Dwight felt his chest tighten at his son’s
sheer stupidity. “I told you not to let her out of your sight.”
“I know, but I’ve sort of been out of it lately.”
“No shit,” Dwight mumbled with disgust. Christ, he didn’t have time for this. There were dealers to meet with, tequila to drink and women to be had. If Dwight could have wrung Troy’s neck through the phone line, he would have. “From now on, you are to take her to work
and
pick her up. You hear me? Keep your eye on her at all times.”
“Yeah, I hear
ya.”
“Now go find her. If Sarah’s not there when I get back
, there’s gonna be hell to pay.”
Dwight slammed the phone down, pulled his cap down low over his eyes and strode over to the nearest cantina.
Chapter Three
Fresh
Start
Man, it felt great to start fresh in a new city. The ink had barely dried on his contract with the Red Valley Razors and Nathan Connors had already rented a house in Red Valley and started settling in to the California lifestyle. Sure, it had been a bit of a shock finding out the Denver Blizzards had traded him, but in the end, it was a good thing. Being the Blizzards’ third string goaltender hardly gave him the opportunity to play and showcase his talent anyway.
Here in Red Valley, on the other hand, Nathan would serve as the Razors’ primary back-up goalie. He’d still be on the bench most of the time, but at least he wouldn’t be stuck in the minor leagues waiting to be called up. And if and when
Alexader Sebastien or “Sebby” as the team and all of the fans affectionately called him, was ever injured or needed a rest, Nathan would step in.
At age
twenty-five, Nathan had hoped to be the starting goalie on a prestigious team by now, but things hadn’t worked out as planned. They rarely ever did. The past would always follow him around like a shadow, but Nathan was bound and determined to make the future something worth talking about, too.
Nathan liked Red Valley, or at least what he’d seen of it so far.
Actually, he’d been spending most of his time at Razors Ice, the team’s practice facility. Even though it was a fairly big city, big enough to have its own professional hockey team at least, Red Valley had a small town feeling that Nathan could get used to. There was plenty of shopping and restaurants and as far as recreation was concerned, to the north there was August Lake, a little mountain town that had a lake of the same name and beautiful Mt. August.
Sebby
was born in Moscow and there was a bit of communication gap, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. Nathan had already met a few of his other teammates when he went to the NorCal Center, Home of the Razors, to check out his new arena. Most of the team had already called from their hometowns and summer vacation destinations to welcome him. Nathan, on the other hand, didn’t take much of a vacation. This year, he’d been training hard and spending long hours on the ice and in the gym all summer long.
Training camp started
next week and it was time to focus on hockey. No excuses. No distractions. This was his year to prove he deserved to play first string again. There’d be plenty of games spent warming the bench, but when he had the chance to show them he still had it, he’d knock their freakin’ socks off.
While
Nathan was on the ice doing drills & sharpening his reflexes, his family was settling into the new house nicely. The house was in a good neighborhood and spacious enough so that little Robbie could have his own room and Nathan still had room for a home gym. It was just a rental but Nathan would look into buying something more permanent later. Depending on how things went with the Razors.
Nathan
had an hour to kill before he was scheduled to meet with his trainer and goalie coach so he decided to see what Robbie was up to. Nathan walked down the hall to Robbie’s room and paused in the doorway. There were so many Matchbox cars, plastic dinosaurs and stuffed animals, the carpet was barely visible under all the toys. This made Nathan smile.
In contrast to the
cluttered floor, the walls of the room were bare. Kayla had made it clear that she wasn’t planning on staying long term. She hadn’t hung any pictures or even unpacked all of her and Robbie’s things. Although it was hard to believe there were even more, some of Robbie’s toys still sat in boxes in the corner.
What Kayla
had
unpacked had been like Christmas morning for Robbie. Each box revealed more surprises and forgotten treasures. Even though their living arrangement was only short term, Nathan sure enjoyed the feeling of being a part of a family again.
Nathan
folded his arms over his chest and watched Robbie play. Robbie’s shaggy brown hair was the exact same shade of brown as Kayla’s. He had a lot of her features; curious hands, watchful eyes, a cute little button nose.
Robbie darted
around the room, selecting one toy and discarding it for another. Finally after choosing a red sports car, he knelt down, cleared a path for it through the other toys and drove it across the carpet.
Come to think of it, Nathan hardly ever saw Robbie stand still. The little guy ran everywhere on his short, pudgy legs.
Always in a hurry, always on the hunt for his next great adventure.
Nathan was mystified by Robbie’s youthful innocence. What it must be like to be too young to know fear, loss or heartache.
Too young to have experienced tragedy and the evil of this world. Nathan envied Robbie’s naiveté.
The second
Robbie noticed Nathan in the doorway, he sprang to his feet and flung himself at Nathan for a hug. “Thun!” he exclaimed.
Nathan smiled at his nephew’s pronunciation of his name.
“You’ve got too many toys, buddy.”
“That’s because you spoil him rotten
,” a voice came from behind them.
Nathan
turned around to find Kayla standing in the hallway with her hands on her slender hips. She looked tired but Nathan would never tell her that. She was putting in long hours at the police station at her new job as a 9-1-1 operator. She’d work five jobs if she had to just to support Robbie and make sure he had everything he needed. But Nathan would never let it come to that.
Nathan shrugged. “That’s what
uncles are for.”
Kayla had that look in her eyes like she knew exactly what he’d been thinking about.
Then again, she probably did. She knew him better than anyone else. That probably had something to do with the fact that he hadn’t let anyone else get close enough to really know him.
