Trane stood up to the microphone.
“We are all here to honor Coach Hal Fenwick. Ten years ago, when we were all a little scrawnier…”
“You were.” Zane called out.
“Ok, ten years ago when Zane was the runt of our group.” Trane laughed to himself. “I thought Coach was invincible, and eternal. Nothing could ever stop him. He knew everything and he loved…he loved unconditionally.” Trane cleared his throat. “But here we are, that same man turning seventy years old. I can’t even believe it.”
He turned to the crowd. “So we all came here to celebrate. Let’s give a warm and loud welcome to the one, the only, Hal Fenwick, always and forever known as Coach.”
Everyone stood and cheered and clapped. The sounds were loud and long. Moms had tears. Kids were unashamedly calling out his name. Trane’s eyes brimmed with pride.
Janae felt honored to be there.
The side door opened, and in walked an older gentleman, strong and muscly with a lovely woman on his arm. She looked his age, his equal, standing tall at his side.
He kissed her, and then she sat in the front row while he came to stand at the microphone.
“Seems a bit unfair that a man has to come up with a speech on his own birthday.”
Everyone laughed.
“But I suppose I should be glad to use this moment to tell each one of you to watch the puck.”
They laughed again.
“No one does that well enough.” He paused and looked back at his guys. “Well, except for Trane. He might do it well enough sometimes.”
They all laughed again.
The love in the room was powerful and unifying. Janae was suddenly feeling like she’d known all these Northbrook families for years.
Coach said, “And now, I know birthdays are supposed to be all about me, but instead, I want to talk about these guys behind me. Many of you families who are new to our program might not have even heard of these guys. Their jerseys are up hanging in the arena. And they’re some of the best pro hockey players out there. But do you know why they’re special?”
He looked around the room, and Janae could feel every young boy in that room sitting taller. “They don’t forget important people in their lives.”
The guys looked at each other and back at Coach.
“They don’t forget how to say thank you.” He cleared his throat. “And they give back. You see this center? You see the new paint, the renovations, the scholarship program?” He nodded. “That’s these guys. And their friends. They give back. So I’d like each of them to say something to you tonight, and you young ones, you listen carefully. There aren’t many men as good as what you see right here, on the ice and off, on the outside and the in.” Coach stepped away. “Clint, why don’t you start us off?”
A tall man with sandy hair, who was broad and friendly looking, stood in front of them. He had a ready smile and pulled some notecards out of his pocket. “Hi. I’m Clint McCarthy. In between Northbrook and the pros I served four years of active duty as a marine. And one thing I learned there that I also share with these guys behind me, is brotherhood. Family means a lot of things. See these people around you. Whether or not you live in the same house, they can be your family. And for some of us, it will be the only family we know, and for others, it’s just a larger extension of those that live at home.” Clint turned to Coach. “I’m going to be thanking Coach for the rest of my life for teaching me even before I went overseas with the marines, what it means to be a true friend and a true teammate to another. Thank you, Coach.”
Everyone clapped.
And Coach waved him back up to the front. “You forgot to tell us about yourself.”
Clint shook his head. “Okay, so.” His eyes connected with Bree’s for the splash of a second, and Janae thought she would melt at the sweetness of it all.
“So. I’m center for the St. Louis Black Hawks. I was raised here in Chicago. I love Bree Stone.” He pointed right at Bree, and she just smiled, confident, happy, in love herself from the looks of things. “And that’s all you need to know about me.” He pointed to a beautifully dressed man with thick, dark red hair and an impressive beard. “Jax?”
He stood and made his way to the microphone amidst some pretty loud cheering. He smiled and waved. “I play for the Flyers.”
“Go Emerson!”
