. "That's a lot of confidence for someone who hasn't even introduced us yet."
"Maybe." His gaze flicked toward me before returning to the road. "But I know my parents."
"What if they think I'm too young?" The question sounded ridiculous the second it left my mouth, but at that point, I was committed. "What if they think I'm after your money? What if they wonder why their son brought home some random college student he met less than a week ago?"
Thane's expression softened. The teasing disappeared completely. "Is that really what you're worried about?"
I looked away. That probably answered the question.
"Kieran."
I glanced back at him.
"My parents spent thirty years raising me." There was affection in his voice when he said it. The kind that appeared whenever he talked about them. "They know exactly what I look like when I don't care about someone."
My stomach dipped. I wasn't entirely sure I liked that reaction. "That's not an answer."
"It is."
His gaze met mine briefly. "They'll care about whether you're kind. They'll care about whether you treat people well. They'll probably care whether you've eaten enough today because my mother thinks feeding people solves most problems."
Despite myself, I smiled. That sounded a lot more believable than being judged. I shook my head and settled deeper into the seat. Beside me, Thane continued driving with the calm confidence of a man heading toward a completely ordinary afternoon.
Maybe that was part of what made me nervous.
For him, this was normal.
For him, these were simply his parents.
For me, it felt like stepping into a world I'd spent most of my life watching other people have. And no matter how many times I reminded myself that this was happening because Thane wanted me there, a small part of me still couldn't quite believe it.
The senior care facility sat on the edge of the city, tucked between tall evergreens and a small park dusted with the last remnants of an earlier snowfall.
As Thane pulled into the parking lot, I noticed his eyes flick briefly toward the rearview mirror one last time. The movement was small. I must have been staring because he caught me watching.
"What?"
I nodded toward the mirror. "You've checked that thing about twenty times."
A crooked smile appeared. "Occupational hazard."
My gaze drifted toward the vehicles parked nearby. "You think somebody followed us?"
"I honestly have no idea." He switched off the engine but didn't immediately reach for the door. "That's the annoying part. Sometimes nobody's there. Sometimes somebody is. Sometimes you don't know until pictures show up online."
Together we climbed out of the SUV and headed toward the entrance.
White lights wrapped around the trees near the entrance, and a large wreath hung above the covered drop-off area, welcoming visitors inside. The warmth hit immediately when the doors slid open.
A volunteer was arranging poinsettias near the reception desk while two residents seemed to argue amicably over a crossword puzzle.
Before I could take in much more, a woman's voice carried across the lobby.
"Oh, there he is."
My head turned automatically.
An older woman was making her way toward us with surprising speed for someone who looked to be in her early seventies. Her silver hair framed a face that immediately reminded me of Thane. The resemblance wasn't exact, but it was there in the eyes and the smile.
Behind her, a man followed at a more measured pace.
"Mom," Thane said.
The smile that spread across her face was immediate. "There you are."
Before he could say anything else, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
For a moment, all I could do was watch.
Something softened in Thane's expression as he returned the embrace. The confident NHL star disappeared, replaced by someone's son.
When Dorothy finally stepped back, she reached up and touched his cheek. "You look tired."
"Thanks, Mom."
"It's an observation, not an insult."
A laugh escaped Richard as he finally caught up with them.
Thane leaned forward and hugged him, too. "Good to see you, Dad."
"You too, son."
Only then did Dorothy turn her attention toward me.
Curiosity flickered across her face, but there was no suspicion in it. No judgment. Just interest.
"So this must be the guest who caused all the excitement."
Heat crept into my face.
Thane groaned.
"Mom."
"What? You call and ask if you can bring someone. Of course, that causes excitement."
To my surprise, there wasn't an ounce of embarrassment in her tone. If anything, she sounded pleased.
I smiled despite myself. "I'm Kieran."
"It's lovely to meet you, Kieran."
Before I could decide whether I was supposed to offer my hand, Dorothy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me.
The gesture caught me so off guard that for a second, I forgot to hug her back.
Heat crept into my face as I awkwardly returned the embrace.
Dorothy either didn't notice or was kind enough to pretend she hadn't.
The hug lasted only a few seconds. Long enough for surprise to give way to something else. Long enough to remind me how unfamiliar simple affection had become.
