Kelly Jamieson - Faceoff

“Oh wow! With the baby?”

“Yes.” Mom beamed. “And Jessica and Emily, of course. I’m so excited to see them.”

Kyla’s older brother Scott and his wife Jessica had just had their second child. Unfortunately the birth had happened right around the time of Mom’s diagnosis and surgery and so they hadn’t been able to travel home from Vancouver to see Mom and she hadn’t been able to travel to Vancouver to see the new baby either.

“That’s great! It will be nice to see them. I’ll finally get to meet my new nephew.”

“And there’s more,” Mom added. “I was talking to Doug and Laura.”

Kyla nodded and lifted her piece of pizza to take a bite. Doug and Laura Heller were Mom and Dad’s best friends. They lived across the street and also owned the cottage next door to her parents up at the lake.

“They’re pretty excited too because Tag’s home.”

Tag, the NHL player whose team was being moved back to Winnipeg. “I’m sure they are,” Kyla said with a grin. “The whole town’s excited.”

“Yes! Of course Tag’s moving back permanently, but the other boys are all coming home too. Just for a visit. Jason’s coming from Chicago with his new girlfriend. Laura met her when they went to Chicago a few months ago. Matt’s here for the whole summer and Logan’s home for a few weeks too. They put on that big charity golf tournament every year, you know.”

“Yeah.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Another golf tournament. But this one she was definitely playing in, because it was the Heller brothers, after all. Her near-brothers. Though she hadn’t seen much of them for quite a few years. It seemed like every time they were home, which wasn’t that often these days, she was too busy with work to see them.

“So Laura and I had this great idea! We should have a big two-family reunion up at the lake! We’ll all get together for a whole week and it’ll be just like old times! Except of course Jessica and the kids will be there too, and now Jase’s girlfriend.”

Kyla’s heart sank. It sounded like so much fun. But there was no way she could take a whole week off work just now. “That’s a great idea, Mom.” How was she going to break this to her though? She sighed inwardly. “I wish I could come too.”

As expected, Mom’s face fell. She glanced at Dad. “You can’t come?”

“You know I’m going crazy right now. They’re making the decision about who’s going to make partner in the next few weeks and I have this huge case I’m working on. In fact, I should be at home working right now.”

Mom’s eyebrows slanted down and her bottom lip pushed out a little. “Honey. You can’t work all the time.”

“I have to.”

“Look at you. You’ve lost so much weight. You’re pale, even though it’s July.”

Damn. She knew she should have taken a few minutes to fix her makeup. Maybe put on a little bronzer or something. Now Mom thought she was ill.

“You’re a beautiful young woman. You should be out having fun. Dating. Coming up to the lake and relaxing on the beach.”

Kyla’s insides tightened up. The headache that had faded a little began to pound behind her eyes again, and her neck and shoulders ached. “I’m sorry. Hopefully I’ll get to see Scott and everyone while they’re here.”

“They’re coming straight up to the lake from the airport,” Mom said. “They’re really looking forward to it. Emily will have so much fun there.”

Did that mean she wouldn’t get to see them at all if she didn’t go up to the cottage too? She caught her lower lip between her teeth.

“Kyla,” Dad said. “You look like you need a holiday. I’m sure taking a week off for a family reunion isn’t going to jeopardize your chances of making partner. They’ve probably already decided and I’m sure you’ll get it.”

It could be true that they’d already decided, but she wasn’t as confident as Dad was and didn’t want to take the chance of screwing up this close to winning the prize. “It’s just really bad timing.” She pushed away her plate with the half-eaten piece of pizza on it.

“Is that all you’re eating?” Mom asked. “Kyla…”

“It’s really good, Mom, as usual. I’m just not that hungry.”

The worried expressions on their faces only made her feel worse. She felt guilty for disappointing her parents, but also felt sorry for herself that she was going to miss out on the fun of seeing her family and the Hellers. As a girl, she’d followed all six boys―her two brothers and the four Heller boys―around everywhere. Especially Tag. She had so many memories of those summers at the lake, not all of them good, but even the embarrassing ones had faded into less unpleasant memories with time.

“Tag will be living here now,” she added. “I’m sure I’ll see him some time.”

“Your father is taking holidays,” Mom said. “You know how hard it is to get him to take time off work.”

“Guess that’s where I get it from,” she said with a bright smile.

Mom frowned. “I meant, if he can take time off for the family, then you should be able to.” Her frown eased, replaced with a trembling bottom lip. Oh my god. Mom never cried. She’d been through a cancer diagnosis and a mastectomy and Kyla had barely seen a tear. “You never know what could happen,” she said. “This could be the last time we’re ever all together as a family.”

Oh no. Kyla stared at her, her insides going icy cold. “Mom, is there something you’re not telling me? You’re okay, aren’t you?”

“Yes! I’m fine. I mean, as far as we know. I’m just saying, you never know.”

She studied her mom’s face. It was true. With cancer, you never knew. What if it came back? Oh my god. “I’ll see,” she said. “I’ll talk to Jim on Monday and see about taking a week off.”

Mom’s face cleared and she blinked eyes that were just a little shiny. “Oh that’s great!”

“Thank you, sweet pea,” Dad said.

She nodded, still smiling. Now she really needed that ibuprofen.

Tag Heller smiled and answered questions, acknowledging how happy everyone was about the team coming back to Winnipeg, acknowledging the team’s abrupt ending to their season without even making the playoffs and the rebuilding they hoped to do in the coming year. He smiled but his temples throbbed and he really, really wanted a beer.

Since he’d arrived back in Winnipeg, it had been a nonstop whirl of promotional activity. Never mind finding a place to live or even unpacking in the bedroom at his parents’ home. A thirty-one-year-old guy living with his parents. Nice. Really nice.

He’d looked at a few houses the realtor had shown him, but he had no idea what he was looking for and didn’t want to make a rash decision out of desperation. He hadn’t even sold his condo in Phoenix yet. The real estate market was still tough there after the recession. Luckily he had money and didn’t have to rely on selling his old place, but still…it was a huge pain in the ass.

This press conference was wrapping up, thank god. One of the new team owners, Mike Glendower, was there, as was Brad Boscoe, the new coach. And this was only about the hundredth press conference he’d been at since arriving back in town a week ago. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration.

“Thrilled to be back in my home city,” he said for the thousandth time. There was a lot of truth to it, but picking up and relocating was never easy, even when it was coming home. And there was a helluva difference between Phoenix and Winnipeg. Sure, it was summer now and the weather here was great, but in the dead of winter in forty-below temps and the wind howling down Portage and Main, he’d be missing the desert sun something fierce.