CHAPTER FOUR
Kenton left the addition his dad had built for his mom’s therapy a little intrigued. It was always a curious thing for him when he met new people outside the sphere of sports. There were some who were totally clueless about his career, and his name meant nothing to them. Others were very aware of who he was and either reacted positively because they were a fan or negatively because he played on a team that wasn’t their favorite.
He was pretty sure that the first woman, Rowena, hadn’t known who he was. Then there was Avery. He couldn’t quite get a read on her. She hadn’t blinked an eye when he’d appeared and had been professional in her dealings with him. Professional with an undertone of dislike. Or maybe not dislike, but definitely something that made him think that she did know who he was, and he wasn’t her favorite person.
Maybe she was just a Winnipeg Jets fan.
“I can’t believe how adept you are on those crutches after only five days,” Gabe said when Kenton swung himself into the kitchen. His brother was seated at the breakfast nook with a laptop in front of him. “It took me forever.”
“Little bit different situations,” Kenton said as he headed straight for the coffee machine. “I only have a knee issue, you had a whole lot more to deal with. You want a cup?”
“Sure. I was just waiting for someone to come along and offer to make one for me.”
“Shmuck,” Kenton said as he gave Gabe a sideways glance and a grin. “I’m more of an invalid these days than you.”
After both cups were finished brewing, Kenton slid them across the counter, and Gabe got up and carried them over to the table. As Kenton settled into the chair across from him, Gabe pushed his laptop to the side.
“Doing business?”
“Yeah. Just trying to get caught up on a few things. You’d think that with me not gallivanting all over the world anymore, I’d have more time to keep up on all of this stuff. It turns out that I was much more organized and better at managing my time when I was forced to do so. I kind of had a business-before-pleasure attitude, so I’d take care of business before going on my adventures. Now…” Gabe let out a sigh. “Now, it’s really just business and more business.”
“Are you missing the adventures?” Kenton asked as he lifted his mug.
He and Gabe had been the rebels of the family. Not just because they had refused to join the family business, but because they had left their home city completely. His younger brother had returned to Winnipeg more than Kenton had over the years, but the accident Gabe had had earlier in the year had brought him home permanently—or so it appeared.
Gabe turned his head to stare out the large window next to the breakfast nook that looked out over the snowy landscape. “I don’t know if I’m missing the adventures or just what being able to go on adventures would mean.”
“That your body was working like it should.”
“Exactly.” Gabe turned his gaze back to Kenton. “To be honest, I’d like to still be able to travel a bit more than I can at the moment, but definitely not to engage in the riskier stuff, especially now that I have Maya. I was ready to give that up for her even before the accident.”
If anyone had asked Kenton, he would have bet money on Mitch having the first serious relationship, but here Gabe was, willing to give up his life of adventure for a woman. Kenton hadn’t seen that one coming. He didn’t know Maya well, though he was very aware of the role she and her parents had played in his family’s lives. Having been able to come back to Winnipeg on a private jet arranged by Max Zevardi when his mom had collapsed had been so much easier than trying to figure out commercial flights from LA.
As he drank his coffee, Kenton wondered if he’d ever be ready for a serious relationship. It wasn’t as if he’d set out to avoid them at first, but his determination to succeed had meant that early on, he’d focused almost entirely on his career. He’d always assumed that he was young enough that a serious relationship could wait.
It hadn’t helped that early on, two years into his career, he’d witnessed the end of a relationship between an older guy on his team and the guy’s fiancée. Watching his teammate try to deal with the implosion of his relationship while still trying to do his job had been painful. The man hadn’t been able to keep his personal life separate from his job, and soon his performance on the ice had suffered. He’d gone from being one of the best players on the team to being only mediocre, and it had all happened just before his contract had come up for renewal. Needless to say, it had negatively impacted that, and the guy’s career had suffered because of it.
After Kenton had seen that, he’d decided that as long as he was playing, he wasn’t going to get involved in a serious relationship. Seeing Gabe and some of his other siblings fall in love, and, in Makayla’s case, get married, he wondered what that might be like. To find someone who wouldn’t walk out the door as soon as something bad happened. Most the women he knew would have walked away from Gabe after seeing him in such bad physical shape, but instead, Maya had gone to him and stayed by his side.
That wasn’t to say that he hadn’t seen marriages work out in the NHL, but he wasn’t willing to take the risk himself. His career meant too much to him to take a chance like that. And any woman worth being in a relationship with deserved a man who could devote time to her and their marriage.
“How long are you home for?” Gabe asked.
Kenton shrugged. “Not sure yet. I can recover as well here as I can in LA, so I figured I’d rather be closer to family right now.”
Gabe looked at him with understanding and nodded. “I don’t like to say that your injury came at a good time, but having you here will be good for Mom. I think she needs all of us around her right now.”
“I’m hoping that maybe I can get her physical therapist to help me out.” Kenton paused. “Do you know anything about her?”
