Page 20 of Over the Line

As father and son walked toward the parking garage, talking animatedly about the game as their dress shoes clicked on the concrete, I stole a moment to collect myself.

I really was an idiot. I just couldn’t help getting stupid whenever Garrett was in the same room.

Maybe it was just as well he’d be leaving Pittsburgh after tonight. I was heading out for my conditioning loan at the end of the week, and then I’d be reactivated.

I’d been playing hockey my entire life. Playing professionally since I was nineteen.

But when Garrett Kane was in the building, I suddenly wasn’t so sure I could remember how to skate.

CHAPTER 7

GARRETT

November

After I confirmed with my boss that I wanted the transfer to Pittsburgh, things happened fast. My landlord let me out of my lease since I had an out-of-state offer letter for a job, and the moving trucks pulled up days later. Good thing I didn’t need to do a purge and seriously downsize my things—I’d done a lot of that during the divorce—because there wasn’t time.

Less than a month after I’d visited Chris, I was checked into a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. It was two blocks away from my new office, and I’d stay there while I waited for my apartment to be ready next week.

It was all a whirlwind, and when the dust settled, there I was—living in the same city as the son I’d been estranged from for too long. Now that I was here, I texted and FaceTimed regularly with the two kids I’d already reconciled with; they understood why I’d made the move. Though they’d been disappointed, they got it, and they were happy that I could work on my relationship with Chris. Hopefully, in time, I’d be able to fix things with Ally, but right now, I’d take this progress with Chris.

Today, I was meeting up with him and his girlfriend for dinner. They’d recommended a low-key café not far from where I was staying, and of course, I got there early. What could I say? I was eager to see him again and to finally meet her.

The hostess seated me, and I texted Chris to let him know I had a table.

Chris

cool. we’re on our way. be there in 10.

I smiled as I sent back a thumbs-up. I was relieved to be meeting Jasmine. Chris had said she was out of town with friends in October, but he wasn’t a good liar. Never had been. It was a little odd, him keeping his girlfriend away from me, but maybe that was just part of our reconciliation process. Maybe he wanted to see how things went between him and me before he brought her into the equation.

When they walked into the restaurant, though, I was pretty sure I understood why we hadn’t been introduced before:

Jasmine was quite obviously pregnant.

And though I tried not to make a big deal out of it, my reaction was apparently not subtle.

Blushing, Chris said, “Uh, Dad, this is Jasmine.” He smiled shyly and touched her belly. “And Asher.”

I blinked. “Uh. Wow. I…” I laughed, shaking my head. “This is a surprise! It’s great to meet you, though. Um. Both of you.”

Jasmine smiled as she shook my hand. “It’s good to finally meet you too. Chris has been talking nonstop about having you here in town.” She glanced at him with a fond look. “Well, when he’s not talking about hockey or the baby.”

Chris turned a little redder.

I chuckled and clapped his arm. “That sounds like him. There’s always at least a few brain cells focused on hockey.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jasmine said dryly.

Chris hmphed, but he didn’t gainsay either of us.

We sat down at the table and started perusing the menu. It was a good thing I’d already gone through it twice and settled on what I wanted, because I couldn’t make sense of the text anymore. In my head, I was reeling, and not just because becoming a grandfather at forty-seven was seriously overwhelming.

Was this why Chris had changed his mind and wanted to reconnect? And what if we hadn’t managed to reconcile now? What if I’d come back into his life later and discovered he had a family? Shit. That was heavy. It also made me even more desperate to fix things with Ally; I just didn’t know how to go about that while still respecting her boundaries.

One thing at a time. Katie insisted her sister would come around. Ally wasn’t ready yet but she’d get there. Hopefully.

In the meantime, I was here with Chris, and I needed to focus on what I could do, which was work on my relationship with him.