Chapter 10
Jeremiah
In retrospect, agreeing to spend more time with Zoe to work on the women’s rec league had been counterproductive, considering I’d been trying so hard to squash my budding crush on her. Taking her challenge had been even more stupid.
Seeing Zoe’s competitive side come out was sexy as hell; the determined wrinkle between her brows and the firm press of her lips that made me want to kiss them until they softened beneath my own.
It was impossible to focus on the task at hand, let alone well enough to beat her.
Even with my head start in the backward skate, I’d gotten so distracted by how smoothly she skated, despite having been out of the game longer than me, that she’d caught up to me in no time.
However, the athlete in me refused to hand over the win so easily.
Claiming a puck, I moved to the first cone in my lane and did some quick passes to warm up. Zoe may be lighter on her feet, but as a goalie, I was used to holding my stick in just one hand. I would be the one with the advantage this time.
Zoe counted down, and I reacted quickly, pushing off and nudging the puck to my left around the first cone as soon as she said, “Go.” My focus was solely on the puck as it glided back and forth, rebounding off my blade exactly how I wanted.
I didn’t spare a single glance in Zoe’s direction until I’d rounded the last cone and was on my way back, noting that she still had two cones left.
She didn’t let that deter her, though. Even if my win was imminent, she continued to push herself until she made it back to the start.
“Okay, that was all you,” she amended. “I didn’t even stand a chance.”
I lightly tapped my stick against hers. “You were on my tail. If anything, that should concern me since I only retired three years ago.”
She sent me a smile, even if it didn’t reach her eyes like usual. “Guess we’re tied again.”
“What do you say to a quick water break before we start PUCKS?”
While taking shots on goal was not as physically demanding as our previous two challenges, I had noticed Zoe repeatedly rubbing her left leg.
“Yeah, a break sounds good,” she agreed.
While she left the rink to get a drink from the water fountain, I plopped down on the bench and reached for my phone out of habit.
Three missed calls from Charlie’s school.
My stomach bottomed out. I jabbed the call back button and pressed the phone tightly to my ear.
“Crossfield Elementary. This is Shannon.”
“H-hi. This is Jeremiah Langfield. I saw that you called me. I-is Charlie all right?” I stammered. There was no other reason for the school to call unless Charlie was sick or injured.
“Mr. Langfield.” The secretary sounded way too chipper for my liking. “Yes, Charlie ended up getting sick in class today. While she doesn’t have a fever, we still send students home just to be safe.”
I switched my phone to speaker and set it on the bench next to me before hurrying to unlace my skates, loosening them just enough so that I could get them off my feet.
“I can be there in fifteen,” I said.
“Oh, no. She’s already been picked up.”
I paused, one tennis shoe on.
“When you didn’t answer, we went ahead and called her second contact. Grandma has already picked her up,” she explained.
“Oh.”
When first enrolling Charlie for kindergarten, the school had asked for a second emergency contact.
I should have been the second contact and Sadie the primary, but life hadn’t worked out that way.
So I’d written down Terri’s information since she was retired and had more flexibility in her schedule than my own parents.
I’d never planned on her ever having to be called, though.
“Okay, thank you,” I said.
“Have a good day, Mr. Langfield, and we hope Charlie feels better soon.”
If I responded, the words didn’t register in my brain. My only thought was to call Terri and to get home to my daughter as soon as possible. I haphazardly tossed my things in my bag and then fought with the zipper until it finally gave.
“What’s wrong?”
Zoe stood at the entrance to the bench, eyebrows pinched together in concern now.
“Charlie’s school called.”
And I missed it. I missed it because I was too busy flirting with Zoe to hear my phone when that was exactly what I wasn’t supposed to be doing. For this very reason.
“Is she okay?”
“Y-yeah. My mother-in-law picked her up, but I—”
Zoe stepped back from the doorway when I stood. “Go. I’ll make sure everything’s locked up.”
“Thank you.” I nodded gratefully as I stepped past her, opting to take my bag with me instead of wasting another minute to drop it off in my office.
As soon as the engine started, I pressed the button to call Terri over the car speaker. I’d barely pulled out of the parking lot when she answered.
“We just got home,” she started with no preamble. “She’s lying down on the couch now. Says her stomach is still bothering her, so I’ve placed a pot next to her just in case.”
