Scoring at Love (Men of the Ice Book 4)

by Michele Shriver

  “So did I.” He smiled in the moonlight. “I’d like to see you again.”

  “I’d like that, too, but—”

  “Ok, the dreaded ‘but.’” His smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Kendall said. “Everything about the night has been right.” Well, except for running into Carter. “It’s just that I only recently got divorced. I’m still getting used to being single, if that makes sense. I’m not sure how much of this I’m ready for, if that makes sense.”

  “Makes perfect sense,” Becker reassured her. “And I’m suggesting we go pick out china patterns. I just want to spend more time you, get to know you better. Let’s just start with that and see where things go, okay? Can you handle that?”

  It sounded safe enough. Kendall nodded. “Yeah, that I can handle.”

  “All right, then. Good night, Kendall.” Becker leaned closer and brushed his lips across hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “At the hockey camp. You’ll be there, right?”

  “Oh, that.” Sheesh. One soft, sweet kiss and she loses the ability to think. “Yes, I’ll be there. I’ll see you then.”

  She watched him walk back to his car before going inside the house. A glance at the old grandfather clock told her it was almost ten o’clock. Had they really been gone that long? The evening hadn’t dragged at all. Kendall debated on calling Lori, thinking it might be too late, but she remembered her friend saying she didn’t care what time it was, and if she didn’t call, Kendall would surely hear about it in the morning.

  She went upstairs to her room and changed into yoga pants and an old T-shirt, then called Lori, who answered on the first ring.

  “It’s about time.”

  Kendall laughed. “Were you sitting there with your phone in your hand?”

  “Yes,” Lori said. “So, how was it? I mean, it’s late, so it must have been pretty good, right? On the other hand, you’re calling me, so he must not still be there. Unless he’s asleep... is he asleep, Ken?”

  “I hope not, since he’s driving home.” Kendall rolled her eyes. Oh, her friend sure had quite the imagination. She laid back on the bed. “He just left. We were at the restaurant for a while.”

  “Where’d you go?”

  “Cappy’s.” Kendall stared up at the ceiling. “Beck likes seafood.”

  “So do you, so that’s a good start,” Lori said.

  “Yeah, except Carter and his new edition apparently do, too, since we ran into them.”

  “What? He was out with that Shannon bitch? What about the kids?”

  “Shana,” Kendall corrected. “I believe her name is Shana.”

  “I don’t care what her name is,” Lori declared. “I want to know what the jerk was doing out when he was supposed to be spending time with his kids.”

  She was predictably outraged, making Kendall appreciate their friendship all the more. Whatever happened, she could count on Lori being one hundred percent in her corner. “Yes, I wondered the same thing. He said they were with his mom, because she doesn’t get to see them much now.”

  “Lying bastard.”

  “He also said she handles Ali better.”

  “And that might be the only honest thing Carter’s said all year. Ugh. He can be such an ass.”

  “No argument there,” Kendall said. She sat up, folding her legs underneath her. “Anyway, that part was all sorts of awkward, but we got past it. They went to their table, we ordered dinner, and I told Beck about Ali.”

  “And?”

  “And he says he wants to meet her, and I believe him.”

  “Aw, sweet.” Lori sighed. “So things went well.”

  “Very well. I had a wonderful time.”

  “And you’re going to see him again?” Lori asked. “You didn’t, like, do something stupid and push him away did you?”

  “Stupid?” Kendall was indignant. “Is that really what you think of me? Gee, thanks, best friend.”

  “Oh, please. You know I don’t think you’re stupid. Just that you occasionally make poor choices,” Lori said. “I don’t want to see you push a potentially great guy away because you’re still stinging from the divorce.”

  “I didn’t do that.” She might have tried to, a little, but Beck hadn’t let her. Kendall was glad. She knew Lori was right. It was exactly the sort of thing she’d do. Hopefully, with a little nudge from both Lori and Becker, she’d get past the fear of being hurt again and be a little less gun shy. “I told him I needed to move slow, but that I’d see him again.” And Kendall knew she’d look forward to it.