“Thank you.” He nodded. “I’m a Left Wing. I didn’t know what position I wanted to play. I started on defense, but Coach helped me find the best position for me. So listen to him. What else about me? I think everyone should make their own way in the world, with some hard work, persistence, and a good amount of grit too.” He nodded at Coach. “As far as Coach Fenwick here, the man helped me know what it means to be a gentleman. I’ve seen lots of men hold the door for their wives, or help them with their coats and things, which Coach does, but he’s true to his wife in the way he talks about her, in how he looks at her. He’s a true gentleman in his heart. And I decided a long time ago, that’s what I was going to be too.”
Everyone clapped some more. Jax waved to Rocco.
Rocco held up both his hands, “And I’m Rocco De Luca!”
Janae laughed. “Wow, he’s something.”
“He’s got such a big heart. Everyone loves Rocco. He’ll fight you, and then kiss you after it’s over.” Bree turned to Janae with her mouth open. “On the ice, I mean.”
“Oh, I totally got what you meant.” The more she got to know Bree, the more she loved her.
“Tell me about you.”
“Oh, I can get to that later. You heard Clint. We’re childhood friends, both related to the Six-Pack. That’s how we met.”
“Who are you related to?”
“Ryker Stone. First baseman.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of him, the one who’s dating Trista McKinney.”
“Yep. That’s them.”
They turned back to Rocco.
“Just like the other guys, I owe Coach a lot. My family moved here from New York City when I was in high school, and I was pretty lonely. I kinda thought that Chicago should be more like New York.” He shrugged. “But Coach showed me how to love my new town and how to be a good friend to these guys and to the people in my school. He showed me that I can feel all the emotion, right here.” He tapped his chest. “But when I’m done with the game, when I walk off the rink, it ends there. Because what happens on the ice is a game. And what happens off the ice is real. With real people, and they have lives and problems and feelings.” Rocco started to tear up. “Just like all of us.” He turned back to the guys and tapped his chest. “And as for me, I play for the Wyoming Steers. I’m a wing, like Jax, and my proudest moment this year? I learned how to score off Trane.” He raised his hands in the air with a number one.
His team groaned. And Bree laughed.
A huge man stood up next. “I’m Zane Winchester.” The cheers for him were mostly high-pitched and feminine.
Janae smiled.
“Most people who know me love my daughter Hope the best. She’s beautiful, creative, loyal, and six years old.”
The Pit guys cheered and pumped the air.
“But seriously. I don’t know if I could be the dad I am to Hope if I hadn’t first known Coach Fenway.” He saluted the coach. “I play for the Tennessee Hounds. I’m on defense, and I’m just going to say it, not much gets past me.” He held up one finger in the air and then returned to his seat.
Bree grinned. “He’s the second biggest softie of the group.”
Janae wanted to ask who the biggest softie was, but she suspected she already knew.
Trane watched her, his eyes intense.
She gave him a small smile.
And the corner of his mouth ticked up, just a touch.
What Rocco had revealed still shook her. His dad had insulted her. And that’s what had made Trane lose it.
Her heart pounded loudly in her chest.
Declan stood next. Janae had already met him.
“Declan Rivera here. It’s just me and my mom now in Denver. I play for the Chargers. Coach has been trying to get my thinking straight for years. And when I put him right here.” Declan tapped his forehead. “It takes my game to the next level. And a few other things I’ve learned this year as well.” He nodded to the guys behind him. “If you stick with your team, do what Coach tells you, and work hard, good things will happen—in more ways than one.”
And then Trane stood at the microphone again. “You already heard from me. I was raised in Detroit and here. I’m back in Michigan playing for the Detroit Comets. Coach is like my own dad. When I didn’t have anything healthy for me at home, Coach helped me see straight. When I didn’t have someone to tell me smoking was an addictive habit, Coach flushed my first pack down the toilet. When he found a beer, he drank it himself. And when I didn’t know what to do with all the…anger on the ice, he made me skate laps. Coach has done a lot of good for a lot of people, and I’m just happy we can be here to celebrate. Happy birthday Coach.”
