by Jennie Marts
He motioned to the older man sitting in the bleachers above them. “This is Otis. He was kind enough to be here tonight to help as well.” Although the giant profit his store made on the sale of all the equipment probably carried a little swaying influence. Colt pointed to a couple of the dads he knew from the alumni team. “And Brock and Dillon’s dads also played hockey so they can help too. If that’s cool with you guys?” Both dads nodded, and the kids clamored off the bleachers in search of their labeled bags.
It took close to an hour, but all the kids finally had their equipment on and made it onto the ice. Colt and Logan led the kids around the rink a couple of times to assess their skating abilities, then broke them into two groups. The more experienced skaters followed Logan to work on drills on one side of the ice, while Colt worked with the less experienced skaters, and Chloe, on the other side. After half an hour of skating, he brought the team back together, and after getting twelve high fives, he sent them off for the night.
He’d had fun. The kids cracked him up, and he enjoyed being out on the ice and talking about the game. Granted, it was only one practice and it didn’t take a lot to impress eight-year-olds, but their first practice had gone well. Everyone had seemed to have a good time. He’d been especially impressed with Maddie, who had attacked skating with the enthusiasm of a shark swimming after its prey. Maybe it was because she was used to hanging out with three brothers, but she fit right in with the other kids, and none of the boys seemed to treat her any differently or think anything odd about having a girl on the team.
“What did you think of your first hockey practice?” he asked Chloe as he collapsed onto the bench next to her. She’d already taken her skates off and changed into her boots while he finished up with the parents.
“It was fun,” she said, straightening the pages of notes on her clipboard. “I learned a lot. And all the parents verified their phone numbers and email addresses with me before they left.”
“Awesome. That reminds me…” He casually pulled his phone from his pocket. “We should probably exchange numbers too. Just in case we need to talk. About the team, or practice, or something.” Real smooth, dude. Real smooth.
“Sure.” She recited her number as she pulled out her phone.
He punched it in, then sent her a text. This is Colt. Hi. Wow. He was on fire tonight with his lady-killing moves.
She tapped at her phone, and then his buzzed in his hand. He read her return message. Hi. This is Chloe. Thanks for asking me to coach. You did great with the kids.
He typed a message back. Thanks. So did you. He held his finger over the emojis, hesitant to add one to his message. He never knew which one to use. The smiley face? The thumbs-up? Both seemed too generic. The heart was too forward, and there was no way he was using the kissing lips, even though he half wanted to. Where was the emoji for “I’m interested in you but am too big of a dork to know how to tell you”?
How could he face down twelve hyper eight-year-olds and inform them they all needed to wear a cup, but get nervous sending a single text message to a woman?
Oh, forget it. This was stupid anyway. She was sitting right next to him. He pushed Send.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Logan ambled over as the last of the kids were leaving.
Quinn and Rock had shown up halfway through practice—Colt had known they wouldn’t be able to stay away from the first practice—and had taken Max home with them.
He stuffed his phone into his pocket. “Just finishing up.”
“We’re heading over to The Creed to get a celebratory first-practice beer,” Logan told Chloe. “You wanna come with us?”
“Oh, gosh, no.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to intrude.” Her gaze traveled around the ice arena. “I can grab a ride home with one of the other parents. Maddie’s mom might still be here.”
Colt narrowed his eyes at Logan. Idiot. He’d wanted to be the one to ask her—to ease her into the idea. “I’m still planning to take you home,” he said, leaning forward to unlace his skates. “I’ll meet up with Logan after I drop you off.” Unless he could still convince her to come with them. He’d give it another try when they were in the truck.
* * *
Chloe walked between the two men, their hockey bags slung over their shoulders as she, Colt, and Logan left the ice arena.
She studied them as they talked strategy for the next practice and who they thought should play what position. Quinn’s brother was almost as tall as Colt and had the same lean, muscular body. He wore cowboy boots and jeans like Colt, but instead of a cowboy hat, he had on a blue baseball cap advertising a local feed store. His hair was darker than Colt’s, more of a chestnut brown, but she remembered this summer it had been a bit blonder, probably from the sun and spending so much time outside.
The two old friends talked and joked easily with each other, and she smiled up at them as her stomach swirled and spun. How had this become her life? Logan and Colt were both ruggedly handsome, and here she was, a petite, quiet schoolteacher hanging out with them as if she were in on their jokes. And if that weren’t crazy enough, her world had somehow tilted on its axis so she was going to partner with these two ridiculously hot guys to coach a bleeping hockey team.
“You sure we can’t convince you to come have a beer with us?” Logan asked, holding the door for her.
She knew he was just being nice. Why would they want to have a beer with her? Surely, having a third-grade schoolteacher hanging out with them would cramp the style of two single guys at a bar on a Friday night.
Besides the fact she didn’t even like beer, she’d already made the humiliating mistake of drinking around Colt the night before. She wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. “I’m good. You two go on and have a good time.”
Logan shrugged. “Maybe next time.” He nodded at Colt, who was tossing his skate bag into the back of his pickup. “See you in fifteen.”
