Page 7 of Blood on the Rocks

“Did your grandfather consider Thorpe a selfish asshole?”

“I don’t know,” Seraphina replied honestly. “I mean, again, he didn’t talk about business. I’ve never really met any of the players. But I think that Papa liked the guy. That’s why he asked me my opinion. Not that I’m the come all or be all or anything like that, but he only talked to me about problems that, to him, didn’t have an obvious answer. And the thing is, if he was talking about Thorpe, I think he was looking for a way to keep him without paying him an exuberant amount.”

“So what did you tell him?” Chris repeated. He seemed more interested in the outcome of the story, at least to Seraphina.

“I told him that maybe he should see if this player would be willing to negotiate in some way,” Seraphina said. “Like, keep the same pay, but have him on the bench more. I don’t know. I have no idea what he did.” She shrugged her shoulders, looking down at her lap. She was babbling and being repetitive, but it was now beyond her control. She was nervous but she didn’t know why. “But ultimately I told him that if he liked the guy, if he had a feeling that maybe the player was going through some temporary greed phase or whatever, he should be given a second chance.

“We were supposed to meet that night.” For whatever reason, Seraphina’s voice had dropped uncharacteristically low. “You know, the night that I, uh, walked in on him. I don’t know if he was going to tell me what happened or something else...”

Suddenly, she was sad. And she wanted Chris away from her, from her sister, from the house. There was a lot she had to prepare for today; Henry suggested that since she officially agreed to take over the team that she should formally meet them, along with the Gulls Girls, just to introduce herself and to explain briefly what was going on now.

“Okay, thanks,” Chris said, and with that, he stood up. Seraphina knew she should have stood, along with Katella, in respect, but her eyes were focused on the cup of coffee that Chris had deemed so good, still three-quarters filled, and now cold. “So what’s going to happen, then? To Thorpe, I mean.”

Seraphina’s eyes shot into his. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well the season starts soon, doesn’t it?” Chris asked. “How long before he either signs or doesn’t play?”

Seraphina said nothing as Katella led him out. She didn’t know how long she had, but she realized whatever decision her grandfather was going to make didn’t matter now.

Now, it was her decision to make, and she realized she had to make it soon.

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