Second Chance Romance

by Asrai Devin

  "Yeah, but I never see my Dad."

  Mandy had almost cried. She hugged her son tight. "We'll talk about it, okay." That satisfied him.

  It also meant Colton was okay with it, if it happened. Kip had been so focused on hockey that there had been no talk of their future. He said he'd received good news from his agent, that he'd likely be staying in Calgary, so they'd be close by. Being close by would not work much longer.

  While the boys had been playing games, Mandy had been doing Kip's laundry from the road. He'd insisted she leave it for his cleaning lady, or he'd do it after this was all over. She couldn't sit passive and wait.

  That was how she found the ring. It matched the necklace he'd given her. She couldn't stop fiddling with it around her neck. Every time she touched her necklace, she'd been afraid that Kip would notice and know she'd found the ring.

  Was it an engagement ring? She wasn't sure. It wasn't a diamond. She was sure she'd once mentioned to him that she never wanted a diamond, that it was cliché. Which meant the coloured gem could be an engagement ring. If it wasn't, surely he'd had given it to her by now. She pondered this as paced the floor of the living room.

  At two in the afternoon, a knock on the door interrupted the hum. Kip, in the middle of a racing game against Corey, barely glanced over his shoulder at Mandy. "Can you get that babe?"

  Mandy rolled her eyes. "No problem." She skipped to the door, wondering who else would join them this afternoon. She stopped short in the middle of cheery, "Who's here now?" It was Kip's parents. They looked as shocked as she was, although Mandy was certain they were equally aware of the coinciding visit.

  "Hi Mrs. Turner, Mr. Turner. How are you?" Mandy felt sixteen again, meeting his parents for the first time. It had been nearly fourteen years since she'd seen them last. She held the door open to them.

  "Mandy, dear. Good to see you," Dorie Turner said.

  Mandy climbed the two steps to where she could see into the living room. "Kip, your parents are here," she said, tersely. She wasn't sure how his parents felt about the renewed relationship. She couldn't understand why she cared so much if they cared? Wasn't she too old to care?

  "Oh right." He paused the game and jumped around the corner. "Hey guys. How was the trip?"

  He pulled Mandy to his side.

  Kip's father, Derek, recovered first. "It was a long drive. But we checked in to the hotel and here we are. How much time until game?"

  Dorie turned to her husband, hands on hips. "Don't talk about it. You'll make him nervous. How's that a way to greet your son anyway?" She took the stairs to stand beside him.

  "Hi Mom." Kip let go of Mandy to give the older woman a hug.

  Mandy was unsure what to say as she stood there. Mandy shifted her weight, as they stared at each other. Mandy realized Doug, Corey and Colton watched it unfold. "Come in," Mandy finally said. "Find a seat. These guys will move."

  Dorie looked at Kip then Mandy. Kip smiled at Mandy. "Yeah come on. We're hanging out. This is Corey Porter. And Doug Black. This is my mom, Dorie and dad, Derek."

  The players shook hands with the parents as introductions were made. Corey managed to remain respectful which Mandy found amusing. Then Kip thrust her forward with his next words. "You remember Mandy."

  "Of course, we do. Glad to see her. And Mandy I'll ..." All eyes were on Mandy. She looked for Colton who hoped to go unnoticed on the sofa.

  Mandy gestured to him. "This is my son, Colton. Colton, this is Dorie and Derek Turner, Kip's parents."

  Colton raised his hand and mumbled, "Hello." Mandy wasn't sure whether she should force him to shake hands and say a proper hello or let it go. Kip saved her. "We're all taking it easy today." He pulled Mandy as he moved to the sofa to sit next to Colton. He pulled Mandy next to him and put his arm around her.

  "Until we head to the Dome," Corey put in. "Then it's nothing but business." He winked at Mandy who shook her head. "Tell us about what Kip was like as a kid? Mandy's filled us in on the teen years, but really, was he as much as smart ass as he was back then?"

  Chapter 13

  Mandy sat next to his parents at the game. She'd been on edge since their arrival at Kip's house. He raised his glove hand at her as he skated off the ice between the second and third.

