Page 46 of Over the Moon (Rosewood River #3)

thirty-three

. . .

Clark

I respected Eloise when she asked me to stay away, but I’d barely slept. I was grateful that Henley, Lulu, and Emilia were with her, and they sent me a few texts, letting me know she was doing okay.

Nothing about this was right.

I should be there with her.

I was not going to practice today. I didn’t see how it made sense that I was allowed to go to work, and she wasn’t. I poured myself a cup of coffee and glanced down at my phone to see texts from my brothers, my sister, my cousins, and my teammates.

I scrubbed a hand down my face.

I didn’t feel like talking to anybody right now, aside from the one person who didn’t want to talk to me.

There was a knock on my door, and I hurried over, a part of me hoping it was Eloise but knowing it wasn’t.

She didn’t think we should be seen together right now, and I knew she’d stand by that. Always putting everyone before herself.

I arched a brow when I saw Coach Gable standing on the other side of my door. “Hey, Coach. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He walked past me. “Well, here I am. And I came to make sure you get your ass to practice today.”

“Not going. It wouldn’t be right.”

He made his way to the kitchen, helped himself to a cup of coffee, and then motioned for me to take a seat at the table. He held up the pot, offering to top me off.

“I’m good. Thank you,” I said, taking a seat as he sat across from me.

“So, what wouldn’t be right about you going to practice?”

“Well, my girlfriend isn’t allowed to go to work because we’ve been in a relationship, and she’s being punished for that, so why am I allowed to go to work?” I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee.

“Because the world isn’t always fair,” he said.

“That’s your answer?”

“It’s the truth.” He set his mug down. “Listen, I agree with you. It’s not right. That’s why we’re going to go to practice together. So we can see what’s going on. Randall shouldn’t be there. Maybe Sebastian will call you back in and give you an update.”

“He can call me, just like he can call Eloise.”

“Listen, Clark, I appreciate the show of loyalty. I’ll be marching my ass out of that place, as well, if they terminate her.

But right now, she asked me to go to practice, and she asked me to make sure that you go, too.

So that’s what we’re going to do. Because she loves us, and she wants us to do this. ”

“At least she’s talking to you,” I said.

“Oh, don’t start feeling sorry for yourself. You’re one of the best hockey players in the league right now. It doesn’t look good if you’re acting like a mopey little baby,” he smirked. “It really ruins the bad-boy pro-athlete image, you know?”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t give a shit about that.”

“I know you don’t, son. But we’re not doing this for us; we’re doing this for her. Let’s go see what’s going on. We can’t do anything for her if we’re sitting at home, sulking.” He pushed to his feet. “Now go get dressed, and be ready to run a few extra miles, as well.”

“For what?” I gaped at him.

“For not telling me that you were in love with my daughter. You should have come to me.” His gaze met mine.

I nodded. “I fucked up. I owed you more.”

“Correct. And now you owe her this. She doesn’t have the option of going to work today, but you do, and she wants you there. So pull up your big-boy pants, and get your ass moving.”

I jogged to my room and quickly changed before grabbing my gym bag and following him outside.

“You’re riding with me today,” he said, unlocking his car doors with his remote.

“How come?”

“Because everyone on this team will know that we are united on this. Until they make a decision, we show up. If they terminate my daughter, we can both walk if that’s what we want to do.

But we do it together. Randall sees it. Sebastian sees it.

Human Resources sees it. Your teammates see it.

And most importantly, our girl sees it. She knows we’ve got her back and one another’s back.

That’s what family does,” he said, as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Damn straight, Coach.”

We drove to the practice facility and made our way inside.

My teammates were all looking at me and Coach with this pitiful look on their faces.

Word travels fast on this team.

I glanced at Coach Gable, and he quirked a brow as if I should know what to do.

“Huddle up,” I said, and all the guys gathered around. “I appreciate the support. But right now, we’ve got practice. So get your head in the game and get ready to work hard.”

“I don’t see Randall here today either,” Lefty said. “Is he on leave, as well?”

“He’s on leave, as well. I can’t share more than that right now,” I said, my voice void of all emotion because I felt nothing but disdain for Randall.

“How about I lead us through today’s practice?” Lefty said. As team captain, his stepping up would speak volumes.

“That would be great. Let’s do it.” I led them to the gym, with Coach beside us.

“Nicely done,” he said, keeping his voice low. “But you’re still going to run a few extra miles just so I can prove my point.”

I chuckled. It wasn’t as loud or boisterous as it would normally be, but I was trying to do what my girl asked of me.

The next few hours were a blur.

Lefty pushed us hard, and then I ran the three miles that Coach insisted on.

We hadn’t heard anything from anyone, but everyone was aware that both Eloise and Randall were missing from practice.

“You think we’ll hear anything today?” I asked Coach as I wiped my face with a towel when I got back to the locker room.

“Not sure. Everyone’s being quiet upstairs.”

I nodded before taking a quick shower and getting dressed.

“Chadwick,” a familiar voice called out, and I turned to see Wolf Wayburn standing in the locker room. He and I had gotten along well last season. “You got a few minutes to talk?”

“Yep,” I said, my gaze meeting Weston’s, and he nodded as if to say that everything would be fine.

He held up his hand for a fist pump and told me to call him after the meeting.

I rode in the elevator with Wolf, and we made small talk. He gave nothing away about what this meeting was going to be addressing.

And I realized in that moment that I didn’t care if they were going to cut me after this season. All I cared about was if they were going to terminate Eloise.

Because if she left, I already decided that I’d follow the minute my contract ended.

I just hoped they’d do the right thing by her.

He glanced over at me and smirked. “Don’t be so tense. We’re not the enemy.”

“All right. I hope that’s true.”

