Epilogue 2
EPILOGUE 2
Bunny and I match in our Knights jerseys with the number eighty-one printed on the back—Grady’s number. He was number eighteen when he played in high school and flipped it when he joined the NHL.
It’s the Stanley Cup final against the Pittsburgh Generals. The VIP suite is full of the players’ friends and family. Mom, Dad, Derek, Deborah, and Uncle Stan are all here, too.
At dinner earlier, they announced they’re already expecting which means Bunny is getting a cousin. We celebrated and I tapped Margo, the team’s event planner extraordinaire, to orchestrate the baby shower.
I’d have done it myself, but Derek said he worried I’d take every opportunity to ‘Welcome him into the parenting club.’ I think by that he meant I’d preempt what’s sure to be an embarrassing montage of video footage when he gives his best man speech at the wedding next month. There’s no way I want to remind my brother that he’ll be changing diapers in the middle of the night, walking into a grocery store with spit-up down his back, or seeing his future husband again for the first time in years with his shirt inside out. Oh, wait. That last one was me.
It’s the second period and Bunny squeezes my cheeks, then angles my head toward the game where her Daddy—GG, not Trey—takes the ice. Ironically, he’s playing his old team.
I realize that the guy who was taking the performance-enhancing drugs might be out there somewhere. What is his name? Lucan Ketsi-something? Sure enough, I spot Ketsivalis on a General’s jersey.
“Badaszek is playing Grady?!” I say to no one in particular.
Even though the various lines of defensemen get rotated in and out throughout the game, Coach has left Grady to keep the bench warm and let Ted get the glory of these last games before he retires.
I understand the logic, but also want to see my guy out there.
My Dad’s expression turns serious, “This is serious.”
“Dad, Grady has been at every practice. Working hard. I think he can handle it.”
Derek posts up on my other side. “Not only is Grady a defenseman, he has the special title of Enforcer.”
“The goon,” Dad adds.
“Don’t call my fiancé a goon. That’s rude.”
“Says the brat,” my brother mutters.
I elbow him. “He’s never mentioned that role.”
“It’s an unofficial title,” Dad elaborates.
“Their job is to keep the ice clean by stopping dirty play,” Derek says.
“Are we anticipating dirty play?” I ask.
They both reply, “Yup.”
Even though the lively rock song blasting over the arena’s speakers is the same volume as it was a moment ago and the lights are as bright as ever, this game suddenly takes on an ominous feel. What do my father and brother know that I don’t?
“Should I be worried?” I ask, very worried.
“Nope,” they both chorus, eyes fixed on the rink.
I follow their gazes as Grady takes the ice, gliding like he was born to skate rather than walk. If he weren’t so massive, the movements would be graceful as he gets into position.
The puck drops and what happens next makes me hold my breath. Micah Lemon, our center, and two of the Pittsburg players go one way with half of the others in pursuit while Grady streaks in the other direction.
“Why is he going the wrong way?” I ask.
“He’s not. He’s preparing to intercept.”
“The puck?”
Dad shakes his head.
Derek smirks like he knows something I don’t. Which is true. I glance at my mother and she focuses dead ahead, watching Grady like a hawk, a mama bear. She’s not a superfan like Dad, but has been by his side over the years and knows the game inside and out. Given my former puck bunny role and present Ice Maiden position—we still need to come up with a better name—I should have a better understanding of what’s going on.
Hands cupped around her mouth, my mother hollers, “You get him good, Grady. That’s right, in the smacker.”
I turn my attention back to the ice and see two players with their gloves abandoned.
“Tell that pest to buzz off,” Mom yells.
She’s a feisty one.
In the end, I guess things with Trey wouldn’t have worked out because my parents would only ever accept Grady as a son-in-law.
Grady is about to tear—I squint—Ketsivalis’s head off. I turn Bunny to face in the other direction where Hayden is close to scoring a goal.
“That guy is such a pest—just like Trey,” I mutter.
Derek says, “They’re literally pests. Their role is to annoy players, knock them off their game, incite them to anger so they’re less focused.”
“Yeah, Trey was good at that.” From what Grady told me, Lucan, too.
“Show him how it’s done,” Mom yells as Grady takes a swing.
I may be a brat, but I’m not entirely sure I’m cut out for this, Granted, I’m no stranger to hockey being a rough sport, but it’s different when it’s your guy out there. Then again, we are talking about the guy who got him suspended.
Did Coach Badaszek know the history between them? Actually, does Trey know that Grady and I are engaged? I inwardly chuckle and wonder if I could somehow hook him and Alivia up. That would be poetic justice. Or maybe they’d actually fall in love.
I do my best to distract myself from the brawl, thinking about how the engagement video reel I pieced together of me finding the Easter egg and Grady proposing went viral. Unbeknownst to me, Cara and Meg were filming from a window above when I found the egg and then Derek got footage when Grady asked me to marry him.
By my side, Dad winces and then swings his arms as if demonstrating to Grady how to throw an uppercut. I cannot watch.
