Page 31 of Keeping Kyle

“Yeah.” I chuckled, remembering the talk Mom, Bobby, and I had over Thanksgiving. “And of course she said it’d all be fine.”

You’re the man in the house now had echoed through my head during that conversation. I didn’t know how to keep that up if I ended up across the country. Bobby and Sebastian weren’t going to move to Detroit since their lives were in Chicago. Mom would have no family left here.

“You’re overthinking this right now. I can practically hear your brain whirring.” G never minced words. “Mamma P might kick my ass for telling you this, but she called me this morning to check on you because she saw the article. She’s worried about how you’d react. You know she’s surrounded by friends and loves her job. As far as I can see, she really loves her life.”

Nervousness crashed through me, making me shake. I hated this discussion. Moving let the family down. It didn’t matter that it had been nearly twenty years, people had told me I was in charge. Rationally, I knew I shouldn’t hang onto those words. It was only something that a child got told, and it didn’t mean a lifetime commitment.

Sometimes I was such a mess. Not completely unlike Austin and his fierce devotion to work. Maybe I needed to go back to the therapist for how to cope with this potential move.

“K? I lose you?”

“Sorry, I’m here. Just thinking how I need to stop being the eight-year-old who needs to make sure Mom is okay every second of the day.”

“There’s a lot of people who’d be on it if either of them needed help and you weren’t nearby.”

I pulled up in the parking lot of Austin’s office building and took one of the visitor spaces.

“I heard you pull the keys out so you’ve arrived and I should go. Call me if you need to talk, and keep me posted too, okay?”

“Thanks. Love ya, man. Talk later.”

I disconnected and hopped out of the car. It’d gotten colder. There was talk of snow overnight, and as the sky took on a more slate look, I didn’t doubt it.

Inside it only took me a moment to get past security and up to the second floor where Austin’s office was.

“Kyle.” A guy who looked about the same age as me—and Austin for that matter—looked up from his keyboard. “Hello. I’m Jack, Austin’s assistant. Is he expecting you?”

I’d heard about Jack, the guy who apparently struggled to keep Austin on track, and I was about to derail that, at least for the afternoon.

“Hi, Jack. And, no. I’m trying to surprise him and hijack him for the afternoon. What’s his schedule look like?”

“Lots of internal meetings.” Jack looked disappointed. “He’s booked until seven.”

Extracting him from a schedule that lasted for six more hours did not seem possible.

“Can you show me those appointments, Jack?” A woman appeared next to me. She offered a smile before looking at Jack’s screen. It only took her a moment before she faced me again “Good to meet you, Kyle. I’m Tamara.”

“Yes. Austin’s told me a lot about you. It’s good to meet you.”

“Let me see if I can pull him away for you. An afternoon out would do him some good.” She scanned the screen and pointed at a couple entries. “Can you reschedule these to the morning? I can take the rest.”

“Sure thing.” Jack picked up his headset and started making calls.

“Go ahead and have a seat, Kyle, while I see what I can do. Do you have somewhere to be?”

Had Austin told her about my punctuality hang up?

“I need to be at the rink in forty-five minutes. If I leave here within twenty, it’s good.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

Raised voices seeped out as she went in Austin’s door. I suspected she had an uphill battle ahead. I shouldn’t have done this, turning up at his work place. What was I thinking? It wasn’t like showing up like he did in Vegas—that didn’t have the complications. I just barreled in here. Probably not my best idea.

I pulled out my phone and surfed around, looking for news on the trade rumors. The article G mentioned had a lot of comments—all the usual type that ranged between displeasure and happiness. Most agreed that our defense needed help, which I couldn’t disagree with. While we were winning recently, the teams we’d be up against in any playoffs were ones that our defense faltered against.

There was still a job for me to do for the team, so this couldn’t fill my head. I’d hoped to make myself invaluable, but it suddenly felt like the point of no return had passed.

Austin’s office opened, and he sounded extremely surprised.