Page 83 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
“Great win last night,” she says, focusing on him.
“Thanks. Hopefully, we’re set for a good season.”
“Oh, I do hope so,” she says while filling our mugs. “Did you need the menus, or are you ready to order?”
She asks this every time we come despite the fact we haven’t looked at the menu in years.
“I think we’re good to go,” Dad says before we both give her our usual orders.
She knows exactly what we want, but she still writes it down and double checks if we’d like anything else.
Dad watches her leave, and I study him with a smirk.
“You could just ask her out, you know,” I point out.
His body tenses and his eyes snap to mine.
Sylvie is hot. She was barely an adult when we first started coming here, but now, she’s a woman. A woman who clearly has a crush on my father.
Dad waves it off. “She’s not interested in an old man like me.”
“Sure,”I say with a smile.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” I ask when there’s a break in our conversation. It’s been bugging me since he mentioned it.
He smirks. He knows what his comment has done to me.
“You can be mean when you want to be,” I tease.
He chuckles before resting his elbows on the table, his eyes on mine.
“There’s going to be a position opening up for an assistant coach for the girls’ under eight team.”
Excitement jumps in my stomach a beat before the anxiety hits.
For a long time, I dreamed of coaching and guiding young girls to become the women of the future. But years have passed, and while I might still think about it at times, I’ve mostly let the dream go.
I chose a different path.
“You should apply,” Dad states with all the confidence in the world.
I shake my head. “I don’t have any experience or training. I can’t?—”
“Casey, you have a lifetime of experience and training. You’ve talked about this for years. This is your chance.”
Butterflies flutter wildly in my stomach as possibility begins to overtake my initial fears.
Dad’s right. Hockey runs through my veins. It always has.
I do think I could be a good coach, and the idea of watching the girls grow and improve lights me up inside.
But am I good enough? Or will they take one look at me and laugh, knowing that I’m riding on the back of my father’s career and success?
“Just apply, Care Bear. What’s the worst that can happen?”
They can tell me that I’m not good enough.
Able to read my thoughts, he reaches over the table and takes my hands in his. “Fear is good, Casey. It’s what pushes us out of our comfort zones and allows us to achieve things we never thought possible.
