For the Love of Ash (33 page)

Right on time, Luke showed up to bring us to the game. His truck was much nicer than my car, and I wondered how much it cost him. I didn't know much about his family, other than he had a ton of sisters and lived with his parents in New Canaan, which pretty much alluded to the fact that he was a rich boy.

The rink was forty-five minutes straight to the north across the New York border. Luke held my hand on the black leather console between us the entire ride. Asher wouldn't stop blabbering on about some new twist move that Luke was teaching him before and after gym class.

"I've been trying to get Finn to come, but his practices are so long," Luke said as I stared out the window.

"Who's Finn?" I asked him.
 

"Finn is Luke's friend that plays on the Rangers," Asher explained. I turned in my seat and saw a duh expression on his face. I smiled at him, wrinkling up my nose. I looked over at Luke and felt content for the first time I think in my entire life.

We sat on the bleachers with Janet and her husband, Michael. It was the first time I met him, since he didn't make an appearance at the Halloween party. He and Janet were flirty; yet it appeared fake to me.

"Asher is only nine, and he's been doing really great," Janet told her husband. He was on the other side of her, so I had to lean forward to see him.
 

Michael was quiet, and I wasn't sure if it was me or if he was just closed off to everyone. He didn't even talk to Luke, which I thought was strange. Janet put her hand on his knee, and he interlaced his fingers with hers. But he never looked at her or payed attention to her at all.
 

The ref blew the first whistle, and I stood up from my seat. It was only the first week in November, but it was chilly. Of course it didn't help that this was an outdoor rink. I had my mittens and hat on, but my nose still felt like it was about to break off. The warmers did nothing to keep me toasty.

I started to pace on the top bleachers. Luke looked up at me and pursed his lips, but I just ignored him. Asher hopped onto the ice as the right wing for the second line.

"Go Ash!" I yelled. I doubted that he could hear me, but I knew if he could, he would appreciate my yelling. A few heads turned to see me, but like Luke, I ignored them.
 

By halftime it was still a 0-0 game. Asher was playing well, but he was too timid. It was almost like he was nervous about something. I'd never seen him play so safe, and I think the coach was a bit confused, too.
 

They huddled at their bench, both teams in a big bunch while the coaches yelled and drew on their white boards. Ash's back was to me. I could only just see the back of his jersey and the little strands of brown hair that were already starting to poke out from beneath his helmet.
 

A horn blared; and the team put their hands in the middle and shouted, "Win!" Surprisingly, Asher skated with Eric and Samuel to the middle of the ice. He was going to be first line for the second half. On the one hand, I was excited for him; on the other, I was scared that the competition would be too much.
 

Asher looked up at me, or at least I thought it was me, and nodded. It wasn't anything obvious. He just bowed his head. I waved back and nodded too, clutching my hands to my chest.

"He's going to be fine." Luke's arm wrapped around my shoulders, and he tugged me towards him. It made me stop pacing and focus on Ash. I was bouncing and breathing heat into my hands to stop the nervous butterflies from making me puke.

The whistle blew, the puck dropped, and our center, Eric, contained the puck and passed it backwards to the left defenseman. I heard one of the boys yell something, and then Ash and Sam switched spots, Ash going to the left wing position.
 

The defenseman skated forward past the blue line while handling the puck with the back of his stick. Asher slowed down at the red and then sped up fast to make it to the blue so he was in line with Eric.
 

Just before he glided over the blue line, the defenseman passed to Eric in a quick pass that hit Eric's stick with a slap. I didn't realize it, but I was holding my breath so much that my vision spotted.

It was like slow motion as Eric peeked to the left, saw Ash, and then passed the puck to him. It floated across the ice, going behind the Cardinals' defenseman and landing right on the back side of Asher's stick.
 

He caught it and spun to his right so he had a better angle against the goalie. It was the goalie's stick side. Asher skated forward for just a second and then flipped the puck to the front of his stick.

He carried the puck backwards and then shot it forwards, using his right leg for momentum. The puck lifted just a foot off the ground and soared into the back of the net.
 

I screamed. "Yeah! Go Ash!"
 

The entire section of the away team, us, stood up and clapped, whistled, and cheered for the first goal of the game. The first line skated to Ash and surrounded him, hugging in a huddle before they skated over to the bench.
 

