AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My dad, on the other hand, stopped trying after a few years of attempting to reconnect with no luck.
He texted me last year on the night that we lost the Stanley Cup game and told me that I still played a good game and that he was proud of me. It was the first correspondence in over fifteen years, and it told me something I didn’t know—my dad still watches my games.
I didn’t respond.
Eighteen years might seem long enough to let go of a grudge, but I believe loyalty should be matched.
I only have as much for you as you have for me.
It's part of the reason I've stayed in the NHL for so long. I could have retired years ago, but the locker room is a place that shares my outlook on loyalty. We look out for one another. And if you ever find yourself on a team where the players believe that it's every man for himself, they're usually upfront about it, or you find out quickly who you can trust and who you can't.
Walking back into the restaurant, I glance over at the table in the corner, where I expect to find Brynn typing away on her book.
I see our food has been delivered, and her laptop is up, but nothing on her plate looks touched.
Searching the restaurant and bar, I see no sign of her.
I walk over to Marie, the hostess.
“Have you seen the woman I walked in with?”
She looks up from the receipts she’s adding together from the morning rush, which has died down a little.
“Oh, Brynn?” she asks with a bright smile, as if I just brought up her favorite subject.
“Yeah. She’s not at our table,” I say, pointing to the empty booth in the far back corner.
Marie looks around the restaurant quickly and then turns back to me.
“I bet she just took a tray of dirty dishes to the kitchen for the busboy to wash. I’m sure she’ll be right back out. She moves quickly.”
“What? Why would she be taking dirty dishes back?”
Marie turns back to her calculator and receipts.
“Because she’s been bussing tables ever since you left so that the busboy could focus on keeping the dishwasher going. She’s been a Godsend. I don’t know what we would have done without her,” she says, her fingers typing up receipt after receipt.
“Rita asked her to help out?”
“Oh no… you know Rita would never do that. Brynn just jumped up and started busing tables. Rita told her that she didn’t need to but Brynn said that she’d rather be helpful and that she wanted to wait to eat with you anyway,” Marie glances up at me quickly and then looks over her shoulder just in time to see Brynn walking briskly out of the kitchen with an empty black busing bin and a wet tablecloth in her hand. “She’s a real sweetheart. I’m glad you finally found a great girl to settle down with. I was beginning to worry.”
A great girl to settle down with.
Where did she come up with that?
“We’re not together. She’s just staying with me for a few days until Silas can get her a room.”
“Really?” she asks with a lifted brow as if she doesn’t believe me.
“I swear. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“Well, that’s disappointing, to say the least.”
“Why do you care if I’m dating Brynn or not?”
“Because she’s the kind of person that helps out a group of total strangers without being asked and has no motivation to do it except that she’s a good person. She matches your energy perfectly. And now I can tell you’re going to let her walk away, aren’t you?”
“Marie… I barely know her—”