  She blew him a kiss in response. Colton jumped. The game had been tight, with New York ahead, two goals to one, at the end of forty minutes.

  The minutes ticked by slowly. Doug tied the game with a goal. Kip stopped shot after shot. The crowd was deafening. Kyle scored his second of the game, which put Calgary ahead with only four minutes to go. The volume loud enough to shatter ears. She and Colton joined every Calgary fan in the building.

  The ten-second countdown came. The crowd called out the numbers. Kip relaxed, as the puck stayed in the other end of the rink.

  Unbelievably they had won. Kip thought there would be a riot as the crowd erupted in louder cheers and the team tackled him. Kip thought his heart might pound out of his chest. It didn't seem real, even as he held the Cup as a champion of the league. He'd been the best. He could relax. There would be a contract and he could propose to Mandy, move her to Calgary, and life would be perfect. His dream would be complete.

  A blur of pictures and interviews followed the game. The congratulations were endless. His agent flashed in front of his eyes. "Hey, three teams have called asking about you."

  "What?" Kip said, distracted by a hundred people all at once. This was a rather important conversation and he needed to focus but someone called his name from across the dressing room.

  "Uh yeah. San Jose and Vancouver and, uh, Nashville, I think. They're all asking. Free agent right?"

  "No word from Calgary? From Todd?" Brett Todd was the Calgary general manager.

  "Nothing yet. Did they say anything? Why you so bent on staying here? You've moved around more than once in your career?"

  "Personal reasons," Kip snapped back.

  "Right, your high school sweetheart. Look, I'll see what I can find out. Congratulations on the win."

  "Thanks." It didn't feel as if he'd won anything at the moment. He was supposed to be celebrating. Mandy managed to finally find him and he'd better put his celebration face on because he didn't really want to explain the depressing news. He smiled and hugged her close. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you.," He looked into her eyes, needing her grounding energy next to him. It was all too much for one night.

  Brett Todd came around later. He congratulated Kip on the win; they shook hands energetically. "I won't forget what you've done for the club. And I won't leave you out in the cold on it," was all Todd said.

  The man moved on before Kip could ask what he meant by his words. It left Kip feeling as he were left in the cold. His attention was drawn by something else and he forgot it for the moment

  It was late when they headed home. Colton was asleep and Kip carried him out to the truck, although he felt tired enough to drop. Mandy sleepily climbed into the passenger seat. Kip rested his head on the steering wheel. "I feel completely spent. At the same time like I won't sleep for a week."

  "I can't believe you did it," Mandy said, not for the first time.

  Kip looked at her intently. His eyes shining. "You deserve the moon right now."

  She leaned over and kissed him. "All I want is you, babe."

  "Let me take you home. Give you something special."

  "Do you think you have the energy left?"

  "We won the Ultimate Hockey Prize. I feel as if I could go forever."

  Once they had gotten home, Mandy went to brush her teeth. Kip laid his head on the soft pillows of his bed. The light on above the bed would surely keep him awake, he thought as his struggled to keep his eyes open. He gave in to the feeling and let them close. He didn't hear Mandy come out of the bathroom and laugh when she found him fast asleep.

  * * * *

  Kip didn't figure out what Todd meant until a week after that final winning game. That's when contract negotiations
with Calgary began. This meant a lot of conference calls, meetings, and thought about his future. It seemed to stretch on for months.

  He'd gone out for supper and drinks with his agent after signing the five-year deal. They'd negotiated for the whole two weeks. He'd barely seen Mandy in that time, barely talked to her. He'd spent the weekends at her townhouse, but he felt stressed about his absence.

  The deal done now, a great weight lifted off his shoulders. He sat in his truck outside his house and called Mandy to tell her. "Congrats," she answered the phone in a dull tone.

  "About what?" he asked, surprised.

  "The deal. I heard about it on the news at supper."

  For fuck's sake, was there nothing sacred in his life. Not anymore. After playing professionally for seven years, he'd suddenly shown skill he didn't even know he had. He was interviewed, talked about, and photographed.

