Chapter Thirty Elise
“I’ve never flown first class,” I whisper in Randall’s ear after the flight attendant offered to get us champagne.
He holds my purse while I take the window seat and whacks his head on the overhead storage as he slides in. “Shit, it’s actually less room than the team plane.”
I roll my eyes. “Hockey player problems.” I turn to him and give his forehead a little kiss. “All better now?”
He grumbles. “I’d feel better if you sat on my lap.” His words direct my eyesight downward as Randall pulls at his jeans to adjust himself.
“You sure you want to be thinking about me on your lap right now, Haughland?” I tease. Riling him up is my new favorite pastime.
When we’re handed our drinks, Randall addresses the friendly attendant. “Would you mind bringing my girlfriend a blanket please? She gets cold so easily.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“When you introduce me to your friends and family, will I be known as your girlfriend, or will you sometimes use my name?”
“I use your name,” he says with furrowed brows.
“Sure, you do.”
“Girlfriend rolls off the tongue,” he says with a grin. “I like the sound of it.”
“I like it, too,” I admit.
I shift in my seat, crossing my ankle and uncrossing it, the hem of my dress lifting to reveal half my thigh. It’s one of those shirt-like designs with a crisp collar and a row of buttons running down the front. However, instead of ending at the hips like a man’s shirt, it falls just above the knees. To accentuate the waist and create a flattering shape, the dress is gently cinched at the waist with a sash.
Randall playfully tugs at the sash before casually placing his hand on my knee. It’s only when he massages my kneecap that I realize I’ve been bobbing my leg up and down.
“Are you nervous?”
“I don’t fly much so I’m…excited.”
“Now I really want you on my lap.”
I play-shove him, happy to be distracted by the flirting because I do get antsy during plane rides.
Two pillows and blankets arrive, and Randall distracts me by tucking us under the surprisingly soft fabric. After preliminary announcements, I look out the window at the stretch of runway. My heart races as the engine roars to an ascent.
Randall unclasps my fingers digging into the armrests and opens his palm so we can hold hands.
He murmurs softly, his voice calm and soothing. “Have you decided what show you want to watch?”
I shake my head, tongue-tied by adrenaline as the aircraft climbs higher. The clouds make me woozy, so I focus on Randall instead: his firm hold, his reassuring smile, his clean smell.
“I downloaded the first full season of Once Upon a Time,” he says and pulls out an iPad. Offering one of his Bluetooth earbuds to me, he presses play.
I’m familiar enough with the show’s general premise. It’s about fairytale characters navigating the good and evil forces of their stories while stuck in current time. The story doesn’t interest me, but I’m paying attention to the setting since it’s his hometown. I use my observations to get him to talk about his life growing up.
“Do those shops really exist?”
“Yeah, there’s a hardware store and bank. And that’s actually a real diner,” he says when a character takes an “open” sign to the sidewalk. “I worked there for part of the summer.”
“Is that a beach?” I ask after seeing a small stretch of sand where a blonde woman and young boy sit on top of a wooden bench.
“Sort of, although it’s more driftwood than sandy shores. Garry Point is where families have picnics during the day and teenagers get in trouble a night,” he says with a wink.
He pauses during a character’s rant in the middle of the street and points to a yellow building.
“That top floor, do you see it? That’s the Haughland law offices that my grandfather opened more than fifty years ago.”
“Your dad runs it now.”
“Yup, along with James Jr., my oldest brother, and Charles, the middle kid who is smarter than the whole rest of the Haughland family combined.”
I shrug. “That’s a bold statement, considering there isn’t only one way to be smart.”
“Let just say he took Haughland and Associates from civil and administrative law to one of the most respected corporate law firms in British Columbia. He specializes in mergers and acquisitions, securities litigation, and intellectual property disputes which, in the age of AI, is a lucrative business.”
“Good for them,” I say only mildly impressed. “Still, the coolest thing about them is this charming yellow building and the fact that they’re related to a fantastic hockey player named Randall Haughland. That’s what they should put on their business cards,” I say with a grin.
Randall doesn’t match my cheerfulness. “You don’t have to do that,” he mutters.
“Do what?”
“Stroke my ego. I’ve had a lifetime of knowing my place as the jock in a family of geniuses. Made my peace with it.”
Wow, that was completely out of nowhere. What the hell kind of landmine did I step into?
“A bit defensive, aren’t we?” I say with a raised brow. “If I was going to stroke anything, it wouldn’t be your ego.”
“Thank god for that. I’m sorry if my comment was out of line.” Randall cranks his neck and runs a knuckle over his jaw. “Let’s keep watching.”
He presses play, but I pause the show. I turn my body to face him.
“What’s going on, Randall? Are you worried I’m going to see you differently because your dad and brothers are into law and you’re not? Don’t you know what I do for a living? If I gave a shit about being a social climber, I would not have dedicated my life to corrupting our youth through revolutionary theater for basically no pay.”
He gives me a half smile, knowing I’m exaggerating in order to lighten the mood. Except for the shitty pay grade. That’s no joke.
Leaning over to kiss his lips, I reassure him, “I get it. Going back home when you live so far away can’t be easy.”
“I’m giving you a terrible impression of them,” he says worriedly. “I love them, and I know they love me. It’s just that Mom was the one I was closest to. She was the one who encouraged my passion for hockey, not Dad. When she died, I realized I didn’t know how to be close to my father and brothers in the same way. My brothers are ten and twelve years older. And my dad has always prioritized work.”
My heart hurts for him, the boy who lost a parent and had no family to comfort him. I lost my father around the same age he lost his mom. But unlike Randall who was estranged from his surviving family members, Ma and I found comfort in each other.
I feel a sob coming but push it down. I empathize with Randall, but I don’t want him to think I feel sorry for him. In fact, I’m impressed. Even the complex relationship he has with his family is something he handles with humility instead of resentment.
“How often do you see them?”
“I go during the All-Star break for a couple of days and spend about a week in the summer. There are a few other people I visit, like high school buddies who never moved away. My old minor league team is great, too. It’s run by Ben Nakamura. He knows every kid in that area who has ever put on a pair of ice skates. We keep in touch.”
“Why does his name sound familiar?”
“It does?”
I rack my brain. It snags at a memory of a bunch of kids holding Haughland signs. “There’s a hockey club that always posts about you.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s Ben alright.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“He’ll love you,” he says before planting a kiss on my temple.
“So, we’re paying homage to your family, hanging out with a coach, and what else?”
“It’s a great city in the summer. We’ll do all the touristy things I never get to do.”
“Like?”
“You’ll see.”
He presses play. This time I let my head fall sideways, the ear without the earbud leaning on his chest while his arm wraps around me. The armrest is no longer between us. The seats are so comfortable, we could be on a sofa. The only difference is, I would be sitting on his lap by now.
We stop the movie when the flight attendant brings our food trays and champagne refills. He chats fondly about places I’ve only heard about: Whistler for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer, Stanley Park for the world-class aquarium and towering sequoias, bike paths between the city and the ocean. He looks so happy talking about his hometown.
My heart squeezes because there’s so much about Randall that I love and so much I have yet to learn. I’m sure I’ll end up loving those parts of him, too.
When the food trays are cleared and the show resumes, I snuggle closer and let the drowsiness take over.