Chapter 29
Logan
I wake up with Jasmine in my bed for the first time in a week. She's on her stomach with her face half buried in the pillow and her hair spread everywhere. I look at her and breathe, and the tight, panicked knot that's been living in my chest for seven days finally loosens.
She's here.
I ease out of bed to make coffee. I take it to the couch and start making calls. I call Dom first.
“I need your help,” I say after we exchange pleasantries.
“Name it.”
“I'm organizing a lunch next Saturday at a restaurant in Long Island. Neutral ground. Mom and Dad, Lorraine Bennett, Jasmine, and me. I want you and Sarah there too.”
Dom is quiet for a moment. “You're putting Mom and Jasmine's mother in the same room.”
“Yes.”
“On purpose.”
“On purpose.”
“And you think this is a good idea?”
“I think it's the only idea I have left. Mom hasn't spoken to me in weeks. Jasmine and I almost broke up because the family pressure was crushing us. I can't keep living with our families at war. Something has to change, and waiting for it to change on its own isn't working.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Be there. Bring Sarah. Help me keep it civil if things go sideways.”
“I'll be there. Sarah, too.” He pauses. “For what it's worth, I think you're right. Mom needs to see Jasmine as a person, not as a threat. And Jasmine's mom needs to see that not all of us are the enemy.”
“Thanks, Dom.”
He laughs. “Don’t thank me yet. This could go spectacularly wrong.”
I can’t help but smile. “I’m aware.”
Dom sighs. “Why does she do it? Mom. Why can't she just let us be happy?”
I shake my head. “I've been asking myself that for years.”
“I've thought about it a lot, and the only thing I keep coming back to is that she gave up everything for Dad's career and then for ours.
She quit her own sports career and built her entire identity around being the hockey mom.
And now, when we choose women who have their own lives and their own careers, it threatens her.
It makes her feel like her sacrifice wasn't worth it.”
I frown. “I’ve never thought of it that way,” I admit.
“It's the truth. When we fall in love, Mom feels threatened and attacks.”
It makes sense, but still. “That’s crazy.”
“Think about it,” Dom says. “She's done the same thing to Sarah.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know how you handle it.” I could never be as cool as Dom about it.
“At first, I told myself it wasn't that bad. That Mom was just being Mom. But it hurt Sarah. After the first year, Sarah sat me down and said she loved me, but she needed to know if I was going to let my mother treat her like furniture for the rest of our lives.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her that Mom's behavior was Mom's problem, not ours. We made a pact. We show up, we're polite, we don't engage when she's being difficult, and we go home to our own apartment and live our lives.”
“And that works?”
“It works because Sarah and I are a unit. Mom can say whatever she wants at Sunday dinner, but it stays at Sunday dinner. It doesn't follow us home.”
“I tried something similar with Jasmine, but the problem is Mom is more involved in my life than she is in yours. You moved away. You quit hockey. I still playing for the Renegades. Mom and Dad have season tickets. They're at every home game. The boundary between my life and theirs barely exists.”
“Then you need to build one. You started at dinner when you stood up for Jasmine. That was the first brick. Saturday is the second. Keep building.”
“Thanks, I’ll try.”
“Goodnight, bro.”
“Goodnight, and thanks.”
“Always.”
I think about what he said. Mom gave up everything for hockey, and she can't accept that the women her sons choose aren't willing to do the same. It doesn't excuse what she's done, but it explains it.
I call Lorraine next. My body is tight with nerves, but it has to be done.
She picks up on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mrs. Bennett, it's Logan Shaw.”
A pause. “Well. This is unexpected.”
“I know. I'm sorry to call out of the blue, but I have something I want to ask you.”
There’s silence for a moment. “I'm listening.”
“I'm organizing a lunch next Saturday at Romano's in Long Island. I'd like you to be there.”
“Who else is coming?”
“Jasmine, my parents, my brother Dom, and his fiancée Sarah.”
