The Blizzard swept San Jose in four games as well, ending the second round in Anchorage in front of a sold-out home crowd. The team had been on fire, playing harder than Laurel had ever seen them play and she was mesmerized by them every time they got on the ice. She’d been running on pure adrenaline for two days and tonight’s win was the same rush she’d gotten from winning the gold last year.
“Holy shit, we’re going for the conference title,” Dani said to Laurel as the team celebrated in the locker room.
“Pretty amazing,” Laurel said, grinning at Gage, who’d just joined them.
“Laurel.” Chains came up behind her, his mouth close to her ear. “We have a small problem. I can handle it but there’s press everywhere. What would you like me to do?”
She gazed up at him. “What is it?”
“Matt’s here.”
“Oh, shit.” She caught Gage’s eye and motioned him over.
“I can throw him out but I don’t know if I can do it without anyone seeing,” Chains said.
“Let’s go the other direction,” Laurel said quietly. “Let’s invite him in, let him feel part of this. If he starts acting up, you can try to discreetly throw him out.”
“I don’t like this,” Gage muttered as Chains left the locker room.
“He’s part of the team and he almost died. Let’s see what’s what. Maybe he’s doing better after a brush with death.” Laurel hoped so anyway.
“You’re too nice.”
“I try.” Laurel almost held her breath as Matt came into the room. He seemed more subdued than she’d ever seen him, but his eyes were clear and he seemed almost normal.
His teammates greeted him as if nothing had happened, asking about his health and talking about the excitement of the game. Laurel chose to keep her distance, getting ready for a Q&A with the media, who were anxious to hear from her.
“Coach, how have you done this? What have you done different from Coach Sylvester?” someone called out.
“I don’t know,” she responded carefully. “I haven’t implemented a lot of changes, wanting to see how things played out in the beginning. The guys have pulled together, gelled as a team, and they’re doing really well.”
“Are you coming back next year, Coach?”
Laurel smiled. “We have a huge series coming up against the Sidewinders for the Western Conference championship—I really can’t think beyond that. One day, one game, at a time.”
“Because you know your days in the NHL are numbered.” And there was the Matt Forbes she’d been expecting.
Chains was fast, but not fast enough, and Matt had a parting shot as he was pulled from the room: “Your pussy can only take you so far, Coach. Eventually, you actually have to do the job.”
It was all on camera, Laurel thought miserably, and she took a few deep breaths. “You want to comment, Coach?” One of the female journalists looked almost embarrassed as she asked.
“As we know, Matt is struggling with drug addiction. He’s hurting and probably emotionally fragile right now. We’ve tried to be supportive and I understand that he blames me for benching him, but there are better ways to get back in the team’s good graces than name-calling and embarrassing himself. And that’s all I’ll say on that matter. If you’d like to talk about tonight’s game or the next series, we can do that. Otherwise, I’m done here.”
“I’m sorry Matt spoke to you that way,” Gage whispered later that night after they’d made love.
“It is what it is,” she sighed. “Addiction is a disease. He’s obviously not himself and I don’t take it personally.”
“Don’t lie. You totally take everything personally, you’re just enough of a professional to hide it.”
“I’m fine. Really. I’m kind of over him at this point, though I’m very glad to have Chains at my back.”
“He’s going to have to go home soon,” Gage said reluctantly. “Normally, I would offer him stupid amounts of money to stay longer, but with Emilie getting later in her pregnancy, it’s not about money anymore.”
“Of course not. He’ll stay through this series, though?”
“He’ll stay through the finals, if we get that far. But he’ll definitely be here for this series.”
“Well, once our season is over, Matt won’t have access to me, so it’ll be okay. I mean, we’re going on vacation after, right?”
“Yes, but Kane and Hailey are getting married at the end of June, so I’d like to be back for that.”
“Of course. I didn’t think we’d go for a whole month.” She gave him a strange look.
“I was thinking two weeks in Tahiti, but we can’t book anything until we get through the hockey season. However, I was also thinking we’d do something local until after the wedding, and then take the rest of the summer to travel. I want to do all the things we were going to do when I got out of the military. Paris, Prague, Athens… We can just hop from one to the other until it’s time to come home.”
“That sounds…amazing. But what about work?”
“I’ll be available by video chat and telephone. I have a jet so if there’s an emergency I can be back in the U.S. within a day.”
“I’m ready,” she smiled, nuzzling into his chest. “I love you, Gage.”
He froze. It was the first time she’d said it directly since they’d gotten back together and nothing had ever sounded so sweet.
“I love you too, Laurie. Always have, always will.”
“Good to know.” She yawned. “I’m sorry, I have to get some sleep.”
“Absolutely.” He kissed the top of her head and pulled the covers up over them. It was his favorite way to fall asleep and hers as well. Finally, things were falling into place.
