Lucky Score (The Hawkeyes Hockey Series Book 6)

I take a seat up on one of the bar stools and it doesn’t take long before Cammy joins me, sitting to my right.

‘Aren’t you on shift?’ I ask.

‘I’m on break.’

I nod and look up at the football game streaming on the TV above the bar.

‘She told you, didn’t she?’ Cammy asks.

I nod, trying to hide my surprise that Cammy already knows that I’m her dad.

‘What will it be?’ Rita asks, walking up behind the bar.

‘Whatever Miguel feels like making today,’ I say.

‘You got it,’ Rita jots it down and then heads back to the kitchen to put in my order.

There’s a moment of silence, and then Cammy speaks up.

‘I wanted to tell you when I found out but I was worried you would be too mad at mom to give me a chance to get to know you. By the time I knew you wouldn’t hold it against me, I was moving to Seattle for school, and I was worried that now you would be mad at me for waiting so long to tell you.’

I wouldn’t have been mad at Cammy. It’s not her fault that she was kept from me but how long has she actually known that Eli isn’t her dad and I am?

‘I’m not mad at you for any of it. It wasn’t your responsibility to tell me that you existed. Your mom shouldn’t have waited until you were eighteen to tell me. How did you find out?’

‘Grandma put up my sophomore volleyball team picture next to one of your high school hockey team that’s up on the mantel. If you gave me a buzz cut, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between us,’ she chuckles. ‘I asked grandma why we looked so much alike and she told me about your history with my mom… then she told me to check my birth certificate. I wasn’t premature like mom told everyone I was. What nine-pound baby is four weeks early?’

My mom knew too?

‘Grandma knew this whole time and didn’t say anything?’

‘She only suspected. She couldn’t prove it. And she was worried that if she asked Mom about me that she wouldn’t let Grandma see me anymore. Why do you think grandma was always trying to get you to come home? She thought that you’d take one look at me and know that I’m yours.’

All those calls I didn’t take from her. I’m starting to regret those now.

‘Cammy, if I had known—’

‘I know. But look at the bright side. At least Mom isn’t a gold digger. Can you believe that she loved Dad that much to give up the lifestyle of being married to a multi-millionaire hockey player? And now that I’m old enough, she can’t come after you for child support.’

‘Cam, I have more money than I’ll ever spend. I would have paid her whatever she wanted so I could be in your life. Missing out on the first sixteen years with you wasn’t worth any dollar amount,’ I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

‘Really?’

‘Of course.’

‘Mom’s trying to get you back.’

‘I know.’

‘Please don’t cave. Especially not for me.’

It’s not as if I’d really considered it but why wouldn’t she want Josslin and I together?

‘Why not?’

‘Because mom has never been alone a day in her life. It would be good for her to stand on her own two feet for once. She’s been in a one-sided marriage for so long; I don’t think she would know what a functional relationship is even if she were in one. And though she won’t admit it right now, she’s still in love with dad,’ Cammy darts a look up at me. ‘Does it hurt your feelings when I call him dad?’

I think about it for a second.

It’s the name that she grew up calling him, and based on the information that she’s told me about how absent he’s been in her life over most of her childhood, I know that the name is just what she’s used to calling him—not a term of endearment.

‘No, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. He was there when I wasn’t.’

Whether he earned the title or not is a different story.

‘What should I call you now?’

I hadn’t thought about it until she asked.

‘Do I call you dad too?’ she asks.

‘No, not unless you want to. But Uncle doesn’t seem right either. How about just Seven… for now until we figure it out? There’s no rush.’

She beams back at me. ‘Ok, Seven it is.’

Rita brings out our food but it’s so busy in the restaurant that she can’t stay and chat. She takes off again to grab more orders.

‘Are those the only reasons for why you don’t want me and your mom together?’

‘And because you don’t love her anymore… you’re in love with Brynn,’ I just about choke on a bite of my carnitas taco. ‘Mom doesn’t get to ruin your life a second time. And you and I are fine just the way we are, aren’t we?’

‘Yeah, kiddo,’ I say, smiling down at her and giving her shoulders a shake. ‘We’re fine the way we are.’

In my peripheral, a beautiful brunette catches my eye.

Brynn.

‘Excuse me, I have someone I need to talk to.’

Cammy looks over in the direction I’m staring and then turns to me and smiles.

‘Don’t screw it up.’