When she stepped back, smiling as though hugging near-strangers was the most natural thing in the world, I found myself momentarily at a loss for words.
Richard followed a moment later. "I'm Richard."
"It's nice to meet you both."
The warmth of their welcome surprised me. Not because they'd done anything extraordinary. They hadn't. They'd simply made room for me. And for someone who had spent most of his life feeling like an outsider looking in, that was more powerful than I wanted to admit.
"Come on," she said. "If we stand out here much longer, they'll start wondering what we're up to."
Before I could ask who "they" were, Dorothy had already linked her arm through Richard's and started toward the entrance.
Thane fell into step beside me.
Inside, the facility felt bright and welcoming. Christmas decorations appeared everywhere I looked. Garlands draped the railings. A tree stood in one corner of the lobby, covered in handmade ornaments. Soft holiday music played somewhere in the background, blending with the low hum of conversation.
As we made our way toward the dining area, several residents greeted Dorothy and Richard. A few waved to Thane.
"There's my favorite hockey player."
Thane smiled and stopped beside an elderly woman seated near a window. "Mrs. Davis, you say that every time I visit."
"Because it's true every time you visit."
The woman patted his arm before turning her attention to me. "And who's this?"
"Kieran," Thane said.
"It's nice to meet you."
"You too."
The exchange lasted less than a minute before we continued on our way.
As we moved deeper into the facility, more people greeted Thane.
Some waved from armchairs. Others stopped to exchange a few words.
Nobody seemed particularly impressed that he played professional hockey.
They greeted him the same way they greeted Dorothy and Richard, as though he belonged here as much as anyone else.
What struck me wasn't that people knew who he was.
It was that he knew them.
Every conversation seemed to begin in the middle of another one. He asked after a resident's daughter. Promised to look at photos from someone's recent family reunion. Remembered the name of a nurse who was leaving after the holidays.
Nobody treated him like a celebrity.
Here, he wasn't the assistant captain of the Seattle Orcas.
He was Dorothy and Richard's son.
By the time we reached the dining room, several tables were already occupied. Christmas music drifted softly through the room, and decorations hung from the windows. A staff member greeted Dorothy and Richard by name before leading us toward a table near the windows.
"Perfect," Dorothy said as we sat down. "Now we can get some lunch into both of you."
Across from me, Thane closed his eyes briefly. I was beginning to suspect his warnings about his mother had not been exaggerated.
Dorothy wanted to know about my student teaching placement. Richard asked whether I preferred language arts or math. When I admitted that math and I maintained a respectful distance from one another, Richard nodded solemnly and informed me that I had chosen wisely.
That might have been my favorite part of the afternoon.
A nurse stopped by to refill Richard's coffee and reminded Thane that he still owed her photos from a charity event three months ago.
A resident named Walter accused him of cheating at cards the last time he visited.
Dorothy informed everyone within earshot that Walter was still bitter because he'd lost.
The entire room erupted into laughter.
I found myself laughing too. There was something infectious about the atmosphere. People knew one another here. They remembered birthdays and grandchildren and favorite desserts. They argued about crossword puzzles, card games, and whether the Christmas tree in the lobby had enough ornaments.
I simply sat there and enjoyed myself.
For a while, it was easy to forget everything waiting outside the facility.
Then a woman approached our table. I recognized her immediately as one of the staff members we'd passed on the way in.
She stopped beside Dorothy's chair. "I'm sorry to interrupt." The smile on her face looked practiced. Professional. Not entirely convincing.
Thane might have noticed it too because he asked, "What is it?"
The woman hesitated. "We've received several calls from reporters."
The words landed like a stone in the middle of the table. Nobody spoke for a second.
"They've figured out you're here."
A muscle jumped in Thane's jaw.
Across from him, Dorothy's smile faded.
Richard set down his coffee.
The warmth that had filled lunch only moments earlier seemed to drain away.
Beside me, Thane exhaled slowly. The expression on his face wasn't anger. If anything, he looked tired.
The staff member shifted her weight. "We can arrange for you to leave through another exit if necessary."
"Has anybody bothered the residents?" Thane asked.
The woman shook her head. "Not yet."
Thane nodded. The tension in his shoulders didn't ease.
And suddenly it became very clear that lunch was over.