Trade Deadline - Avon Gale Page 0,74

I’m a little worried about him. This is the happiest I’ve seen him around hockey in—well. A long time.”

That bundle of nerves started acting up again. “Yeah. Me, too. And it’s not overstepping. I know you guys aren’t married but you still love him, I get that.”

“I know, and I can’t tell you how great that is. I used to worry that if this happened, if Daniel fell in love with someone else, I wouldn’t be as chill with it as I kept telling myself I would be. But you’re great.” She smiled, but there was clearly still tension in her pretty features. “I just wish this season was going better. Daniel’s always been so levelheaded about his career, even in the years when the team didn’t do so well. This is new, though.”

“Yeah.” Micah watched the kids line up again, heard Daniel’s laughter and smiled despite himself. “Maybe the Thunder should recruit some of these guys. That little boy scored a goal, they could use more of those. In my expert, new-hockey-boyfriend opinion.”

Tabby snorted. “Maybe they’ll recruit from the Strikers. That’s the developmental league,” she explained. “Like the one Daniel played for when he was a teenager, in Chicago. They have one here, now.”

“Oh, right, yeah, he said that! That’s awesome.” If they’d had that when Daniel was a kid, maybe he wouldn’t have left—but then, would Micah be watching his daughter try and stick handle like Wayne Gretzky down the ice? Probably not. And who’s to say they wouldn’t have grown apart for good, if he had?

Gretchen didn’t manage to score, but she at least shot at the goal—and that was enough to get Micah and Tabby on their feet clapping. Micah waved the dolphin, and Gretchen beamed up at them and waved back—then promptly fell over.

The game ended with a thrilling score of 1–0, in favor of the Rumbles. Micah went down to congratulate their little MVP, his heart immediately melting at the sight of Daniel helping hand out important postgame high fives and collecting equipment. He picked up his daughter—gear and all—and hugged her tightly, gave her a fist bump and sent her back to Tabby.

“C’mon, Ladybug, we have to go pick up your brother.”

“Why’s Nathaniel not here? He should be here! I played hockey.”

Tabby ruffled her daughter’s sweaty hair. “He’ll be at the next one, honey. Go get your stuff and we’ll go out for ice cream.”

“Okay, but he shouldn’t get any,” Gretchen muttered, stomping off.

“Gretchen just got on the team, and Nathaniel already had plans with my dad to go see this exhibit at the science museum,” Tabby explained. “We didn’t think it was fair to make him cancel since this was new. Parenting is like, 90 percent scheduling and distracting your children with ice cream.”

“What about distracting them with dolphin stuffies?” Micah wagged the dolphin, then handed it over. “Will you make sure she gets this, though?”

“She’s got quite a collection. She named the last one Mr. Micah,” Tabby said.

Micah blushed a little, but that made him happy. He was glad Daniel’s kids liked him. If only Daniel’s stupid hockey team didn’t suck so bad, things would be perfect. “I should switch to turtles, maybe,” he joked, because now wasn’t the time to bring up his own relationship worries. Except...

“Can I ask you something?” Micah asked, a little nervous. It was one thing to get along with Tabby, and another to ask her potentially personal questions about her ex-husband.

“Sure, what’s up?”

Micah took a deep breath. “Do you think Daniel’s happy here? In Miami?”

Tabby didn’t answer right away, which made Micah’s heart beat uncomfortably fast as he waited for her to speak. “If you’re asking me if he’s said anything about the two of you—”

“No, that’s—that’s pretty great, as far as I know, anyway,” Micah said. He ran a hand through his hair; he probably shouldn’t have started this conversation. “I meant just in general, I guess.”

“I think Daniel is as happy as he can be, with the season going the way it is,” Tabby said, carefully. “That’s the thing about hockey. It doesn’t follow a script or a narrative, and that can be really difficult to get used to. But even more so when it’s something stressful like constant losses, which...to be honest, Micah? He’s had some less-than-stellar seasons, both personally as an individual player and on a team, but it’s never been quite this bad. Still, if there’s one thing I know about Daniel Bellamy, it’s that he doesn’t give up. Especially