“I just want to know,” I said.
“I made a donation to the library fund,” he said, looking away. Then quietly added, “Your grandmother was good to me, too, you know.”
I said nothing as I wrestled with conflicting emotions. I was pissed at Finn for betraying me by not doing what he’d said he’d do, but I also knew that he’d done the best he could. Finn waited for me to say something, and when I remained silent, he nodded and then turned and walked out.
Chapter Forty-Six
Epilogue
“Ellie Connor, get down off of that coffee table!” I shouted as I rounded the corner and found my three-year-old daughter effortlessly scaling the only living room obstacle she had yet to conquer.
It had been five years since Dax and I signed our contract, and in that time, we’d watched the Storm become NFC champions in their first season only to lose to the Bears in the playoffs. They’d come back stronger and faster than next season, and forged ahead to win the Super Bowl, beating the Seahawks in a nail-biting game that went into overtime.
“No,” she replied stubbornly, pulling herself up to a standing position and putting her hands on her hips. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing at her adorably defiant pose.
“Young lady, do not test me,” I warned as I walked across the room and lifted her off of the table. She stared up at me for a moment before heading right back to the table.
Dax and I had ended our official contract after that first season when he’d gotten down on one knee in the middle of an empty Storm Stadium and presented me with two boxes. One held the contract and the other a ring, he asked me which one I preferred and when I chose the ring, he tore up the contract and used it as confetti to celebrate our engagement.
“I do it,” she said as she began pulling herself back up. “You not stop me, Mommy.”
“David Connor, get in here and set some limits for your daughter!” I yelled in as stern a voice as I could manage.
“What in the hell is going on out here?” Dax said emerging from his office holding his phone and looking confused.
We’d gotten married in a surprise ceremony the following summer in the backyard of Gram’s house with a small group of close friends. Val, who was pregnant with her first child and finding monogamous married life with Sir Richard much more fulfilling than she’d anticipated, stood up as my matron of honor and cried through the whole ceremony. Dax and Finn had patched things up as much as they could, and had agreed to start a new venture that would provide low-cost groceries and dry goods to the folks in the Back of the Yards on a regular basis. Gus had stood in for my father and proudly walked me up the aisle to meet my groom. After the wedding, Gram’s house had been converted into a community meeting center where neighbors could come and tend the garden, cook meals, and sit on the porch sharing cookies and lemonade made by an older woman who’d agreed to live there rent free.
“Little ears,” I said, reminding him that he needed to watch his language.
“Eleanor Halas Connor, what on earth are you doing?” he asked our curly-haired daughter as she reached the top of the table yet again.
“Want to be tall, Daddy!” she shouted as she stood up and put her hands on her hips again. “Tall like Yonny!”
I’d kept my job at the Storm, but had hired several assistants and a team of scouts that helped keep the workload to a manageable level as I tried to balance my new marriage with my desire to see the Storm succeed. Dax was supportive, but we’d had to work through some rough patches during the draft when he’d felt shoved aside by my passion for the game. All of this had shifted once I had Ellie, but I’d found that since Dax and I had managed to negotiate enough of the difficult things before she arrived, we were better at splitting duties without much trouble. It wasn’t perfect by any means, and I often had to fight my own stubborn impulses, but with help from an adept nanny, we managed to cover all our bases.
“This is all your fault,” Dax said looking at me pointedly. “You passed on the gene and now you brought her to the club house to meet the players. I blame you.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” I laughed as, once again, I removed our child from the dangerous perch she’d chosen. “You’re the one who chose the furniture that demands it be climbed!”
“Mommy, no!” Ellie wailed as I gathered her in my arms and kissed her small head. She was a beautiful child and was the perfect mix of Dax and I, with dark, curly hair and bright-blue eyes. She’d also inherited our risk-taking natures and double the stubbornness.
I hadn’t been able to fully make peace with my mother because neither one of us could completely forgive the other for our betrayal. I’d spent a long time trying to decide if I wanted her at our wedding, but when I finally sent her an invitation, she’d declined. It stung, but I knew why she’d done it, so I tried to forgive her as best I could. The lawyers been unable to locate Dax’s father, so we put his inheritance money in a trust for Ellie with the stipulation that if her grandfather showed up, the money would go to him.
I handed our squirming girl over to her father and watched as he whispered something in her ear that immediately stopped her active resistance. When he set her down, she made a beeline for the kitchen yelling, “Come on, Daddy!”
“What did you promise her?” I asked as I watched my husband’s gaze follow our bright-eyed daughter’s movement.
“Oh, you know, the usual,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing the top of my head. “The moon, the stars, and a huge bowl of strawberry ice cream.”
“You are impossible,” I laughed as I wrapped my arms around him and looked up into his handsome face.
“I’m really not, you know,” he said, smiling as he kissed my lips. “I just specialize making dreams come true.”
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