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“Let’s try,” I suggested, standing and taking his hand.
“I’m gonna sit with Miss Violet,” Katie told us. “She looks sad.”
I glanced over at Violet to see her holding a handkerchief to her face as Sam comforted her.
“Is your mom okay?” I asked Sly.
“She’s overwhelmed with joy,” he said. “Just not handling it well.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good, I guess.”
Katie headed off to see Sly’s parents, and I followed him out to the dance floor as “Wonderful Tonight” played around us.
Sly pulled me into his arms, and I breathed in the “dirty candy” scent of him I’d grown to love. It still set off tiny explosions of anticipation inside me. I pressed myself lightly against the solidity of his chest, resting my head on his shoulder as we swayed to the music.
There were other couples dancing under the soft lights with us, but as Sly held me in his arms, everything faded away except for us, together, in a perfect moment.
We didn’t talk, not with words. But I felt myself telling him all the things I needed to say, and I felt every sentiment being returned in the soft touch of his hands, the steady beat of his heart.
When the evening wound down and people began to filter back to their cabins and rooms in the lodge, I knew we would have to say goodbye. Katie was here, and as much as I wanted to be alone with Sly, it wasn’t going to happen.
“You sleepy, Katie bear?” I asked the exhausted little girl who’d gone back to the table and rested her head on it now, slumped forward in her sparkly green dress.
“Nooo,” she moaned, her eyes shut.
I exchanged looks with Sly, who smiled at my daughter in a way that told me he loved her every bit as much as he loved me.
“What if I give you a ride?” Sly asked her.
One eye popped open as Katie seemed to evaluate his sincerity. “Okay.” She reached out one arm, not lifting her head from the table.
“Not tired, huh?” I asked her.
“Just resting.”
Sly scooped her up, and she wrapped herself around him, dropping her head close to his as her arms locked around his neck.
I snapped a quick photo of them with my phone, wanting to remember this moment, when the big tough hockey player I loved held my daughter so tenderly—and her trust in him was clear in every relaxed muscle of her little body.
We said our goodbyes and headed out into the warm night. The sounds of the lake lapping the shore filtered through the air, along with murmurs from other partygoers and the occasional cry of a nightbird up in the towering pines overhead.
I took a deep happy breath and let it out, wrapping my arm through one of Sly’s.
“Think there are any bears around?” he asked.
“Probably,” I told him. “But they aren’t interested in us.”
“Bigfoot though,” Katie supplied, her voice slurry with sleep.
“Oh right,” Sly said.
I sighed. I’d have to tell Katie about Bigfoot in the morning.
We headed into the cabin I shared with my daughter, and took her into the smaller bedroom where a twin bed waited to receive her. She was asleep before Sly even managed to get her shoes off her feet. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and whispered good night to her, then turned to me.
“Should I see you in the morning then?” He blinked at me, shifting his weight.
“Or you could just wait a minute until I get Katie tucked in.”