  Chapter Six

  The next day, Becker joined some of the guys at the team's training facility for an early morning workout. Initially, he wondered if he’d made the right decision by agreeing to spend the off-season in San Antonio coaching the Young Generals camp, rather than travel or head back to Wisconsin for the summer, but quite a few of his teammates had decided to remain in Texas as well, so he always had a workout partner. And he wouldn’t have met Kendall if he were in Wisconsin. He had the camp to thank for that.

  He braced himself for some interrogation about his date, since his fellow camp coaches all knew he’d taken Kendall to dinner. Instead, he was shown up by the team captain, who had an announcement of his own to make.

  “I finally did it,” Colton said. “I proposed to Maya.”

  Ryder almost dropped a free weight on his foot. “Finally is right. What took so long?”

  “Long?” Colton directed a glare in Ryder’s direction. “What about you? I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

  “Nope.” Ryder shrugged. “Not interested in changing that fact, either. But you and your spicy sports reporter have been pretty much inseparable since you arrived in town.”

  It was true. Although Colton had enjoyed a reputation as a playboy and a party animal back in his days with the Montreal Canadiens, he’d taken an immediate liking to the a Generals’ beat reporter on his first day in San Antonio. Maya eventually resigned from the Generals beat and went back to reporting high school sports, essentially choosing Colton over her job.

  Becker had met Maya a couple times at team functions and liked her. Colton was a lucky guy. “Congratulations, man. Good for you.”

  “Hey, not so fast. Do we know if she said yes?” Noah asked with a grin.

  “Oh, bite me,” Colton muttered. “Of course she said yes. And I did the whole thing right, getting permission from her old man and her brother before I asked.” He got on the exercise bike. “And let me tell you, those were some tense moments. I have their blessing, though.”

  “Way to go,” Trevor Collison said. “When’s the big day?”

  “We’re not sure. Maya’s pushing for Valentine’s Day, but if we do that, we can’t take a honeymoon right away,” Colton said. “So it may be after next season, whenever that is. Hopefully mid-June.”

  They all knew what he meant. Mid-June would likely take them all the way through the playoffs. Maybe it was an ambitious goal, since the Generals would still only be in their second year of existence, but having gotten a taste of the playoffs and come up short, Becker expected every one of the guys to be extra motivated when the new season got underway.

  “How about you, Beck?” Ryder asked. “You had a date with that hot mom from the kids’ camp, right? The redhead. How’d that go?”

  Becker sat up on the weight bench and wiped his brow with a towel. “It went great.” Once they got past running into her asshole ex, at least. Becker already had a bad feeling that if he continued to see Kendall, Carter Myers could be an issue. He wanted to do everything he could to avoid that happening. “I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more of her.” Ex-husband or no ex-husband.

  ***

  Kendall got the call from her former mother-in-law just as she was about to leave the house to pick up the kids at Carter’s apartment. Kay still had the kids. They’d spent the night with her and their grandfather, which meant Carter had
apparently not exercised any of his weeknight visitation, and probably because he had plans for Shana to spend the night. Lovely. Just lovely.

  Maybe she should be happy he’d sent the kids to their grandparents’ for the night rather than hire a babysitter or expose them to a sleepover girlfriend, but it still angered Kendall, especially given how Carter had fought to add the Wednesday overnight to the visitation schedule. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t have spent every other night of the week with his new squeeze.

  She tried to temper her anger as she rang the bell at her former in-laws house and Kay answered the door. “Good morning, Kendall. Thanks for picking them up here.”

  Like I had a choice? “You’re welcome, Kay. I hope they weren’t any trouble?”

  “No trouble at all. Tristan played Minecraft on his iPad most of the time, and I read to Ali and we watched cartoons. You know I love spending time with them.”

