Page 22 of The Grinder

Riley put down the fork that was halfway to his mouth. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Another pause. “Nothing serious, anyway. Oh, your dad’s been having some trouble with his leg again and I keep telling him he needs to go to the doctor, but you know your father. I thought you could talk to him, maybe convince him he needs to get it checked. You know you’re the only one he listens to. When I talk to him, it goes in one ear and out the other. I don’t think anything’s seriously wrong but… Well, I was hoping you’d talk to him.”

Riley closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Being an only child had its perks but he’d been a late baby. His parents had been over forty when he’d been born.

Which made them almost seventy now. Not ancient but more prone to health problems, especially this past year when his dad had had pneumonia twice and his mom had had two biopsies on her breasts. Neither had been cancerous, but still. And of course, all of it had happened during the season.

“Have you gotten Julie over to see him?”

His parents’ neighbor was an emergency room nurse who’d been their first stop for all things medical for as long as Riley could remember.

“I’ve tried. He says he doesn’t need to talk to her because he’s perfectly fine. Which makes me think he isn’t. Can you talk to him, Rye? I know you probably have a game tonight but—”

“Mom, it’s no problem. Where is he?”

“Thank you, honey.” His mom sounded so relieved, he pressed his fingers against his temples, rubbing against the ache he felt starting there. “I’ll take the phone to your dad.”

His mom fell silent but he heard her footsteps as she made her way upstairs. He knew she couldn’t navigate the stairs and continue to hold a conversation because her balance wasn’t great. Another sign of her age.

Setting his plate on the table in front of him, he drew in a deep breath, trying not to let his deeply buried guilt rise any further.

Damn it, there was no reason for him to feel guilty. His parents wouldn’t want him to feel guilty. They’d never played that card with him, had never made him feel like he owed them anything.

And yet…

“Harry.” His mom’s voice sounded muffled. “Your son’s on the phone.”

“Rye, everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Dad. How’re you doing?”

“I’m good, I’m good. How’s the team? Saw you had three points last night.”

Riley shook his head. The only way his dad could have known that was if he’d looked it up on the computer, which his dad hated but used so he could keep up with Riley.

Riley gave his dad a rundown of the past couple of games and gave him a preview of tonight’s game. His dad had never played beyond the club level and didn’t really understand Riley’s consuming love of the game. But his dad had never told him to give up hockey and get a real job. Not even when Riley had taken that year off in college.

Finally, the conversation wound down and Riley took the opening.

“So, Dad, what’s up with your leg?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my leg. Your mother doesn’t know what she’s talking about. My leg’s fine.”

“No, your leg is not fine.” Riley heard his mom in the background. “Tell him about the other day when you couldn’t even stand.”

“The damn thing just fell asleep. There’s nothing wrong.”

From almost two thousand miles away, Riley spent the next ten minutes refereeing his parents’ argument while trying to figure out if his mom was overreacting or if his dad was downplaying.

By the time he ended the call, he’d convinced his dad to get his legs checked out and told his mom he’d call later this week to make sure his dad had gone.

Setting his phone on the table, he picked up his plate but his appetite was gone.

Fuck. What the hell was he supposed to do? He couldn’t go home. He had a game tonight and he needed to have his head on straight. He already had Aly in there, fucking with his concentration. And now this stuff with his parents.

Shit.

“Dude, everything okay?”

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