The ride home went quickly as they talked about the kids and how the practice had gone. “I was proud of Maddie,” Colt told her as they pulled up in front of Chloe’s house. “She really held her own tonight. I thought the fact that she had no idea how to skate would hinder her, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all. From what I saw tonight, she’ll be skating better than some of the boys soon.” He grinned at her. “She’s gonna make a great quarterback.”
Chloe laughed and playfully shoved his arm. “I knew that quarterback thing was wrong. I was just nervous, and I was trying to write down all the kids’ names and preferences. I knew it was wrong as soon as I wrote it.” But she would be studying the rules and positions more this weekend so she didn’t make a rookie mistake like that one again.
“Oh yeah, I’m sure you did.”
Another car came flying down the street and screeched to a halt in front of her neighbor’s house. The back door opened, and a teenage boy fell or was shoved out. Then the car took off, its tires squealing on the street.
“That’s Jesse,” Chloe said, her heart pounding as she scrambled from the truck. She heard the other truck door slam but was already hurrying toward the teenager.
Jesse stumbled across his front lawn and fell onto the grass. She heard him groan, but couldn’t tell if he was drunk or if he’d been beaten up. He curled into a fetal position and wrapped his arms around his stomach.
“You okay, son?” Colt’s legs were longer than hers, and it had taken fewer strides for him to reach the boy and kneel down next to him. He put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, but the teenager jerked back.
“Who are you? Get away from me.” His words were slurred, and his eyes widened as he scrambled back.
“Jesse, it’s me. Chloe. Miss Bishop. From next door. This is my friend Colt. We’re trying to help.” She kept her voice low, her tone soothing. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” he slurred, rolling over and crawling toward his porch
steps.
“Let us help you inside, at least.” She reached under one of his arms and Colt reached under the other, and they hauled the teen to his feet and helped him up the steps. He smelled like stale beer and weed, and his hair stunk like smoke. “Hello, Tina,” Chloe called as they pushed through the front door.
“Miss Bishop,” Maddie said, running from the kitchen. “What are you doing here…” Her joyful smile fell, and she turned back when she saw her brother. “Mama, you better come in here. They’ve got Jesse.”
“Jesse?” Tina came through the door, drying her hands on a dish towel. She hurried forward and threw her arms around the boy’s neck. “Where have you been? Are you hurt? Oh dang—you smell like a brewery. Are you drunk?”
He pulled free of Chloe and Colt and shrugged off his mom’s arms. “Just leave me alone.” He staggered to the sofa and fell into it, his face planted into the cushion and his arm hanging limp off the side.
Tina rolled her eyes. “I will not leave you alone. I’m your mother. It’s kind of in my job description to take care of you.”
“Can I do anything to help?” Colt asked Tina. “Want me to take him to his room?”
She shook her head. “No. He’ll be fine. I’m just glad he’s home. Thanks though. And thanks for everything you’re doing with Maddie on the hockey team.”
“No problem.” He looked at Chloe, then leaned his head toward the door. “I’m just gonna go.”
She nodded absently, her concentration focused on Tina as she rested a hand on the other woman’s arm. “I’m going to stay here for a bit and try to help Tina. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Oh. Yeah. Okay. I’ll see ya later then.” He turned and slipped out the door, pulling it closed behind him.
“How about if I help get the other kids to bed while you talk to Jesse?”
Tina’s shoulders slumped, and it seemed as if her whole body shrank into itself. She let out a heavy sigh and scrubbed a hand across her forehead. “That would be great. Thank you.”
Chloe walked toward the kitchen and realized she’d left her bag in Colt’s truck just as she heard him pull away from the curb. Oh well, she’d get it at the next practice. She’d checked the Hockey for Dummies book out from the school library and had been looking forward to studying it, but she was sure she could find plenty of hockey information on the internet until she got the book back.
Jake and Madison were standing inside the kitchen door, but Charlie was elbows deep in a sink full of soapy water. He turned as she came in. “Mom let us have ice cream after Maddie’s practice. I was just cleaning up the mess so she wouldn’t have to worry about it. Sounds like she’s got enough on her plate dealing with Jess.”
“That was thoughtful of you,” Chloe told him, wondering if he usually did the task or if Colt’s influence had rubbed off on him a little. “I was going to read a book to Maddie, if you and Jake want to come in when you’re done.”
Charlie shrugged and pulled the plug from the sink. The water made a gurgling sound as it drained. “Maybe.” He turned toward the window as another car roared up in front of the house.
Chloe could see the shape of the car around Charlie’s head. It was a late-model muscle car with a spoiler and obviously no muffler. The passenger door opened, and a man got out and stood at the curb studying the house. The car drove off with a squeal of tires.
Geez. What is it tonight with people being dropped unceremoniously at the curb of this house? Before she had a chance to ask, Charlie turned back to her, his knuckles white as he gripped the kitchen counter, his face pale as the color drained from it. “It’s my dad,” he whispered.
Maddie let out a whimper and clung to Chloe’s leg as Jake raced past her into the living room.
“Mom,” he cried, his voice filled with terror. “It’s Dad! Dad’s here!”
Chloe picked up Madison and followed Jake. Tina’s eyes were wide as her head whipped toward her. “Get the kids out of here.” She shook Jesse’s shoulder so hard, he almost fell off the sofa. “Jesse, get up. Your dad’s here. You’ve got to run.”
