Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“Sean said he thought I was going to look great in an IceCats jersey. I’m pretty sure that means something,” Jordan said as he passed the green beans to his dad the next evening at dinner.
“Hopefully something good,” Bill replied with a nod.
“I’d love to have you home, honey; it would be wonderful,” Jackie, his mom, added before reaching over and squeezing his hand.
“As much as I like being home, Mom, I gotta go where they’re going to play me.” Sometimes his mom didn’t realize that his job was to play hockey. She still saw the little boy, all dressed up in his goalie gear, loving the game more than anything.
“I know, I just hope it works out,” Jackie gushed as she smiled over at Jordan’s father. “Make it happen, Bill.”
Everyone laughed at her comment as they ate dinner and chatted about their favorite topic: hockey. Jordan had learned from his father that Buffalo was keeping their options open and would be in contact before the end of the season. Jordan knew what that meant. They didn’t want him. He tried not to let it bother him and focused instead on what his mother was telling him about her quilting. It was hard to listen, though, when he saw his career going down the
drain. If the IceCats didn’t want him, he was fucked. He would end up going somewhere he didn’t want to go or, worse, he’d have to continue playing as someone’s backup. When Jackie looked up at him expectantly, Jordan smiled and said, “That’s great, Mom. I’m proud of you.”
Jackie beamed as she stabbed a shrimp and placed it in her mouth.
“Been telling her for years to enter her quilts; she is so hardheaded,” Bill teased.
Jackie snarled as she shook her head, “I am not hardheaded; I just thought you were being biased!”
Bill laughed before reaching across the table for his wife’s hand. “Maybe I was, but I have good reason to be.”
As Bill kissed the back of her hand, Jackie shot her son a smile. Jordan smiled back, then looked down at his food. His parents were still crazy in love after thirty-five years. It was something he wanted to have. When Aynslee came to mind again for the umpteenth time that day, he let out a sigh.
“So, Jordan,” Jackie said, switching topics, “have you heard from Leanna lately?” “Mom, we have been apart for almost two years, and, no, I haven’t heard from her,
because we are not together.” Would she ever drop this subject? He loved his mom, but it was getting old.
Jackie tsked at him and rolled her eyes.
“I only ask because I spoke with Carol last week.”
Carol was Leanna’s mother and Jackie’s good friend. Jordan disliked her almost as much as he did Leanna.
“That’s nice,” he muttered as he continued to eat.
“Did you know that Leanna is pregnant?” Jackie asked, causing Jordan to choke on the shrimp he was trying to eat.
“Excuse me?” he croaked.
“Yes, the father is a businessman. Carol said they are getting married this month. Isn’t that nice?”
Jordan couldn’t believe it. Leanna never wanted kids when they were together. It must have been a surprise pregnancy. Or maybe she just hadn’t wanted to have kids with him. Either way, he really didn’t care.
“It’s something, that’s for sure,” he managed to reply.
“Yeah, Carol asked who you were seeing. I said that you were too busy with hockey to actually worry about a wife or about giving your old decrepit mother a grandbaby.”
“For the love of God, Jackie,” Bill complained as he shook his head, “you have all the time in the world to be a grandma. Let this boy get his career straight.”
Jackie playfully slammed her hand on the table. “Why can’t you just knock a girl up? I need a grandbaby.”
Jordan worried that his mom’s comment wasn’t all in jest. “I swear I am never coming home again.”
“I don’t blame you, son,” Bill laughed.
“This isn’t fair. You are thirty-three, Jordan—give me a daughter-in-law and a baby to love and spoil!”
“Please, Mom, stop.”
But Jordan couldn’t completely discount his mom’s plea. Thoughts of Aynslee continued to haunt him. How could he have been so stupid? Twice. He wanted to see her. Hell, he wanted her. Badly. But what was going to happen when the IceCats or some other team wanted him to play as a starting goaltender? It was the main reason he had walked away. He couldn’t hurt her by letting something happen between them. He would be setting them up for failure, because if she wouldn’t move home to be with her family, what made him think she’d move for him? All in all, the whole thing would end in heartbreak, and Jordan couldn’t do that to her. Or to himself.
“I can’t believe he walked out on you twice!”
Aynslee agreed as her nail tech, Brittany, went to work on her nails. She loved Brittany: She was highly inappropriate, cussed like a sailor, and most of her body was covered in tattoos. She was also hilarious, and Aynslee was completely envious of her. If Aynslee could get away with it, she would definitely have a tattoo or two. But it wouldn’t fly at New Life. And she was pretty sure her mother would kill her.