Page 36 of Net and Chill

“Nothing. Come on. He’s sleeping.”

We bring everything into the kitchen area, and Dad doesn’t say anything until I collapse into a chair at the kitchen table and start sobbing.

He sits next to me and rubs my arm. “Is he all right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you all right?”

I shrug.

He gets up, goes to the counter, and tears two squares of paper towels, which he hands to me. “Coach Barrett came by the shop today.”

“He did?” I blow my nose into the paper towel.

“He told me what’s up. Confidentially, of course. My lips are sealed. I know they want him back in New York next week. I’m guessing that’s why you’re crying?”

I nod. I can’t even remember the last time my dad saw me cry, but he’s handling it a lot better this time.

“If you need to leave town to be with him, honey… We’ll miss you. But we can run the business without you. You can set up your business in New York.”

I can’t even believe he’s saying this. First of all, I can’t believe he’s okay with me moving away for a guy, and secondly, how dare he think they can get along without me? “But I don’t know anyone else there besides him.”

“He’s enough.”

“He’ll be busy all the time.”

“Not all the time,” Dad says. “Hockey players have girlfriends and families, you know? They make time for the people they want to make time for. And he’ll make sure you have good people around you when he can’t be with you.”

“How do you know?”

He scoffs at that. “What do you meanhow do I know?! I know. I’m The Wall’s biggest fan. I’ve been following this guy since he was sixteen. I watched him become a man. I see how he is on the ice. I see how he is when he’s interviewed. I hear how other people talk about him,” he says. “But more than anything, I see how he looks at you, sweetheart. He spends every night with you during the offseason. That’s not a small thing. Even if he didn’t have the right words for it. Maybe he didn’t think he deserved more than that. That guy loves you.

“Your mom and I have been waiting for both of you dummies to figure it out, but I think you’re there. You’ve been fooling around for four years, butyouknow. Youknow. He knows. You broke through the wall,” Dad says. “If you want to move to New York to be with him—do it. If you want to see how it goes for a couple of weeks first…a month, two months—do that. But don’t stay here because you think you have to. Don’t end things with him because you think he can’t handle being in a relationship. If he wants to, he will. Simple as that.”

I wrap my arms around my dad. I’m about to blow his mind. “Guess what he told me?” I say into his ear.

“What?”

“He said he talks to his goalposts about me.” I giggle.

My dad pulls away, mouth gaping. “Shut up!”

“He did!”

“I am so jealous.”

“I’m sure he’ll put in a good word for you too.”

My dad wipes a tear from my cheek. “You still nervous about leaving Kenton?”

I nod. “It’s dumb. I am excited about going to New York, actually. I’ve always wanted to.”

He studies my face, in a way that he never does.My mom does this. I know I do this. My dad never does this. “You know, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself when you open up to someone you love, Biddy. This is what you do. This is your craft.”

“Say more.”

“Why don’t you say more? Tell me about gussets.”