Page 57 of Face Off
“I mean, I’ve hung out with her and Cass a few times before she became the team doctor. So, I mean my guess is as good as anyone who just met her.”
I pass the puck to Powell before skating over to the bench. Leaning my elbows against the rail. “Have you ever wondered why Camden doesn’t have Hayley’s or even Boyce’s last name? If he were Boyce’s, wouldn’t you think she have the decency to give him his father’s last name, and if not his, but hers?”
“I mean, yeah… but she didn’t do that because Boyce is a prick?” he says, gauging my reaction. “What do you mean Camden doesn’t have Hayley’s last name. What other name would he have if not hers?”
Right.
“Wait. What is Camden’s last name anyway?”
Cam participated in youth camp, and I’ve been to a few of his games when we’ve been between games. What was the name on the back of his jersey? Think Miller. R. It starts with an R.
“All right, guys. Take a knee,” Coach says, interrupting my train of thought. “Mr. Richards send his regards for missing the first few games back this season.”
Richards. R… Richards. Fuck. Camden Richards. Camden fucking Richards. But why? It makes no sense. Hayley’s last name is Marshall. Why would Camden’s last name be Richards. Unless… No, stop thinking like that. There’s no way that what you’re thinking is a possibility.
“Brooks,” Channing says, smacking me upside the head. “Say something.”
Right. Coach must have asked me to say something to end practice. “Uh… let’s get out there and finish this season right, boys. That cup is ours.” Chants break out through everyone on the ice. “Jacks on three.”
We end practice in unison like always. Skating to the bench, I feel Halloway on my tail. “What the fuck was that, man?”
“Richards,” I say, coming to an abrupt stop. “Camden’s last name is Richards.”
Halloway makes an O face in understanding, but then his brows furrow in confusion. “But Hayley’s last name is Marshall. Why would Camden have a name like Richards?”
“Did Wade have any children?” I ask, trying to grasp the possibility that Hayley could be his daughter.
Could Hayley be Mr. Richards’ daughter? But why would she keep something so significant about her life from me? Or could he have a son and Hayley conveniently left out the part in her spill-all confession that she slept with Mr. Richards’ kid, and he could also be the baby daddy? I mean it would make sense why she’s working for the Skipjacks if that were the case. A way to keep her under his thumb and causing an uproar. A way to buy her discretion.
“I heard rumors when I first started on the team that he and his wife had one kid. Yet, anyone who knows the truth about it has been super hush hush,” he says, using air quotes. “I’ve certainly never met him… or her. God, if it were a her though, can you imagine how hot she would be? I’ve seen Mr. Richards’ wife.”
“If it is her, dipshit, it would be Hayley,” I say, smacking him on the back of the head as we clop down the hallway to thelocker room. “What if Boyce is his kid? I mean it makes sense. Maybe Cameron is his middle name.”
He rubs his barely stubbled chin as if he needs to think long and hard about it. “Point taken. But if he was his kid…, why is he not playing for the Skipjacks?”
I can think of a few reasons.
The sound of phones beeping throughout the locker room has everyone shaken and rushing to grab their phones. Trades can happen at any point during the season, especially as we get closer to the Cup. And with a few guys’ contracts ending, you can imagine what’s rushing through everyone’s minds.
I unlock my phone and freeze at the headline.
‘Protective or Negligent: Boyce Cameron’s Fight for His Rights.’
What the fuck?
“A source reveals that Captain Boyce Cameron of the Arizona Heat, recently found out that he had fathered a son, ten-year-old Camden Richards with former high school sweetheart Dr. Hayley Marshall, twenty-eight.”
Pictured below the opening statement is a photo of Hayley and Camden walking down her street.
“Sources reveal that Dr. Hayley Marshall, team physician and trainer for the Seattle Skipjacks, withheld knowledge of the child’s birth from the twenty-eight-year-old hockey star. Cameron, who is now engaged to twenty-two-year-old Adley Hayworth, heiress to the Heat dynasty, has filed a lawsuit against his former sweetheart. The lawsuit in which theTribunehas acquired, states that Dr. Marshall has denied Mr. Cameron his right to visitations and any attempts to build a relationship with the child.”
A child he never wanted. Funny how they never mention that he abandoned them for ten years. What a crock of shit.
“In a statement Cameron’s publicist released early today on his behalf, he stated that ‘A lot of time has passed since Hayley and I have seen each other. When we ended our relationship back in 2012, I was focused on the one thing that mattered most to me, hockey. I see now that I used poor judgement. I was naïve and young. Nevertheless, I will never make that judgement again. My priority now is to be there for my son and build the relationship that I have been denied since finding out I have a son. Please respect my privacy as well as my son’s as we navigate these new waters.”
“TheTribunehas tried to reach out to Dr. Marshall and the Skipjacks for comment, but no response has been returned.”
My blood boils as I read the rest of the article, which is like an onslaught attack against Hayley. Calling her a bad mother for denying her son a father for all these years. They can only speculate though. They have no idea what Boyce put her through, or Camden.