  Kendall nodded. “Of course.” Was that supposed to be some sort of guilt trip? She remembered Carter’s remark that his mom didn’t have as many opportunities to see the kids now. “And you know you can see them anytime, right? It doesn’t have to be during Carter’s scheduled time. You just have to call me, Kay. Even though things didn’t work out between Carter and me, I like to think we’ve always had a pretty good relationship,” she said. “I’m not going to keep you from spending time with your grandkids.”

  The older woman directed her gaze to the tiled floor of her foyer. “I never thought that you would, Kendall. This has all been difficult for Carter, though. He’s still adjusting.”

  Still adjusting to what? And like it wasn’t an adjustment for her, for all of them? Kendall bit her bottom lip to keep from saying something she might regret. “Are the kids ready? I have to get Tristan to his hockey camp and drop Alison off first.” Ali worked with a physical therapist three days a week to help her with her mobility and motor skills.

  Kay lifted her head to meet Kendall’s eyes and nodded. “Yes. I’ll help you get everything loaded up.”

  Ten minutes later, everyone was situated in the minivan and on their way. Kendall had planned to drop Ali off for therapy, but suddenly had a new idea. Everyone on Ali’s medical team agreed she needed to experience new things and have as many normal experiences as possible. And Becker had said he wanted to meet her daughter. Was he simply paying lip service? It wouldn’t surprise Kendall, considering Ali’s own father didn’t seem to want much to do with her, but there was only one way to find out. She made a change of direction that would take her to the ice rink rather than the therapist’s office.

  “Mom, what are you doing?” Tristan asked. “Shouldn’t you have turned left there? What about Ali?”

  Looking out for his sister. Good for him. “Change of plans. I’ll call Heather when we get to the rink and let her know Ali won’t be there today. I’ve decided we’re all going to hockey camp.” She glanced back at Tristan. “Is that okay with you, buddy?”

  “Sure.” Tristan grinned. “Did you have a good time with Beck last night?”

  Kendall wasn’t sure she liked how fast her kids were growing up, if her son was now asking questions about her dates, but then again, he was obviously all too aware of his father’s. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. And he wants to meet your sister.”

  From Ali’s seat behind her, Kendall heard a sound like laughter, and she smiled. Yes, her daughter knew what was going on. Alison might have lost her ability to speak, but she hadn’t lost her intelligence and awareness, and it made her happy that someone wanted to meet her.

  Hopefully Beck would pass the test.

  ***

  Becker gathered his troops together to work on more skating drills, as well as their stance. It was an essential component of good goalkeeping, but it wasn’t very exciting to the youth in the camp, and Beck didn’t entirely blame them. They were anxious to get into game—or at least scrimmage—action and face shots. If they were indeed meant to be goalies, then that’s what they would thrive on.

  No, Beck didn’t entirely love being on the receiving end of one of Shea Weber’s slap shots that topped a hundred miles per hour or Alex Ovechkin’s slick moves, but he relished having the game rest on his shoulders in the critical moments and getting the chance to be the hero. Obviously none of these kids would be facing shots like that anytime soon, but they wanted to be tested. And next week they would be.

  “Good first week,” he told them, as they wrapped camp for a three-day break. “I’ll see everyone back here on Monday and we’ll see what kind of shots some of your fellow campers have.”

  A few cheers went up, particularly from Bryson and Tristan. Yeah, they were ready for live action. The question was, were their parents?

  “Beck?”

  He looked over at Tristan. “Yeah?”

  “Great practice. Thanks for explaining that butterfly slide again,” the kid said. “Oh, and my mom’s here today. She brought my sister to meet you.”

  “Wow, really?” Becker hadn’t expected it, at least not so soon. He was game, though.

  “Yeah. That’s why she’s not in her usual spot. Ali has a wheelchair. She can’t walk on her own.”

  Becker nodded. “Your mom mentioned that,” he said. “Why don’t you go get out of your gear and I’ll try to find her.”

