Page 134 of Goaltender Interference

“But whyhim?” Pat argued.

Jesse shot him an annoyed look.

Pat held up a hand. “Look, I’m not knocking you, Jesse. I just wonder why Nolan feels more comfortable coming to Connor’s new teammate than his father or one of his uncles. Especially me. We’ve always been close.”

“Well, Iamcloser to his age,” Jesse pointed out. “And Jesus, you two are intimidating as hell. At Nolan’s age, I wouldn’t have come to you either.”

In unison, Pat and Connor made identical noises of disagreement. They even had matching expressions.Hilarious.

“What are you trying to say?” Pat asked, crossing his arms.

“Look,” Jesse said. “You’re great guys. You love Nolan. But this family … hell, Connor, you’ve said it yourself, this family’s legacy is a lot to carry. Maybe it’s easier for Nolan to talk to someone outside the family.”

Pat frowned. “I suppose.”

Connor frowned too, glancing at his brother. “Do you think he’s considering quitting hockey?”

Jesse opened his mouth to remind him he wasn’t going to give them any hints, when Catherine called out, “Brunch is ready!”

Crawford sat up with a snort, eyes flying open. “Coming,” he called out, heaving himself off the couch.

Jesse glanced down at the empty plate on his lap. “I thought thiswasbrunch.”

Pat laughed. “Nah. This was just the warmup.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The weather was surprisingly nice the following Saturday as Connor patted the flank of a placid trail horse named Honey. Although they were well into November now, the sun was shining and the air was pleasantly crisp rather than biting.

“Be right back, girl,” he said.

She was tied to a hitching post, so she wasn’t going anywhere, but the young woman working for the stable—Lacie, if he remembered right—shot him a smile. “I’ll keep an eye on her, Mr. O’Shea.”

“Thanks.”

He’d given up on convincing Lacie to call him Connor. He didn’t come here often, but it was often enough that he’d signed autographs for a number of the staff here and although he’d tried to gently remind them they didn’t have to be so formal with him, it never seemed to change.

Nolan was saddling his horse, Jesse’s horse was ready to go and he was helping Evie with hers, so Connor walked over to Maura and Viv.

His ex-wife shot him a tense smile as she tightened the girth strap on the English saddle for her horse. “We’re almost ready.”

“No rush.” Connor shrugged.

Maura, who had been dragging a stick through the dirt to make patterns in it, looked up at him with big eyes. “Daddy, I wanna ride by myself like Evie.”

Oh boy.Connor suppressed a sigh. They’d known this would be coming eventually but did it have to be today?

Connor crouched down. “I know you do, Maura-girl. But you’re not quite big enough yet to ride by yourself. You just turned four, and you have to be at leastfiveto start riding lessons.”

Honestly, they gave an age range of five to seven, and Evie had started at five, but Connor had doubts Maura would be ready next year. She was small and delicately built like her mother, unlike Evie who had sprouted up quickly and looked like she might take after most of the O’Shea side of the family, who tended to be tall, even the women.

Maura made an unhappy noise, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. “I don’twannaride with Momma.”

Viv sighed. “Then ride with your father.”

“Yeah. You wanna ride with me, sweet pea?” he asked.

Maura shook her head. “No.”

---