Page 48 of The Home Game

Antoni’s heart felt full as he knelt on the rug to look at the books on the little shelf. Because he hadn’t seen her look like that since Bethany and Corey died. And he’d do anything to make her that happy again.

He glanced over to see Charlie and Matty smiling at them and he thought maybe Matty wasn’t the only miracle around here. He felt like he’d landed in a dream.

Were hockey players and their families really like this?

“Are you happy with your room?” Antoni asked River and she nodded, her pigtails bobbing.

“Love it!” She threw her arms around Antoni’s neck. “Thanks!”

He hugged her. “It would be nice if you thanked Matty and Charlie too. They did the hard work.”

She trotted right over and hugged Charlie around the knees. “Thanks, Charlie.”

“Aww, you’re welcome, sweetie,” Charlie said in a soft voice, gently touching her hair. “I’m happy you like it.”

River turned to the man next to him, looking up. “Thanks, Matty.”

Matty beamed and held out his free arm, the one not holding Reese. “Aww, you’re welcome. Can I pick you up and hug you?”

“Please.”

She went right into his arms and Antoni tried not to let his eyes bug out of his head at the sight of Matty carrying two children around like they weighed as much as a feather.

And fine, maybe they weren’t that heavy, but there was something intensely attractive about a big man holding children.

The children Antoni loved so much.

Oh I am so screwed, Antoni thought with a resigned sigh as he got to his feet. And this is only day one.

When Antoni moved on to Eli’s room, they were already in there.

Unsurprisingly, that room was gorgeous too. It was light and bright with one wall decorated in a pattern that looked like bookshelves. It looked like someone had hand-painted blue lines in the outline of books, then washed some of those spines with bright paint, but when Antoni stepped closer, he could see it was actually wallpaper.

The design could have looked childlike but something about it seemed incredibly sophisticated, like something he’d see in a hip Toronto apartment or indie book shop.

“That’s so cool,” he said, touching the wall. Charlie beamed.

“Isn’t it beautiful? When Matty said Eli was a reader, I knew I had to design the room around it. I couldn’t resist using the house frame canopy bed in here for Eli as well, just without the fence part. Probably too much to do it two rooms but—” He shrugged.

“But I love it!” Eli said. They sprang up off the bed, making the decorative pompoms draped across the top sway. “This is so cool.”

“It really is,” Antoni agreed, awestruck.

There was a bright cobalt blue rug on the floor and a blue throw blanket on the bed along with plenty of space for books and a comfy chair for reading. Plus a desk and chair set up for homework and studying.

“You really thought of everything, didn’t you?” Antoni said, amazed.

Charlie shrugged. “Don’t feel you have to keep things the way they are now. If the kids have stuff they want to move in, they absolutely can. I don’t want them to have to get rid of any of their old stuff. Especially stuff that might hold important memories.”

And Antoni’s throat went really tight because talk about thinking of everything. “I appreciate that. I’ll let the kids decide but from what I can tell so far, they love it all.”

“Anything you don’t need, let me know. I’ll either try to reuse in another project, return it or donate it, so no worries about it going to waste.”

“Thanks. I hardly know what to say.” Antoni shook his head. “This is all so incredible.”

“It was a fun project for me,” Charlie said, beaming. “You ready to see the next one?”

“I think so.” Although that was probably a lie. He was already so overwhelmed by all the generosity.

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