I shake my head. Now I know where Cammy gets it from.

I walk towards Brynn and I see the moment she sees me and then cuts eye contact, pretending she doesn’t see me.

I reach out and touch her arm.

‘Hey, can we talk?’

Brynn cuts her eye contact to a table that needs clearing.

‘Um, I have a lot of work to do. Can it wait until after my shift?’

I see Cammy slide in front of us and quickly start to clear the table that Brynn seems to be worried about.

‘I got it. Take your break,’ Cammy says over her shoulder.

Brynn looks back at me, realizing that she has no viable excuse now.

‘Ok, sure I guess.’

I lead Brynn by the small of her back out to the front of the restaurant.

It’s too loud inside and there are too many distractions.

We push out through the doors into the sunny morning.

‘Josslin said that she came to see you this morning.’

‘She did,’ Brynn says, folding her arms over her chest.

‘She told you about Eli?’

‘Yeah… you should probably go home and see him.’

‘And she told you about Cammy?’

She just nods and stares out at the cars.

‘Did she tell you that she used Cammy to keep my brother?’

She nods but still doesn’t look at me.

‘But now you know. How does Cammy feel about it?’

‘She seems fine with everything. She was worried about how I would take it.’

‘Your family needs you,’ she says, finally looking at me.

‘Cammy’s fine, Brynn.’

‘You’re whole family needs you. There’s so much broken that it seems only you can fix.’

That sounds exactly like what Josslin would tell her.

‘They’re not my priority except for Cammy.’

‘And you,’ I want to say.

‘Maybe they should be.’

‘And what about us?’ I ask.

‘What about us?’

‘Does this end in Mexico?’

Brynn stares up at me. Her eyes widening as if surprised by my question.

Has she not thought about me as a contender when we get back to Seattle?

She opens her mouth to speak when someone behinds us calls out her name.

‘Brynn!’

The look on her face the moment her eyes connect with whoever is walking up behind us doesn’t bode well for our conversation.

‘Daniel? Mom…. dad?’ I hear her say.

I look back to find three people headed directly for us, smiles on all their faces.

‘Surprise!’ I hear the woman say, who Brynn just referred to as her mother.

‘What are you doing here?’ Brynn says, shock still coated over her face.

The minute my eyes connect with the man I assume is Daniel, we both size up the other.

I know what he’s doing here.

He walks up to her, wrapping his hands around her biceps, and pulls her in for a kiss. She’s quick to move and his lips land on her cheek. When he pulls back, he attempts to cover up his irritation with her reaction but it gives me the smallest amount of hope that she’s not jumping into his arms.

He takes a step back, releasing her and I’m glad he did because I feel my body tense the longer his hands are on her.

‘Daniel turned in all his miles and got us two airline tickets to come out. We had a four-day weekend and thought it was time to come out and check on you,’ her mom says.

‘You must be that hockey pro. Wrenley, right?’ her dad reaches out to shake my hand. ‘I’ve heard you’re the man to thank for taking my daughter in during the storm. I can’t believe her agent booked her on a scam website.’

‘It wasn’t her fault, Dad. That company is known for scamming vacationers. She couldn’t have known,’ I heard Brynn say.

‘Well, none the less, I’m grateful for your hospitality towards my daughter.’

‘Yes… very hospitable of you,’ I hear Daniel say condescendingly under his breath.

Her father doesn’t hear it but Brynn flashes him a look.

‘You three didn’t have to come all the way out here. I have to be back in two days to turn in my manuscript. We could have met in Seattle,’ Brynn says.

‘Your dad and I haven’t been on a mini vacation in forever. And besides, Daniel and I have been discussing a destination wedding. You should see the resort we were able to get into. It’s gorgeous, and they take care of everything. They book up quickly so we would need to get on their schedule,’ her mom beams.

My shoulder tense and my stomach turns hearing her mom discuss wedding plans for Daniel and Brynn.

Brynn senses my reaction, though I thought I hid it well and glances up at me quickly and then back to her mom.

‘Daniel and I have a lot to discuss before we jump into wedding plans. We haven’t seen each other in eight months,’ she says, her attention shifting to Daniel, who’s jaw tightens at her response.

What was he expecting her reaction to be after he blindsided her.

After he told her that he fucked his way through Australia and now that he’s sure that her lack of orgasms isn’t his fault, he’s ready to marry her.

