Page 50 of Hockey Heart

“Nice dress, by the way.”

Those were the last words I heard before she turned and splashed her glass of red wine all over me.

I squealed - first in shock, and then horror - at the crimson liquid running down and soaking the beautiful subtle hues of the dress I was wrapped in. Then I looked at Cara in complete disbelief.

“Oops,” she giggled, holding her hand up to her mouth.

In an instant, Cara swung her bag over her shoulder, turned away from me, and left me there stunned. I was still open-mouthed and frozen in shock when Andrea Barker walked into the restroom, took a surprised look at me, and exclaimed a sad, “Oh dear.”

Hayden

Cara came and sat back down, just as the Mayor came out and the lights dimmed around us.

“Hey, where’s Sarah?” I hissed at her.

“I don’t know Hayden. I’m not her babysitter. Why don’t you call Joyce and ask her?” She said it with all her usual pleasantness.

Mayor Huskins was eating up the applause on the stage before he started his charm offense, “Now, now. We’re not here today for me - as much as that hurts me to say - but for something greater…”

Where was she?I gave Jimmy a puzzled look across the table and he shrugged back. Before I had time to settle, the busy little hummingbird in a suit was on me again. “Okay Mr. Raynor, you ready?”

On cue, the mayor was saying, “Now, usually, the MVP hockey award is handed out elsewhere… I’m not sure exactly where… The backroom of a bar? Stan’s Chicken Shack maybe! But tonight, I get the illustrious opportunity to give it out myself to our local star. The captain of the Ice-Hawks, please welcome to the stage, the one and only, Mr. Hayden Raynor!”

A garish spotlight blinded me as I stood and made my way through the thrashing hands toward the stage. Mayor Huskins looked up at me as I approached him and gripped my hand with both of his.

“Hayden, it’s an honor to have you here tonight.”

“Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Or can I call you Howard?”

“Not even my wife calls me Howard. But looking at the size of you, sure, you can call me pumpkin if you want to.”

“Okay. Well, thank you pumpkin.”

Laughter rang out as the Mayor stepped away and leftme at the podium holding my award, the thick letters MVP welded together in brass.

“Wow. Thank you for this. I also want to thank Coach Brady, my agent Jimmy Kemp, my teammates, well not all of them, but you know who are, and… And…”

There was an uncomfortable silence in the crowd as I stopped speaking. I knew what I wassupposedto say. All the usual stuff. Thank everyone, act humble, but not too humble. But I didn’t want to say any of those things. My throat was suddenly dry and I cleared it awkwardly.

“I just want to say. All this is great. Getting awards from the Mayor,”—a cheer—“The money,”—A bigger cheer—“The fans. The attention. The excitement out there on the ice… But… I mean. All of it is just a distraction, isn’t it?”

Some confused murmurs came from the crowd below me.

“It just fills that void we have. For love.Reallove, I mean. The kind where you can’t sleep. Or think rationally. Or be who you’re trying to be. When none of it seems to make sense without them. All of it just leads back to that one thing.”

I looked over to our table and Sarah’s chair was still empty. All I wanted at that moment was for her to be there so I could go over, take her hand, and walk out of there with her. But she wasn’t there, and my words suddenly felt dull and useless in my mouth. “Also… Cara, get out of my house.”

There was a confused patter of semi-applause and confusion as I stepped down from the stage and the Mayor went to pick up the pieces, “Hayden Raynor… A loveranda fighter…And your MVP!”

Jimmy got to me first. “Hayden, you okay?”

“Where is she, Jimmy?”

“I don’t know. She never came back from the restroom.”

I glared at Cara and she looked away, avoiding my eyes.

“Where is she Cara?”

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