38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I’ve got the tea! Pendletons head to Richland all the time, of course.
But this morning? The patriarch, the rebel and the next in line for the throne all bolted down to a super secret meeting, separately!
Now your girl’s good, but even I couldn’t get on the other side of that closed door.
But word on the street is they met to discuss The Situation our Golden Boy and the reigning hockey fashionista find themselves in.
But what’s the scoop? ~Penni’s Puckleberry Tea
Shep
Hannah practically tackled me at the door, skates slung over her shoulder, frog helmet tucked under one arm. “You’re almost late. Derby starts at six!”
“Hold up, what? Since when do you have practice tonight?” I mentally reviewed her schedule, coming up blank.
“Okay, not practice. But the Killbillies have a bout and Karo invited me to go with her to watch and then to stay over with her, and you need to take me up there right now.” She bounced on the “right now”, as if her words needed a little extra emphasis to be convincing.
“Oh, I do?” I leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed over my chest, and cocked my eyebrow down at my daughter. “What’s in it for me?”
“I won’t tell Merri how you do the running man when you cook breakfast. Except you can’t do the running man so you look like a weirdo.
” She wrinkled her nose, her pretty hazel eyes dancing with mischief.
She thought she had me. And I loved her for it.
Somewhere between school drop-offs and derby practices, nanny interviews and tense road trips, we’d found a rhythm.
“Cool, you mean. You mean you won’t tell her how cool I look doing the running man.” My running man was legendary. Merri would laugh her ass off.
I tugged Hannah’s hair, warmth spreading through me, chasing away the tension of the last few days.
The instant we’d all left old JT Pendleton’s office, I’d wanted to throw Merri against a wall and kiss the life out of her.
It’d take a while before I came up for air, missing her as much as I had.
And I had some making up to do, if her side-eye was any kind of indicator.
But she’d given me a smile, too. A tiny one that plumped up her pretty pink lips and made my dick twitch in anticipation.
I’d taken off early to get home to Hannah, but Merri’d lingered, waiting for word of how her job situation would pan out, promising to come by at the end of her day.
We’d kept it professional. By sheer force of will.
“Okay,” I said to my beautiful daughter. “I’ll go along with this plan. Do I get to sit with you this time?”
“Karo’s dad is dropping her off. He’s not staying. He’s picking us up at eight.”
“So I’m chauffeuring you around and I don’t even get to stay. What’s in this for me, again, Hannah-bean?”
“The love and devotion of your beloved daughter?” She grinned up at me, her eyes sparkling. Our bantering quick and easy and lighting me up inside.
My heart wanted to explode. I loved today. I’d started the day miserable and now I was pretty much the happiest man on the planet.
Less than an hour later, I pulled up to the entrance, watching as Hannah hopped out before I could even shift into park.
She was in full teen independence mode—just like Edith had warned me—but that didn’t mean I couldn’t stick around.
Just for a minute. Just to see her laugh, to catch a glimpse of that lightness I hadn’t seen nearly enough of.
I edged through the crowd and pulled out my phone.
Edith would want updates. Across the track, Hannah sat on a row of chairs, lacing up her skates.
Her green frog helmet gleamed under the fluorescent lights.
She wasn’t just here to watch the Killbillies—she was gearing up.
My kid competing? No way I was missing that.
The shadows that had clung to her when she first arrived—the fear, the uncertainty—they’d started to fade. Not completely. But there was a spark now. New friendships. Regular calls with her grandmother. Dinners with me where we actually talked.
We were figuring out this whole daddy-daughter thing. I might not be up for Father of the Year—yet—but we were figuring things out.
Hannah pushed off the bench, weaving through a line of girls with a confidence that sent something fierce swelling in my chest. A coach—a woman with a dark braid trailing down her back and a cupcake printed on her shorts—rested a hand on Hannah’s shoulder, speaking low.
Hannah nodded, her whole posture buzzing with excitement.
Then she bolted forward, charging a row of cones like she’d been skating forever.
And nailed it.
Pride surged through me, straightening my spine like a damn reflex. That was my girl.
“She’s a natural.”
