Back to Me (Carolina Rebels 1)

“Where’s your daddy?” Stella asks with eyes still on the ice.

“Oh, he’s not here. I come to watch my boyfriend, Noah Ramsey. He’s number—”

“Twenny-four,” she finishes for me.

“Yep. And his best friend is Marc Polinski, number?” I wait to see if she knows his.

“Marco is nine teen,” she says as if it’s two separate words.

The girl knows her numbers. I can’t help but quiz her. There are a few who cause her to hesitate in her response, but she gets them right. Sylvia returns once warmups are over. We’re both surprised when Stella doesn’t leave my lap for her mother’s.

“Looks like you have a new friend,” she tells me.

“Looks like,” I agree.

“You’ll be a natural mother. She’s,” difficult, she mouths. “I honestly don’t know where she got her shyness from. It’s been hard to find a good babysitter too. Literally the only time she’ll misbehave is if I try to leave her with someone other than Scott’s parents. She’s fine at school, but heaven forbid I leave her with a babysitter. I’m honestly surprised she let me leave her with you. That’s why I think you’ll be a natural.”

I’m saved from replying because the boys are back and the game is about to start. Hearing those words is difficult. I never really thought about motherhood. Mostly because it was career first, then family. Not to mention, once I was without Noah, I realized how much I wanted that family with him. That particular thought hit hard when I discovered I was pregnant. Not once did I wonder what kind of mother I would be, if I would be a good one or not, because I was frantic over my situation and how I thought it was the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with Noah.

Stella mesmerizes me. She claps when she sees her daddy on the ice, whispers under her breath, “Score. Score. Score,” and gives a little sigh when he doesn’t. Her mother gets distracted often by Stephanie or one of the other wives, which is fine. I’m enjoying my time with Stella. Poor kid tries to stay awake when the second intermission comes, but she conks out with her head on my shoulder. I worry that she’ll wake up from the chants or the insanity that follows when the Rebels tally two goals thirty seconds apart. I almost want to wake her up myself because she misses out on a goal by Scott.

But nothing wakes her up.

Sylvia catches her snoozing and smiles. “She sleeps like the dead. I love that about her. Once she’s out, she’s out until morning. Do you want me to take her? You’ve been sitting there all this time. I’m so sorry for not offering sooner.”

“She’s fine. I’m okay.”

Noah may be a bit disappointed when he comes up to find me. I can’t tell him much of what happened until the third period. I watched Stella more than I did the game. She’s an interesting little kid. She seems to love two things most of all: her daddy and watching her daddy play. It’s adorable. I’m sure if I could’ve gotten her to talk more, she would’ve told me about learning how to skate. Sylvia tells me that she’s on the obsessed side. She loves Scott and what he does so much that Sylvia had to sign her up to learn how to play the game herself. That’s what Stella meant when she said she plays too.

“She’s a beast on the ice, even with what she’s doing. Her personality is completely different. It’s like she blossoms out there. Her shyness disappears. I love taking her because Scott is usually the only one who sees that side of her. I’ve got a complex little girl already. She’s the complete opposite of that one.” “That one” being Stephanie who is awake and having her own conversation with a stuffed animal. “But enough about my kids. Do you have any juicy gossip?” Sylvia’s grin is hopeful.

“Um, not really. Unless you want to know how I’m going to have some words with Noah’s ex-girlfriend?”

She gasps. “Why? What happened?”

“Long story short,” I begin, but she interrupts me.

“No, let’s hear the long story.”

That makes me hesitate. “I’m more comfortable with the short version.”

“Oh. Then, okay. That’s fine. What happened?”

“Well, my ex-fiancé wanted to get in touch with me, and I’d been doing my best to ensure I didn’t have to talk to him. I guess it’s listed online that I’m an assistant coach at the school, so he went there, talked to Erica, and she told him where we live. He showed up. I’m just sick of her pulling stunts like that. She still tries to make me feel dumb on a daily basis, or she won’t tell me something she wants me to do, and then gets irritated at me for not reading her mind. I’m over it, especially since if she wants to be mad at anyone, it should be Noah, but she refuses to believe that I’m not why they broke up.”

“You know, I met her once, and I didn’t like her. Glad it was only once. I hope you rip into her.”

I laugh. “Only because that makes a better story for me to tell you the next time I see you.”

“Quit gossiping, woman,” Scott says from behind us. He leans down to kiss Sylvia, then the top of Stephanie’s head, and lastly, Stella’s.

“Leave me alone,” Sylvia replies.

“You should feel special,” he tells me. “She’s chosen you as a new friend, otherwise she would be in Sylvie’s lap.”

“I do feel special,” I admit, earning a smile from Scott.