With several days off before the start of the final round of the playoffs against the Sidewinders, the team headed to Las Vegas early. Between friends and family, they had a multitude of reasons to be there, and getting in practices on their ice would be beneficial all around.
They’d arrived in Las Vegas this afternoon and most of the guys on the team were going out tonight to let off a little steam. Though she expected them to take it easy most of the time, they had five days off until the series started, so one night of fun would keep them from going stir-crazy, especially those that were away from their families. Tomorrow would be a short practice and then a dinner with a team-bonding exercise. There would be a much longer, more intense practice the following day, followed by movie night at a local theater. The media had contacted the team about interviews leading up to the first game of the series, so the guys would be on a rotating schedule with that as well.
Laurel was tired just thinking about it, but she fought off a yawn as she sat outside at Dani’s brother’s house. Zakk and his wife, Tiff, had invited over anyone who wanted to come and while a group of about ten had accepted, most of the guys were off doing their own thing.
“You look tired,” Dani said to her as they watched Tiff’s twin boys, Derek and Duncan, frolic in the pool with Niko and a few other kids. Dani and Sergei had brought Niko on the trip since his uncle and cousins lived in Las Vegas.
“I am,” Laurel laughed. “I don’t know what’s going on, but this NHL coaching gig is kicking my ass. I can’t stop yawning and by nine o’clock I want to go to bed. On our last day off I slept fourteen hours. I haven’t done that since college.”
Tiff cocked her head, her hazel eyes sparkling. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”
Laurel blinked.
Dani didn’t move.
Hailey, who’d also come on the trip since the games were a big deal and they all had friends here in Las Vegas, just stared at Laurel in wide-eyed silence.
“I, um… Oh my god.” Laurel shook her head. “I don’t… I’m on the pill.”
“Have you been hungrier than usual?” Tiff asked softly.
“Yes.” Laurel swallowed.
“Sore boobs?” Hailey whispered.
Laurel nodded.
“Period?” Dani asked, wrinkling her nose.
“Kinda? Some spotting, but I’ve been so busy… Oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit.”
“Is this bad?” Tiff asked.
“It’s…bad timing. We haven’t talked about this or, or, anything.” Laurel closed her eyes. How was this happening again? What the hell was fate trying to tell her?
“Maybe this is a sign,” Dani said softly, gently squeezing her hand. “Like this time it’s forever, you know? You’ve loved him for so long, Laurel.”
“I know, but…” Laurel bit her lip. “I’m thirty-five. What if I’m too old or something goes wrong?”
“Things can go wrong at any age,” Tiff said. “I had my last baby at thirty-four with no problems at all.”
“Are you upset or just caught off guard?” Dani asked.
“I don’t know,” Laurel admitted. “But anyway, we could be totally wrong. This whole conversation might be moot.”
“Or you can go up to my room,” Tiff said under her breath. “Look under the sink and see if the test I have under there is expired yet. Then you’ll know right away and you won’t have to go to a store or anything.”
Laurel was sure she looked like a deer in the headlights and Dani nudged her.
“Don’t you want to know one way or the other?”
“Shit.” Laurel didn’t know what she wanted, but pregnant wasn’t it. Gage would be thrilled, but she wasn’t ready for all this, for the past to come rushing back like a tidal wave.
“If you want to, the invitation to go use my bathroom upstairs stands,” Tiff whispered, squeezing her shoulder.
“Thank you.” She hesitated. “If we could keep this between us, please? It would mean a lot to me.”
“Of course.” Tiff nodded.
“You know my lips are sealed.” Dani smiled.
“Mine too,” Hailey added.
Laurel thought about it for the next hour, agonizing over the possibilities. This hadn’t been in the plan at all and she waffled between dying to know and wanting to bury her head in the sand. Gage wouldn’t bat an eyelash, he wanted kids, but she was flabbergasted. The last time this had happened it had ended in disaster. How could she go through it again? Especially when it wasn’t planned.
Impulsively, she slipped up the stairs and found the master bedroom. With a massive California king-sized bed, there was no doubt whose room it was, so she locked herself in the bathroom and threw open the cabinet beneath the sink. There was a variety of cleaning supplies, a box containing a fancy thermometer, a dozen rolls of toilet paper and…a pregnancy test. She slowly pulled it out and stared at it. She turned the box over in search of the expiration date.
Well, if this wasn’t karma, she didn’t know what was: It expired this month.
She peed on the stupid thing, cleaned up, flushed the toilet and then put the lid down so she could sit on it. She drummed her fingers on the marble counter as she waited, tapping her foot and wondering what the hell she was going to do. Finally, when way more than two minutes had passed, she picked it up to see the results.