Page 39 of Reputation
“Oh, god,” Eavie muttered, having read several articles about the state of city shelters and how there was never enough funding for them.
Cade nodded.“When Jax found him, he refused to accept that someone with such a bright future had it ripped away, and there was nothing he could do about it.It’s a story we see a lot.These kids come from different situations, but they all share that commonality.”
“What happened?”she asked, captivated by the story.
“Well, Jax refused to accept that.He went to his team, organized a fundraiser, and raised enough money to pay for the kid’s remaining three years in that program and all his equipment.He found a family in King City willing to take him in and got him back onto the ice.”
Eavie’s heart beat heavily as she listened, her mind turning with the story.She pictured a young Jax rallying his team behind a teammate in need.It was so easy to see why that level of caring and dedication to his team made him the captain he was.The thought brought tears to her eyes, her throat stinging.
“That kid finished his years on the team and received a scholarship to the university in BC.With that one act, Jax gave that kid his future back.”
She stood, stunned, trying to reconcile the arrogant man she’d come to know, to expect, with the person who had done that.
“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think,” Cade finished, standing up straight.
Despite everything she was seeing and what Cade told her, she still had trouble accepting it.Eavie turned to look at him.“Is that true?”she asked, cynicism winning over her heart’s turmoil.
Cade chuckled, shaking his head at her.“It is,” he answered.
“How do you know?”
Cade looked down at her, his dark brown eyes holding hers as he said, “Because I was that kid.”
Eavie’s mouth dropped open.She had not been expecting that.Taking a step back, she whispered, “It was you?”
“I was the one Jax helped, and thanks to him, I got to go to university.I got my future back.I probably could have gone pro, but when I graduated, I chose to spend my time trying to give back the same way Jax did for me.”
“You said…you said this charity was his.What did you mean?”
“Field of Dreams is what grew from that first act.He continued to fundraise, even from Chicago, eventually turning it into a full charity.When I returned to Toronto, he called and asked me to run it.We accept donations from various groups, but 90 percent of the funding comes directly from Jax.”
“How?”she asked, her mind trying to calculate what that must cost.
“It all comes from the income he makes from his sponsorship and promotional campaigns.You wouldn’t know it, but when he’s not playing, he’s working to ensure we never run out of funds.”
Eavie’s hand came up to cover her mouth.Her breath stuttered in her chest as understanding sunk in.She glanced around, trying to get her reeling thoughts to shut up for just a second.She needed a chance to process this.
The polished gym floors, new equipment, the food she had spent her afternoon preparing.This was all him.
Was this the real Jax?If it was, why did he act so differently around her?
Her eyes lifted, settling back on his handsome, laughing face as he encouraged the teens watching to take turns rotating into the game.
“I don’t understand.Why doesn’t anyone know?”she breathed, finally managing to speak.
Cade laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.“You’ll have to ask him that,” he answered before disappearing through the swinging doors.
She was left once again confused and feeling as if her neat, controlled world had just tilted on its axis.
Chapter Sixteen
Eavie
God, she needed to stop frowning.For what felt like the hundredth time today, Eavie smoothed out the furrow that continued to settle between her brows.All day, she’d caught herself staring at her computer, mind wandering as deep lines of contemplation marred her skin.And it was all Jax freaking Morghan’s fault.
She’d watched him through fresh eyes yesterday as they’d served and eaten with the teens at Field of Dreams.Everything he did and said was carefully categorized in her mind, ready to be reviewed when she had the brain capacity to figure out the mystery of who the real Jax was.
Thankfully, this weekend was Thanksgiving, and she would have plenty of time to assess everything she had learned.Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her mind from constantly wandering to him.She hadn’t accomplished anything today because of it.She took solace in knowing she wasn’t the only unproductive one.The offices had been noisier than usual, with everyone taking it easy on the Friday of the holiday.
