Page 74 of Rainbow Kisses

He paused, and I could tell he was mulling something over.

“But you suspect…what?”

Rowdy shook his head. “I don’t wanna make wild guesses about our brother’s life, because he’s a scary fucker. I love him, but I don’t think he’d second-guess cutting my brake lines.”

I rolled my eyes, because even for Reb, that was going too far. “But you obviously think you know something.”

“No, I honestly don’t. What I do know is Reb had a rough senior year in college. You probably don’t remember because you were a sophomore and involved in practically everything on campus.”

He wasn’t wrong. I’d rushed a sorority, wrote for the school paper, played intermural volleyball (yes, volleyball, not hockey), and maintained a 4.0 grade point average that year. And I hadn’t gone to Penn State, like Reb and Rowdy and Brian. I’d gone to Villanova.

“Reb majored in hockey and partying,” Rowdy continued. “I know Dad took a trip to see him. Alone. Like, without Mom.”

Holy. Shit.

No, I hadn’t known that. When it came to their kids, Mom and Dad were a team, but Mom always took the lead. For Dad to do a solo parenting gig… Hell, I didn’t even know what to think about that. It was just so foreign.

“What the hell did Reb do? And do you think that has something to do with Brian and Rebel’s feud?”

Rowdy sighed, like I was busting his balls. “Look, you didn’t hear this from me, but…yeah. I think it’s got everything to do with that.”

My brain spun like a hamster in a wheel, trying to piece together what Rebel could’ve done to make Dad go solo.

“Honestly,” Rowdy continued, drawing my attention back to him, his worried expression one I rarely saw on his face, “I’m worried about Rebel, and I’m not sure what to do about it.”

“Worried how? You think there’s something going on with Reb he doesn’t want us to know about?”

“If Rebel had his way, I think he’d be perfectly happy to stay in his own little bubble of hockey, only leaving his cabin when he needs to forage for food.”

Okay, that might be extreme, but probably not far off. Still, I’d always considered us a team, me and my brothers. Yeah, Rebel was a loner, but I’d always figured I could count on him when it really mattered. I knew he’d be there if I needed him. I’d just have to ask. But maybe I’d overlooked the fact that he needed us and couldn’t figure out how to ask.

Dad had said Rebel had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the running of the team. He only wanted to play. I’d just assumed that’d change when Dad handed over the reins to the team to us.

Apparently, Rowdy was thinking along the same lines.

“Dad wants to retire at the end of the season,” he said, “and leaving this decision up to us is a huge deal for him. He’s not getting any younger, and I think he and Mom don’t want to always be tied down to St. David for nine months out of the year.”

I did know that, though I really didn’t like to think about it. It meant Dad was getting old. And yeah, I knew he was almost twenty years older than Mom, but he’d always seemed so…not old. Seventy-five wasn’t that old-old. Not anymore.

Nodding, I sighed. “I know. I just thought… I don’t know, that he’d be around forever. I don’t want to let him down.”

Rowdy winced, like I’d actually kicked him. “Neither do I. But I can’t play and run the team if we’re going to move up another league. This could be a huge deal for us., but justthinking about the mechanics of that move are making me twitch.”

Grinning, I couldn’t resist the urge to rib my big brother. “Wow, that’s a big word. Mechanics. Like you actually know what it means.”

Rowdy took it the way it was intended. With sisterly love. He gave me the finger.

“Yeah, well, the deal is, we’re all on board with this, or we don’t do it. But if we do, it’s gonna be a hell of a lot more work for all of us. Rebel included, whether he wants to be involved or not.” He held up a hand to stop whatever I was going to say. “That’s not a question. This is a family business. I’m not going to be the only one making decisions.”

I appreciated the fact that Rowdy had stated clearly that this was “our” decision. Not just his. Of course, it would mean more work. For all of us. And it wasn’t that I didn’t like to work. I loved to be busy. I loved to have my fingers in all the things. I loved our team. But maybe I’d realized recently that there was more to life than work. And maybe I liked to have my fingers all over a certain player.

Rowdy must have read my expression because he shook his head. “I’m not going to be sole owner/operator of the Devils, Rain. No way in hell will I take this on alone. It’s going to be a team effort. Even if we don’t decide to join the ECHL, when Pop retires, this is going to be a family-run business. And family means all of us. Even Rebel, because if he’s going to play, he’s going to pitch in on the backside too. And I don’t care if he’s a fucking pain in the ass about it, he’s still going to do it.”

That was definitely going to be interesting to watch, but I was on board with everything Rowdy had said. It would be less work with the three of us.

“And if he doesn’t?” I asked.

“That’s when it could get interesting.”

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