Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Lilly went nuts when she saw Marek’s face on my phone screen, and I muted the television as Lilly answered it.
“There’s my girl,” Marek said as he smiled into the camera on his phone.
“Hey, Daddy,” she chirped, holding the phone up so close to her face that I doubt he could see much more than her nose and lips on his end. I grabbed the top of my phone and gently pulled it back so Marek could get a full view of her. “Are you playing hockey?”
Lilly doesn’t understand the road trips. In her mind, Daddy is just always on the ice playing. She doesn’t get the travel or the days off between games. That night he called was an off-night, and I could tell Marek was just freshly showered, as his hair was a little damp.
He’d asked Lilly how her day was and they chattered away as I watched. Then Holt’s face appeared in the screen, nudging Marek to the side. He clamped a hand on Marek’s shoulder and said into the camera, “Lilly! What’s up, princess?”
Lilly giggled but didn’t say anything, just stared at the screen.
“Come on, man,” Holt said to Marek. “Uber driver is here.”
Holt then waved at Lilly. “Night, Lilly.”
“Good night,” she said.
Marek brought the camera a little closer to his face. “I got to go, but I want to talk to your mommy first.”
“Okay,” Lilly said as she turned to hand the phone to me.
Marek’s words stopped her. “I love you, Lilly.”
“Love you too,” she said, and grinned back at him. A beautifully sweet ache thumped in the center of my chest, seeing the love between them and also knowing it was only between them.
Lilly handed me the phone and I turned it fully to me, putting a bright smile on my face. “Hey. What’s up?”
It seemed as if Marek was drinking in my face for a moment before he smiled. “Just wanted to check in to see how you’re doing.”
“We’re doing great. Lilly misses you.”
“Do you miss me?” he’d asked, and the mischievous tone in his voice told me that he expected me to say yes.
And because I did miss him, I was truthful. “Of course I do.”
“That’s my girl,” he replied.
My heart swelled over the possessive tone in his voice and the husky richness that caused my belly to flutter.
Then the moment was ruined when Holt’s face came back into view. He saw it was me and said, “Hey, Gracen. Let your man go. We’ve got places to go and people to see.”
I made my smile brighter and even laughed. “Sure thing. You guys have fun tonight.”
“Oh, we will,” Holt said before disappearing from the screen. I could hear his voice, though. “Come on, Marek.”
Marek glanced over his shoulder then back to me. He gave me a sheepish smile and a shrug. “We’re going to go grab some dinner and drinks.”
“Have fun,” I’d told him, hoping my voice sounded as earnest as I wanted my heart to feel. I never want to hold him back.
“I will,” he’d said back. Not in a gloating way, but in a way that told me all the same that he loved this partially nomadic life.
It was a reminder to me to keep my heart shielded and to shelve expectations.
Yet a small part of me held out hope.
Still holds out hope.
There have been good things. Really good things, sometimes reminiscent of the younger Marek I fell in love with years ago. One day he brought me home a jersey. A Fabritis jersey to match the one he’d given Lilly. He had me come watch another night game, and afterward we didn’t go out but came back to the house and made love all night long.
He’s been openly affectionate to me. In front of Lilly, who thinks nothing of it, and in front of his parents, who raised their eyebrows the first time he came up behind me and kissed me on the neck while they watched.
And every night when he’s in Raleigh, I’m in his bed. Sure, he hasn’t said anything about moving my clothes down from the guest room upstairs. And he hasn’t asked me to come watch every game. I mean, I know I’ll never get an invitation to travel on the road with him, because that would probably impinge on the freedom he probably still craves. I won’t be a part of that inside club within the franchise.
I take a deep breath, resolving to focus on the good things, but to keep my expectations realistic. That’s about the best I can do.
“Mommy.” I hear Lilly’s voice and look down to find her tugging on my shorts. She holds the phone up to me. “G-Pa wants to talk to you.”
I smile at her and take the phone, turning the screen to me. My mom is gone and it’s just my dad’s face.