  Tristan skated off with a few of his friends, and Becker unlaced his skates and took them off before making his way to the area of the stands where there was room for wheelchair seating. Trevor’s daughter, Kaylen, who was recovering from a bone marrow transplant, was there, her frail body huddled in a wheelchair next to her mom. Today, she had a friend, though, a sunny, happy-faced girl with auburn hair that matched Kendall’s. Becker would have known they were related right away, even if Kendall wasn’t right there beside her.

  “Hey there,” he said, walking over. He wanted to kiss her, but held back. “Tristan said there was someone you wanted me to meet.”

  Kendall nodded. “Yes. This is Alison. We call her Ali.”

  “Ali. I like that.” Becker kneeled down. “You look like your mom, you know that?”

  The girl didn’t respond, at least not verbally, but her hazel eyes seem to light up and she gave a nod of her head.

  “I’m Beck, your brother’s hockey coach and your mom’s friend,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Kendall said. “She was supposed to go to physical therapy, but I changed my mind and brought her here.”

  “Mind?” He shook his head. “Why would I mind? I told you I wanted to meet her.” Becker stood upright and looked at Kendall. “What does she enjoy? Does she like animals?”

  “Yes, why?”

  Her brow furrowed, as if puzzled, and Becker didn’t blame her. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, exactly, either. He simply knew this woman intrigued him and excited him, and realized he wanted to spend time with her, that her kids were part of the package. At some point, Beck had to find out if that suited him. Why not now, before things went much further?

  “Do you have the kids this weekend, or are they with their dad?” The one who preferred to have his mother watch them.

  “They’re with me,” Kendall said. “Carter had them last weekend. Why?”

  “Because I think we should all do something together. You said Ali likes animals. How about we go to the zoo?” He suggested. “I’ve heard from a few people that it’s a pretty good one here in San Antonio.”

  “It is, yes,” Kendall said.

  “Great.” Becker smiled. “So are we going then, the three of us?” Her friend wasn’t here this time to accept for her, so it was all up to Kendall. Although he understood she had some reluctance and a need to not rush things, she had said she would see him again. Hopefully, she meant it.

  “Saturday?” Kendall asked.

  “Yes, Saturday,” Becker said. “Does ten o’clock work for you?”

  “Can we make it eleven? It’s not always easy to get the kids up and going on week
ends, especially in the summer.”

  “Sure. You got it. Saturday at eleven it is. I’ll see you then.”

  Chapter Seven

  Their own father didn’t even exercise his visitation time with his kids, and a man she’d met less than a week ago wanted to take them to the zoo. Something was wrong with this picture, for sure. Lori told Kendall to and have a good time and not question everything, and Kendall knew it was good advice. It was hard not to question it, though. Was Becker sincere? He’d certainly seemed to be when he extended the invitation.

  Kendall looked forward to seeing him again, probably more than she wanted to admit, but she was wary, too. Would he decide this was all too much for him? After all, meeting Ali for a few minutes at the ice rink was in no way an indication of what spending a whole day with her would be like. And then there was Tristan. Sure, he was a fun kid at hockey camp, but he was almost nine and loved to test boundaries.

  This would be an experience, for sure, but Lori was right. Kendall would find out in a big hurry what Becker was made of and how serious he was.

  “Mom?” Tristan asked as she tried to get everything ready on Saturday morning.

  “Hmm?”

  “I think it’s cool you’re dating my hockey coach. I just want you to know that.”

  “Okay... but I’m not sure we’re really dating,” Kendall said. “We barely met. We’re just spending time together and getting to know each other.” Which sounded a hell of a lot like a date, even if this conversation was veering a little too far toward the ‘grown up’ end of the spectrum to be having it with her very precocious son.

  “Sure, whatever,” Tristan said. Great. He’d picked up on Kendall’s favorite word. “Either way, I still think it’s cool.”

  “You do, huh? You must really like Beck, then.” Kendall had no idea what he was like as a coach, but knew, at least, that Tristan seemed to enjoy the hockey camp.

  “Yeah, I do,” her son said. “He’s nice, and funny, and I’ve learned a lot from him already. I want to play goalie for the Generals when I grow up.”