Finally his hand lay upon my shoulder, but his touch was so light. Like I was as delicate as dandelionfluff.
“Please, Jackie. I’ve always been honest with you. So I waited until I could promise you what you want. Love… and maybe afuture?”
He sounded so uncertain, but I heard the truth in his voice. He loved Charlotte unconditionally, and now he was offering his love to me. He couldn’t promise not to hurt me again—no one could predict the future. All we could ask for was a chance. I whirled around tofacehim.
“That is a completely half-assed way to say the words I’ve been waiting to hear.” I smiled, and Leo’s solemn expression fell away. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and his mouth spread into a huge grin. He put his hands on my shoulders firmly and pulled me closer to him. I felt the strength of his solid body against mine. All my resistancemeltedaway.
“I love you,Jackie.”
To hear Leo say these words in a voice filled with tenderness made myheartsoar.
“I loveyoutoo.”
Epilogue
Jackie
“Look!A giant marshmallow! I’m gonna eat you. Chomp, chomp,” Charlotte threatened and then dissolved into giggles. She was giddy with happiness to see her dad “atwork.”
Hannah and I both joined in the laughter, but Hannah added, “It’s actually an ice cube: V-Ice ishisname.”
The team’s mascot did look more like a marshmallow though. As the fluffy cube made his way around the ice, all the kids around us cheered. He was completely bizarre and very popular. I found the skinny white legs sticking out of the big cube thefunniestpart.
“Look, there’s Papa,” Charlotte called out. Leo was on the bench now as the team assembled and got ready for the national anthem. He was wearing a light grey suit, white checked shirt, and lavender tie, and he looked gorgeous. Not that he needed a suit to look handsome to me, a towel would do. Or nothingatall.
“I chose his tie,” Charlottetoldme.
“Good job.” I squeezed her hand, and she smiled up at me. Leo had very sneakily not told Charlotte about our break-up. He claimed he was waiting to do it in person, but perhaps he’d always believed we’d get backtogether.
That was a blessing since Charlotte was too used to people coming and going from her life. I never wanted to break the trust she had in me. I’d missed Leo so much, but Charlotte had been a close second. And for a time it seemed like she might not even move here. Sophie and Wes were horrified by the housing prices in Vancouver and ready to flee back to San Diego. But I found them listings for floating homes and permanent marina slips for large boats. Both were reasonably priced alternatives that Wes loved. Now Charlotte lived on a boat near Granville Island and walked along a pretty footpath to get to school. She loved her newlifehere.
“Oh, look, there’s Tristan.” Hannah lifted her phone and began filming. Tristan skated out along with the starting line-up. His whole team was here at the game, and he and the team captain were out on the ice for the national anthem. Leo had arranged it of course, and Tristan had alternated between excitement and stomach-churning nervousness the past week. “What if I mess up?” he kept asking. I had reassured him, but we were both looking forward to this honour being over. Afterwards, he’d be able to relax and sit among his rowdy teammates, who were cheering onesectionaway.
The anthem went off fine, without Tristan falling on the ice or whatever else he had been worried about. But Hannah kept her phone out and began taking photos of a certain young Swedishforward.
“That Seb Söderlund is so good,” she sighed. He was a first round draft pick of the Millionaires, but at nineteen, he still didn’t have the size for the NHL. Leo had a year to get him ready, and he was one of the most exciting players ontheVice.
Charlotte nodded. “He’s my favourite player too.” She still treated Hannah like all the Kardashians rolled into one person. Even though—as Hannah and I had discussed—Charlotte was more chic than both of us. Tonight she was wearing black leggings, faux shearling boots, and a wool headband with a long blonde ponytail. Topping off her outfit was a tiny fitted jersey with the name Gauthier on the back. Should I be wearing Leo’s jersey too? Maybe it was a high school throwback, but part of me was tickled attheidea.
Being the coach’s girlfriend turned out to have responsibilities of its own. The team’s “wives and girlfriends” helped out with charity fundraising. Amanda was constantly looking for ways to promote the family image of the team. I had a standing invitation to watch the game in the corporate suite with her. And we were almost done with the furnishing of her new condo. Amanda was turning into a real friend since we double-dated with her and Chrisfrequently.
I loved going to Vice games. They had family nights like tonight with an early start time and kids activities between periods. Amanda’s family marketing was a big success. But Leo and Chris insisted that the bigger crowds were due to the fact they were playing an up-tempo style and winning moreoften.
Tonight’s game was a very exciting one. In the first period, Toronto jumped out to a lead, then the Vice tied it up. In the second period, they kept trading scoring chances, but then Toronto scored on a power play. Clearly Leo was upset about that goal because he was absolutely livid on the bench, waving his arms around andyelling.
At the first game I attended, I was shocked at how emotional and expressive Leo was during games. He yelled, cursed, and acted very dramatic. There was no doubt that his calm exterior was only a cover for the passionate man underneath. It was something I should have knownalready.
I peeked at Charlotte to see her reaction, and her eyeswerewide.
“Why is Papasomad?”
Hannah answered, “He thinks it was goaltender interference, but he’s already used his time-out and can’t challenge it. So he’s yelling attheref.”
“Oh,” Charlotte answered. I wasn’t sure if she understood or not. I was amazed at how Hannah had become a hockey expert in such a short time. “Will he be mad after thegametoo?”
“No, he’ll be fine,” I assured her. That was another discovery: once the game had ended, Leo was completely calm again. Winorlose.
“Don’t worry, we’ll come back. The Vice are a great third period team,” Hannah said. “Leo will do something betweenperiods.”