Chapter 7 #2
Every rush got cleaner. Every pass got sharper. Every mistake came with someone chirping the poor kid who made it. Halfway through another drill, I glanced toward the stands, momentarily forgetting why this was so important.
Leena was still in Shannon’s lap but had abandoned the princesses in favor of climbing all over her instead. Shannon caught me looking and gave me a thumbs up.
I rubbed at the knot that had lived in my chest all week, but between the first drill and now, it was gone. Yesterday, every version of the future I’d imagined ended with me telling my teammates I’d lied. Explaining why my “wife” had disappeared before the season even started.
Figuring out how to raise Leena alone while balancing an NHL schedule, if I could even play anymore.
Now the barest glimpse of a different future popped into my head, one with Shannon in it. Not forever, but long enough to get us through the season.
No matter what we decided, I wasn’t looking for more than that.
I couldn’t.
“GOALLLLLL!” Jace cried as he flew by me, hands in the air.
I glanced back at the ice, where the kids all dog-piled him like they’d won the state championship again.
“I think I need my inhaler,” Pickles said from behind me, and Ty helped him back to his feet.
Beckett skated to my side, spraying ice up over my knees. “Best of three?”
“Nah,” I said, looking at the kids who had now raised Jace up on their shoulders, tossing him into the air. “They earned it.”
“Don’t let them hear you say that,” Ty said as he skated by, then forced the kids to reassemble. “Smash was offsides. Goal doesn’t count.”
The groan was unanimous, but Pickles lifted his stick in the air, celebrating this turn of events.
Before I’d even caught my breath, Beckett blew the whistle, and the kids took off toward me again, ready for more. An hour passed before I knew it. I checked on the girls every few minutes, but each time I saw how comfortable Leena was with Shannon, the weight on my chest lessened.
When Beckett finally called it quits, I glanced up to see my baby passed out in Shannon’s arms. Shannon’s dark hair was resting against Leena’s pale blonde, the two so opposite and yet they looked perfect together.
I handed my skates, gloves, and stick back to Ty. “Thanks for this. I needed it.”
He followed my gaze, then brushed a hand across his mustache. “You looked like yourself out there.”
Somewhere between the first drill and now, I’d felt like myself again, too.
“Take it easy, okay, man? Junie’s taught me there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. You just have to love that kid hard enough that they feel it on a bone-deep level.”
“I do.” The words came easily because they were so honest.
He squeezed my shoulder, then walked by. “I can tell.”
Outside, the midday sun painted the mountains gold behind the rink.
Construction fencing lined one side of the parking lot, roping off where the new rink expansion would be soon enough.
Shannon met me beside my SUV and carefully transferred Leena into my arms. My daughter barely stirred, only snuggling deeper against my chest before letting out a sleepy sigh.
“I think she likes you.”
“Yes, well, your girl has excellent taste.”
I buckled Leena into her car seat, tucking her blanket around her before quietly shutting the door. When I turned around, Shannon was waiting with her arms crossed, waiting for me to say something.
But everything about the last few days had me at a loss.
I expected her to be angry with me for lying, but she wasn’t.
I expected her to tell me to solve my own problems, but she didn’t.
Expected her to run the moment I told her how heavy Leena’s past was, and how challenging our future would be.
Instead, she stood there, as fierce as ever, reminding me why I’d said her name so easily.
“You know,” Shannon said, “you still haven’t asked me.”
I frowned.
“You’ve apologized for telling everyone I was your wife.”
“I did.”
“And I told you we’d revisit it if this little experiment worked.”
“It did.”
“It did.” She tipped her head. “So, are you going to man up and ask? Or are we going to stand here in the parking lot until the sun goes down?”
For a second, I took her in—the stubborn set of her jaw, one dark brow raised, the slight downturn of her luscious mouth—while the reality of this situation settled.
“Yesterday, I drove to Linwood, not sure how to tell the team I’d lied without looking completely insane.
I came here expecting to apologize to you and hoping you’d forgive me for dragging you into the biggest mess I’ve ever made.
But watching you with my daughter in the stands made me realize, I don’t think I made a mistake. ”
Her mouth parted on the softest inhale, and I had to force myself not to notice. The words settled between us before I realized they were true. But rather than panicking, I took a step closer, forcing her to look up at me.
Those dark eyes roamed my face, looking for honesty, so I made sure she saw it when I dropped to one knee in front of her. “Shannon Wilder, will you marry me?”
“Oh my god, get up.” A blush spread up her neck, painting her cheeks with the deepest pink I couldn’t help but adore while she pulled me back to my feet.
“Now I know how Mason feels every time Tate turns him down. Is that a yes?”
“It’s not a no if you quit embarrassing me. Are we stopping at the courthouse on the way out of town?”
This time it was my turn to inhale a surprised breath, but she had a point. If we left this parking lot unmarried, I’d spend every moment after inventing reasons this plan would fail.
Today was probably the only day I’d be brave enough to do it.
“You’re moving to Denver today?” I asked.
“Yes. My rental car is packed and waiting.”
“And you’re sure about this?”
“We get married, and I live with you, helping with Leena for the season,” she clarified.
“For as long as you’re happy with us.”
Shannon blinked, and I wasn’t sure which one of us looked more surprised by my words. “I was prepared to make fun of your proposal, but that was pretty good. Maybe you won’t be the worst husband after all.”
“I...” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Good.”
She laughed, then started toward her car. “See you at the courthouse in an hour. I’ll be the one in black.”
I watched her go until she disappeared behind a row of parked cars, then looked back at Leena sleeping peacefully in the backseat, wondering how my life had changed so fast.
My last hour as a single man passed quicker than I expected.
I drove around Linwood making every phone call I could think of while my daughter snoozed in her car seat.
By the time I pulled into the courthouse parking lot, I’d updated my emergency contacts, had the team forward every form they’d need Shannon to sign before traveling with us, started her health insurance paperwork, and canceled her rental car.
We could fit everything she owned into my SUV and make one trip to Denver instead of two.
The list kept growing as I drove.
I’d need to get her added to the building, make space for her things, and figure out what she liked to eat because my refrigerator was stocked for a hockey player and a toddler.
Thinking through the logistical details of combining our lives settled something inside me. My brain liked a plan, and checking things off before Shannon even had the chance to think of them eased some of the guilt I’d carried since I’d dragged her into this mess.
Nine months.
That was it.
Nine months to get through the season, then I’d have an entire off-season to figure out what came next.
Leena and I ducked into the courthouse bathroom to change clothes before meeting Shannon in the hallway. I’d swapped my sweaty ones for a button-down and jeans, and she’d changed exactly nothing. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
“No. Not about this.”
Shannon studied me for a moment, one dark brow raised before she walked up to the counter, ready to sign our names on a dotted line.
The ceremony lasted less than five minutes. We signed where the clerk pointed and repeated words when he told us to.
No family.
No celebration.
Just a folded marriage license and a legal solution to an impossible problem.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the judge said when it was all said and done. “Congratulations, you three.”
I looked over at Shannon—my wife.