Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Noah
Wait For Me
“You’re killing it!” Savannah calls out to Izzie while I help her work on her slapshots after practice. We still have a few hours before I have to be at the campus arena, more than enough time to shower, grab food, and drive to Wynchester.
“Think I’ll be able to go to Wynchester with a full scholarship like you?” Izzie asks me.
“I think you can do absolutely anything,” I tell her. “But I’ll have graduated by then, so you can go anywhere you want.”
“You too?” she turns to Savannah.
“Unfortunately. But I promise I’ll come see one of your games if you do.”
Izzie’s face lights up, but my chest gets tight, and I panic, because my sister will hold Savannah to that, or be crushed if she doesn’t, and this isn’t next year, it’s a fucking decade away.
I want to backtrack, to warn Savannah not to say those things, but when I look at her and go to shake my head, she looks at me like she sees nothing wrong with the promise, and has every intention of following through. So I say nothing.
“Come on, Iz. Go change, then lunch for my star player.”
“I don’t think coaches are allowed to have favorites,” she argues.
“Of course we are. Parents shouldn’t, but coaches are fair game.”
That gives her pause.
“Do you think Mom has a favorite?”
My face drops because Izzie doesn’t think we’re all the favorite, she thinks Mom doesn’t have any. Because she was checked out for so long that she doesn’t know how to check back in.
“The best parents make it so you can’t tell,” Savannah says, looking uncertain.
“Are you your mom’s favorite? Or your dad’s?”
“I’d say I’m both their favorite, but my brothers would say the same thing.”
“You’re my favorite sister,” I say, getting the tiniest of smiles.
“I’m your only sister.” Iz rolls her eyes.
“There you are.”
I’m surprised by Doug walking in, looking relieved to see us.
“I was waiting outside, like Heather said, but no one else was coming out anymore.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask. “I told my mom I was taking Izzie to my game.”
“Oh…I…she didn’t mention that. I got Isabelle tickets to Disney on Ice for Christmas. It’s this afternoon at three.” Doug looks crushed, like he was actually looking forward to it. “But if Isabelle would rather go to your game, I’m sure I can ask around and find…”
“Didn’t my mom get her books for Christmas?”
“She did, but…We saw an ad for it a while back, and the look on Isabelle’s face was the way I used to look at the WWF, so I got us the tickets. From me.”
“Mom too?” Izzie asks, hopeful. I can see how excited she is for the show, but not about who she’s going with.
“She doesn’t like arenas,” Doug apologizes with a knowing look to me.
“You should go to Disney on Ice, Iz. I’ll make sure you can come to my next afternoon game.”
“But—”
“I need you to watch real close and let me know if you think I could play any of the characters, okay?”
She knows what I’m doing, just like I know how badly she wants to go. Luckily, my sister is too polite to ask Doug if Savannah can take his place.
“What will Savannah do without me?” she tries.
“She’s still invited to my games, even if you’re not there,” I say like that’s a ridiculous question, but Savannah looks like she was about to have entirely different plans for her afternoon.
“Unless she was only coming to watch you.” I turn to Sav, not meaning to put her on the spot and make her feel guilty, but that’s how it comes out.
“Of course not. I love hockey.” She smiles. “I can take notes too, if you want. Let you know all the cool plays you can try out next week.”
“That would be awesome!”
“Go shower, Iz, you don’t want to be late,” I encourage.
“Thank you,” Doug tells me once she’s gone.
“Of course. She’ll love the show.”
“That’s my hope,” he agrees. He looks sketchy, or nervous, until I realize he’s looking over at Savannah, who is smiling awkwardly.
“Shit, this is my friend, Savannah. I’m teaching her to skate, and she watches Izzie during my games.”
If she’s upset at the way I introduce her, she doesn’t show it as she leans in to shake his hand.
“I’m Doug. His mother’s…I’m Tatum’s father.” He winces a bit, which makes me wonder if they’re off again. “According to Isabelle, you’re one of her best friends.”
“Oh, that’s…she’s sweet.”
“She’s got a big heart.” He beams like a proud parent and my chest goes tight. It makes me sad for my dad, who doesn’t get to say those things, but also happy. Maybe I misjudged Doug’s intentions, and he’s not that much of an asshole.
“I’ll hit the showers. Wait for me?” I ask Savannah, who doesn’t have a car here, but her parents live close enough that they might be able to rescue her before I got out if she wanted to escape, which she looks like she might.
She nods and, for a moment, I wonder if I should worry about leaving her with Doug, but I’ve known him two years and he’s said less than fifty words to me, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.