The doors at the back opened, and a couple women came in carrying a huge cake with what looked like seventy candles. Janae was impressed with the whole evening, with Trane’s sincerity, and with all the players. If she’d had something like this during her high school years, she might have had a healthier outlook on her dancing career.
Everyone stood and began to mingle, have refreshments, and catch up on what looked like old and dear friendships. As Janae stood off to the side, watching the rest of the evening play out, she thought about Trane. And still, by the end of the evening, she hadn’t figured him out.
Chapter 17
Trane waited with the guys for the room to clear. They’d talked to everyone present, signed autographs for the kids, joked around with Coach, accepted kisses on cheeks from his wife. And now, they just wanted to leave, go get dinner together, and go to bed.
And Trane wanted to talk to Janae.
She hadn’t left. And he counted that as a victory. But he would give anything in the world to wipe away her wary expression. Instead of the sassy, confident woman he’d met, Janae had closed off and now looked about five hundred miles away. He couldn’t blame her. It was for this very reason that even though he’d fallen for women before, he’d not gotten close to anyone. At least not really close enough to marry them, let alone have children. He just didn’t trust himself. And if there was one thing he wanted in this world, it was to never be anything like his father to any child.
Declan muttered. “I think it’s time for everyone to leave. Coach is looking tired.”
Coach spoke with Mrs. Fenway a little ways off for a moment, and the tender expression on her face warmed Trane’s heart. The two of them had something special. He cleared his throat. “Thanks everyone for coming. Coach will be available by the usual means later. For now, we’re calling it a night.”
The lights flickered, and Trane smirked at Rocco in the back with his hand on the switch. People started to clear out. Coach came forward. “Thanks, son.”
His heart stuttered. Son. Whenever Coach called him son, it meant more to him than anything else.
“Yeah, you’re as much my son as anyone.” He put his hand on Trane’s arm, and then Trane pulled him into a hug.
Mrs. Fenway laughed. “We never could understand why we weren’t blessed with children. How wrong we were to think that all these years. Look at you boys. Hal and I couldn’t be more proud of each one of you.”
Trane blinked but his eyes felt misty anyway. “Thank you both. You’re the only parents I’ve ever known.”
“You’re such a tribute to us Trane. An excellent man in every way.”
He swallowed and Coach let him go. Then they said goodnight to all the players, a moment of sentimentality for each one. Watching them leave, Trane said to no one in particular. “That right there is goals for every one of us.”
When no one answered, Trane turned back to them. Every guy had his eyes on Trane.
“What?”
Clint shrugged. “Goals. A good woman. A family. We’re working on it. Are you?” His gaze flit to Janae and back.
“I don’t know. I might have blown it.”
“Nah. You got this. You skipping dinner with us?” Declan crossed his arms.
“I was thinking we’d both join you. Then do something later.”
Now Trane wasn’t sure what he should do. But after a moment of indecision, Zane started walking toward the door. “If I don’t eat in the next twenty minutes, things are going to start going downhill for me from there. Anyone who wants to is welcome.”
The other guys joined him. But Trane waited.
Janae stood near the door, looking at her phone.
The guys walked by her and out the door one by one, offering a high five or a fist bump. She lifted her gaze to his. When they were alone, Trane approached.
She was tall and slender, and her legs went on and on. In her beautiful black dress with form fitting sweater, she was stunning. She smiled. “We off then?”
He nodded, and before he could say anything else, she started walking in the direction of the parking lot. He called after her while hurrying to catch up. “Do you want to…talk about anything?”
She called back over her shoulder. “Not really, no. Some things need to be thought about first, you know?”
She kept walking at a faster pace than Trane thought necessary. Was she trying to get away from him? The thought chilled him to his core.
“Did you want to go to dinner with the guys or just us?”
“We should join the guys, right? That’s what I planned on. You six are hardly ever together I thought.”
“True, but they’d understand…”
“No way. Let’s go meet them. It would be fun to see everyone.”
