My dad slaps his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” Dean says.
“Good.” Dad smiles, his eyes traveling from Dean to me and then to my brothers. “Let’s eat.”
We take our seats at the table, with Dad sitting at the head and Duke
next to him. I skip over the seat on my dad’s other side, leaving it open for Austin. Despite having a lack of consistency growing up, we have always had a structure to our family.
“That was one hell of a game you boys played today,” Dad says, staring at Dean and my brothers. “I’m glad we can all get together to celebrate without any of our schedules getting in the way.”
Dean has a childish look on his face when he’s around my dad. He was one of the players Dean had looked up to when he was younger and his reason for wanting to become a hockey player.
My dad was one of the best puck handlers and facilitators back in his prime, earning him a well-deserved place in the Hockey Hall of Fame and four Stanley Cup victories.
While the men exchange pleasantries and talk about the Strickland Senators victory in the Frozen Four, our waitress comes into the room to take our orders. I remove my cell phone from my purse, about to send Austin a text message, when I hear his voice cut through the conversation.
“Look who I found on my way home,” Austin says with a big smile that reaches up to his eyes.
Emma Crawford smiles in my direction, wearing a long dress that fits her petite frame and a warm smile. My surprise is finally here. Too bad she wasn’t able to make the game.
Drawn to the sound of her singsong voice, Dean looks over his shoulder in disbelief at his mother. “Mom,” he whispers, as he gets up from the table.
He practically runs over to her and wraps his arm around her, burying his face in her neck.
“Hey, baby,” she says, running her hand along his back. “I’m sorry I missed the game.”
“But…” He struggles to find the right words, and then his gaze travels from his mother to me. “We can’t afford this.” Dean lowers his voice, though it’s not hard to hear him with the silence in the room.
“I didn’t pay for a thing, sweetie.” She reaches up to touch his cheek and smiles, a gesture he returns immediately.
Dean turns his head to me. “You didn’t?”
I nod and push my chair out from the table. “I wanted your mom to be here for the game since it was your last one.”
“Have I ever told you how much I love you, Kitten?”
I laugh at his words. “All the time.”
“See, I told you. More than friends,” Duke says, and the entire room erupts into laughter.
Chapter 9
Senior Year
Dean
“I still can’t believe you are here,” I say to my mom on the cab ride back to the hotel, in shock that Kat did this for us. “What about the diner?”
“Suzie is covering my shifts this weekend. Don’t worry, baby. We will be okay without it.”
“But what about Gary? He gets mad when you take time off. I have some money back at the house I can send you. I just got paid before we left for Chicago.”
She runs her hand along my arm to silence me. “Stop worrying, Dean. Everything will be okay. Let’s just enjoy the time we have together.”
“What do you want to do? Is there anything special you want to see?” I look over at Kat. “Where should we take my mom?”
“Millennium Park is open for a few more hours,” Kat adds. “We can go there if you want. Do you know how to ice skate, Emma?”