On the Fly Read online

  “I told you it was just a meeting,” Lana said. He was closing up, and she grabbed a broom to help clean the dining area.

  “With a hot woman,” he said with a laugh.

  “Stop.”

  “Mom called a little while ago. Why didn’t you tell her you were looking for another place to stay while you’re here?”

  “I wasn’t going to until I found a place and signed the paperwork, which I did tonight. I figured I’d let her know in the morning.”

  “Now you don’t have to. She already knows.”

  “Wonderful.” Lana stopped sweeping and turned to look at him. “Why did she call? Is Eric all right?”

  “He’s fine.” Joey waved her off before taking the cash out of the register. “She wants us to go with her to the hospital in the morning. Dad’s getting restless, and she wants a united front to try to convince him he needs to stay put and follow doctor’s orders.”

  “Since when has he listened to anything any of us tell him? He’s as stubborn as a mule.” Lana finished sweeping and followed him into the kitchen area to clean up there while he got the bank deposit ready. “You take after him in that department, you know.”

  “Me?” Joey said, sounding incredulous. “Mom says you’re the one who inherited his stubborn streak.”

  Lana thought about it for a minute and decided her mother was probably right. One of the reasons she’d agreed to come home while her father was recuperating was to try to repair her fractured relationship with her parents. They weren’t getting any younger, and this heart attack drove home the fact. She thought back to Court telling her about losing both her parents, and she felt her eyes welling up. What she wouldn’t do to have her father be proud of her.

  She wasn’t foolish enough to think it would ever happen, though.

  Chapter Nine

  When Lana got back from dropping Eric off at school the next morning, she barely had enough time to drink a cup of coffee before their mother was ushering them out the door to go to the hospital. Lana had been back in town for almost a week, and she’d only been to see him once. She felt bad about it, but she just didn’t know how to talk to her father. Of course, on the other hand, he didn’t know how to talk to her either. It was almost as though they were both afraid of pissing the other one off.

  As a result, Lana sat in a chair a few feet from his bed while Joey and their mother tried to reason with him while standing at his bedside. Reasoning with him had never been an easy thing to do.

  “You need to talk to the doctor and tell him I want to go home,” he said emphatically even though his voice sounded weak.

  “Pop, you need to get better, all right?” Joey said calmly. “You know if you went home you’d want to have a hand in everything that’s going on. You’ll never get better if you don’t rest, and this is the best place for you to recover.”

  “Lana, come here,” her father said. She was so taken aback to hear him say her name, she didn’t react right away. Joey and their mother stepped away and looked at her. He reached his hand out to her. “Come here, tesoro.”

  The term of endearment caught her off guard. He hadn’t used it since before she’d come out to them. She stood slowly and went to his side, taking his hand in hers. She was surprised his grip was so strong as he held on tightly. She glanced at Joey, who looked as shocked as she felt.

  “Tell them I’d do better recovering at home,” he said with a pleading look in his eyes.

  “I can’t, Dad,” she said quietly. He dropped her hand and turned his head away before waving her off. She looked at her mother, who gave her a quick nod and a tilt of her head in his direction. Lana cleared her throat and grasped his hand again. If she wanted to repair their relationship, she figured there was no better time to start than now. “Dad, listen to me. You and I have had our differences over the years.”

  “Understatement,” Joey said, not quite under his breath, but Lana chose to ignore him.

  “We’ve gone too long without speaking,” she continued. “You’re my father, and I love you. You need to get better, because you have a grandson who wants to get to know you. If the doctors think you should stay here in order to heal, then you’ve got to do it. I’m helping Joey with the pizzeria, and Eric’s been helping Mom around the house. You don’t need to worry about anything but getting better, all right?”

  She waited a few moments, but he refused to look at her or even acknowledge anything she’d said. She let out a sigh and released his hand before picking up her jacket and telling Joey she’d be in the cafeteria.

  He could be so infuriating sometimes. She wondered briefly even why she’d want to repair a relationship with him. But damn it, he was family. Eric didn’t really know them, and they were the only family he had. She was sitting at a table in the cafeteria staring into her coffee when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Are you all right?” Gail Crawford asked, a look of concern on her face. “If you want to be alone, I’ll understand.”

  “I’m sorry. Please have a seat,” Lana said with a forced smile. “What are you doing here?”

  “I just came by to see one of my players before we left for Philly,” Gail said as she settled into her seat.

  “Jen Hilton?” Lana asked.

  “Yeah, she has a concussion, and the doctor’s releasing her today, but she won’t be able to play for at least a couple more weeks.” Gail took a sip of her own coffee and looked at her. “I just wanted to see how she was doing.”

  “Not sure I could force myself to be nice to her considering what she did in that game before she got bowled over.”

  Gail nodded, and Lana sat back in her chair.

  “Yeah, I can’t deny the entire team is pretty pissed at her for what she did. I am too, but for better or worse, she’s a part of the team, and we all need to figure out how to make it work.”

