On the Fly Read online

  Chapter Five

  Lana drove Eric to school the next morning, and when she returned, her mother was just preparing to leave for the hospital to see her father. Lana loved her parents dearly but had never really been close with either of them. They’d started their family later in life, so they’d been in their late fifties when Lana graduated high school, and Joey was three years younger than Lana. Her parents had grown up in a different time, and they just didn’t understand Lana’s love of classical music. But what they really didn’t understand was when she’d come out to them in her senior year of high school.

  They accepted her, but they weren’t thrilled about her sexuality. As a result, they rarely spoke about it, but they’d hoped the “phase” had ended when she announced she was pregnant shortly after graduating college. She tried her best to explain she wanted a baby, and her best friend, a gay man, offered to help. They really couldn’t fathom the concept of artificial insemination.

  “How is Dad?” she asked as she set her keys on the table just inside the front door.

  “The doctors say he’s improving.” It was as much of a response as Lana could hope for. Her mother had gained weight in the years since Lana had left for college. She really needed to come home to visit more often. “You could go by and see him, you know.”

  “I know, Mom,” she said, closing her eyes and trying to stave off a headache. “I will, but helping Joey at Caruso’s is almost a full-time job.”

  “You weren’t there last night.” It was an accusation, and Lana did her best to ignore the implied complaint.

  “No, I wasn’t. I wanted to take Eric to see a hockey game. He isn’t happy about having to leave his home and all of his friends back in Chicago.” Lana sat at the kitchen table her parents had owned since before she was born. “So if I can do anything to make his life more enjoyable while we’re here, then I’m going to do it.”

  Her mother nodded but said nothing, her lips pursed.

  “What?” Lana asked, not bothering to hide her irritation.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “But you want to,” Lana said. “So just say it.”

  “I just don’t understand why you let him play hockey. Why do you encourage him?” Her mother sighed and buttoned up her coat. “It’s a waste of time if you ask me. He’ll never go anywhere with it, and he’ll probably end up getting hurt.”

  “He’s really good, Mom,” Lana said. “There are junior teams in our area already scouting him. You should see him play sometime, and I know you’d change your mind.”

  “How can I see him play when you live in Chicago?”

  And there it was. This was always what it came down to, which was why Lana didn’t visit more often—hardly at all, really. And why she knew she wouldn’t be able to live in this house until she and Eric returned to Chicago at the end of the school year. She got to her feet and poured herself a cup of coffee. She had a feeling she was going to need the caffeine today.

  “Did Kingsville finally get an orchestra?” She knew her voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she couldn’t find the energy to care.

  “You know the answer to that.”

  “Until they do, I’ll be staying in Chicago.”

  “What about Philadelphia or New York?” her mother asked. “Or Allentown?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Lana walked back to the table and sat as she stared at her mother, incredulous. “Chicago has one of the top symphony orchestras in the world, and you want me to come to Allentown? New York and Philadelphia are amongst the best also, but they’re both at least an hour and a half from here, and only if there’s no traffic, which we both know never happens.”

  “I’m not saying you’d have to live here,” her mother said, her tone indicating her own frustration. “But they’d both be a hell of a lot closer than Chicago.”

  Her mother turned on her heel and left the house without giving Lana an opportunity to answer. Lana just sat there staring at the front door long after she’d left, wondering why her mother would even want to have her live close by. Her parents didn’t approve of her being a lesbian, so she could only imagine how well it would go over if she ever met a woman she wanted to make a life with.

  The only thing she could figure was it had to be a cultural thing. Both sets of Lana’s grandparents had moved to the United States from Italy with their parents. Probably on the same damn boat, for all Lana knew. Family always lived close by, for as long as Lana could remember. She’d always found it stifling, but apparently Joey enjoyed it, because he still lived at home.

  Lana shuddered at the thought. She really hoped the owners of the house she looked at were willing to lease it to her.

  * * *

  Court didn’t want to, but Gail insisted the entire team go to visit Jen Hilton in the hospital. She’d suffered a pretty bad concussion because of the hit she’d taken, but she was expected to be okay and be able to play again in a few weeks. She walked into the room carrying a small flower arrangement she’d picked up at the hospital gift shop, mostly as an afterthought because it just felt wrong to go in empty-handed.

  “Jesus Christ,” Hilton muttered when Court came in and walked to her bed. “What the hell is going on? I think half the team has been here already this morning. I have to admit you were the last one I thought would show up, though.”

  “Just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about you,” Court said, having to turn away and set the flowers on the bedside table so Hilton couldn’t see the grimace she was unable to keep off her face. It wasn’t that Court was happy she got hurt, it was simply the idea of having to do this after Hilton intentionally tripped her during a game that really irked her.

  “Why?”

  “Excuse me?” Court looked at her.

  “Why are you thinking about me?” Hilton watched her carefully, and Court fought to keep a straight face. “You don’t even like me.”

