The game starts, and I see Jaxon and Caleb skate together. “They are really good,” I tell Tim, and he nods his head. “Are you one of those hockey parents who yells?” I ask, laughing. My laughter fills the arena, and I have a couple of people look at me.
The game starts, and I have to admit I am into it more than I thought. “Hey!” I shout when I see a kid hit Jaxon and then hit Caleb. “That is not nice,” I tell Tim, and he laughs. I try to keep my eyes away from Manning. I try so hard, but by the end of the second period, I have to pee so bad. I get up and pass the seat that Manning was sitting in, and I see that it’s empty, and I wonder if he had to leave for work. I look around for the signs to the bathroom. I walk to the end, my head down as I turn the corner of the brick wall and smack straight into someone. I don’t have to look up to know who it is. I would know his touch anywhere. I would know his smell with my eyes closed. My body wakes up as soon as I look at his hands that are holding my arms. “I’m sorry,” I say, looking up at him.
A smile fills his face. “This reminds me of the first time we met,” he says, his voice low as we stand here.
“I really need to watch where I’m going,” I say to him as neither of us makes a move to walk away.
“Never a third without a second,” he says to me, repeating the words he told me, and my heart pitter-patters in my chest.
“So I’ve been told.” I laugh nervously, and I look up at him. His eyes are a clear blue as he smiles down at me. It’s the look he always gives me. It’s a look I’ve had etched in my memory since we first met.
“You’re beautiful,” he says as his hand moves from my arm to my cheek, and I want to turn my face and kiss his hand. “I miss you,” he says. The same words I’m thinking and want to say to him. “I think about you all the time.”
“I know.” Those are the only two words that come out. “It’s been hard.” I tell him the truth. “I faked sick for two days.”
“I know,” he says, his hand falling from my face. “I was away for three days, so it made it a little easier. But then seeing you walk in here.”
He swallows, and I swear I feel like it’s just the two of us. I hear cheering coming from somewhere, but right now, right here, it’s just him and me. “You walked in, and I felt settled if that even makes sense. For this whole week, I’ve felt like I had all these balls in the air.” I listen to him as he tries to get out what he has to say as fast as he can before someone comes our way. “But the minute I turned around, it was just peace. It was just you.”
“Manning.” I whisper his name, and I’m about to say something else when I hear the sound of heels coming our way, getting louder and louder.
I take a step away from him, but he doesn’t move. “Well, well, well.” I hear and look up to see his wife. “What do we have here?” she says, looking at me and then at Manning.
Chapter 25
Manning
“Well, well, well.” I hear and look up to see Murielle. “What do we have here?” she says, looking at me and then at Evelyn. She crosses her arms over her chest. “Is this a secret meeting I don’t know about?” She smiles, but there is nothing friendly in her smile. There is nothing friendly when it comes to Murielle.
“Murielle, you remember Tim’s sister.”
“Right,” she says, coming to stand next to me. “Evangeline, isn’t it?”
“Actually, it’s Evelyn,” she says, now giving us her own fake smile. “It’s nice to meet you again. I was just telling Manning what a special boy you have.”
“He really is,” she agrees and nods her head. She tries to grab my hand, but I put it in my pocket, so then she wraps her arm around my waist. “Just like his father.”
Evelyn looks like she wants the floor to swallow her. “Well, it was nice seeing you again, Evelyn,” I say and then walk around her.
“Yes, it was nice to see you again,” Murielle says, and I hear her shoes clicking on the floor. She joins me, and I look over my shoulder to see that Evelyn didn’t follow. I want to go back and make sure she is okay.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Murielle says between clenched teeth. I don’t have time to ask her what she is talking about because I open the arena door and make my way over to the seat where I was sitting before.