“Avery?” Gabe asked. At Kenton’s nod, he said, “Not a whole lot. Max is the one who arranged to have her work with Mom. I think he gave her a scholarship to help with her education, too. Other than that, I don’t know anything really personal about her. She keeps her focus on Mom and hasn’t shared anything about herself. Why?”
“No real reason. I asked her to help me out, but she didn’t seem too keen on it.”
Gabe chuckled. “So now you’re trying to figure out how a female could possibly say no to you?”
Kenton scowled at his younger brother. “No. I just assumed that since she was already working with Mom, she wouldn’t mind working with me too.”
“Sorry I can’t help you out with any insider information. I don’t even know if she’s married.”
“You haven’t worked with her on your own PT?”
“No. I already had my own therapist by the time she started helping Mom. I didn’t see the sense in switching mid-stream when I was happy with the people who had been working with me.” Gabe took a sip of his coffee. “I would imagine that Avery must have graduated at the top—or near the top—of her class if Max was willing to hire her to work with Mom. I’m sure that if she agrees to help you out, she’ll do a good job.”
“I need someone that can help me get back to where I was. I’m hoping that she’ll be available to work more hours with me since she’s been hired privately.”
“Are you going to listen to her though?”
“What do you mean?” If there was one thing that Kenton had learned over the years, it was that he had to listen to the team trainers.
“I mean, just because you might hire her privately doesn’t mean that you get to tell her how to treat you. I know you. In all likelihood, you’re going to push to get to where you were pre-injury. Maybe a little harder than the team trainers might want you to.”
Kenton didn’t bother to deny Gabe’s observation. There was some truth to it, though it wasn’t something that he had consciously thought about. The team trainers would have made him toe the line with the PT plan they set up for him. He didn’t want to do anything that would jeop
ardize the full recovery of his knee in the long run, but at the same time, he wanted to work as hard as possible to get back on the ice.
His goal was to report to training camp next season in better shape than ever. And if Avery Walker could help him with that, he wanted her no matter how much it cost. He couldn’t believe that Max would have anyone but the best working with his mom. And if she was good enough for his mom, she was definitely good enough for him.
When his dad came into the kitchen a short time later, he got a cup of coffee and joined him and Gabe in the breakfast nook. Kenton asked his dad the same questions he had asked Gabe about Avery.
“I can talk to Max about it. I’m not sure what her deal is with him. I just know that she had a flexible schedule that made it possible for her to work with your mom. I’m not sure if she has something else she does during the rest of the day.” His dad gave him a curious look. “Wouldn’t you rather work with a physical therapist that specializes in sports injuries?”
“I will later on in my rehab. At this point, from what I’ve read, the therapy is pretty straightforward. Working on the extension of the knee. Range of motion. Getting back to walking. I think she’d be fine to help me with that even without a sports’ specialization.”
“I’m just surprised—knowing you as I do—that you’re not wanting to hire the best physical therapist in the country to help you recover.” His dad tilted his head. “And while I do think Avery is good for your mom, a lot of that is her patience with her. She hasn’t been out of school all that long.”
“But that would just mean that she’s aware of the most recent advances in the field of physical therapy. And I’m sure she’s had hands-on training.” Kenton shrugged. “I just feel that having someone close at hand to work with especially right now while I’m still trying to get back on my feet after the surgery would be beneficial rather than someone I only see every few days or so.”
His dad seemed to consider his words before nodding. “I’ll talk with Max and see what he says.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“When is your ortho appointment?”
“Tomorrow at one. Tristan offered to drive me.”
“Good. I was worried it might take you awhile to get in with an orthopedic surgeon, especially since they didn’t do the initial surgery.”
“Yeah. Thankfully, Ward was able to speak to someone on the team training staff here who made some recommendations.”
His dad pinned him with a hard look. “And I expect you to do exactly as they say. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Kenton nodded, though he hoped that the people he ended up working with understood his drive to get back to where he was. His future depended on him being able to perform at peak level once again.
“You don’t have to agree to this,” Max Zevardi said, his voice firm. “I hired you to work with Emily, but that doesn’t mean you have to work with Kenton as well.”
“Sports is not my specialty,” Avery said. She’d been surprised to get his call a few minutes earlier, but she was grateful for the opportunity to talk with him about it. “I can probably help him with some of the basic exercises and therapy needed to get back on his feet, but I don’t feel confident enough in my abilities to help him with the higher level of therapy and exercise he’ll need later on in his recovery.”
“I understand that, and we can make it clear to him that you’re only helping out for the first part of his therapy. If you want to do that. You don’t even have to do that much. Steve and I have spoken about this, and we both agree that Emily is still your main focus. Your job will not be impacted if you choose not to work with Kenton.”
“Can I have the night to think about it?”
“Sure. I’ll send you a copy of the plan his team put together. He forwarded it to me earlier at my request. Once you’ve read it over and had some time to think about it, let me know.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mr. Zevardi.”
“Max,” he corrected her.
“Thank you, Max.”
