Page 23 of Rematch (Stingrays Hockey #3)

“Will you send them to me?” Preston asked, as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. “All of them.”

“I will, but it might take a few weeks,” she joked.

Preston unlocked his phone with his face, then handed it to her. “Put your contact information in?”

She did, then she sent a text from his phone to hers before handing his back. Grabbing hers, she added him as well.

Preston glanced at the contact info. “Chelsea Murphy.”

He had it. Her name and her phone number. At last.

Then he glanced at Lennon. “Lennon Murphy?”

She nodded. “I didn’t give him a middle name. I thought if I ever found you…” She shrugged. “I figured we could add your name.”

Jesus. She really had hoped to find him. Saving room to give his name to Lennon was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing he’d ever heard. “Thank you,” he said, sincerely grateful.

“So…you’re a hockey player, huh?” she asked. “I didn’t realize you’d actually made that childhood dream come true.”

“I did. And now…” Preston looked around the building. “Yours is coming true too.”

“Ethan and I inherited some money late last spring from Ethan’s great-aunt. She encouraged us to open the bakery in her will. Agnes was a huge part of my life, and I still can’t believe she’s gone. Without her, we’d never had been able to do this.”

“It’s a great space on a cool street. Lots of foot traffic.”

“That’s what Ethan said,” Chelsea agreed.

“He handled finding the property, since I had my hands full with this sweetheart. Ethan has been incredible through all of this. He’s nuts about Lennon.

I asked him and Allyson to be the godparents.

They were both with me in the delivery room.

I hope that’s okay. I know you don’t know them. ”

“It’s fine, Chelsea. Honest. I’m glad they were there for you. And I can tell Ethan’s crazy about the baby.” Again, no mention of the other man. Maybe Victor had been right. Maybe the guy kissing her was new to the scene or things weren’t that serious between them.

“The bakery has caused some discord between me and my mother, because she thinks I’m taking too big a chance and I should be saving the inheritance for Lennon, but…” Chelsea waved her hand. “Sorry. I’m a nervous talker. Scratch all of that. You don’t want to hear my silly drama.”

Actually, he did. He wanted to know every single thing there was to know about her, her life, and Lennon.

The attraction he’d felt toward her the night of the holiday party was child’s play compared to now. He’d spent a year trying to tell himself he was building Chelsea up bigger in his mind, imagining she was prettier, funnier, sweeter than she’d actually been.

Sitting with her now, he could see that—if anything—he’d downplayed his memories.

Because she was still just as open and honest and genuine as she’d been at the party.

He never had to second-guess with her, never had to wonder or worry that she was playing him because of his career or his ridiculously large bank account.

And motherhood really freaking suited her.

She’d gained weight during her pregnancy, enhancing her gorgeous curves, adding a healthy glow to her skin.

She was still an incredibly beautiful woman, even with the dark circles under her eyes. For some reason, he was as attracted to those as anything else, because it was proof she was spending her sleep-deprived nights taking care of their son.

“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a dream, Chelsea. I spent my entire childhood determined I was going to be a professional hockey player. Talk about an unachievable dream. You want to know what made the difference for me?”

She nodded.

“No one laughed at or dismissed me. No one told me I couldn’t do it. Instead, my family supported me, even though it was a financial strain and a huge time commitment. You’ve been dreaming of this since you were young, right?”

“I have.”

“Then you should go for it.”

“But you don’t think the timing is,” she gestured toward Lennon, “a little insane?”

He chuckled. “I think it’s safe to say the timing will never get any better. Unless you’re okay with waiting until Lennon moves out. Because you’re a mom for life.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. You’re right.

When I first got back to the States, my old boss said I could return to my job at his bakery, but when I looked at the hours and the pay—barely better than minimum wage, with no benefits—I realized just how hard it would be with a newborn baby.

As my own boss, I’ll have a bit more freedom to set my own schedule. ”

“That makes sense.”

“Not that I won’t still have early hours. My days start at four a.m.”

Preston feigned a horrified face, pleased when Chelsea laughed. It was the first time she’d laughed freely, the sound unfettered by nerves.

“Figuring out childcare is one of those things I’ve been struggling with.

I should already be looking. We’re opening the bakery on Valentine’s Day, and while I’ve got things sorted until then between me, my mom, Allyson, and Ethan for now, once this place opens…

I hate the idea of leaving him with strangers. ”

Preston leaned back in his chair, shifting slightly to a more comfortable position.

Lennon stirred, and, for a moment, he feared he’d woken him up, but then the baby sank deeper into his arms and continued sleeping.

“So we’ll add childcare to the list of things we need to talk about.

Because I’d like to be included on that list of people who take care of him.

My schedule during the season is a bit hectic, between games, workouts, practices, and road trips, but there are still plenty of hours during the day when he could be with me. ”

“You want to take care of him?”