  "Well, I was calling to tell you that I'm here for a while." He'd taken less money for the much talked about, no trade clause. He didn't want to leave the city. If he did, Mandy would leave and he wasn't letting her go again. "Near you."

  Later he decided that to be a mistake, because Mandy unloaded all her recent thoughts onto him. "I don't want to be nearby, Kip. I want to be with you. I know you've been thinking about it. I haven't talked to you about this stuff because of hockey. Stupid freaking hockey is coming between us again. And you know what, I've waited twelve years for you to come back and I'm tired of waiting. Maybe it's too much time."

  She stopped to blow her nose in the background and he prepared to wait. He wanted to hear all the stuff he forced her to keep in. She didn't carry on, she cried silently. He shouldn't be here while they had this conversation, he should be beside her. "Tell me the rest," he prompted, softly. More sniffles. "I'll wait."

  He remained silent as he got out of his truck and went into the house. He was taking off his shoes when she spoke again. "I've been so damned afraid that I would lose you again. I'm tired of waiting for things to be perfect before we move forward." She blew out a deep breath of air.

  "What do you mean perfect?"

  "I let go of a lot of my expectations. With Colton and his dad and you and everything. I had this vision of how I wanted my life to be and it was perfect and I wanted you to conform to that. I think that's why we let go in the first place, why I let go."

  "We," he said softly. "I was as much at fault."

  "We wanted things to be the way we'd dreamed. And that wouldn't happen. And we were stupid kids, what did we know about life?" Mandy sniffled into the phone, obviously crying now.

  "Right, that's what I'm saying." He was frustrated with her grudge. She'd been holding these things in for months now and he'd been letting her put off the inevitable discussion. He'd needed to focus on hockey, which had been the wrong choice and now he faced a bleak future once more.

  "Anyway, things aren't ever going to be perfect Kip. You are a hockey player. Half your career is road games and I can't travel with you. I only want to be with you. But you, it seems as if you want things to be perfect before you ask me to spend our lives together. And I can't wait for it anymore."

  Wait? She didn't have to wait any longer. He planned to ask her that this weekend. He wouldn't ask her over the phone. This was supposed to be a celebration. Before he could say anything, Mandy spoke again. "Maybe I need some space. I'll talk to you in a few days." She hung up the phone after those words.

  Kip closed it slowly, mechanically. He stared shocked at the phone for a while.

  Eventually he got up and ran himself a hot bath in the jet tub, letting it pound into his tense muscles.

  A terrible guilt settled into him. He'd been so focused on his game, on playing well, on training that he hadn't been giving her the attention. He shouldn't have put his needs first, he should have talked to her about the future. He shouldn't have listened to her when she said that they would talk after it was all over.

  He should have been on top of the world after being the winning goalie of the team that won The Stanley Cup. He had a five-year, multi-million dollar deal. But he would lose everything if he lost Mandy.

  As he ran through everything of the past two months of the series and Mandy, he realized the guilt went deeper.

  He walked away from her twelve years ago. It had been a bad cloud over their heads about that for the past four months. The original agreement had been that he would go and they would maintain a relationship, long distance and he'd come home to her when he could. He'd known that her plan all along was to let him go. And he'd let it happen. He'd let her push him away.

  She pushed him away again.

  Had she done it because of fear or love? He tried to remember what happened between them. But she refused to talk about her decisions.

  So he'd gone to play hockey because it was what she wanted him to do and what his father wanted him to do. Kip himself did really love the game. He'd gone more because of their desires than his wants.

  He probably would have stayed with her if he'd made the decision. Found an alternate career. Instead he'd let others run his life.

  It was far past the time to let others run his life. He waited far too long to have Mandy and he wouldn't let her slip away again. Even if she thought she was doing what was best for them.

  No, it wasn't time to sit back. It was time for action. He'd taken the challenge thrown to him by the NHL or the universe at large and he'd come up victorious. He had to have a decent plan. A plan to suck up to Mandy and show her how wrong he'd been.

  He relaxed into the jets. A plan formed in his mind already.