I was still yelling for the Lions when Asher jumped onto the bench and sat down. He pulled his water bottle from under the seat and squirted some through his helmet into his mouth. Coach walked over to him and patted him on the back, saying something that I was too far away to lip-read.
 

Chapter Thirty-Three

Luke

I fell in love Maggie right then and there. I didn't even question myself as I looked over at this woman who was so passionate about her brother that I actually felt my chest constrict. I knew it had to be love.

I had known that I liked her. There was no question in my mind. But as she yelled and continued to cheer for Asher, I realized that she was it for me. I tried to see if there was something different about her, but it was just my own viewpoint.
 

Her nose was bright red like Rudolph, a little runny from being in the cold so long. But I knew even if I offered to bring her inside, she would never leave him. The smile on her face as she watched Asher skate around the ice could only be described as proud. I wished that someone had looked at me like that just once in my life.

After the game, Maggie and I ran into the warm up hut and sat by the roaring fire in the middle of the large open room. It was actually really nice in there.
 

It was a cabin, with a small kitchen and snack bar that only served hotdogs, hamburgers, coffee, and hot chocolate. In the middle of the room were brown circular couches with two stone fireplaces on either side.
 

I left Maggie sitting directly in front of the stone fireplace with Janet and her husband, Frank. I ordered two hot chocolates, all for just three dollars, and then sat beside her while I handed her one cup.
 

I tuned out because, truthfully, Janet was completely different with Frank around than she was without him. It was like she was putting on a show for us. I saw Asher come out from the locker room with two boys flanking him.
 

"Hey, it's the boy of the night!" Maggie said as she called him over.

"I scored. Did you see it?" He looked up at me as he dropped his heavy bag on the floor.

"Of course, I did." I handed him the cup of hot chocolate as he wedged between Maggie and me in front of the fire. His hair was wet with sweat, and he smelled like dirty socks that were used to wipe your armpits after running a marathon.
 

"What do you think about going out tonight?" Maggie said as she ran her hand through his hair, pushing it back and to the side so it was out of his face.

"Can we get ice cream?" Asher begged.

"Ice cream? It's freezing cold outside."

"Please," he whined, and I saw Maggie's face change almost instantly.

"Fine. Let's go." Asher and I high-fived and then raced to the car. I let him win.
 

The ice cream shop was vacant. Although I wouldn't expect it to be busy at five on a Saturday night in November. Asher ran to the window and started pointing to different flavors. Maggie pulled him back so he wouldn't smudge up the glass.
 

"Can I have a cup with one scoop of rainbow sherbet and one scoop of Reese's Pieces? Oh, and can there be chocolate and whipped cream, too?"

"What do you say?" Maggie asked.

"Please." He grinned from ear to ear as he watched the ice-cream lady scoop.
 

"Can I get you two anything?"

"I'll have a strawberry milkshake, please," Maggie said.

"And I'll have chocolate soft serve on a waffle cone. Thanks."
 

When the ice-cream lady handed over our treats, I pulled out my wallet and handed her a twenty. She typed into the cash register, and the drawer shot open with a ding. I told her to keep the change, and she widened her eyes, smiling.
 

I turned around to see Maggie and Asher sitting in the corner booth. Each booth was a different color, from orange to yellow to pink to green. The floor was tiled in bright colors that matched the booths. It was like Willy Wonka's factory.

"To Asher and his first goal!" I said as I raised my ice cream cone.

"To Ash." He smiled and held up his cup. We all clinked our ice creams together and giggled as we ate in silence. I was on edge. I didn't want the day to be over.
 

"Do you want to go out to eat tonight?" I asked Maggie, looking across the orange table.
 

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Anything you want."

"I can call Lisa to see if she can watch Ash."

"He can come if he wants," I told her. I would never expect Maggie to choose between the two of us. I wouldn't want her to.

She bit on her lip, her eyes downcast. "What about one of your sisters? Would they watch him for an hour?"

"Probably. Let me call my house."

I could tell that Maggie was nervous as I pulled up the circular driveway to my parents' house. She was picking at her sweater and jiggling that damn knee. I put my hand on her thigh and squeezed.

"Do you want to come in, or should I run in Ash?" I asked her. I didn't want to push her to meet my family, but she had already met most of them, so she had no reason to worry.