  Lana wondered how difficult it would be to accomplish. It was obvious Jen Hilton didn’t like Court, and she was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

  “When are you leaving for Philly?” Lana waited as Gail looked at her watch.

  “In about an hour,” Gail said as she got to her feet. “Which means I need to get going or I’ll miss the bus. I hope your father is well enough to go home soon.”

  “Thank you.” Lana forced a smile and watched as Gail walked out of the cafeteria. She let out a sigh and placed her elbows on the table, her head resting in her hands. She couldn’t wait to move into her new house. At least she’d be moved before her father made it home.

  “He’s going to stay,” Joey said as he sat in the chair across from her. “I think what you said to him hit home.”

  “I doubt it,” she said with a snort.

  “I know you think he doesn’t like you, but you’re wrong.”

  “They both said they accepted it when I came out, but I know they don’t approve of my lifestyle, and they’ll never understand it. I’m sure both of them would have been perfectly fine if I hadn’t come home to help out.”

  “Then why did you?”

  “Because you asked me to, Joey,” she said quietly. He had to know that, didn’t he? She knew their parents would never have told him about the arguments they’d had before she’d left for college, but she also knew he wasn’t stupid. He was the same age then as Eric was now, and he had to have sensed the tension between her and their parents.

  “Is it the only reason?” he asked.

  She looked away and shook her head.

  “I know they won’t be around forever,” she said after a moment. “And like I said to him earlier, I love them, and I do want Eric to know his grandparents. I guess I hoped there was a chance we could heal this rift between us.”

  “They love you, too, you know,” he said as he reached across the table and took her hand. She started to tell him he was wrong, but he didn’t let her. “They do. They always ask me how you’re doing, and Dad even made me sit at the computer with him one night so we could research you on the internet. It wa
s almost like he couldn’t get enough information. We also read a few articles on Eric. He’s a pretty decent hockey player from what I understand.”

  “He is,” Lana said with a fond smile. She hadn’t really wanted him to play when he first approached her about it, but she decided to indulge him. He’d been eight at the time, and they’d just watched the women win the bronze medal in the Olympics, so his interest was at a fever pitch. She made a compromise with him—if he still wanted to play when he was ten, she’d let him. Of course he did still want to play, but she figured one season and he’d be done. Little had she known he’d fall in love with the game. Or that he’d be so damn good at it. “He probably won’t be going to college. He’s got junior teams scouting him, and he could be drafted next year.”

  “Wow,” Joey said, smiling like the proud uncle she assumed he was. “Is it the Canadian Hockey League?”

  “No, there’s a junior league in our region,” she said, wondering not for the first time if it wouldn’t be better for them to be living here permanently so he could have a shot at a major junior team in one of the three leagues in the CHL. It would be an amazing opportunity for him, she knew that. But if she’d moved them here and he did get taken in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft, he would have to move to Quebec and live with another family anyway while he finished high school and honed his skills for a possible career in the NHL.

  “Is he going to play while he’s here?”

  “We’ve been looking for a team. They don’t play in too many high schools here, so it’s been a little bit of a challenge, but yeah, he definitely wants to play.”

  “We should probably get back to his room,” Joey said after they’d talked about Eric and hockey a little more. “Mom will start to think we left without her.”

  She nodded and got up to follow him, trying not to think too hard about what he’d told her about their father researching her on the internet. If it was true, then maybe there was a chance for them to find some kind of common ground.

  Chapter Ten

  The pizzeria wasn’t busy at all the next night, and it gave Lana and Eric the opportunity to sit in the kitchen and listen to the Warriors game on the radio.

  “I can’t believe she has two goals already,” Eric said at the end of the first period. It was good to see him so excited about something. Lana had been worried he would be sullen and withdrawn the entire time they were here. Who could have guessed Court Abbott would be the reason they’d both feel good about having to live in Kingsville for a few months? “I hope she gets a hat trick.”

  “That would be great,” Lana said in agreement.

  “Aren’t you two here to work?” Joey asked.

  “Go round up some customers and we will,” Lana said with a smirk.

  “Don’t rub it in,” Joey said as he pulled up a stool and joined them. The bell at the front door would alert them if they had a customer, so there was no need to worry about pissing anyone off. “So, are you dating her?”

  Lana almost laughed at how fast Eric’s head swung around at the question. Ever since he’d been old enough to ask questions about why she and his father weren’t together, she hadn’t tried to keep her sexuality a secret from him. What would be the point? They had a great relationship, and he felt comfortable talking about anything with her. She never offered information about her personal life, but if he asked, she didn’t lie to him about anything.

  “You and Courtney Abbott?” he asked, a decidedly hopeful tone to his voice. “Seriously?”

  “No, we aren’t dating,” she replied, her heart aching a little at the disappointment she saw in Eric’s expression. He wanted her to find someone and to be happy. He hadn’t been shy about voicing his opinions on the matter since the day he’d turned thirteen.

  “Bummer, because that would be so awesome.”

  “So awesome,” Joey agreed, and they gave each other a high five as Lana shook her head at the two of them.

