Page 134 of Hot for the Hockey Player
I set my earbuds on the counter and finished making the salad.Then it was time to head to the school.One of the upsides to the school being on the smaller side meant parking was never really an issue.All the parents were invited to attend since several students were presenting essays.
Damon and I drove Danica while Raina and Jagger drove Naomi.
“How are you doing?”Danica asked, jostling my knee with a warm hand as we sat in the front row of the chairs facing the stage.She glanced at me, brows up.
I exhaled a long, deep sigh.“I’m fine.”
“No, she’s not,” Damon said, sitting on the other side of me.“She misses Maverick.We all do.”
Danica’s brows went even higher.
I rolled my eyes and faced my cousin again.“I do miss him, but now that he’s retired, if he wanted to come back, he could.And he hasn’t.So …”
Danica’s mouth dipped into a frown.“You think that’s it?”
“What else could it be?”
“Well, didn’t yousendhim away?Maybe he doesn’t feel welcome?”
“Of course he’s welcome.Why wouldn’t he feel welcome?”
All she did was shrug, because Principal Otto Pickford came sauntering onto the stage in all his ill-fitting, brown polo-shirt glory.He cleared his throat and smiled beneath his yellow-tinged white mustache and hiked up his tan chinos, trying to get them over his gut, but failing.
A silence settled over the crowd of students and parents.
“The man’s nose is as red as a cherry tomato,” Naomi whispered to Raina.
Raina snorted.
It was true, Otto Pickford, who was a terrible principal—and person—had burst capillaries all over his cheeks and nose.Ordinarily, I wouldn’t make fun of someone’s appearance, we taught our children better than that, but given just how awful he was, I granted my family some leeway.
However, because we were in the front row, Otto saw Naomi and Raina whispering and shot us all a dirty look.That just prompted my cousins to start giggling.
I reached behind Danica and shoved Naomi in the shoulder, catching Bennett McEvoy’s eye in the row behind us and giving him and Justine a friendly smile.
“Welcome, students and family of San Camanez Elementary,” Otto started.“We are so excited to have you all here today to celebrate our young scholars.For the last month, our school participated in an essay writing contest, with each grade having a winner, as well as several honorable mentions.The winners and honorable mentions have been asked to read their essays aloud for you.So please, remain quiet.”He glanced back down at my family, the look of distaste on his face more a gift for my cousins than the threat he thought it was, and Naomi and Raina both smirked and snorted.“And please, enjoy.”
I leaned forward this time around Danica and shot Naomi and Raina a warning look.They both rolled their lips inward to keep from grinning, but sobered and nodded.
Laurel was in the sixth grade, so we had to wait for the second, third, fourth, and fifth grade winners and honorable mentions to read their essays first.The kindergartener and first graders weren’t asked to read.Among the winners and honorable mentions were several of the McEvoy kids: Griffin, Emerson, and Talia; and Naomi’s daughter, Honor.
“And now, we will hear the essay titled ‘Strength’ from Laurel Campbell,” Otto announced before leaving the stage for my daughter to have her moment in the spotlight.
My lungs expanded to their fullest with deep, satisfied breaths as I took in her confident stance and she cleared her throat.I’d always been a proud parent, but seeing her step up to that microphone with confidence and determination in her eyes, then smile a little shyly at me before focusing out at the crowd, took me to a brand new level of mom-pride.
“Strength,” Laurel started.“I could give you a dictionary definition.I could talk about muscles, and how much someone can bench press as a sign of their strength, but that’s not what it means to me.To me, the definition of strength is my mom.”
I must have gasped louder than I thought, because several eyes and heads turned my way.
Danica gripped my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Forced to marry a man she barely knew and didn’t love, my mom found her strength to leave.Taking my brother and me with her, she ran away from that dangerous life, that dangerous man, and her entire dangerous family.Some of you might call her weak for not leaving sooner, but I don’t.A world outside the only one you know can be scary.But she did it when the time was right.She started a new, safe life for all of us.In a new city, not knowing a soul.She went to school, became a lawyer, and started fighting for women just like her, who needed help to escape from the people that hurt them.She’s not a person who hugs often, but I know how much she loves us.I can feel it every minute of every day.In the way she fights for our safety, our happiness and our futures.Her strength inspires me.It inspires her cousins, my cousins, and the people around her.Just being in a room with her will give you strength and confidence you didn’t know you had.Speaking with her will motivate you, and being loved by her will make you feel invincible.Like you can speak in front of a gym full of people, even though your teeth are chattering you’re so nervous.”
She met my gaze and smiled.
“She never backs down from a challenge, or says no when someone asks for help.She always has an open spot at the dinner table for anybody who might be hungry, and while some might call her cold, her smile—while infrequent sometimes—is always warm.I measure her strength not by how much she can lift, or how fast she can run, or how many sit-ups her morning Pilates helps her do,” A few chuckles drifted through the crowd.
“but by the enormous size of her heart.She cares without contingency, loves without quarter, and encourages everyone to follow their passions, their dream—even if that causes her heartache.She is the most selfless person I have ever met, and always puts others ahead of herself, often sacrificing and going without because of it.I’m sure all moms do something like this, but I only know my mom, and to me, she has the strength of a Dahomey Amazon and the heart of a lioness.She is the true definition of a mama bear, sharpening her claws every night in order to protect her cubs with everything she has.”