Kayla moved past Nathan
, went to the nearest moving box and pulled out several toy trucks. “I mean, what does he need three types of Tonka trucks for?”
“Those are
construction vehicles and there’s one for every job,” he explained. “A dump truck for hauling stuff, a bulldozer for…bulldozing…”
“Okay, okay. I get it
,” she said with a wave of her hand.
Nathan smirked and looked down at Robbie. “Girls just don’t understand those kinds of things.”
Robbie raced over to his mom and tugged the yellow truck from her grasp. “Vroom, vroom,” he sounded out and drove the truck over a pile of teddy bears on the floor.
Nathan smiled warmly at his sister.
“You’re a good mom, Kayla. You’ve done a great job of raising Robbie on your own and you’re not half bad at mothering me.”
She
put a hand to his cheek and smiled back. “We’re going to do okay here in Red Valley, Nathan. I have a good feeling about it.”
Nathan pulled her in for a hug and hoped she was right.
Even though the three of them were together there was still something missing. There would
always
be something missing from their family. A dark and giant chasm that prevented them from being completely whole ever again.
Robbie looked up from his truck
, saw them hugging and yelled, “Mommy! Thun! Hug!”
Nathan and Kayla
welcomed him into a noisy group hug with open arms.
Chapter Four
Red Valley, California
Sarah watched as the barren California scenery passed by the bus window. She was excited to start fresh in a new town but at the same time she was scared half to death. This was what she’d waited her whole life for but nothing could prepare her for the loneliness she felt.
Looking
down at her new necklace, Sarah smiled. She didn’t know how she had been so lucky to cross paths with someone as kind and generous as Miriam Lee, but, oh, how she had changed her life for the better.
Twelve
hours later, the bus pulled into the city of Red Valley. A million miles wouldn’t be far enough away from Dwight, but Red Valley would just have to do.
Red Valley was
just as populated as her old home in southern California and a big enough city to have its own national hockey team. Sarah didn’t know much about hockey, but there were huge billboards advertising the team all over the city. She thought about how fun it must be to go to games and root for the home team, but immediately pushed the notion away. She was getting ahead of herself. She’d never had the luxury of a balanced meal every day, much less extra cash to spend on games tickets or fan merchandise. And that wasn’t an option. Certainly not now that she was out on her own. Maybe someday. Right now, she had to focus on the necessities in life and hockey wasn’t one of them. She needed to find a place to stay for the night.
The neighborhood around the bus terminal wasn’t the greatest or probably the safest, but
Sarah needed a place within walking distance. The city bus had already stopped running for the day and she’d have to depend on public transportation until she could save up enough money for a car.
Two blocks away from the bus
station, Sarah found a motel that offered affordable weekly rates. It was in a seedy part of town, but Sarah didn’t have the option of being picky.
The Half Moon
Motel had definitely seen better days, but it was the sort of place where her money would stretch further than anywhere else. The motel office looked like the setting of a bad 1970’s horror movie complete with gold shag carpeting and lime green drapes.
Sarah swallowed down the sick feeling rising in her throat.
Skeet, the man working behind the check-in desk, was just the kind of guy Sarah was trying to get away from. Although he was frightening, Sarah had come across plenty of people like Skeet before. Unpredictable, high as a kite and extremely dangerous.
As she walked up to the counter, h
is eyes traveled slowly up and down her body and she inwardly cringed. This was not what she had in mind when she’d set out on her new beginning. Silently, she thanked Miri for the can of Mace.
When she asked about a room,
Skeet proceeded to look her up and down like she was the item for rent and not the room. His greasy hair and creepy sneer gave her instant flashbacks of Dwight.
No
. She refused to be thwarted by fear. Soon, when she started making her own money, she could put Skeet in her rear-view mirror. Until then, she would have to be okay with calling the Half Moon Motel home.
“What size bed?”
Skeet asked, his eyes sliding down to her chest again. “A single?”
The last thing
Sarah wanted to be doing was discussing beds with the creep. “I need a room for my boyfriend and me,” she lied.
He let out a disappointed sigh.
“I’ll give you a double but it’ll cost ya more.”
Paying more wasn’t ideal, but it was the
cost of making Skeet believe she wasn’t alone. A guy like him couldn’t be trusted and she needed to stack the deck in her favor.
“I have cash
,” she told him.
Skeet
ran his tongue over his cracked lips. “How much?”
She slapped the money on the counter
and Skeet looked at it the same way he’d eyed her breasts. “It’s enough for two weeks,” she told him with confidence.
“All right
y then. A double it is. Housekeeping and extra towels are extra. You want a second key for your
boyfriend
, pretty lady?”
“Yes, please,” she answered politely
, ignoring the endearment.
He handed her the keys
making sure to touch her hand in the exchange. “Room 201. Upstairs and to the left. If your boyfriend doesn’t show up, give me a call.”
“Oh, he’ll be here,” she reassured him
over her shoulder.
Sarah
hurried out of the office and toward the stairs. The key was heavy in her hand and she liked what it represented. She went upstairs, easily found room 201 and used the key to unlock the door.
Once inside, s
he flicked on the light. The dim light cast menacing shadows across the room. After deadbolting the door, she leaned against it with a sigh. No one said this was going be easy.
Glad to have her encounter with Skeet over with,
Sarah eagerly looked around her new living quarters. It was a fairly big room, but most of it was void of furniture. The mud brown carpet was worn and frayed around the edges and looked like it hadn’t seen a vacuum in…well
ever
.