Chapter 14
Connor
Two home games and one away later, we won the third round.
We were Western Conference Champions with a five-day break until the Stanley Cup Finals.
I was on top of the world, and under scrutiny from Shea Lansing, Hannah’s social worker, as we sat in my living room.
“The house really is lovely,” she said, not looking up from her clipboard. She was maybe five and a half feet tall in six-inch heels, but damn if she didn’t make me feel like I was the short one.
“Thank you,” I said because that’s what you said when someone complimented your new house and I was afraid of babbling.
“You have her enrolled in school still?” She pushed a pair of glasses up her nose, making her look like she was fifty when I knew she couldn’t be older than I was.
“Absolutely. She goes to the preschool about a mile away. They usually age out at five but took pity on her seeing as she’ll have to start kindergarten next year since Jessica didn’t enroll her this year. Plus donations help.” I gave her a smile.
She frowned.
“Right. It’s a great school district. Pool precautions still in place since my last visit?”
“Yep. Alarms on the door and surface monitor. She can swim like a fish, but they’re there just in case.”
“Good. And you asked those closest to her, who might have to provide care in case you need a sitter, to submit background checks?”
“Yep. I know you already have Bailey’s, and Ivy’s and Faith’s. Those are the only people who babysit for Hannah, but I also have these,” I pushed a large manilla envelope across the table, overflowing with papers.
“Those are?” Her forehead puckered.
“Copies of the background checks for about three-quarters of the Seattle Sharks, seeing as she does spend quite a bit of time at the rink. These were the guys who asked to get checked out for her.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not.”
She took the envelope and smiled. Holy shit, she could actually smile. “Never thought a bunch of overgrown macho men would sign up to hang out with a kid.”
“Hey, we’re not all that bad. Some of them even do that Big Brother program.”
She laughed. “Okay, okay, I get the point. So, have you heard from Hannah’s mother?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t heard anything, and the private investigator has come up empty, too.”
“Well, that’s a shame. Not for you, but it would be nice if we could locate her and get her to sign over her rights. It would be easier for you and better legally for her. I haven’t received anything back from your mother, either, which means she’s not going to contest.”
A giant sigh of relief smacked me in the chest.
“So what do we do now?”
“Now we file for a termination of parental rights in about two weeks. It’s faster than normal since the court has already found that Hannah’s been abandoned due to the note she left you and Jessica’s lack of contact. In fact, she’s probably going to face some criminal charges of abandonment.”
“Does this happen a lot?” I asked, needing to know if it was just the women in my family who fucked up their kids.
“Unfortunately. We see a lot more dads leave, honestly. Hell, it even happened to me.” She shook her head. “Sorry, that was personal.”
“Personal is okay. Honestly, I can’t figure out how old you are, and it’s driving me nuts. I’m usually pretty good at that stuff.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “At gaging the ages of women?”
“Well...yeah.” Her skin was flawless, and she didn’t have an age line anywhere, but her eyes and her tone of voice were all just...old.
“Twenty-six,” she answered, shocking the shit out of me.
“But Barnes said he’d been working with you for years.”
“At his law office. That’s how I put myself through grad school. Anyway, we’ll get everything rolling in two weeks, but it would be great if we could find your sister. A lot simpler.”
“Yeah, well, Jessica isn’t one for doing it the easy way.”
“As long as we do it the right way, it won’t matter. Don’t worry.”
I thought about what she’d said the entire drive to the rink. The right way. I was doing it the right way...right?
Hannah was safe, and loved and cared for, and had me, and Ivy.
Ivy.
Ivy, who I loved, but hadn’t told. Who I was still “sneaking” around with even though most of the roster knew what was happening.
Everyone except the person who deserved to know.
I gathered my courage, wished I had a bullet-proof vest, and walked into Coach Harris’s office a half hour later.
“Coach?”
“Bridgerton, what can I do for you?” he asked from the other side of his desk, looking at a collection of papers.
I shut the door behind me and ripped the baseball cap I’d been wearing off my head. It was now or never.
“Sir, I’m in love with your daughter.”
His eyebrows rose, but his eyes didn’t. “Well, her husband might have something to say about that,” he remarked, flipping the page on what looked like reports of some kind.
“Ivy, Sir. I’m in love with Ivy.”
His head popped up, his eyes wide.
“I just wanted to be upfront and honest, instead of you finding out some other way.” God, I was five years old again, in the principal's office for punching Tommy King. My heart had never been so sure, or beat so fast in my life.
“Okay.” He wasn’t exactly giving me much to go on.
“Right. I love her. She’s smart, and funny, and strong, and keeps me on my toes, and she’s so great with Hannah.”
“I don’t need to know my daughter’s finer qualities, Bridgerton, I raised her.” He leaned forward.
“Of course. I just wanted to tell you that I love her. And I know it would have been better to wait until after finals, but if I have to face the same consequences that Crosby did, then I’m okay with that. I’ll choose her. I’ll choose her every day.”
A smile flashed across his face and was gone just as soon. “I appreciate you telling me, but I told my girls I
was done interfering in their love lives. You can keep your job and date my daughter, it’s none of my business, and if she finds you acceptable, then I do, too.”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Coach.”
“You break her heart, and I’ll break your face,” he said with complete and utter seriousness.
“Right, Sir.”
“You can leave.”
I nodded and turned, almost sprinting for the door.
“Bridgerton, when it’s time, I’d better see you back here, ready to ask, because if you pull that elopement crap that Eric did, I’ll lose my shit. Understand?”
I grinned, imagining this guy as my father-in-law. “Yes, Sir.”
I shut the door, pretty much running for my life.
It was okay. Ivy and I could be as public as we wanted.
“Hey, Bridgerton,” Walt, one of the security guys called as I made my way toward the locker room.
“Yeah?”
“There’s some woman making a scene that she has to see you? She’s at the security desk right now, and it’s all we can do to keep her there.”
Well, that narrowed it down. I’d pissed off half the female population of Seattle at some point in my life. “Okay? Fan?”
“I don’t think so. She’s got long hair and keeps raving about Hannah.”
Jess.
“Holy shit.”
I took off at a dead run through the arena, taking the steps two at a time up to the level where the security desk was. Pushing through the doors, I slid across the tile floor before starting the run again, coming by the concession stands—
No.
“There he is!” She shouted.
“What are you doing here?” I growled.
She cocked her head to the side, her hair long, stringy, and bottle-dyed fire engine red.
“Now, Connor. Is that any way to speak to your mother?”
I ignored the blatant looks of shock from the security guards.
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, repeating the demand.
She waved a paper in the air. “I’m here to tell you that I’m taking custody of my granddaughter, of course.”