Page 44 of Second Round

The expression on his face showed me that he already knew exactly how the team had beendoing.

“Not as easy as you thought, eh, Hot Shot?” heasked.

I smiled. “Nope. So, I understand you’re getting released from the hospital soon. What are yourplans?”

“Well, I’ve got to take it easy for now. But once I’m healthy again, we’ll see. I’ve been talking to management aboutwhat’snext.”

Amanda had been advocating for Bob to get a role in the team’s organization. The likeliest spot would be scouting or some position he could work on his own. Frankly, nobody on the team wanted anything to do with him, but she was insistent that the Vice should look after everyone in “thefamily.”

The two women from the elevator walked in. Their eyes swept over me, but they didn’t recognize me as the witness to their heateddiscussion.

“Hey, Dad,” the taller one said. “How are you feelingtoday?”

“Better. Ready to get out of here,” he grumbled. “Leo, these are my daughters, Lucy andClaire.”

I nodded at them. Maybe Bob was still on painkillers, but the tension in the room was obvious even to an outsider like me. I’d distanced myself from Bob, from his crappy coaching practices and his unfortunate medical situation. But now all I felt was pity. His daughters might be willing to do their duty and look after him temporarily, but nobody in the world really cared about him. Did heknowthat?

Ileftthe hospital feeling unsettled. I pulled out my phone, and there was a reminder about a date with Jackie. She didn’t have the kids tonight, and she had offered to cook me dinner. That was an offer I wasn’t going toturndown.

I called her. “Hey, I’m heading over now. Sorry, I’m alittlelate.”

“No problem. I heard there’s an accident on the Second Narrows Bridge. You might want to change yourroute.”

“I’m not at the rink. I’m at the hospital, so I’ll take the Lions’ Gateanyway.”

“Oh, areyouokay?”

“Yeah, just visiting our formercoach.”

“Okay. Well, I’ll see you when I see you.” I liked Jackie’s casualness. Although she got unnecessarily nervous about certain things—like sex—in general, she was prettyrelaxed.

As I drove to Jackie’s place, I tried to roll away the low-grade tension in my shoulders. Seeing Pankowski and his daughters had triggered something in me, something dark and distracting. It was important to stay focused on things I could control. When Sophie and I split up, it had been the worst time in my career. I made unnecessary mistakes because I spent too much time wondering and worrying. What was important was staying focused on the now—not the past or thefuture.

I knocked on the door, and it flew open. Jackie stood there, smiling up at me, and I was stunned by a sense of nostalgia for something I didn’t even know I wasmissing.

Once again, I was walking into my house after school to the smell of fresh, baked bread. With six kids and only one income, my mother was always looking for ways to save money. She never bought packaged foods and baked six loaves of bread at one crack. I’d rush into the kitchen and sniff the warm loaves cooling on racks. Our snack on bread days would be a thick slice with butter. But nobody baked breadanymore.

“Hey, Jackie.” I kissed her on bothcheeks.

“It’s great to see you again.” Jackie looked great—as usual—in her dark jeans and fitted shirt. I put my arm around her, and we followed the good smells into thekitchen.

“Are you baking bread?” Iasked.

“Oh no, there wasn’t time for that. It’s onlybiscuits.”

She sounded apologetic, so I reassured her. “Homemade biscuits sound great. The smell of them reminded me of my mom’sbread.”

“Mmmm, I know. I’m a total carb fiend. I can smell fresh bread from miles away.” She motioned me to the kitchen counter. “You’re earlier than I expected, so give me a few more minutes and then I can relax too.” She poured me a cold beer without evenasking.

I looked around. Jackie’s house resembled the set of a family sitcom with beautiful furnishings, a scattering of toys, and even a fat cat snoozing on the family room couch. A place where all problems got solved in thirtyminutes.

She finished stirring something on the stove and smiled at me across the counter. “You had atoughday?”

“Yeah. How didyouknow?”

“I could hear it in your voice.” She put a plate of crackers, carrots, and dip in front of me. “Did you want to talkaboutit?”

I shook my head. “I’d rather focus on the beautiful woman in front of me and the good dinner I’m abouttoeat.”

---