If it were a few months ago, the brat in me may have taken pleasure in seeing the guy who betrayed my fiancé get pummeled. But I don’t like that any more than my brother beating up Trey .
Bunny grabs my attention when she asks, “Mama, does GG want my unee-corn to help?”
“Hmm. I think that’s a good idea but from up here.”
She flies her unicorn stuffed animal around before smooshing it against the glass. We all laugh while the lamp lights and the goal score song comes on. There’s an uproar from both sides and some blood on the ice, but now the Knights are up two points.
My brother chuckles. “And that’s how it is done.”
“Grady has got it,” Dad says, pumping the air.
“That’s my boy,” Mom shouts.
At the same time, my man looks up toward the VIP suite and shakes his stick as he skates to the exit. He smiles and Lucan Ketsivalis limps off the ice like the loser he is.
The game is a nail-biter. Derek’s fingers are proof. They put our goaltender, Beaumont Hammer, through his paces. But in the final period, Ted offers an epic assist to Hayden who scores a backhand goal that’ll go down in history.
At the after party, we celebrate the win. Margo themed it as a medieval knights and royalty affair, complete with candelabras, silver chalices, the walls hung with team color banners, trumpeters, a court jester, and a dragon.
My little unicorn bunny rabbit has tired herself out, running around with the other kids. It’s a madhouse in the best of ways.
Grady slides his arm around my shoulder and says, “Badaszek had a plan.”
“To have you beat up Ketsivalis?”
“It’s kind of my job.” But the fight in his eyes isn’t just about that. I can tell it’s something more and has to do with him being in his rightful position in the line.
“Derek and Dad explained. Would’ve been nice to have known that you’re the tough guy. ”
“Wouldn’t want you to think I was just out there to destroy other players.” He coughs and then adds, “Enemies.” Then he coughs again and says, “Trey.”
Derek comes over and taps his glass against Grady’s. “That was something.”
“It was a piece of cake,” he answers with false modesty.
“And you said Badaszek wasn’t going to give you ice time.”
“Sitting out reminded me how hungry I am to play this sport. It was humbling too.”
My brother says, “I think he was holding you back to reveal a secret weapon. If there were any doubts about the Knights next season with Ted retired, there aren’t anymore.”
A few of the other guys jump in on the conversation and I drift over to the girls. They fall into a hush when I appear. I have the distinct feeling they were talking about me. I’ve never been on this side of the gossip wall—Sophia and a few of the other cheerleaders and I were always the ones dishing it out. Gotta say, it doesn’t feel good.
“Okay, we have to tell her,” Delaney blurts.
Whit bites her lip. “I think we should tease it out.”
“Now you’re just teasing me. What’s up?” I ask, stomach dipping.
Cara says, “We’ve been planning.”
“Scheming is more like,” Harlow says with a devious glint in her eye.
Margo says, “As the official party planner of the group and someone who is not a fan of surprises, we’re discussing your bachelorette party and seeing if we can do a day at the aerial arts school in Omaha.”
Relief rushes through me. “Oh, that.” Then I stutter. “Wait, you mean like trapeze? That’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Whit nods. “I know. ”
I tuck my chin. “You do?”
“Sophia mentioned it.”
“Probably so I go splat.”
“She and I talked.” Whit’s mouth bunches up.
I arch my eyebrow.
“Yeah, that kind of talk. This may be a farm town, but we’re not a bunch of cackling hens. She saw you move home and thought she had to assert herself in the pecking order. That’s not how this works.”
I straighten my spine. “Well, thank you. And um, sorry for snitching on you in Mr. Gardener’s class.”
She rolls her eyes. “Someone had to keep me in line.”
“So do you think you could get away for one day?” Margo asks.
“That would be wonderful.” I glance over at my parents who have a major surprise in store after the honeymoon. “One day? I think it could be arranged.”
Deborah and a few others get in on the conversation before a gaggle of exhausted children dive-bomb the dessert table.
Grady is on it though and has Bunny in flight, distracting her from what might be her third “Bird’s Nest,” It’s a Rice Krispie treat shaped into a nest and topped with chocolate eggs.
“Can we play Buckaroo?” she asks.
“Hey, that’s my move,” Derek says.
“We can play Buckaroo tomorrow after you have a good night’s rest,” Grady says in his dad voice.
Derek snorts. “Princess Unicorn, I’ll play Buckaroo with you anytime.”
Grady, having taken on a paternal role, says, “Is that how it’s going to be? You do realize you’re about to have a kid and Uncle Grady will play this game too if only to torment you.”
Derek winces. “Fair enough. Next time you visit, we’ll play Buckaroo,” he tells Bunny .
After we say goodbye to everyone, she falls asleep the instant her exhausted little body drops into the car seat.
Grady rubs his eyes. I’ll admit that I like when he gets tired, takes out his contacts, and puts on his glasses. There’s just something about a huge tough guy, an enforcer, in Clark Kents. I fan my face.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he says in the otherwise quiet car.
“What’s that?”
