Page 5 of Sweet Thing

Adeline

Coming home might not have been sucha good idea. Coming home on the night of a Chicago Rebels win and choosing to stop at the Empty Net definitely ranked as one of my less inspired ones.

Despite my misgivings, I pushed my way through the heaving bodies at the team’s regular hangout, a task made easier since I’d already dropped my backpack at home, said hi to my mom and great-gran, and spent a few minutes fussing over my baby sis, Tilly, who had grown into a strapping four-year-old while I wasn’t looking. I had one person I needed to see.

My dad, Theo Kershaw.

With that mop of dark, wavy hair, the veteran Rebels defenseman and captain was easy enough to spot, holding court in the middle of the bar. I held back for a few seconds, watching him joking around, commanding the room as well as he did the defensive line during a game. Someone must have made a crack at him because he turned and issued a withering retort complete with a crazy-ass nickname. The man was famous for his creative monikers. The crowd guffawed, completely on his side.

“Your pop’s in good form, I see.” Rosie, my bestie and world travel companion for the last year, placed a hand on my shoulder. “You sure you’re okay here?”

No, I wasn’t. I’d had a scare a couple of months ago and crowds didn’t help, but I needed to get over myself. With an injection of titanium into my spine, I adopted a cheery pose which wouldn’t fool my friend for a second but might be enough to fool me and the rest of this crowd.

“I’m fine. If I could only gettheTheo Kershaw’s attention.”

At my raised voice, Dad finally figured it out. His handsome face lit up like a goal light, and he practically shoved his teammate Dash Carter out of the way to get to me.

“Twinkle!”

Knowing what was good for them, Rebels goaltender Noah Boden stepped out of his path along with Peyton Bell, one of the newer forwards. My dad threw his arms around me and lifted me off the ground.

“My girl’s home!”

“Hi, Dad.” I giggled into his chest and held on tight, tighter than I’d intended. He was a big guy, broad-shouldered, wide-chested, huge-hearted. The best man I knew.

“I thought you weren’t coming in until tomorrow.” He shook his head, either at my sketchy timekeeping or his mental confusion. “Does your mom know you’re back?”

“Already been. Rosie said hi to her dads, too.”

His apple-green eyes went wide as he pulled my friend into a hug. “Rosie! Sorry, I was blinded by my daughter’s beauty.”

“That’s okay, Mr. K. Story of my life on this trip.”

I barely repressed an eye roll at that blatant untruth. From Brindisi to Bucharest, Rosie was the star, which suited me just fine. Ever the wallflower, I liked the comfort of the shadows.

Except that one time the shadows bit back.

“Let’s get you a drink, Twinkle.”

“It’s okay, Dad. I don’t need anything. I just wanted to say hi. I didn’t mean to pull you away from your adoring public.”

“Come over here then so I can take a good look at you.” Tucking a hand under my elbow, he steered me to a spot near the jukebox, which I imagined was for show because everyone used Spotify now. Rosie was already chatting with Giselle DuPre and her boyfriend, Mark, so I wasn’t abandoning her.

“Why are you home two months early?”

I didn’t expect he’d go so hard to start. My dad might play the goof on TV, but he was sharper than a skate blade.

“No particular reason,” I lied. “We were just ready to get back.”

We had planned to spend an extra month in Spain, but then I made the mistake of getting mugged outside a bar on Santorini. It spooked me, and while I refused to let Rosie tell anyone, especially our nosey families, I figured it was a good reason to wrap things up.

Another one? Hockey season had started, and as this was likely my dad’s last year in the pros, I wanted to support him in every way I could.

“You look like you got a lot of sun. You’re healthy, right? No problems? I’ve been so worried about you.” Another hug, even tighter this time. My family tended to think of me as a delicate flower. My travels were supposed to instill their confidence in me as I set out to conquer the world. Unfortunately, the world had other ideas.

“I’m fine, Dad. You don’t have to worry.”

“It’s my job. So what’s the plan? You’re going to stick around for a while?” The hope in his voice warmed me through. My absence had been hard on him.

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