Riggs (Arizona Vengeance 11)

After I disconnect, I look over at Janelle, staring at me agog.

I grin. “It helps to still have these contacts and plenty of money to pay these people to do this stuff. I would prefer to do it myself, but we don’t have a lot of time tonight.”

Janelle’s voice is filled with wonder. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to have money like that… to just call people and have them do stuff for you.”

I grimace at the reminder of how frivolous my life used to be. Back then, I didn’t mind taking advantage of those services. It was what I was expected to do as the wife of Jace Livingston.

While I don’t like falling back into that old lifestyle, I reason to myself that this is to make a young girl happy and is therefore harmless. Like I said, it’s early evening, and Christmas Eve is just around the corner.

“If you have people getting all that stuff, where are we going?” Janelle asks.

“Decorating a Christmas tree is incredibly personal,” I inform her. “The actual ornaments and trimmings need to mean something to you. We’re going to buy that stuff ourselves and may I suggest you don’t go too heavy on a southwest theme. There’s something about little cactus ornaments that kill the Christmas spirit in my opinion, and that’s coming from a native of this area.”

“Oh.” Janelle breathes out a long sigh of contentment.

She’s building a new life here with Riggs.

He may not have thought to make it special for her, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this opportunity pass.

CHAPTER 6

Riggs

Sometimes it sucks getting in from a long road trip at two in the morning, particularly factoring in the time difference. But in this instance, I’m glad they decided to change the return flight to leave immediately after last night’s game in Pittsburgh. We had originally intended to leave the following morning, but the powers that be decided to get the plane in the air and get us home.

The Vengeance plane is equipped with comfortable seating for every single player to be able to lean back into a fully reclined position so they can sleep while in flight.

I couldn’t sleep.

Janelle texted me about what happened to Mrs. Blair. Even though she assured me she was in good hands with this woman, Veronica, and that they would be staying the night at her place, I couldn’t help but worry.

I don’t know this woman at all, and Janelle is only seventeen. She can’t be making those types of judgment calls. It was only after Aaron vouched for her that I was able to settle a bit, but I’ll worry until I can see my sister is well with my own eyes.

Mrs. Blair’s unfortunate ankle fracture occurred while I was at a game. While I had come to have some level of comfort that Janelle was being cared for by a virtual stranger, it never occurred to me to have a backup plan. This would be one of those instances where Baden would rub my nose in it by saying, “See, if you had relationships within the team, someone would have stepped in to watch Janelle while you were gone.”

I know I probably shouldn’t be so worried about it. She’s almost eighteen and has fended for herself for years. But she’s also somewhat fragile given her circumstances back home, and I don’t like the thought of her being alone right now.

I’ll admit that Baden’s talk about being a better member of this team may have been the best thing for me. It certainly has reinforced the practical applications of having good relationships with my teammates. But being across the country with no way to do anything but accept Janelle’s and Aaron’s words that she would be safe with Veronica, I had to accept things the way they were.

It’s just after 2:00 a.m. as I trudge toward the door to my condo. I hate living downtown, and I hate living in a condo. I hate cities in general, but I guess that’s because I was a country boy raised in my formative years off a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. It’s made me love my space. While being a professional hockey player means being attached to a major city, I sure as shit don’t want to live right in the middle of it. In San Diego, I had a house a good forty-five minutes out of the city just for that reason.

When I got traded to the Vengeance and almost simultaneously took on custody of Janelle, there had been no time to house hunt before our relocation. Upon recommendation of some of the other players, I went ahead and did a year lease on a unit for rent in this building to be close to the arena. The bonus was that it’s near a highly recommended private school where Janelle would attend.