Page 92 of From Ice to Home
I stare at the phone, taking in the silence. It’s still early but it already feels like it’s been a hard day. I take a sip of my coffee before reaching for the honey.
I drizzle it in, watching it swirl…thick, golden and sweet.
Sweeter than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.The words drift through my memory. It’s from Psalm 19, I think. God’s Law is perfect, his Word true.
Not like the noise from the outside world.
I stir the coffee and take another sip. Smiling, I enjoy the sweet taste of honey.
I might not know how to fix this, but I know the One who can.
Father, we won’t be able to get through this without You. Help us to discern Your voice through all the rest. I want to love Lucas well. Help us, walk with us as we navigate through the time ahead.
Taking another sip, I let the warmth settle inside my chest.
The anticipation is killing me.
Standing at the arrival gate, surrounded by the chatter of strangers hugging their loved ones, I can’t stop bouncing on the balls of my feet. My stomach is swirling, nerves and excitement all tangled up in a mess and I’m sure they’re accompanied by giant butterflies at the thought of seeing Lucas.
It’s been six days.
Not long by most standards, but it’s felt like a lifetime has gone by since I last saw him. He’s had a rough week, we both have. After that phone call with Harry, helplessness threatened to drown me at every turn. Especially as I watched Lucas navigate the pressure most people can’t even begin to imagine. Everyday, there’s a new headline, speculating on team motivation, player injuries, line shuffles, or their odds of taking the Cup. There are interviews before and after every game. Cameras catch their reactions, dissecting and analyzing every move, every hit, every pass. The world is hungry for every drop of playoff news and it adds pressure to the players.
So, I did the only thing I could do for Lucas from a distance.
I prayed.
I prayed when I watched the second game, my heart in my throat every time he touched the puck.
I prayed when I saw the post-game interview andrecognized the flicker in his eyes, the one that meant he hasn’t been sleeping too well.
I won’t always be able to attend every single game, no matter how much I might want to. Because life is filled with changing plans, colliding schedules and shifting responsibilities. Anything can happen, and then he needs to know that I’m not the one who can pull him through it. As much as I want to be his pillar in everything, Lucas needs to lean on the One who can never fail him.
Still, his spirits have been a bit higher since they won the second game against the Canucks and he scored two of the three goals. I screamed in the living room when that puck hit the back of the net the second time, so loud Avah broke out in a fit of laughter.
It’s a start in the right direction, and today, seeing him in person will be exactly what we need. I missed him more this past week than I’ve missed him in the five years we weren’t together. Maybe it’s because I now know he belongs to me and I belong to him.
Maybe it’s because I got used to sleeping next to him, with his hand on my waist and his soft breaths against the back of my neck. So much so, that the bed felt too empty, too cold, without him in it.
Maybe it’s because God is finally opening the door for us to be together and I don’t ever want it any other way.
Maybe it’s all of that and more.
As the team starts walking in, a wave of blue Rangers hoodies heading my way, my feet automatically move forward. With darting eyes, I search through each of them, searching for the tall bearded man, with dark mussed hair and a smile that makes me go weak in the knees.
Lucas.
I’m already moving faster. I break into a run, weaving through families, my eyes locked on his like he’s gravity itself.His bag hits the floor just in time to catch me as I leap into his arms, wrapping myself around him like it’s instinct.
His arms close tightly around me, as he buries his face in my neck, inhaling deeply.
“I missed you so much, Sanders,” he groans. His voice is deep and gravelly and I feel it tugging low in my stomach.
“Harry has to come up with a plan, because you can’t leave without me again. I won’t allow it.”
He pulls me tighter, planting soft kisses along the side of my neck, slow and reverent. “That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”
I shift back, just enough to look at him, my hands rising to cradle his jaw, my thumbs grazing the familiar scruff of his beard. His eyes are tired, but they shine with something deeper…with relief and maybe even peace. I lean in and press a kiss against his lips.