Who wouldn’t be overjoyed to see the prick?

‘This is the restaurant that you’ve been working at? I’d love to meet Rita and thank her mother to mother for watching out for her while you’ve been here,’ Brynn’s mother says.

‘I’m actually still on shift right now and I’m only on break for another minute,’ Brynn says.

‘Well, I’m starving. We just got in a couple hours ago and haven’t eaten,’ her father adds.

‘The food is great here,’ I chime in.

‘Come eat with us,’ Brynn’s mom says to me.

Daniel is just about to say something which I’m sure is some kind of rebuttal to her invite, but I beat him to it.

‘Thank you, Mrs. Fischer, but I’m spending some time with my daughter today. Another time maybe.’

I look over at Brynn and I see a softness in her eyes. Probably at the fact that I called Cammy my daughter.

It’s going to take a while to get used to but I’m looking forward to it.

I always felt a closeness to Cammy since the moment I met her for the first time, and now I know why.

‘A single father, huh? You’re not a deadbeat dad, are you?’ Daniel says, glancing over at Brynn.

‘Daniel…’ both Brynn and her mom say in unison as if to warn him that he was out of line for what he said.

I shake it off.

If anything, the fact that he’s concerned enough about me to try to make me look bad in front of Brynn, tells me that he’s not sure of his place. The desperate attempt to fly here unannounced and bring her parents as reinforcement and trying to plan a destination wedding with Brynn’s mom is another indicator that Daniel isn’t confident that she’s chosen him over me.

‘You four have a good lunch. I’m sure I’ll see you around,’ I say, and then I head for my Jeep.

Cammy and I are supposed to go fishing this afternoon and I’m looking forward to getting off land for a little while.

Brynn

Maria seats us after I introduce her to my parents and Daniel.

Finally, Rita shows up to take their order.

‘Rita, these are my parents, Dale and Gabby Fischer,’ I tell her. ‘And this is Daniel.’

‘Her fiancé, nice to meet you,’ Daniel says, reaching out a hand to shake hers.

Since Cammy already gave Rita the low-down, based on what Josslin told me, Rita doesn’t look the least bit shocked.

I’d like to correct his title as ex-fiancé but since my parents still don’t know that Daniel and I broke up during his work trip, I’m stuck with the fiancé title floating around.

Rita and her usual southern hospitality reached out and shakes his hand.

‘Well, isn’t it a pleasure to have you all here today. What a surprise,’ she says, glancing over at me.

‘Yes, it was a surprise. A big surprise,’ I tell her, trying to hint that I had no idea and that I’m as shocked as she is.

‘What can I get you all for lunch? The rush should be starting up soon, so I’ll get your order in first.’

‘I have to get back to work but will you take care of them for me?’ I ask Rita.

‘You really have to work? We all came a long way to see you,’ Daniel complains.

Rita is just about to say something to let me off for the day but I give her a quick look before answering.

‘I’m on the schedule and you didn’t give me any warning. I’ll see if I can get off tomorrow, ok?’ I say and then slip out of the booth.

Although I’d like to visit with all of them, I need a second to adjust to my real world combining into my vacation/fantasy world.

I head off to go find my black tray that Cammy took to clean off my last table.

An hour later, my parents, Daniel and I are standing outside of the restaurant.

‘Come back to the hotel with us. Our room is beautiful, and you can sit around the pool instead of bus tables for a restaurant. You make too much money to be working for your room and board,’ Daniel says.

I hear my father clear his voice and then I look over.

‘If you’ve committed to something, you should finish it. I’m proud of you,’ he says.

‘Ok find but come stay with me at night. Or I could stay here with you,’ Daniel says.

Panic hits.

I’m not ready to kiss him on the lips, evident by the way I dodged him earlier. The last thing I’m ready for is to sleep with him.

‘I still have a few more chapters to finish and I could use the peace and quiet.’

‘Then meet us at the hotel for breakfast tomorrow.’ my mom begs.

I can’t blow them completely off after they came all this way to see me, so I agree and I hug them each goodbye.

Daniel tries to kiss me again but I’m able to block it off a second time without making it seem too weird in front of my parents but I see the annoyance on Daniels face about it.

‘See you tomorrow,’ my mom waves and Daniel backs out of the parking space and then waves before pulling onto the street and heading the hour back to Cancun where they’re staying.

How could my life be any bigger of a mess?