  She happened to agree with them, but she wasn’t about to admit it out loud. She went to grab a slice of pepperoni before the second period started and smacked Joey in the back of the head as she walked past him.

  “Why so interested in my personal life?” she asked.

  “Well, I’m considering making a commercial for the pizzeria, and I was thinking it would be good for business to have a local celebrity be our spokesperson,” he said, rubbing his head where she’d hit him. “You’d be surprised how many young kids look up to her.”

  “And you thought I could help you talk her into it?”

  “Well, yeah.” His tone made it clear he thought it was obvious.

  “You could just ask her on your own, you know.” Lana resumed her seat just as the puck was dropped.

  Joey started to say something else, but Eric held his hand up, his eyes glued to the radio. Court had won the faceoff and the Warriors were on the attack. He let out a whoop she’d never heard from him before and he pumped his fist in the air. She’d only seen him use that particular fist pump for his favorite player on the Blackhawks, Patrick Kane.

  “Hat trick!” he said with a single clap, and then he rubbed his hands together. “How great is she?”

  “She’s pretty great,” Joey said with a wink for Lana behind Eric’s back. She shook her head. It was apparent he wasn’t buying it when she said they weren’t dating. He probably thought she didn’t want to admit it in front of Eric. Lana vowed to set him straight on her relationship with her son.

  The game ended with a 5–2 score, and Eric didn’t stop talking about Court the entire time they were going through the closing routine for the pizzeria. Joey wasn’t any different, though. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought her little brother had a crush on Courtney Abbott.

  “When are we moving into the house?” Eric asked on the ride back to her parents’ house.

  Lana had hoped to be moved in over the weekend, but Eric had a tryout with a local team earlier that day, and tomorrow she’d promised her mother she’d help her clean the house. They’d only been there for a couple of weeks, but she couldn’t wait to move into their own place.

  “Tomorrow night, I think,” she answered. It wasn’t like they had a ton of stuff with them, but the car had been pretty packed on their drive from Chicago. She was hoping to get it done in one trip, but it was probably more realistic to do it in two. At least it was only a fifteen-minute ride. “Can you handle one more night with Grandma?”

  “She’s not so bad,” Eric said with a shrug. “Except she’s always trying to kiss my cheek and hug me. It’s a little creepy.”

  “I can imagine.” Lana tried to stifle a laugh but wasn’t successful. Eric laughed with her.

  “She’s not happy we’re leaving.”

  “We aren’t leaving exactly,” she said, feeling exasperated. “We’re just moving into our own space a few minutes away.”

  “That’s what I told her.” Eric yawned. Lana looked at the clock and fought back a yawn of her own. It was almost eleven. He was quiet for a few minutes, and she was starting to think he’d fallen asleep. He startled her when he spoke again. “Maybe we should invite Court over for dinner in our new house.”

  “Maybe,” she answered thoughtfully. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought of the idea herself, but she was surprised Eric suggested it. “You like her, huh?”

  “What’s not to like?” he asked.

  Indeed, she thought with a small smile.

  “You think she might help me with my passing game?” he asked.

  “I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to ask her.” Lana glanced at him in the passenger seat next to her.

  He was a gifted player, and had been told so by any number of people who knew better than she did. The one thing he always had a problem with, though, was passing the puck. He was sloppy most of the time, and he’d worked harder on that aspect of his game than any other in the past couple of years.

  The coach for the team he’d tried out for that day told him if he coul
d make crisper passes to his line mates, he’d be unstoppable. He’d said a player who scores, but can’t set up his teammates for their own goals, probably wouldn’t make it very far. He needed to be more than a one-dimensional player if he truly wanted to make it to the next level.

  Lana knew he took every bit of advice to heart, and he had improved some, but he wasn’t quite there yet. He’d made the team today, and he was ecstatic about it, but he knew he needed to do something to get even better still. She had no doubt he could do anything he put his mind to. If he wanted to improve, he would. She hoped for his sake Court would be willing to give him some pointers.

  “Maybe you should invite her over Monday night,” Eric said.

  “I don’t know.” Lana wasn’t sure how to respond. Of course, she wanted to do exactly that, but what if Court turned her down? What did it really matter anyway? It wasn’t as though she and Eric would be around past the end of the school year. Not that either of them would be interested in something long-term, but it just seemed wrong somehow to try to start something with Court. She shook her head at the way her thoughts were going in so many different directions. “I don’t even know when they’ll be back from their road trip.”

  “Tuesday, then,” he suggested.

  “I’ll think about it, okay?”

  It was the best she could do at the moment. She didn’t want to get his hopes up, because it was becoming apparent he was enamored with Court, even if it was just the possibility in his mind that she might date her.

  Chapter Eleven

  It had been a good road trip. Actually, it had been a great road trip. They’d won both games, and Court had scored a total of seven points. There’d even been a crowd of people waiting at the arena to welcome them home when the bus pulled in that afternoon.

  “Somebody here to see you, Abbott,” Savannah said as she took a seat in front of her locker.

  “An angry one-night stand?” Kelly asked in a teasing tone.