Page 39 of Playoff
A smile lightened his expression. “She’d like that.”
“We really should do something about the house,” Mom said.
And there we went, back to money matters. “I know. Depending on how the season goes, Justin said he’d spend a few weeks here going through her things in the summer.”
“Obviously we can help.”
I wished I could believe it was to help Justin, and not to assess whatever there might be of value. Mom hadn’t been mercenary, hadn’t cared about money when she had it. But now that she didn’t, she was obsessed. “I’m sure he’d appreciate it. I’m going to come out on my vacation time to help and see Grandma as much as I can.”
“When is Justin playing here again?” Dad asked.
“Next month. He’ll have dinner with you and visit Grandma.”
The rest of the meal was a more normal conversation. The awkward topics dealt with, we could go over family events and memories, talk about how the Blaze were doing, and how my job was going.
Dad left for the men’s room. The waiter came by with the bill, and I picked up the wallet and sent it off with my credit card. Justin would want to reimburse me, but I refused to be a burden on him.
Mom leaned over. “I know you don’t like this, but consider getting close to Alek Denbrowski. If we got proof he was involved with his parents, we could get compensation from him.”
I stiffened. “He was investigated at the time, you told me. The police, whoever else, couldn’t find anything he’d done wrong. How close do I have to get to him to find out something that he kept secret all these years, if somehow he was involved?” Closer than we’d been the night we hooked up—and I shoved that thought down.
She couldn’t meet my gaze.
I drew a breath. “If he was smart enough to keep it hidden, he’s not going to tell either Justin or me, since we were victims of the Ponzi scheme as well.”
“Does he know that? Johnson is a common name.”
“Justin told him.”
She shook her head and sighed. Then she looked at me again, eyes examining me closely. “He’s single, right?”
I held up a hand. “Just, no. I’m not going to be bartered off to someone because he has money.”
“Possibly our money.”
I shook my head, and Dad returned from the bathroom before Mom could continue on that idea. Another reason I didn’t want to date any of Justin’s teammates. Mom couldn’t see anyone anymore without guessing their net worth.
We hugged and said goodbye. They were heading back on the ferry to Victoria, and I was returning to my hotel. I’d see Grandma again in the morning and catch up with some old friends before I flew back to Toronto.
It was a short trip, but I felt better knowing I’d been here for Grandma. And maybe it had been enough to stop Mom from pursuing ideas about Alek Denbrowski.
Chapter 18
This is not a hookup
Alek
* * *
This wasn’t working.
I’d been brought here to put the puck in the net so the Blaze won games and made the playoffs. But I’d upset the team chemistry, and the Blaze were struggling. We were scoring goals, several of them mine, but we gave up more than we gained. The road trip ended up fifty/fifty, and we dropped out of the wild-card spot.
We were walking with our heads down as we left the last hotel. We had two months to claim that spot again before the playoffs began in April, but something had to give.
The plane was quiet as we flew back to Toronto. Some of the guys, longtime friends, were playing cards, but everyone else was in their seats, headphones in, the air tense.
Fitting in with a new team took time, but there was more to it than that. When a top line forward and D-man had issues, it affected everyone. JJ did his best to avoid me. Off the ice, that was his prerogative. But on the ice, it was a problem. He was still griping about my defensive play but he wasn’t playing well either.