  “Well, you did kind of bring it on yourself, didn’t you?” Court asked as she pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat. “We don’t have to like each other when we’re away from the rink. But when we’re playing, or even practicing for that matter, we need to work together. We’re a team, Hilton. When you fail, so do the rest of us.”

  “I won’t fail,” she said. “I’ve never failed at anything.”

  “You did last night.” Court watched as Hilton opened her mouth to say something, but then turned her head away. “You tripped me, and then you laughed about it. And then someone from the other team decided to teach you a lesson.”

  “Teach me a lesson for what? For tripping you? Isn’t that something you or one of the other Warriors should do?” Hilton laughed and shook her head slowly. “You need people from other teams to fight for you?”

  “What happened had nothing to do with me,” Court told her. She was afraid of this. Hilton was far too confident in her own abilities as a playmaker. As far as Hilton was concerned, there wasn’t anything anybody could possibly teach her about the game. “It happened because you were skating through the neutral zone with your head down. When you do that, you run the risk of getting your bell rung.”

  “No, it happened because somebody took a cheap shot at me.”

  “Have you ever played a physical game before? Maybe you’ve played in leagues where the physical aspect has been taken out?” Court shook her head. “It was a clean hit. If you’d had your head up, you would have seen it coming and been able to get out of the way. But you were so intent on getting up the ice and scoring, nothing else even penetrated your brain. Not even your teammates yelling at you to look up.”

  “I’m a better player than you’ve ever been.”

  Court sighed. This was going about as well as she’d told Gail it would. If she’d known this would be her path, she would have declined when offered the captaincy of the team. It would be so easy to just get up and leave the room, but walking away from something only because it was difficult wasn’t who she was. It never had been. Her father had al
ways told her anything worth having was worth fighting for.

  “Maybe you are,” Court conceded with a shrug. “Then again, maybe you aren’t. I can tell you one thing for sure, though. If you keep this attitude, and continue to play the way you did last night, no one will ever know whether you’re better than me or not, because concussions will force you to retire before you’re thirty.”

  “Fuck you.” Hilton waved toward the door, obviously dismissing her, but Court refused to move. “Leave. Now.”

  They both stared at each other, and after a few moments, Court began to smile. This was so insanely stupid. She’d dealt with many players over the years who thought they were going to be the ones who changed the game. None of them ever did, and in fact, quickly came back down to earth after they’d played a few games and realized it wasn’t going to be as easy for them as it had been in high school, or wherever else they’d played before. This time it wasn’t going to be so easy.

  “What the hell are you smiling at?” Hilton asked.

  “Nothing,” Court said with a shake of her head.

  “You’re a lesbian,” Hilton said, and Court laughed. She couldn’t help it.

  “And you’re a bigot, but I fail to see what either of those things have to do with playing hockey.” Court got to her feet and stood next to the bed looking down at her. “Yes, I am a lesbian, but it isn’t all I am. Just as I’m sure being a bigot isn’t all you are. The sooner you can get past all of that, the sooner we can go back to being a unified team.”

  Court walked away without waiting for a response. She was fuming, but she knew it didn’t show outwardly. When she got to the elevator she took a moment to try to calm herself. Court had never hated anyone in her life, but Jen Hilton was certainly doing her best to push her toward it now.

  Chapter Six

  “How’d it go?” Gail asked later the same afternoon as she stood in the doorway of Court’s office.

  “Just peachy,” Court replied.

  “That well, huh?”

  “She’s making me seriously rethink my philosophy of never hating anyone.”

  “Well, she won’t be playing for a couple of weeks at least.” Gail pushed off the doorframe and came to sit in the chair facing Court’s desk. “Maybe before she even gets back to practice I can convince the brass to trade her.”

  “Hope springs eternal,” Court said, allowing a slight grin at the thought. She leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers together behind her head. “What can I do for you?”

  “Oh, I just stopped by to see Bill for a minute,” Gail said. “I had a bit of time to kill before meeting a client who wants to see the house in Easton.”

  “Have you guys given any thought to what I mentioned yesterday?”

  “Bill’s working on the lease now.” Gail leaned forward. “You like her, don’t you?”

  “Even if I did, it doesn’t really matter much.” Court sighed and turned her head to look out the window. “She only wants to lease because she’s going back to Chicago at the end of the school year. Which leads to the second problem.”

  “Which is?”

  “She has a kid.”

  “And?”

  “Do you even know me?” Court looked at her as though Gail had lost her mind. She knew how Court felt about kids.

  “Court, you’re great with kids,” Gail told her. “I don’t know why you seem to have a mental block when it comes to anyone under seventeen.”

  “I just don’t want them living with me.”

  “Nobody said you have to marry the woman, for God’s sake,” Gail said with a laugh. “Can’t you date her for a while and see how things go?”

  “No.”

  “Why not? You’re the one who’s always insisted you don’t have time for anything serious, so why can’t you just spend time with her while she’s in town?”

  “No.” Court stared at her, wondering why she was being so rigid with this. Gail was right. She’d never had a relationship last more than three months, so what made Lana so different? She had a kid, that’s what. She’d never dated anyone who had a kid.