The silence on the line is long. I can picture Lorraine processing what I just asked. “You want me to sit at a table with your mother after what she did to Jasmine?” she says.
“I know it's a lot to ask.”
“That woman told my daughter she wasn't good enough for you, and now you want me to break bread with her.”
“I love your daughter, and I'm not losing her again. I know we all have a terrible past, but the only way forward is to put everyone in the same room and start over.”
Lorraine is quiet again. I grip my phone and wait.
“You've got nerve, Logan,” she says.
I let out a weak laugh, hoping that means she’s coming around to the idea. “I’ve been told that.”
“Fine. I'll be there. But if that woman says one word about my daughter not being good enough, I'm going to say things that will make everyone at that table very uncomfortable.”
“Understood.”
“Saturday. Romano's. What time?”
“Noon.”
“I'll be there,” she says and hangs up.
I exhale. One down.
The hardest call is next. My mother.
I hit call and wait for her to answer, hoping she doesn’t ignore my call. She picks up on the fifth ring, which tells me she considered not answering.
“Logan,” she says in a cool and measured voice.
“Hi, Mom, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
“It's about Saturday. I've reserved a table at Romano's in Long Island at noon. I want you and Dad to come.”
“What's the occasion?”
“I want you to meet Jasmine's mother.”
The silence that follows is so complete, I check my phone to make sure the call is still connected.
“Jasmine's mother,” Mom says.
“Yes. She's an important person in Jasmine's life, and if Jasmine is going to be in my life, our families need to know each other.”
“Logan, I don't think that's necessary.”
“It is necessary, Mom. You haven't spoken to me properly, and neither has Dad. I told you the truth about how I feel, and you punished me with silence. That ends now.”
“I wasn't punishing you. I was processing.”
“You can process at lunch on Saturday. Romano's. Noon. Dad too.”
“I see.” Her voice is tight. “And what exactly do you expect to happen at this lunch?”
“I expect everyone to sit at the same table and have a conversation like adults. I'm not asking you to love Lorraine. I'm not asking you to apologize. I'm asking you to show up.”
“I'll talk to your father.”
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet, Logan. I'm agreeing to come to lunch. I'm not agreeing to anything else.”
“That's all I'm asking.”
She hangs up. I put my phone down, lean back on the couch, and close my eyes.
Jasmine comes out of the bedroom in my t-shirt with her hair piled on top of her head. “How did it go?”
“Dom is in. Your mother is in, and my mother is thinking about it.”
Jasmine’s brows shoot up. “My mother agreed?”
“She said if your mother says one word about you not being good enough, she's going to make everyone at the table very uncomfortable.”
She laughs. “That sounds like Mom.” Then she sits down beside me on the couch. “I hope your mother agrees.”
“She will. She won't want to, but she'll come because staying away means losing control of the narrative.”
“You know your mother well.”
“I've had twenty-eight years of practice.”
She leans her head on my shoulder. “I'm terrified.”
“Me too, but we're doing it.”
Jasmine reaches for my coffee and takes a sip. “If this goes badly, we're moving to Maine permanently.”
“I'll start packing.”
The week passes slowly. Blake and I run drills after practice on Wednesday, and he asks me how things are with Jasmine. I tell him we're back together and I tell him about Saturday lunch.
“You’re a brave man,” he says. “You want me to be on standby in case I need to break up a fight?”
“It's a restaurant, Blake. Nobody is going to fight.”
“You haven't met enough mothers.”
Friday night, the Renegades play the Long Island Runners at MSG. Nolan's team.
The building is full, and the energy is loud, and I play like a man who has something to prove. I block four shots and assist on two goals. My back holds, and the Renegades win 4-2. The losing streak is over.
In the locker room, Cole grabs my shoulder. “There he is. Welcome back, Shaw.”
I shower, change, and text Jasmine.
We won. 4-2. I'm coming over.
Jasmine: I saw. You were incredible. Hurry up.