After the call ended, Avery wondered—not for the first time—how much Max might know about her past and the situation with her family. With the money he had at his disposal, there was no doubt he could have paid for a private investigator to dig up everything about her. If he had done that, it apparently hadn’t turned him off helping her with her schooling and then offering her the position with the Callaghans.
“Everything okay, sweetheart?” her mom asked from where she was preparing their tea.
“Yeah. Just work stuff.” Avery stretched, reaching her arms up, grateful for the silence that had descended on the house once the boys had gone to bed. Elliot’s bedtime was the same as Benjie’s, but because he was older, he was allowed to stay up and read for a little while longer than Benjie.
Sitting down with her mom a few minutes later, Avery struggled to know what to do. Though her mom was a recluse, she wasn’t unaware of what was going on in the world around them. If anything, she was more aware than Avery. She spent a good portion of her day on the internet, reading news sites, chatting on forums. And just like her dad had done, her mom would let her talk out her dilemmas without trying to tell her what to do.
“What worries you the most about working with him?” she asked. “Certainly, you don’t feel you aren’t qualified, do you? At least not to help with the initial part of his rehabilitation.”
“No. I would be able to do that, especially with the plan his trainers will have set up.” Avery cupped the warm mug in her cold hands. “I’m just not sure about working so closely with someone like him, you know?”
It wasn’t as if she’d planned to never have male clients, but in normal circumstances, it would have been in a clinical setting and most likely not on a daily basis. This would be the first time she’d be in such close contact with an unrelated male. Throughout all her schooling, she’d been careful to wear her rings, and that had seemed to be enough to discourage all but the sleaziest of guys who would hit on her even when she made it clear she wasn’t available.
In the end, as she crawled into her bed later that night, Avery had to admit what she wouldn’t have admitted to anyone—not even her mom. Her biggest fear was that somehow, she’d find herself falling for Kenton. Though she had vowed—because of her past—to not get involved with a professional athlete again, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t find herself attracted to him. Even from their brief encounter, she could see he was the type of man she would have gone for at one time.
She’d been careful over the years to avoid men like Kenton, so the thought of working so closely with him was daunting. She didn’t want to take the chance of falling for him, especially when she knew the kind of women he usually dated. She knew he didn’t do serious. Everything that attracted her to him was a reason for her to keep her distance.
“Thanks for being willing to help me keep on track with this program,” Kenton said the next day. She’d come a little early to talk with him before starting her work with Emily.
“I know I’m not the best person to help you with the more advanced part of your rehabilitation program, but I’ll help you out with this initial part.”
“Max said he was going to give you a copy of what my orthopedic surgeon and the team put together for me.”
Avery nodded and pulled a print-out from her bag. “We’ll start tomorrow. I’ll be here at eleven instead of twelve-thirty, so we can work for an hour and then I’ll have time to finish up the report for your team. I usually start to work with your mom at one.”
“Sounds good.” He gave her a broad smile that crinkled the skin at the corners of his eyes. “I’m looking forward to getting this underway. This past week has involved way too much sitting around.”
“I’m sure it felt that way to you, but it’s what your knee needed. Overdoing it would just end up making your recovery take longer. And if you want me to work with you, you’re going to need to trust me to know what is good for your knee and what isn’t. You
may know hockey, but I know the body.”
If anything, his grin grew wider. “So, you do know who I am.”
“Um, yeah.” She frowned at him. “Was I not supposed to?”
“It was just when we first met, you didn’t seem to know.”
Avery crossed her arms and arched a brow at him. “How exactly was I supposed to react when we met?”
“Well, I would have expected some giggles and flirting. Maybe even a request for an autograph while you fluttered your eyelashes at me.”
Avery’s jaw dropped before she could stop herself. She quickly snapped it shut when she caught the glint of humor in Kenton’s gaze.
No. No. No. This is not good.
She needed him to be arrogant and difficult to work with. She needed him to be demanding and controlling.
What she didn’t need him to be was humorous and easy-going.
“Funny.” She gave her head a shake as she turned her attention back to the papers in her hand, trying her best not to let him see her smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, you will.”
Avery waited until she heard the door close behind him before looking up. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to be in a whole lot of trouble.
Kenton pulled on a pair of long, loose athletic shorts over a pair of compression shorts. Next, he grabbed a T-shirt and jerked it down over his head, working to get his arms through the sleeves. After he got situated on his crutches, he left his room and went to the kitchen.
The aroma of coffee hung in the air, but the kitchen and the breakfast nook were empty. It had been a week since his surgery, and he was looking forward to starting to work with Avery that morning. If nothing else, it would help distract him from his thoughts—if only for an hour. Watching his team play the night before had been challenging, to say the least.
He wasn’t sure what was more difficult. Seeing them win without him or lose without him. He didn’t want his team to suffer because he wasn’t there, but there was no doubt it rankled a bit that they had pulled off such a resounding win the night before. Even the commentator had observed that in spite of the injured players, the team had played exceptionally well.
Crossing Center Ice Page 4