Page 19 of Taking The Shot

“And moving to Quebec.”

Another pause, another chuckle of pure astonishment.

“Unbelievable.”

Nearly eighteen hours later, Keith was navigating the hallways of a crowded school, feeling every single set of eyes on him. The hushed voices, the whispers, all of it was playing on his anxiety as he quickly made his way to Constance’s classroom. The door was closed except for an inch – and he heard her speaking, pausing to listen.

“I’m so excited to meet all of you, and this school year will be an exciting one full of growth, change, and moments we’ll never forget. I believe in making schoolwork fun, and believe it or not, by the time I’m done teaching your children, they will say the same.”

He smiled softly at the ripple of easy laughter from the parents inside – and hesitated, realizing that Constance wasn’t saying ‘goodbye’ to them yet. Not that he blamed her, because they were just now taking baby steps toward a wild new future.

Keith had only signed his contract today, had called his agent, and narrowed down the selection of houses to three of them for her to choose from. He had answered a ton of questions regarding his wife’s size and his childrens’ – which he guessed at because Constance didn’t have a cell phone for him to text.But she would now, he thought silently, holding a surprise gift bag in his hands.

All he had to do was send over the marriage license, the relocation check would be deposited in his account, and the announcement would be made almost immediately when the team was announced to the public. Oh yes, when this happened – it was going to be quick andeverywhere.

“Mom,” Paige interrupted. “Keith is here, gawking at the door.”

Lovely child, I swear.And he winced, not wanting to interrupt the classroom, as he saw Constance lean to the side and wave him in. Gingerly, he stepped into the classroom holding the Happy Meals and the Verizon bag, waving politely.

“Please, go ahead…” he said simply, moving to the back of the classroom – and froze a second later as a voice interrupted.

“You’re Keith Boucher – aren’t you?”

Craaaaap.

He didn’t say a word, just gingerly lifted a hand to wave and smiled warily as he met Constance’s surprised expression.

“As I was saying,” she began again, trying to take control of the rippling movement in the confined area. “Classroom time should be fun, and with our broken schedule, I only have a little time to make things stick – which is why, as you move through the open house tonight, you’ll be following your child’s schedule. Each bell ring, you’ll move to the next classroom and…”

“Can I have your autograph?”

Keith swallowed.

“My kid loves to see you on the ice…”

“Daddy, is that really him?”

“I think so…”

“Wait a second… that’s the hockey dude…”

“Constance?” he said quickly, realizing he didn’t even know her last name yet. “Please finish your speech. When the bell rings, I’ll sign a few autographs quickly – but we’re here forthe teacher and the students tonight,” he offered as a gentle reminder – and then the bell rang.

Keith made his way to Constance within seconds before the flood of bodies pressed against both of them. He put Constance’s kids behind them, handing them the Happy Meals.

“Paige, help your sister,” Keith offered quickly, grabbing a Sharpie off Constance’s desk like he was born to it, and turned to face the gauntlet, standing beside her as she faced her own staggering volume of questions.

“Oh wow, I can’t believe you are here…”

“This is so cool…”

“My son came home with a blue folder. I sent him with a green one…”

“What happened to all the paper that was turned in on the first day…”

“I put his name on his Kleenex boxes, but then he said you took them up…”

“My son’s backpack is missing…”

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