Page 25 of Redeeming Heart

Something about my father seemed off when I spoke of her.

“Why?” The question was out before I could stop it. “Why am I not allowed to talk about my mother? The person who raised me. Someone you used to love.” I felt like screaming to express my frustration.

“Because we can’t bring her back!” I stared at my father as he lost his calm composure and showed me, his true feelings for the first time since my mom passed away.

“It’s not about bringing her back. It’s about us being a family.” I remarked.

“We are a family.” I shook my head, disagreeing with him.

“You, Meredith, and Jonah are a family, and I am an outcast.” I walked away from him before I start making a mess of a good day.

“Sasha…” He called after me but I chose not to listen.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

There was this huge concrete wall that went up between my father and me after my mother’s death. We barely talk to each other or tolerate one another whenever we are in the same room for too long.

All this time I thought my father didn’t have a heart or a conscious but I saw the look of despair and guilt in his eyes. He was missing her as much as I was but unlike me who was expressing my anger.

Many would think that things were finally reaching the point of developing but we were still caught between a rock and a hard place. Our minds are still not made up about how we are going to solve these problems that are separating us from each other.

I didn’t bother going home and I lost control of my actions when I walked away from my father and showed up at the girl’s first hockey match. I was a tiny bit baffled that I remembered where their first match was held. Call me inquisitive or nosy but I was by far curious to see who coach Peterson recruited.

Many of the faces I recognized from back in the day when I faced them on the field but among them all, one face, in particular, stood out.

Clarissa Harrington.

Was coach Peterson that desperate to recruit the biggest hater of Sasha-Lee Adams? A player who knows nothing about sportsmanship and is a total bitch.

Megan and Briana were the first to notice me standing beside the field surrounded by mothers of 30 girls. They were the only ones who were happy to see me as we used to be teammates for years before I turned my back on the sport.

They rushed over to greet me and didn’t take their time embracing me with hugs even when they knew I hated hugs.

“Are you joining us?” Megan asked with eyes burning with curiosity and excitement.

“Yeah, I thought the coach would have recruited you?” Briana added.

“He did but I turned him down.” Both looked extremely baffled and I concealed a smile even though I wanted to laugh at their expressions.

I truly missed them and my old team. After what I did, freaking out in the locker room and smashing the lockers in because I was angry and sad. I owed each of them an apology because I never went back after that day.

“What isshedoing here?” The biggest hater of me snarled.

I smirked when my gaze connected with Clarissa’s. “Last time I checked, it is a free country, Harrington.”

Her gaze gave me a once over. “And, last time I checked, you are not allowed to touch a hockey field after what you’ve done to me.”

“Oh, please, princess. Get over it. I broke your nose and everyone would agree with me that you deserved it.”

She went too far criticizing my mother and telling me that I am weak just like her. Forgetting that my mom was dying from cancer.

Her apologies meant nothing to me because my mom died a few months later.

“And, FYI, I was only banned for a couple of weeks—not the rest of my life.” I clarified with a note of sarcasm.

“Then why aren’t you among us?” Her smug smile did absolutely nothing to intimidate me. She was weak when it came to playing a hard-ass.

I shrugged showing her that I didn’t care. “Who said I wasn’t recruited?”

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