Page 114 of Home Ice

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Thanks for making time for me.”

“Yes, well …”

Well. The unspoken “she didn’t have a choice.” I know there’s a power imbalance between us when it comes to Kasen, but I don’t want that to shadow every conversation anymore. I want my money to be an asset to her, and I want her connection with Kasen to be an asset to me.

We both have what the other needs and—more importantly—what Kasen needs.

“Having that time away with Kasen was amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Yes …” She runs her thumb over the saucer. “He was very excited when he got back.”

“I can’t imagine what that looks like.” At her confused expression, I continue. “He tends to keep everything locked up around me.”

It takes her a minute, like she’s trying to choose between which response to give me. “He doesn’t trust you.”

“He didn’t,” I correct her. “But we’re getting there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. In fact, I think we might have found a temporary solution for us all.”

Amelia slowly puts down her cup. “Temporary?”

“I understand what you’ve gone through. Not completely, obviously, but I know what it must be like. I also know that Kasen’s seen shit he never should have in his life, and I don’t want to disrupt him any more than the last few months already have.”

Some of her coldness seeps out. “What are you saying?”

“Kasen and I talked, and given his schooling and my work, we agreed the best thing for him is to continue living here—assuming that’s what you want.”

I’m barely finished before she’s nodding. “I do.”

“But he’ll be spending all of his school vacations with me and some weekends when we can make it happen.”

Some of her enthusiasm dims. “Including summer vacation?”

“We’ll take it year by year. I want to travel with him and spend as much time with him as possible, but I know it’s a long time, so we’ll make plans to be in Watesburg for some of it too.”

She takes a moment to think it through. “And Christmas?”

“I get three days off, so if it means fighting with holiday flights to be here, I’ll do it. Or maybe I could fly you both into St. Louis. We can work that out.”

“And the rest of the time, he’ll be with me?”

“Yes. It’s what he wants.” I ignore the hurt, because I get it, and there’s more she’s not going to like. “I’ll be paying child support and for anything he needs. Which includes hockey.”

Her eyes narrow an inch. “Is this where you tell me that I have to let him play, or you’ll take him?”

“Not at all. Kasen and I have already agreed to everything. This is me telling you that both his mom and his dad support him playing. And you need to respect that.”

“I …”

“He’s really good. He’s also, unfortunately, behind. Kasen’s almost fifteen, which means there’s only a few years until he enters the draft. We need to get his name out there, get scout interest, and get him on the lineup for World Juniors.”

“He needs to focus on school.”

“He needs to focus on his passion. Carly knew that, and she worked her ass off for it. I’m not going to let her efforts be wasted.”