“Damn, you’ve got it bad. I get it, buddy. Been there myself.” He clapped me on the shoulder when we stepped off the elevator, and he led me to Sebastian’s office. When he pushed the door open, I saw Scarlett, Coach Gable, Sebastian, and Wolf’s wife, Dylan, there, as well.

They brought legal here, so something was going down.

I took the seat beside Coach Gable, and he and I shared a look, reminding one another that we were on the same page no matter what happened.

“Thank you for joining us,” Sebastian said.

“I want to apologize to both of you for the spectacle yesterday. We did not call that meeting. Randall did. I had no idea that was going to happen until he walked in. He only told Scarlett that the meeting was urgent, but she also wasn’t aware of what it was regarding. Just that it was an emergency meeting.”

I nodded. “I thought it was odd that Eloise would be dragged in here and humiliated the way that she was when no one requested that I attend. We were guilty of the same crime.”

“Last I checked, falling in love is not a crime,” Dylan said, looking up from the file on her lap.

“Correct. The only mistake was not just coming forward with it,” Sebastian said.

“Well, I won’t speak for Eloise, as she isn’t here, but I can tell you that I would have been hesitant to come forward, as well,” Dylan said.

“Why?” Sebastian asked.

“Well, let me ask you, Scarlett. If you were in the same position, and you were in love with a player on this team, one who is also a very important member of this team, and you were newly in a position with this organization, would you have felt comfortable coming forward?”

“No.” Scarlett shrugged, no hesitation. “Add in the fact that this affair was brought to our attention, yet only one person was marched into this office and treated with blatant disrespect, I stand by my answer.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Scarlett.” Dylan glanced at each of us, her brow arched knowingly.

“As I shared with both you and Wolf, I did not know what I was walking into. Randall called that meeting and asked me to request Coach, Scarlett, and Eloise be present. He then read us two entries from the notebook after I phoned her and requested her to come to my office,” Sebastian said, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“Yes, we understand how it all played out. We can’t change what happened yesterday, but we can make some changes moving forward,” Wolf said, glancing at his wife before looking at me and Coach. “Randall’s behavior is inexcusable.”

“Correct,” Dylan said, closing the file on her lap.

“Listen, I’ve gathered all the information necessary to make a decision.

But I feel the person most deserving of those details is not here today, and that’s Eloise.

We brought you both here to let you know that Randall’s behavior yesterday was inexcusable.

I feel it’s only fair to discuss the information we found with Eloise first, as it involves her private property.

And Clark, we brought you here to apologize for the way that this was handled.

Obviously, it’s not a secret that my husband and I met while we were both employed by the Lions, so you wouldn’t have gotten judgment from me if you’d come forward, but I also understand why you were hesitant,” she said.

“So, I’m not in any trouble for having a relationship with another employee?” I asked, my voice flat and void of emotion, because I wanted to know what this meant for Eloise.

“I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I wrote you up for dating an employee, wouldn’t I?” Wolf asked, his tone laced with humor.

“And Eloise is fine? I mean, her position here with the team, is that still hers?” I asked, and Coach leaned forward beside me, clearing his throat.

I could feel anxiety pouring from him.

“I would have called her in to speak to her today if she hadn’t been put on leave.” Dylan turned to Sebastian and frowned.

“Hey, I’m fairly new at this gig. I was trying to end an explosive situation, and I had Randall go on leave, as well.

And for the record, I like Eloise,” Sebastian said, defending himself and then throwing his hands in the air when I glared at him.

“Not that way. I mean, she made it very clear early on that she wasn’t interested, not that I would cross the line with an employee, of course. ”

Wolf groaned. “Okay, that’s more than we needed to hear.”

“My point is, she isn’t here, so I’ve scheduled a meeting with her first thing tomorrow morning.

I’ll let her know the status of her position here with the Lions.

” Dylan stood. “Seeing as she’s already been put through it by this team, I’d like to meet alone with her tomorrow first, if no one has a problem with that.

Pending the outcome of our meeting, I’ll update you, Scarlett. ”

What the fuck did that mean?

Coach and I shared a puzzled look, but we all nodded.

“Thanks for your time, gentlemen.” Dylan quirked a brow. “Now take me home, husband. It’s been a long day.”

“You got it, Minx.” He winked at her and gave me a nod before we all left the office.

When Coach and I got off the elevator on the same floor, we both turned to face one another.

“She’s getting an apology, right?” I asked.

“I don’t fucking know. I think so. They seemed to feel badly about the situation.

” He shrugged. “But I’m not going to say a word to her just yet, because she deserves to hear it from them.

She’s already had Randall make it clear that nepotism got her here, and she’s clearly taken plenty of shit for loving you. ”

“Hey, why am I the bad guy?”

“Because I’m your girlfriend’s father. I get to make you the bad guy whenever the hell I want to.

And I’m still your coach, so don’t be expecting special treatment.

” He smirked as he scrubbed a hand down his face.

“I hope we read that meeting correctly and she’s going to stay.

Because I’d like all three of us to be here, or it doesn’t work anymore, does it? ”

“Nope. And I think they know that.”

“I sure as shit hope so,” he said.

“And how does this play out with Randall? How do we work with that guy after he spoke to her the way he did?”

“I don’t know,” Coach said, scrubbing a hand down his face. “But let’s see what they say tomorrow. I’m guessing they are going to ask her to stay.”

“Still doesn’t mean she’ll want to date me after all that has happened. Maybe she’ll want to end things,” I said, feeling a heavy weight on my shoulder.

She hadn’t called. She hadn’t texted.

I’d sent her several texts telling her I loved her.

Maybe the writing was on the wall.

And she didn’t think we were worth the fight.

But I’d never stop fighting for her.