Chapter 10
Sweat broke out across Chloe’s back, and the hair lifted on her arms as she jumped back in time twenty years to her own kitchen, her back to a corner, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach, trying to make herself as small as possible as she waited for her father to walk in the door after a night out with his pals.
But she’d been alone, no nice neighbor lady, no mother to protect her. Her mother was already gone. Which was one of the items on the list of things her father blamed and punished her for.
She sucked in a shuddering breath. Stop it. This wasn’t her father standing on the curb. Her father was gone. And she was a grown woman and had a chance to do something, to help these kids, even though no one had ever helped her.
Jesse pushed himself up from the sofa, weaving as he tried to stand. “No way. I’m not leaving you here with him.”
“I’ll be fine. But you’ve got to go.” Tina pulled him tightly against her in a quick hug, then pushed him away, her voice trembling as she ordered him to go. “Run, Jesse. I mean it. If he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”
Even in his alcohol-induced state, the teenager knew fear. He stared into his mom’s eyes, then stumbled forward and sprinted for the back door.
“Call me later, and I’ll pick you up,” she called as the back door slammed.
Maddie’s head was buried in Chloe’s shoulder, the little girl’s body trembling as Chloe raced back into the kitchen where Charlie still stood frozen at the sink. “Come on, Charlie. We’ve got to go.” Her hand was shaking as she reached for the boy. “I need you to help me with your brother.”
The mention of his siblings must have broken his stupor because Charlie nodded and hurried into the living room. “Come on, Mom. We’ve gotta get out of here.”
Jake was stuck to his mother’s side, his eyes round and blinking like a trapped animal. Tina wrenched his arms away and pushed him toward Charlie. “Go with your brother, honey.”
Jake clung to her hands, his voice shaking as he begged. “Come with us. Please, Mom.”
A fist hammered at the front door, and Maddie whimpered again, pulling her hands free to press them tightly against her ears.
Tina pushed Jake toward Chloe. “Go!” she hissed. “Get them out of here. I’ll be fine. I can handle him.”
“Come on, Teeny. Open the door. I know you’re in there. I just want to talk to you. I heard Jesse’s been looking for me.”
Tina’s hands shook as she waved them toward the back door. Chloe grabbed Jake’s hand and ran through the house and out the back.
She heard Tina yelling as Charlie quietly eased the door shut behind them. “Go away, Rank! Or I’m calling the police. I mean it. Go home!”
“This is my home!” he roared back, his voice booming through the dark as Chloe and the kids snuck across the yards.
Thankfully, Chloe hadn’t taken a purse tonight and had shoved her wallet, phone, and house keys into her jacket pocket instead. Closing her fist around the keys, she tried to pull them from her pocket without letting them jingle as she motioned for Charlie to carefully open her side door.
She knew the feel of her house key and shifted Maddie on her hip so she could slide the key into the lock and gently push the door open. The boys slipped through the door in front of her, and once they were all inside, she pushed it shut and turned the dead bolt.
Leaving the lights off, they crept toward the living room. She tried to set Maddie on the floor, but the little girl wouldn’t let go of her neck. The boys instinctively stayed low and huddled on the floor behind her recliner. She crouched next to them, then pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped 911.
Jake put his hand on her phone. “Don’t call the police. That’ll just make it worse.”
She glanced up at Charlie, n
ot sure why she was looking for direction from a thirteen-year-old-kid. He nodded, his eyes wide with fear, but certain. She hit Send.
“Nine-one-one operator. What is your emergency?”
She quickly explained the situation and was told the police were on their way.
“Does the assailant have any weapons?” the operator asked.
Chloe glanced at Charlie. She kept her voice low, barely above a whisper. “Do you think your dad has a weapon?”
“He doesn’t need one,” he said, then raised his fisted hands in front of his chest in a mock fighter’s stance.
Bile rose in Chloe’s throat, and she swallowed it back. This wasn’t her dad, wasn’t her life. “We don’t know for sure, but he has been known to be abusive to his wife.” She gazed at the circle of kids around her, their eyes all wide and frightened. Tina’s words came back to her, telling Jesse to run or Rank would kill him. “And his kids.”
Charlie lowered his eyes, shame surrounding him like a dark aura. She wanted to pull him close and take away his pain. Take away all their pain. “This isn’t your fault,” she told them. “No matter what he says. This has never been any of your faults. He’s the one to blame. Dads aren’t supposed to hurt their kids.”
She prayed her words sank in. Would it have made a difference if someone had said them to her? Or would the constant barrage of blame her father drilled into her have overridden any words of comfort from someone who wasn’t there? Who didn’t know the truth—that her mom had left because she didn’t want to be a mom anymore.
As an adult, and after years of therapy, Chloe could see now she wasn’t to blame. Her mom had made the choice to leave, whatever her reasons were. But as a frightened child, Chloe hadn’t seen it that way. And neither had her dad.
The operator asked her to stay on the line, but she declined and hung up. She’d rather support the kids than wait on the phone. “The police are coming. It’s going to be okay.”