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Eric dashed to the car.
Annette called out, "Be good, Eric, and I'll see you afterward."
"I'll bring him straight home."
"Please, Luke doesn't know he's playing, and we need to keep it that way."
That statement told me everything that I needed to know about the living situation. The fact that Eric could hide the joy he got from playing hockey meant that Annette's common law husband was super scary since what six-year-old didn't stop chattering about something that he loved so much?
It was a short drive to the rink.
From the moment that we parked, Eric was already unbuckling himself from the car seat. He grabbed his stick and bag. It was sweet, especially when so many kids his age didn't even try to carry their stuff in.
We got into the rink. Eric led the way to the bleachers and sat down. He started to put his stuff on. He had a wide smile on his face and said, "I got this, Miss Natalie. But I need help tying my skates. I can't get them tight enough."
"Okay, bud." But I still would help grab his pads and hand them off to him.
He was actually really good at putting on his pads. It was only his knee pads that he needed to be told to flip it around.
It didn't take long for the kid to be completely covered in pads. As promised, I helped to get his skates tied up.
After that, he hopped up and said, "I'm going on now, Miss Natalie."
Despite looking like a marshmallow, Eric was missing one very important thing. There was no way in hell he was allowed to go no bucket. Even walking down the rink, the kids all had their helmets off.
"Hold up, short stuff."
Eric immediately paused in his steps like a scared little cat.
Damn it, I should have checked under his clothes for bruises.
Instead, I let Eric's joy of being at the rink be the guiding factor despite knowing that Spence was worried that Luke might have done something.
His reaction wasn't normal, and it was so damn indicative of kids who were used to getting in trouble.
I picked up his helmet and said, "You forgot this."
Eric toddled over and took the helmet. He put his head in, but he struggled with the strap. Didn't help that his hands were in those thick gloves. So I walked over and said, "Let me."
I quickly fixed the straps and got it to stay. The moment I dropped my hand, Eric rushed out to the rink door. He watched the Zamboni go around.
One thing that I couldn't quite shake, nor was there any reason to really feel this way, was the feeling of being watched. But when I looked over my shoulder, I didn't see anything. So, I kept a close eye on Eric.
His desire to go out onto the ice and just play reminded me of Carter when he was that age. Just so eager to be on the ice and to soak in everything at the rink.
Since there were still kids needing to get suited up and there wasn't a pure one-to-one ratio between chaperones and kids, I helped the shelter to get the kids dressed.
The temperature was a bit chilly. It was an ice rink, so it wasn't too surprising. But not wanting to get ice cold, I went to the concession stand to order a hot chocolate.
A tall man popped out of a recess, crossed his arms and said, "What the fuck are you doing with my son and where the fuck is Annette?"
Oh Shit!
This had to be Luke Donaldson. The man looked like a bodybuilder. But the thing that really scared me was the fact that his eyes were dead and black.
Chapter 30
Spencer
