Chapter 1 #2
It was better that he’d ended it, but it was a shame because the thing with Anna had been…
relaxing. She had meant it at the bar when she said she was simply looking for a distraction, for an easy way to relieve stress.
No obligations, only sex. She hadn’t asked once if he wanted to go out to dinner with her or stay the night.
Not that he wanted to or could. The arrangement had been perfect.
But on the way to the car that evening, he had encountered a horde of reporters searching for Jack West and Dax Temple…
and they hadn’t even looked at him. That would be different if the Anna thing came out.
He didn’t need that attention. There were enough people in his life that he had to protect — and Anna wasn’t one of them.
He walked quietly down the hall and pushed open the first door on the right, behind which a nightlight was still burning.
“You’re finally home!”
Yep, Melody was still awake.
“You should be sleeping,” he muttered, shaking his head. He carefully picked up two dozen Lego blocks and a red fire truck covered in colorful feathers from the floor and tossed them into the open toy box next to Melody’s bed. Then he sat on the edge of the mattress.
“I couldn’t,” she said earnestly, her big, dark eyes wide. “I was thirsty!”
He felt a smile play at his lips as he wordlessly handed her the cup of water. She took three tiny sips, and he knew what was coming next…
“That’s enough. You always fill the cup way too full, Lu!”
“Better too full than too empty,” he murmured, gently stroking her head before taking the cup and placing it on the nightstand next to the photo of Laney.
Melody fell back into the pillow and sighed heavily, the way only five-year-old girls could sigh when they were about to say something of the utmost importance. “Lu… Aunt Hazel forgot to remind me to brush my teeth. But I did it anyway so my teeth won’t fall out like your hockey guys.”
This was not exactly the situation. His ‘hockey guys’ lost their teeth for completely different reasons, not poor dental hygiene. But the positive effect on Melody’s evening routine after she’d seen their toothless pictures was remarkable.
“You did well,” he said, nodding.
“Yes, I know.” She waved her hand. “Hazel says I shouldn’t tell you, but I don’t like lies. Mom always said that lying is veeerrrry bad.”
“And she was right,” he whispered and the tight feeling in his chest returned.
Melody swallowed and nodded. “Are you driving me to kindergarten tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not leaving again?”
“No.” He hesitated. “I don’t have another away game until next week.”
She sighed dramatically. “Thank goodness. Hazel always talks so much when she drives me there, and I don’t like that because then I don’t have time to tell her about my dream. Lu?”
“Yes?”
“I drew you a picture.” She sat up and pulled it out from under her pillow as if she’d been planning to show it to him all along.
There were three deformed stick figures with black hair.
Two were standing on a green field, the third on a large cloud with huge eyes.
The cloud stick figure was smiling broadly, one of the meadow stick figures was tiny, and the other looked like it thought everything, including clouds and meadows, was stupid.
“That cloud over there is where Mom is looking down on us, making sure Hazel doesn’t forget to remind me to brush my teeth again,” she explained, yawning as she placed the piece of paper on his thigh.
“That’s you.” She pointed to the grumpy-looking stick figure with biceps as big as his head.
“The other one is me. We’re in the park, having fun. ”
Lucas nodded slowly, his gaze wandering to the cloud with the eyes.
Sometimes, he wished that Laney actually looked down on them and could watch her daughter lecture Hazel about brushing her teeth.
Other times, he hoped she wasn’t, so she didn’t see Melody cry when she was missing her.
That was heartbreaking. Also, he hoped she didn’t witness him struggling with his guilty conscience when he had to leave Melody alone with his parents or Hazel once again.
Laney had specifically left custody to him, and only him, in her will.
The only member of my family who can offer her a quiet life without drama.
Lucas, however, didn’t know what he was doing or what young girls needed. He learned, he tried, but his work hours were impossible, and…it was so damn hard. Melody wasn’t the only one who missed Laney.
The only thing he could do for Melody was to stop the paparazzi from chasing her and the Internet from buzzing with the story: Hawks goalie also a single dad!
Nobody knew except his parents, his agent Hazel, and Fox.
He paid Melody’s daycare so much damn money, it would be against their interest to alert the press. And that was how it would stay.
“It’s a beautiful picture,” he said, handing it back to her. “I like the colors.”
Melody beamed at him. “Me too. Mom too, I think. She liked green.”
He didn’t know if that was true. He’d always been bad at remembering such details: birthdays, favorite foods, and the little things that made a person who they were. Laney was the one who’d always really known people, even when her own life had always been a huge mess.
“Your mom would be proud of you,” he murmured roughly and kissed Melody gently on the head.
As he said it, he doubted she would be proud of him.