I turned to find Novy standing beside me. I shot her a cocky wink. “Runs in the family.”
My friend rolled her eyes with a snort. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Though she fibbed. She said it wasn’t a practice, but a bout.”
“It’s both. We’re drumming up some support for the Littles League ahead of the bout. The adults will take over at the top of the hour.” She pointed to the entrance and already more people were streaming inside. Some carried signs, others wore face paint.
My phone pinged and I dug it out of my pocket. A grin split my lips at the sight of Merri’s "on my way" text. “Novy, it’s been real. Give Zacha a big wet one for me. I’ve got to get home.”
Novy gave me a surprised look. “No goodbye for Hannah?”
I shook my head. “She thinks I dropped her off at the door.”
Novy laughed and I maneuvered through the crowd at the door and bolted for the truck.
The day had started rough—the news, the whispers and knowing looks, the weight of the meeting with management and the potential of waking up tomorrow on a new team hanging over me.
I’d taken a risk not only with my future, but Hannah’s too.
But now? Right now, my daughter was happy and the love of my life was on her way to my loft.
I’d no sooner arrived than the doorbell chimed. Adrenaline pumped. I yanked the door wide, nearly taking it off its hinges and dislocating my shoulder, a grin splitting my lips the second I saw my Merri.
She grinned back, a vision in her signature yellow dress, her copper-penny hair swept up. And that smile. A little wobbly, a hint of tears in her eyes, sure, but real.
I hauled her into my arms, kicking the door shut, the scent of her citrusy perfume hitting me like a shot of Jack. I wanted to devour her, right here, right now.
“I’m super strong and mega talented, but I’m not sure I can navigate these stairs and your lips and not drop you. Multitasking is an illusion.”
She scoffed. “Says the man who can calculate the best shot on goal in a tiny microsecond while five players and a flying puck are trying to knock his teeth out. Right, no multitasking for you.”
Her laughter curled warm in my chest, soft and sure—until she pressed her palm to my jaw, her thumb tracing the rough edge of my cheek. My pulse kicked.
“I love you, Shep.”
The words punched through me, a direct hit to the ribs. Then the impact spread—heat bleeding into every frozen, uncertain corner I hadn’t even realized still existed. I swallowed hard, arms tightening around her like I could physically hold on to this moment. Like I could carve it into my bones.
“Yeah?” My voice came out rough, raw and thick and filled with soul-deep happiness.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
A slow grin broke across my face. “Damn right, you do.”
And instead of setting her down, I shifted my grip—then threw her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, laughing when she squeaked in protest.
“Shepherd Landon, put me down!” She squawked, but the sound quickly gave way to her gorgeous laughter.
She loved me.
I was never letting her go.
“We’re in a hurry, Wylie! No time!” I took the stairs two at a time, charged straight into my room, and tossed her onto the bed, grinning as she bounced. She landed with a huff, propping up on her elbows, curls escaping her ponytail and tumbling around her face.
“Lookin’ good, Coach,” I teased, smirking. I joined her on the bed, levering up on my elbows, my gaze tracing the curve of her lips, the warmth in her eyes. “It’s still coach, right?” I asked, my voice turning husky, though if it wasn’t, I would have heard by now.
She nodded. “Jasper sent a new contract through to Millsy.” She sucked in a deep breath, her fingers feathering through my hair.
“They are officially offering me Sellers’ position.
Permanently. And the new contract doesn’t have a no-fraternization clause.
” Her eyes popped wide. “And the salary is insane!”
“So what I’m hearing is next trip to Rails n’ Ales, you’re buying.”
“I think it should be loser pays.”
“So, you’re buying.”
She shoved at my chest, a playful push that I gave into. Rolling onto my back, I hauled her down on top of me, her laughter lighting up the room.
“Look who is reinventing history,” she said, as she tugged the band from her hair to free her curls. “I won. I will continue to win. That’s your lot in life.”
My heart clenched, a fierce possessive joy consuming me. A lifetime of games with Merri? A lifetime of this? Of her?
Hell yes. Sign me up right the fuck now. I fisted a hand in her curls, tugged her down, and caught her mouth with mine.
I couldn’t ask for better.