“About how awesome I looked out there tonight.”
“You’re close . . .”
“It would destroy you if I was in full hockey gear and glasses, huh?”
He hit the nail on the head. Imagining that, with a breathy sigh, I say, “Yes, yes it would.”
“I have to say, the win tonight felt good. I came here to get my hockey career back.”
“Mission accomplished.”
At the traffic light, he turns to me and adds, “But I got so much more. You, Bunny, a family, a home. You distracted me in the best of ways.”
“I take it that was not part of the plan.”
“Nope. But you know what they say about plans.”
“Like ones not to fall for a hockey player?” I ask.
“Yep.”
“Or your brother’s best friend . . . again?”
“Correction, your brother’s other best friend.”
I don’t scratch the itchy curiosity about what it was like to face off with Lucan or what he would’ve done if it had been Trey, since, according to Dad and Derek, he’s also a pest. In fact, I don’t think about him again.
Not during the bachelorette party.
Not on our wedding day .
Not when we drive away in the restored Dodge—with a Just Married sign and tin cans rattling off the bumper.
Not when we visit Hawaii for our honeymoon.
And not today when we return to the McMansion to find my parents and Bunny playing in the backyard on the play structure with the Snoots.
“The Snorts!” I call before I can stop myself.
Bunny makes her grunt-snort-rhino sound.
Derek and Deborah sit on the patio. My brother breaks into hysterics.
“I meant the Snots.” Oops. That wasn’t much better.
Now, Derek clutches his belly. Dad presses his lips together, stifling laughter.
Mom blinks at me as if begging me to stop.
“The Schusters. What a surprise to find you here just when we returned from our honeymoon.”
“How was Houston?” Sophia asks.
“We went to Hawaii.” I recall the conversation with Whit and the girls, then remind myself that we’re not chickens, which almost makes me laugh out loud.
Mom clears her throat and says, “Sophia was just telling me about their trip and that they’re getting an above-ground pool installed soon.”
“Oh, us too. Well, an inground. Water features. Jacuzzi, a slide for the kids.” I gesture toward the backyard. “The outdoor kitchen will be right here.”
“Don’t forget the koi fish pond,” Grady adds.
We discussed this while lounging in a cabana in Maui.
Mr. Sophia speaks, “Babe, I told you they’d have us beat. I raise a flag and admit it. We can’t afford that on my salary. Maybe you could try to be friends with Heidi instead of always hatching plans to make yourself look better.”
Sophia gasps, aghast. “I can’t believe?— ”
“We’ve talked about this. You don’t have to try to step on others to make yourself feel better. You have a great family, me, a nice home. What will be enough?”
We all look at each other as if desperate to get away so they can have this conversation privately, but there’s nowhere to go unless we stop the kids from playing—nicely, for once.
Then, remembering that I don’t want to be known as the bratty neighbor and would prefer to mend fences, I say, “Sophia, I’m wondering if you’d like to join me and a few of the other WAGs from the hockey team for karaoke night next week. Once a month, we get together to do something fun.”
She lights up. “Whit mentioned it. That would be nice.”
Recalling what Grady said about Murphy’s law, I say, “Good, because I have a feeling we’re going to be neighbors for a long time.”
After everyone says goodbye, my mother screams from inside the house.
“Fire?” Derek says, tearing up the driveway.
“Flood!” Dad hollers after him.
Grady and I just stroll, knowing what’s coming.
“Looks like she found it,” he says.
I smile, hoping this makes Mom and Dad happy.
We get inside and my parents are hugging while jumping up and down.
Mom shakes the welcome packet in her hand. “We’re going on a cruise.”
“Guys, you didn’t have to—” Dad starts.
Grady nods. “We kind of did. You two deserve a little getaway.”
“This isn’t a little getaway. It’s the cruise line’s premier ship for fourteen days. We were planning on the four-day trip . . . someday.” Mom continues to gush with excitement, reading all the amenities to Dad while they marvel at this gift .
It was Grady’s idea, during another one of our cabana chats.
Bunny appears with her wheelie suitcase we got her to bring to away games along with her pool floaties, sunglasses, and several dolls, plus her favorite three unee-corns.
“Where are you going, miss?” I ask.
“Vay-play-tion.”
I do everything in my power not to laugh because that was the most adorable thing in the world. Grady and my parents do though.
“Where would you like to go?” I ask.
“Hoo-ray-ee!” she answers.
“Hawaii?” I ask, translating.
“Maybe trips to Hawaii will become an annual thing,” Grady says.
I rest my head on his shoulder. “I’d like that.”
Meanwhile, my parents continue to talk about the cruise details and then nuzzle noses. It’s the sweetest.
In a low voice, my husband says to me, “Are we going to be like that someday?”
I look at them, clearly still in love, then nuzzle my husband’s nose. “I imagine so.”
“Good,” he says simply.
I’d let myself stop believing in love. A certain someone crushed that rose. I didn’t trust myself. But Grady proved that true love is possible . . . even with a hockey player.