The event was heldin a hotel conference room and it was stunning.
There was a decent crowd too.
The entire hockey team was there.
Every single player. From the pros to the minor league players. All the coaching staff. The medical staff. Even the front office people who worked directly for my father.
Everyone was dressed up nice and everyone was upbeat and hopeful.
There were flowers on a makeshift stage with Carrie’s name on a sign.
A kind of silly looking logo that had a caricature of Carrie fighting what I assumed to be some evil looking bad guy that was supposed to be cancer.
There was a table where people could donate money toward Carrie’s charity.
Everything for the event was about giving.
The aura was heavy though.
That was probably my own doing because for every picture I took, I found myself looking around, desperate to find Maverick.
To see if he was actually going to show up or not.
As I walked along the back of the room, I spotted Remi.
He gave a nod and slipped his arm around a beautiful woman.
“This is my wife,” he said. “This is Mari.”
“Give me a big smile,” I said. “The both of you.”
“He doesn’t smile,” Mari said.
“Oh, you know how to make me smile,” Remi said.
They grinned at each other as she slapped his chest.
That was the perfect picture and I snapped it.
When I turned, I let out a small gasp when I saw Abel standing with a baby.
I couldn’t help myself but lift the camera.
Abel smiled ear to ear, showing off his daughter with beaming pride.
“Look at her,” I said to Abel. “She’s adorable.”
“I made this myself,” Abel said.
“You did what?” someone asked, stepping from behind Abel.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” Abel said.
I was introduced to Abel’s wife, Wren.
I made the happy family take a handful of pictures.
“I can send these to you if you’d like,” I said to Abel.