  “You are infuriating sometimes, do you know that?” Gail stood and took a couple steps toward the door.

  “But you love me anyway.” Court grinned.

  “If I didn’t, you wouldn’t have a job here,” Gail answered with a grin of her own. She waved as she disappeared through the doorway. “Tell her the owners want to meet her, tonight, nine o’clock.”

  Court reached for her cell phone as soon as Gail was gone, but she held it in her hand, just staring at it. Would it be so bad to just see where things might lead between her and Lana? As long as she knew Lana was going to be leaving in a few months, what would be the harm? If they cozied up together, it would certainly make the winter months in the Poconos more bearable. She smiled and found Lana’s number in her phone.

  “Courtney Court,” she said when she answered the call, causing Court to laugh. “You have a really nice laugh. Has anyone ever told you that before?”

  “No, I don’t think they have.”

  “What a shame, because it’s true. Are you calling me with good news?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes, I am,” Court told her. “The people who own the house would like to meet with you tonight to sign the paperwork. Are you free?”

  “What time?”

  “Nine o’clock.”

  “Kind of late for a meeting, isn’t it?” Lana asked, and Court waited as Lana sighed and sounded as though she sat down. “Should I be worried about them? They aren’t serial killers or anything, are they?”

  “No, I assure you they are not,” Court said. “I’ll be there too if it makes you feel any better.”

  “You know what? I think it might. What’s their address?”

  “I could pick you up,” Court offered. If she was going to see where things went, why not start as soon as possible? “Or you could meet me at the real estate office. Or I could just give you the address.”

  “Why don’t you pick me up at the pizzeria?”

  “If you have to work, I can schedule this for another time,” Court said, not even having considered she might have to work.

  “If it was a weekend, I probably would, but Joey can handle things without me for tonight.”

  “I can be there at eight forty-five, if that works for you.”

  “Then I will see you tonight.”

  Lana ended the call and shoved the phone into her back pocket before heading to the kitchen to tell Joey he’d have to close on his own. She didn’t care how much he bitched and moaned about it, she wasn’t going to put off the possibility of having her own living space for another day.

  “I’m leaving early tonight,” she said as she pulled a pizza out of the oven and placed it on the counter to slice it.

  “Usually you ask if you can leave early,” he told her, trying to look serious. “You don’t tell the boss you are.”

  “Maybe if you were the boss, I would have asked.” She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.

  “I’ve missed you, Lana,” he said with a grin. “Why do you have to live so far away?”

  “Seriously? Did Mom tell you to ask me that?”

  “No,” he answered before disappearing into the walk-in cooler to retrieve more cheese. “I just miss you. I think it would be great if you and Eric moved back here for good.”

  “Not going to happen, sorry, Joey,” she said.

  “Why are you leaving early tonight?” Lana was thankful he was in tune with her enough to know when he should change the subject.

  “Remember the house I told you about?” she asked. He nodded his response. “I’m signing the paperwork tonight. And meeting the people who own it. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, Eric and I will be living in our own space.”

  “Mom won’t be happy about this unexpected turn of events,” he said, shaking his head.

  “She’ll just have to get over it,” Lana replied with a shrug. “She can’t really
have assumed we’d stay with them for the entire time we’re here, could she?”

  “She’s Mom,” he answered. “So, yeah.”

  “I’d go crazy living there,” she told him. “I honestly don’t know how you can do it.”

  He shrugged and wiped his hands on the towel he had in his apron pocket. He turned and leaned against the counter to face her.

  “They don’t charge me rent. I put all the money I earn into a bank account, and I know if I ever need to, I’ll have plenty of money to make it on my own. Besides, they aren’t getting any younger, you know. I help out around the house.”

  “Please tell me you have a girlfriend, at least. You aren’t one of those guys who lives with his parents and has no social life, are you?”

  “I’ve been seeing someone,” he said. “It’s still new, so I haven’t said anything to Mom and Dad about her yet. Please don’t tell them. I’m not ready for them to meet her.”

  “Your secret’s safe with me,” Lana assured him. She was happy he’d found someone. He’d always been a bit nerdy growing up, and hadn’t had a lot of friends. He’d definitely grown into a nice looking guy, but she knew it couldn’t help that he was still living at home at almost thirty-three years old.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You have a girlfriend waiting for you back in Chicago?”

  “No,” she answered with a snort. “The women I meet are a little too high class for me. And when they find out I have a fifteen-year-old son, well, let’s just say they tend to run pretty fast in the other direction. I need someone a little more down-to-earth, you know?”

  “Someone who likes to chill after work instead of getting all dressed up and spending the night on the town?”

  “Exactly,” Lana answered, her mind going to Courtney Abbott. But then again, maybe not. She hadn’t seemed thrilled when she found out about Eric. But she’d been warm and friendly when she’d introduced them the night before. “And someone who doesn’t have a problem with my kid.”