Page 110 of One Wild Chance

“Yeah.” I look over where Summer’s talking to Jess, gesturing with both hands, and my jacket on her shoulders. “I think she knows.”

Of all my brothers, Wyatt’s the one who gets it. Not that he’s been in love, but he understands what it costs to want something that doesn’t fit tidily into your life.

“She’s good for you,” he says finally.

“Yeah,” I murmur, unable to rip my eyes away from her. “She makes me forget I ever wanted to return to hockey.”

Rhett turns to me with a surprised look. “That serious?”

I study the ground for a second. There’s no point in softening this. “Serious enough that I turned down a coaching interview with the Michigan Mavericks.”

“You did what?” Grady asks, his eyes widening.

“It’s only an assistant-coach position.” I shrug. “I told them no.”

The three of them stare at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Listen, I want to be wherever she is,” I explain, “and she’s put down her roots here in Golden Springs.”

“Jaxon.” Rhett’s voice is low. “You turned down the NHL?”

“I’m aware of what I did,” I say. “I want Summer to understand how committed I am to her.”

Rhett steps closer. This isn’t the hockey star or the charmer, now. This is my little brother who played with me for years in the youth league. We practically grew up on the ice together. He watched the replay of me being carried out of the arena after my injury three times. We may have always been competitors, but we were brothers first.

“You told us you turned down an interview,” Rhett says. “Not even the job yet, but an interview.”

I get that Rhett’s only pushing back because he knows what I’m giving up. After he went into the NHL, there’s always been this tension between us. But coming back to Golden Springs has made me see how much I’ve missed this place. How much I missed her. I know why her walls are up. She doesn’t have to say it out loud. I just have to keep showing up, like I do with Rebel, until she stops believing that I’m going to leave.

“If I were to take a coaching position, then I’d be gone most of the year. She’s not going to want that kind of life.” I look at each of my brothers, a knot in my throat. “And I don’t want to be away from her.”

“But are you happy?” Rhett presses.

“I’m content in a way I never was in hockey. That’s the part I can’t explain—I keep waiting for the restlessness to kick in, but it’s gone now.”

Grady slowly exhales. “I know this decision couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“It wasn’t. But Summer can’t leave Golden Springs. Her mom’s in a memory care facility twenty minutes from here, and her business is here, on our land.” I motion toward the wildflower fields. “And I don’t want to be away from Summer. That’s the deal.”

Wyatt nods once. “Once you know, I guess it’s not a hard decision.”

“You haven’t told her any of this?” Grady asks.

I shake my head. “Not yet. I want to make it a big thing—take her somewhere special, really show her I’m serious about her.” I rub the back of my neck. “We’ve just been too busy with the wedding venue and Keeneland coming up.”

Rhett pats me on the back. “I’m going to miss seeing you play, big brother. Even if we didn’t play for the same league, I always caught the replays. I thought I’d get to see you coach someday, watch you build a team.” He drapes an arm around my shoulder. “Now I get to watch you build a life here…maybe even a family. That’s better than anything on the ice.”

I’ve never heard Rhett hint at wanting a life outside of hockey or the lifestyle. But he just gave me his blessing, as it were, to step away from the game for good.

“Thanks, brother,” I say. “Means a lot.”

Wyatt sniffles, then wipes his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. “You know what?” he says, his smile returning. “I bet if Mom were here, she’d be crying tears of joy, probably yelling, it’s about time!”

I bark out a laugh, blinking back tears, even though my brothers are wiping their eyes too. Wyatt throws an arm around my shoulder, Rhett still holding on to the other side, and Grady squeezes in, until all four of us are crowded together. Say what you want about the Chance brothers, but we always have each other’s backs.

“Mom made a lot of sacrifices for us kids,” I say. “I don’t think she realized what she’d be surrendering when she gave up her barrel racing career and married Dad. But she made those sacrifices because she loved him, and he loved her more than anything.”

Talking about our parents usually makes the grief return, which is why I avoid it most days. But today, remembering them now brings more peace than it did before.

“They were happy here,” Wyatt says, squeezing my shoulder. “And you will be too.”