Page 22 of Playoff
Jess
* * *
My abrupt departure from the Top Shelf had been noted, and there were messages from the PAC asking if I was okay. Those messages were more welcome than my mother’s, but I still wished I could ignore them. I didn’t want to talk about what had happened ten years ago, and why it was still a big deal now.
Not possible though. Jayna and Callie and Katie had become my closest friends in the city, and there was no avoiding hockey. Our problems with the team’s new player couldn’t be hidden after the way JJ and I reacted last night. JJ would be getting grilled about it at practice anyway. I suggested to my friends that we meet at a diner we liked for breakfast. Jayna had commitments, but Callie and Katie were able to come, though I’d asked Katie to leave Ducky behind if he wasn’t at practice.
Callie was there first, sipping on a latte and holding a table for us. I slid in across from her and the waitress brought coffee immediately.
Bless her.
Callie had her menu closed on the table beside her. She’d order the eggs Benedict, like always. Every time we came here she said she’d try something new, but she never did. I didn’t have a favorite, but I knew what I was getting this time. The breakfast poutine—I wanted comfort food.
“You okay?” she asked, watching me closely.
I sighed. “I will be.” I’d be better when the news was out and had been forgotten.
Katie rushed into the diner and dropped down beside me. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Josh was pouting about being left out. He didn’t stay for the whole practice, and he had questions.”
She flipped her cup for coffee. The waitress brought extra milk and sugar, because Katie drank it white and sweet.
“Ready to order?” the waitress asked.
“Pancakes and bacon.” Katie always had that.
Callie ordered her Benny, and I asked for the poutine. After she left, the other two turned to me.
“So, what’s with JJ and Denny?”
I took a careful sip of coffee and set the mug down. “Denny’s parents ran a Ponzi scheme. They skipped the country ten years ago with a lot of money. Including most of our family’s investments.”
Katie’s eyes widened. “Ohh.”
I nodded.
Callie’s brain was working. “They’ve never been caught?”
I shook my head. Thanks to my parents, I’d always know if there was news.
Callie frowned. “Your parents lost a lot?”
“Basically everything.”
“JJ blames Denny?” Katie asked.
How was I supposed to explain this? It wasn’t straightforward. “I don’t think so. The police investigated Denny and didn’t charge him.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s innocent,” Callie noted.
True. But… “My parents wanted to file a civil suit against Denny, since he was the only person in the family still around. They couldn’t get anyone to take it on, and believe me, they tried everything, so I don’t think there’s any evidence.”
Katie pursed her lips. “You don’t seem as upset as JJ.”
I had to be careful about what I would share. I trusted these women, but it was JJ’s story, not mine.
“When this happened, JJ and I were about to start our first year of university. He’d been drafted by New York but was planning to get his degree in Vancouver before going pro. When this big financial mess happened, he left Canada and joined the team in New York so he could start making money. Our tuition fund was gone, along with everything else. He supported the whole family and made sure I got my degree.”
“That wasn’t what he wanted?” Callie questioned.
