Caspian (Carolina Reapers 8)

“I’ll take that silence as a yes.”

“I know I don’t want to leave her.” My heart cracked at the thought of it, the feeling so visceral I thought I heard the sound echo.

“You in love with her?”

A lump formed in my throat, daring me to voice it, to put words to the feeling that consumed my chest and drove my heartbeat. “If I was, it would complicate the shit out of…everything.”

“Yeah. It would. And I’m the last guy to give you advice on this topic. I’ve never found a woman I like well enough to keep around longer than a week or two. But let me ask you this—is she worth fucking up this season for? Because if I know you, you’re on that scarred up piece of synthetic ice in your barn like you’re back playing peewees instead of the NHL. You’re not doing yourself any favors.”

I laughed. “You know me too well.”

“Look. Bring the girl back to Charleston. Buy out her parents’ hardware store. Whatever. Do whatever you have to, but get your ass back here and train. This is our year, Caz.”

“This is our year,” I repeated as Dad walked into the barn. “I’ll figure it out.” I hung up with Maxim and stood as Dad came over to join me.

“I remember building this for you,” he said, looking over my practice area with a kind of wistful nostalgia. “You spent hours every day out here. Rain. Wind. Snow. Didn’t matter, we always knew where to find you.”

“You guys sacrificed a lot for me. I’ll never be able to thank you.”

Dad leveled a stare at me. “Is that why every store in Cherry Creek seems to think we have an unlimited supply of prepaid credit?”

Busted.

“It’s nothing compared to the thousands you guys spent in hockey fees and gas. Shit, the equipment alone put you guys into debt.”

Dad shrugged. “We loved watching you play. Never regretted a second—or a dollar—of it. We still love to see you out there.”

I nodded, my throat tight.

“But I can’t help but wonder if the time you’ve spent here this summer has anything to do with Ryleigh.” He lifted his brows at me from under his cap.

“You know it does.” I turned my hat backward.

“Hmm.” He nodded, his lips turning up with a knowing smile. “That’s what your mom and I thought. You two are a good fit.”

“We are.” I couldn’t help but smile back. “She doesn’t care about the money or the fame. To her, I’m just the guy who grew up next door.” I couldn’t say the same about any other woman who had fallen into my bed. Then again, I hadn’t had feelings like this before.

“There’s a lot to be said for that, building a life with a woman you can trust. A woman who knows your history and sees past all the hubbub that follows you around.” He picked up a shovel and I followed him as he walked out of the barn.

“She wants a life here, Dad.” The sun made me blink, and I switched my hat to block the rays.

“Okay?” He headed for the side of the house, and I kept pace.

“Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I don’t live here.”

We reached the section of the yard Mom had roped off, and he pushed the shovel into the ground.

“Let me help,” I said, reaching for the shovel.

“Hell no,” he jerked the handle back. “Your mother wants a rose garden here, and I’m not giving you the credit. You find your own project to make her smile. This is mine.”

I rolled my eyes as he broke ground.

“So what am I supposed to do about it? About Ryleigh?” I asked as he stepped on the shovel to send it deeper into the soil. “I have to go back to Charleston in a few weeks, a month at the longest. Am I supposed to ask her to wait for me? Because she sure as hell won’t come with me. I already asked.”

“Son, stop borrowing tomorrow’s troubles.”

I huffed a small laugh. It was one of his favorite sayings. “It’s kind of hard not to.”

He paused, glancing over the field as if he could see the Dunham house from here. “Ryleigh has always been as steady as they come. Once that girl makes a choice, she doesn’t blow off course, doesn’t deviate from her path. If she feels the same way about you that you obviously feel about her, then you don’t need to worry. You’ll find your way or she’ll find it for you,” he finished with a chuckle. “Girl has more grit in her pinky than most of us do in our whole bodies.”

He was right, of course. Ryleigh didn’t know how to fail. She threw her whole heart into whatever goal she’d set her mind to.

The screen door slammed and a second later, Mom leaned over the porch railing. “Oh, good, you’re here, Caspian. Would you mind driving me into town? My new glasses are ready at the optometrist.”