AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Stefan agrees, lounging beside me on the couch after making sure that my knee is properly elevated and iced. “Anything else you need before we start the movie?”
“Just you.”
As Stefan watches the movie, I watch Stefan. Waiting for reactions. Hoping he laughs in all the right places. Hoping he appreciates the story, the humor, the spinach puffs.
“Stop watching me,” he finally says, leaning close and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I’m enjoying it, but more than that I’m enjoying watchingyouenjoy it.”
After the movie, Stefan hovers behind me while I walk around the house. It’s slow going as I move around the house, testing my walking without the assistance of crutches. Every now and then Stefan reaches out to steady me, reaching for my waist but not finding purchase.
“I’m ready to put you in hockey pants,” he says with a laugh. “Then I’d have something to hang on to.”
“I can walk just fine, Morrow.”
“Humor me, Henderson.” Warmth spreads through my body with his soft words, and his even softer hands holding me steady. “Remind me when you go back to physical therapy?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I wish I could stay,” he whispers, as I stop in the hallway, half turning toward him as he closes the distance between us. “I wish I could be there with you.”
“I know.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, I press a soft kiss to his lips. I wish he could be here with me tomorrow too, but the team needs him. The team is more important than me and my recovery. “One more game on the road and then you’ll be home.”
“Francine, I don’t know if I made it clear the other day,” Stefan’s hands frame my face, fingers gently brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear, “but I love you. And leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve done in a long time, I don’t want to do it again.”
“Stefan…” Dropping my hands to his waist, I pull him as close as he’ll let me.
“It’s just a game, Francine. They don’t need me.”
“Yes they do.”
“Not more thanyouneed me.”
“Stefan, I love you. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t need you.”
“I’m not exactly sure how I’m supposed to take that.”
He offers a small smile, the only way I know my words haven’t hurt him.
“What I mean is I don’t need you with me at therapy. This isn’t my first rodeo.” They’ll evaluate me. Check how my incisions are healing. Get me started on a few exercises to do at home while we wait for my insurance to authorize the rest of my visits, and then send me on my way. I’ll see my surgeon at the end of the week and hopefully start my physical therapy routine,too. “What I need is for you to go to Ottawa, and get the Union the two points we need to keep us in playoff contention.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Stefan kisses me, holding me tight. “For now, let’s enjoy the rest of the day.”
We nap on the couch after lunch, Stevie between us. Stefan wakes me up for my next round of medication and drapes an ice pack on my knee. Knowing I need to move around a bit, Stefan agrees to let me help him cook dinner. We work side by side in the kitchen, tense silence settling between us, knowing that as soon as we’re done eating, he has to leave again. I want to drag this out as much as I can, but he has a flight to catch, and I can’t keep him from it.
Stefan is a master in the kitchen. If watching him on the ice is poetry in motion, watching him in the kitchen is the same. He moves with purpose, stirring sauce in one pot and monitoring pasta in the other.
“I’m sorry,” he says with a laugh, “my specialty is my pre-game meal.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“After the season, I’ll cook you something other than pasta.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“I hope you do.”
It’s an unseasonably warm March day, and when dinner is ready, Stefan carries our plates out to the table in his backyard. We eat dinner and watch the sunset as a slight chill sets in with the breeze off the water. As our time ticks down, Stefan grows quiet, his mood changing.
“I’ll take care of the dishes,” he says, standing and taking my plate on his way into the house. “Stay out here for a bit.”