  * * * *

  Mandy snapped up the phone when it rang, hoping it was Kip. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she'd asked for space, but she was desperate to talk to him. Praying she hadn't pushed him away she sat at the kitchen table. "Hello?" her voice was breathy, full of fear and hope.

  "Hello Mandy."

  Mandy closed her eyes, a sinking feeling filling her gut. Eric fucking Tressor. What the hell did he want at 7:23 PM on a Wednesday? He only called on Saturdays and the rare Friday. "Hello Eric."

  "You sound less than thrilled to hear from me."

  She cleared her throat, trying to be at least civil to her child's father. "I was expecting someone else."

  "Yer fancy hockey man?" His voice full of spite, she'd never heard. "How did you pull of that kind of rich boy?"

  Mandy took a deep breath so she would remain civil. "Are you calling to talk to Colton?"

  "I was thinking I haven't seen the kid in a while."

  The kid? "Colton is your son Eric," Mandy hissed. Thankfully Colton was in the bathtub at the moment. "Something which you might have forgotten. You can talk to him, but I need to tell you something."

  Eric interrupted before she could inform of Kip's influence on Colton's life. "You are right. He is my kid. He should be coming here to visit me."

  Mandy scoffed. "You haven't seen him in eight months Eric. He wont jump on a plane because you suddenly have the urge."

  "You might have to if I take you to court over it."

  "Go ahead, Eric. I'd love to tell a judge how great a father you are." Damn it, she cursed herself. This headed in a direction she didn't want to be a part of. She swore she'd keep civil with Eric, which granted, was made easier by his lack of involvement in her and Colton's lives. She took a deep breath and gave civility another try.

  "Just wanted to let you know I know about your the rich hockey player. And to warn you that you won't take my son from me."

  Mandy closed her eyes. When had she tried to keep Colton from Eric? It was Eric who had divorced himself from Colton. "I would never want to keep him from you. Anytime you want to visit Colton, he's here. If you want Colton to visit you, we'll have to discuss that." With her lawyer present. "Just know that Colton likes Kip. And Kip has been a good influence on Colton. Try not to get jealous. Remember you've been the one staying away from us. You chose to move to Edson."

  She heard Eric'
s intake of breath, but sprang forward to nip any disparaging remarks in the bud. "Don't," she warned, "say anything you'll regret. I already have. I apologize for getting snippy. But Eric, I will fight for what I think is right for Colton. Do you want to talk to him?"

  That had taken the wind of out Eric's sails. He backed down from whatever he had planned to call her about. "No. I'll call him on Friday."

  "I won't tell him you called tonight. It'll only disappoint him." Mandy felt her heart break as Eric hung up the phone. She couldn't understand his lack of a relationship with Colton. Her son certainly didn't deserve it.

  In her fantasies she married to Kip, and they lived together, in those moments, which she didn't allow very often, Kip was Colton's father. Eric had disappeared and Kip had taken over, happily. Down to the "daddy" nametag and helping at school. Of course in that fantasy, she was also pregnant, maybe a girl. A boy would be fine too.

  That was the old "perfect" imagined life. She would have face reality, that Colton would visit his father occasionally. It could be a good reality.

  Jeez, she had no idea if Kip wanted children. In their first relationship, they'd been too young to really consider such things. Sometimes Kip would jokingly talk about their little girl or about teaching "his" little boy to play hockey. But twelve years may have changed his mind.

  Shit, she hadn't considered that. Maybe Colton was what was holding Kip back from asking her to move in. Maybe Kip wasn't sure if he wanted to be a step-father. He seemed so at ease with Colton, but spending time on the weekends wasn't the same as parenting full-time. Not that Kip really would be a full-time parent with all his time on the road.

  Mandy was glad when Colton came out from his bath. She welcomed the distraction from her errant thoughts. She pulled Colton into a hug and kissed his temple. He resisted the attention. "Mo-om, don't."

  "It's my right as your mother."

  He groaned, but relaxed in her arms. Mandy let go of her grip on his small body. She looked at him, amazed at how much he'd grown already. He no longer looked like the baby she'd given birth too. "Was that Kip?"