Page 127 of Making the Save

“Danny?”

Wyatt’s father turned around and beamed at me. “You made it! Wyatt wasn’t a hundred percent that you would come, but I was sure of it.”

“Danny, this is my…this is my very good friend, Beatrice.”

Beatrice smiled at me and then stretched out her hand. “Mr. Locke. Very nice to meet you.”

“You as well,” he said, with a twinkle in his smile. “My son tells me you take very good care of Sydney.”

“I do my best.”

“Sorry he was such an ass, Syd. He had a rough go of it when he was a kid, and we’re all still working through it.”

I patted his shoulder. “It’s all right,” I said.

“Heard you got a dog you named after that alien movie. You really do love that stuff, huh? Beatrice, can I get you something to drink?”

“You know, I believe a spot of champagne might be just the thing,” she said.

I grinned at her. I’d never known Beatrice to drink on the job, but this truly felt more like a really good friend, being there for me when I needed her. So drinks were absolutely acceptable.

“Team’s taking the ice,” Danny said, returning from the open bar with two glasses of champagne.

I rushed forward toward the seating area that was outside of the enclosed suite so I could get a clear view of the skaters. The fans cheered as they came off the bench to circle the nets. An announcer somewhere was calling off their numbers and names.

Patiently, I waited for #43. If I screamed as loudly as I possibly could, would he hear me? Would he know that I was here? That I’d accepted his offer of a date and that I’d worn the jersey he’d sent me?

Only his number, his name, wasn’t announced.

What did it mean that he wasn’t here? Had he gotten hurt? He would have told me if he’d gotten hurt, wouldn’t he?

I wrapped my hand around the railing, at a loss for what to do next. Wyatt wasn’t on the ice, which meant I had no idea where he was.

“Team looks strong this year. They have a chance to go all the way, I think.”

I whirled around at the sound of his voice. Wyatt was standing there in jeans and a black Henley shirt, as calm as I’d ever seen him.

“I don’t understand,” I said, pointing down at the ice. “Why aren’t you down there?”

“You look good in my jersey, Syd. It was hard to pick the one I wanted you to have, but ultimately I landed on the jersey I wore when we won the Stanley Cup a few years ago.”

Which had to be what? Only his most prized possession.

“Wyatt, I don’t understand. Are you hurt? Did you injure yourself practicing?”

I searched his body up and down but found no evidence of a cast or bandage.

“No, not injured,” he said quietly, and then took my hands in his. “Retired.”

“What?” I asked, in near shock. “But you’re still really good. You said probably in a year or two…” I trailed off when I saw him shake his head.

“See, the thing is, Syd, I always had this idea that I would play the game and retire when I was ready. Then I would think about settling down. Find a wife, have some kids. All of it on my timeline. At my choosing. Like I was in total control of my future. Only, I found out I’m not.”

“You’re not?” I breathed.

He shook his head. “No. What I learned is, you can’t plan when you’re going to fall in love with someone. Sometimes you meet this incredible woman at a golf outing and all you know is that you only want to spend more and more time with her. And when you’re lucky enough to have that time, you start to get greedy, because you never want her to leave your side. So you take her away to your cabin and hide her away from the world so she’s all yours. You fall hard and fast and it scares the shit out of you because now you realize everything is out of your control.Plus, she’s got her own life that you don’t fit in, and it makes you feel self-conscious and shitty. So you say some dumbass shit to try to build up these walls that are crashing down all around you. I planned to play another season, maybe another two, then go look for a wife. Instead, my wife came and found me. So now it’s time to retire. If you’ll still have me.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head to clear the buzzing in my ears. He said love. I was certain of it. He said marriage and wife. When I opened them, Wyatt Locke was down on one knee in front of me. A diamond ring pinched between his big beefy fingers. I could hear the audible gasp from the crowd and turned to see that we were on the Jumbo-tron.