Page 34 of Blue Lines and Lullabies

“Shit,” she mutters. “Obviously, Gabe didn’t tell you about me. I’m Hannah. I’m Luca’s girlfriend.”

“Oh! Gabe mentioned you to me, but he didn’t tell me you’d be waiting for me tonight.”

“I don’t usually come to the games anymore. We’ve moved into Luca’s house in Eternity Springs full-time, and it’s about an hour from here. But Gabe wanted you to have a friendly face tonight, and he begged Luca to ask if I could come.”

“Oh, that was nice of him,” I tell her bashfully. Gabe certainly did put a lot of thought into things for tonight.

Hannah smiles. “He’s pretty gone for you. All the guys said if he isn’t talking about his daughter, he’s talking about you.”

I smile down at Mackenzie. “Talking about her, I can understand. She’s pretty special.”

“Give yourself some credit, girl. He talked about you before you started nannying for him. Luca said he wouldn’t shut up about the amazing night he had with you and how bummed he was when he came back after getting breakfast and you were gone.”

“Seriously?” I ask, my mouth agape.

Hannah nods. “You know how women gossip in the bathroom? Evidently, men gossip in the locker room. And my sweet man can’t keep secrets, so I hear about everything. Her name is Mackenzie, right? Can I hold her?”

“Oh, of course. How far along are you?” I ask as Hannah carefully takes Kenzie out of my arms.

“About five months,” she says as she coos at Mackenzie. My girl stares up at Hannah in wonderment, and I realize this is the first time she’s ever been held by another woman. Well, I’m sure nurses held her, but from the moment she came home with Gabe, I’ve been the only one to hold her.

Wait.

I called Mackenzie mine, didn’t I?

Oh my God.

“Are you okay?” Hannah whispers, and I notice my eyesight is foggy as emotion clogs my vision.

“In my head, I called her mine,” I confess.

“And you’re sad about that?” Hannah asks, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“No. Yes. No. I just really want her to be mine, I think.”

“That’s okay, Cassie. You’ve been the only momma she’s known. You were bound to develop a connection and attachment to her.”

“It’s just …” I trail off.

“You’re worried about something bad happening that means Gabe and Mackenzie aren’t part of your life anymore,” Hannah states, and I nod. Damn. This girl is remarkably intuitive. “I don’t think you should live life in fear. Who knows what might happen tomorrow? I want to live in love. I’d rather experience love than choose fear.”

“That’s true,” I murmur as I watch Hannah loving on Mackenzie. “Oh! Do you know what you’re having?”

“A girl,” she whispers, a beaming smile covering her face. “But we haven’t told anyone yet. And don’t try to redirect, ma’am. I want the scoop on you and Gabe.”

I sigh. “I think he may have just told me he loves me? But that can’t be correct. Right? We’ve been dating all of a second.”

Hannah smiles softly. “Luca says he knew the moment he met me that I’d change his life, and within a couple weeks, he was ready to risk it all. You can’t put love on a timeline.”

“I guess —” I’m interrupted as all the women in the suite gasp, and I look at the jumbotron screen to see Gabe lying motionless on the ice. I gasp and unconsciously grab Mackenzie from Hannah’s arms, as if holding a piece of Gabe will either make me feel better or get him to stand up. The screen replays the incident, and I see a San Francisco player shove Gabe hard into the boards. When another Wolves player hits the two of them, all three go onto the ice. But Gabe doesn’t get up immediately.

And that’s when the camera zooms in on Gabe’s face, and I see a sizable gash on his jaw.

Every person in the suite is completely silent except for me. I’m chanting, “This is normal. Hockey injuries happen. He’s fine. Daddy’s fine. This happens.”

When I see Gabe move his arm, I sigh in relief. He waves the trainer away and carefully rises to his feet. I’m studying his movements, knowing exactly what a player will look like after a concussion. Gabe seems to be moving quite fluidly. He’s ushered off the ice, probably to get looked at regardless.

The moment his helmet disappears from view, I have one hell of an epiphany.

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