My little girl was sick, and I wasn’t there supporting her. This casual flirting with Zoe needed to stop. Today was a perfect example of how a relationship would take away from Charlie. I needed to be focused on my daughter, which meant distancing myself from Zoe.
It would be easy enough to keep our interactions at Charlie’s practices and games minimal, but planning the rec league would be harder.
I couldn’t decide all of a sudden that I didn’t need her help.
No, I’d already signed myself up to spend that time around her one-on-one.
We would just have to keep it professional.
Stay focused on the league and absolutely no playing around on the ice. All business.
“I’ll be there soon,” I said.
“Don’t rush, Jeremiah. We’re fine here,” Terri insisted. “Drive safe and we’ll see you soon.”
She was right, and I reminded myself of it each time I found the speedometer inching above the speed limit. Getting pulled over—or worse, in an accident—would do me no good and it wouldn’t make Charlie feel better.
I quickly stopped the train of thought my mind had started barreling down before I made my anxiety any worse. I would make it home safe. I would be there for Charlie.
Terri had the front door open by the time I’d parked my car and climbed out.
“Thank you,” I blurted. “I’m sorry you had to go and pick her up. I was—”
“It’s fine, Jeremiah,” she interrupted. “It’s what I’m here for.”
My skin itched. The whole reason I’d chosen to move back to Denver after retiring was to be near family for Charlie’s sake.
But I had never been one to lean on others for help, and it was a difficult habit to break.
Add on growing up with an absent father who worked all the time, and I was determined to be the one that Charlie could always count on.
“Still. I really appreciate it, Terri.”
She smiled gently and gave my arm a quick but reassuring squeeze before donning her coat and heading out. I didn’t wait to make sure she’d safely made it to her car like usual, instead beelining for the living room.
“Hey, Tot.”
Charlie looked away from the TV screen and sent me a small smile, her eyes noticeably lacking their usual sparkle. I sat down on the edge of the couch next to her and reached up to brush her hair back from her forehead, checking her temperature as I did so. No fever.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“A little,” she croaked.
“Stomach still upset?”
She just nodded. It was her trembling bottom lip, though, that concerned me the most.
“Charlie. What’s wrong?”
Big tears slid down her cheeks. I didn’t hesitate to pull her up and into my arms.
“Why don’t I have a mommy like everyone else?”
I would have rather had a hundred pucks shot at me with no padding on than hear those words come out of her mouth.
“Tot,” I breathed out, holding her tighter for both our sakes.
What was I supposed to say to that? What could I say? Because life can be cruel?
“What brought this on?” I asked instead.
“We’re doing a class bake sale, and our teacher had us brainstorm what we could bring. Everyone kept sharing their favorite things to bake with their moms, but I couldn’t and—”
Her bottom lip started to quiver, and I tucked her more securely underneath my chin.
“You know, you may not have a mommy to bake with, but you still have me.”
Charlie pulled back enough to give me a disbelieving look. “Daddy, you can’t even make pancakes.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then quickly clamped it shut. Okay, so baking wasn’t a skill I possessed. But there had to be a way that Charlie could still participate.
A certain blonde-haired baker came to mind, then.
“What about Coach Zo? We could get some of those Puffins muffins from her.”
“Or her mini cupcakes?” Charlie’s frown suddenly deepened. “But isn’t that cheating to get them from the bakery?”
Well, damn. She had a point.
“What if we had her come here, and you helped her bake them?” I offered.
The idea went against everything I’d just decided on the drive over about reducing my interactions with Zoe, but in this case, I was putting Charlie first.
Charlie’s frown disappeared, and a happy glow returned to her face.
I knew we’d found the solution. She’d still get to bake with someone special, just like everyone else.
It wouldn’t be the same as baking with Sadie, but it was better than showing up empty-handed or with my sad excuse for a baked good.
I didn’t even want to consider how she would handle that if just thinking about it made her anxious enough that she'd thrown up.
“You can ask her at your game Saturday.”
That seemed to satisfy her for now, and she sank back into my arms, head resting on my chest. I rubbed my hand soothingly up and down her back.
This wouldn’t be the last time we went through something like this revolving around Sadie.
No matter how hard I tried to be everything for Charlie, there would still be areas in which I fell short, and today had made it painfully obvious that whether I wanted to ask for help or not, I would need it.
Asking Zoe to help with the bake sale would be a good place to start. I just needed to keep my feelings for her in check, and we would be fine.