Page 44 of Personal Foul

“My father.”

Indecision settled on his face and she nudged him. “Go ahead. It’s time.”

He took a deep breath, nodded, and connected the call putting it on speaker. “Hello, Dad.”

“Kaiden! I’m … wow, you picked up. I, uh, just wanted to tell you that was a fantastic game.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re on your way to setting records.”

“Maybe. I’m just lucky to be playing with a great group of guys.”

“Yes, teamwork is important.”

An awkward silence fell between them, and Romilly nodded toward the phone.

“Um, Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to get together soon? I think we have a lot to talk about.”

His father cleared his throat, and when he spoke emotion clogged the words. This was a man who desperately wanted to reconnect with his son.

“I’d love that.”

“Okay.”

“I can come to the next game.”

“All right. And, um. You can bring Nick.”

“Thank you, Kaiden,” his father whispered. “We’ll see you next week.”

“Yep.” Kaiden disconnected the call. “I feel like a weight has fallen off my shoulders.”

“Pain is a heavy burden to carry.”

He brought her knuckles up and kissed them. “You’re amazing. I love you, Romilly.”

“I love you back,” she said, smiling.

“Let’s go buy a house,” he said. “Then you can move in with me.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You want me to live with you?”

“Actually, I want you to marry me, but I figured we’d wait on that a bit so I can come up with a romantic surprise.”

Her mouth fell. “Uh. You definitely surprised me.”

He grinned. “Come on, Babe. Happily ever after is waiting for us.”

The End