“Okay. I think Bree is coming too, and maybe some other women, I haven’t heard.”
“Either way. I won’t get in your way, and I think I can handle a bunch of guys.”
He had no doubt. He smiled just thinking about what they might say to her and dreaming up her responses.
“Okay, off to Chicago’s best churrascaria.”
“What?”
“It’s the Brazilian meat restaurant. Have you heard of them? They have an amazing salad bar, and the waiters keep bringing you these huge cuts of meat. You tell them where to slice, and they leave some of it on your plate.”
“Fun. I’ve never done that before.”
“It’s delicious.”
“I’ve learned to trust the food critic in you. And I’m starving.”
He held the door open to his rental. “I’ll let them know we’re coming.”
“We should be just right behind them.”
Their responses when he let them know cracked him up. He let Janae scroll through. Her giggles, snorts, and loud laughter made him want to congratulate the guys. And she trusted the food critic in him. Maybe other parts of him too.
They arrived at the valet parking. Trane waved the guys off Janae’s door and opened it himself. He reached for her hand. When her small fingers laced with his, his hope rose.
The guys were already seated but didn’t have their drinks yet. Declan waved them over.
“Bree’s here too.” Trane pointed her out.
“She’s great. The guys too.”
They sat in the middle of a table full of large, handsome men. Bree sat between Clint and Rocco, not quite close enough for Janae to have a conversation with, but from what Janae could tell, she was distracted enough by Clint anyway.
As their server approached, a couple of tall, handsome men joined them. As if the room could handle any more-larger-than life personalities. Clint stood. “Brother.” He hugged a large and burly man, nearly Clint’s twin. Then he did the same for the other, white-blond haired man. “Ryker.”
Then Ryker hugged Bree. “Sister, these men treating you right?”
Clint slugged him.
“Yeah, ow. Okay. Watch the arm.”
Clint’
s brother snorted. “I don’t expect you hockey players to understand, but we have to worry about things like aim, strength, speed. Our throwing arm doesn’t have a stick to help us.”
Trane snorted. “He did not just try to make some comparison with hockey.”
“Are those the Six-Pack guys?” Janae asked Trane.
Trane called out. “Grizz, Ryker.”
Trane stood and shoulder hugged the guys. “I want you to meet Janae. She works at the Comets arena in Detroit with me.”
She stood and was soon enveloped in a bear-like hug. The man called Grizz towered over her in a brotherly way. And then Ryker did the same. When they let her go, she stepped back a little into Trane. “Wow. Hi.”
“This is Clint’s brother, David MacCarthy and Ryker Stone, Bree’s brother.”
“I’m happy to meet you guys.”
They waved to the server and soon had two more chairs added at the other end of the table. Conversation started up all around them, and Trane put his arm on the back of Janae’s chair and leaned closer. The smell of her soap filled the air around them. Or her shampoo. Her nose tilted up at the end in a fun perky way, and when she said just the right words, that dimple showed up on her cheek. He enjoyed the small space between them, feeling that pull to be closer. Her breath was soft, brushing across his skin in a happy caress when she answered a question.
“You’re beautiful.”
Her eyes lifted to his. Her gaze travelled his face, and he felt the delicious attention leaving tingles on his skin. “I’m happy I came.”
“Me too.”
Trane looked across the table at Declan.
“How’s your mom?” Trane guzzled about half of his water, and the server refilled it immediately.
“She’s good. She’s made some friends, taken to getting her hair and nails done, and best of all, she and Princess have found their own place.”
“Princess?” Janae grinned.
“Her cat.” Declan pretended to be annoyed but Trane suspected he secretly liked that cat.
The guys started talking stats of all the playoff-bound teams and analyzing which were on the bubble.
Jax held his cup up in Trane’s direction. “Now that Diesel here is back on the ice, Comets have a chance to get in, and then they’ll have a shot at the Cup.”
Shootout (Northbrook Hockey Elite Book 6) Page 12