“He’s my son, Chelsea. I want to spend as much time as I can with him. Oh, and I’ll need a list of things I should buy for him for my place. I mean, I know I need a crib and high chair and car seat, and maybe a changing table, but what else? I want to make sure I have everything he needs.”

“You’re buying furniture for your place?”

“Well, yeah. I might need a diaper tutorial, and directions on how to give him a bath, and a feeding schedule, and…” Preston stopped, aware that while he was getting carried away, excited by the idea of having his son with him, Chelsea had suddenly gone chalk white.

He lifted one hand. “I’m going too fast.”

She didn’t respond for a moment or two. “You are, but I understand why. You’ve already missed so much time. It makes sense that you want to be with him. I’m…” She ran her hand through her hair. “I’m going to try to…”

“I shouldn’t have started this conversation here. We both need some time to sort through all of this. I got carried away.”

“And I love that,” she confessed. “Even though it scares the shit out of me.”

Preston put one of his hands over Lennon’s ear. “Language. I can see we’re going to need to add a swear jar to the discussion list,” he joked.

She laughed. “Oops.”

“Don’t be scared, Chelsea. We’ll find a way to make this work for both of us.”

“I’ve played out every scenario imaginable about how you would react if I ever found you and told you about Lennon. This has been way better than all of them.”

“You’ve made me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m still reeling a bit, but this is truly the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I was with the Rays the year we won the Stanley Cup.”

She shifted toward him, placing her hand on top of the blanket, peering down at Lennon.

“Thank you for our son,” Preston whispered, leaning forward. Chelsea met him halfway, their foreheads touching, their child between them.

They remained there for a few minutes, simply watching Lennon sleep.

When they parted, Preston glanced at his phone and groaned when he saw the time.

“You need to leave?”

“I have workouts in an hour and a half, and I need to run home to change.” Preston, who never called in sick, never took a day off, was tempted to call out.

After all, other guys had taken paternity leave when their babies were born.

Lennon might be three months old, but today was his birthday as far as Preston was concerned.

“That’s okay. Ethan and I have a little more work to do here, though I suspect he’ll be worthless when he gets back. He wasn’t exaggerating when he said he was a huge fan.”

Preston shrugged. “I don’t mind fans at all. Love them, in fact.”

“It’s going to take me some time to wrap my head around the fact you play for the Stingrays.”

Preston laughed. “Good. I’d hate to think I’m the only one floored by this reunion of ours.”

Chelsea giggled. “Guess we both left that hotel with some big-ass secrets.”

“I guess we did.”

As if they’d summoned him, Ethan returned, the door to the bakery swinging open, the bell tinkling.

Ethan stumbled in with two giant duffel bags stuffed to the gills.

“Ethan!” Chelsea chastised. “You can’t ask Preston to sign all that.”

He tossed the bags on the floor by the table, and Preston got the sense the man didn’t care if he signed any of it.

He’d merely been seeking an excuse to return.

Given the pensive look Ethan shot in Chelsea’s direction, it was clear he truly was a good friend, more concerned about her right now than getting his shit autographed.

“Everything good?” He glanced between Chelsea and Preston, his eyebrows rising when he realized Preston was holding his son.

“I’m a father,” he said proudly. “I’m going to have to stop on the way back to my place to buy some cigars.”

“He’s happy,” Chelsea added. “He wants to be a part of Lennon’s life.”

“Of course, you do. That baby is the GOAT.” Ethan grinned, slapping Preston on the shoulder. “Congratulations, man. I’m still dying over the fact that the whole time Chelsea was looking for her Preston, I was cheering you on from the cheap seats.”

Preston laughed. “I’ll have to set you up with better seats for the next game. Can’t have Lennon’s godfather sitting in the cheap seats.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “Seriously? I mean, only if it’s no problem. Although, something tells me I’m going to need an extra ticket, because chances are good I’m finally going to get this one to come with me.” He jerked his thumb in Chelsea’s direction.

“I hope she does.” Preston glanced down at the bags. “Listen, Ethan, I’m afraid I need to leave.”

“No problem,” he said, good-naturedly. “Now that I know you’re going to be around, we have all the time in the world for you to sign my stuff. We’ll take it in batches,” he joked, “so your hand doesn’t wear out.”

Preston smiled widely. For too much of the past year, he’d been down in the dumps, overcome with loneliness and longing for Chelsea. All of those heavy feelings were history, replaced with pure joy.

Sure, they still had a lot of stuff to figure out, but just knowing Chelsea and Lennon were going to be a big part of his life from this day forward, was enough to hold the anxiousness he should be feeling, at bay.

“I suspect our paths will be crossing a lot,” he reassured Ethan, praying that was true. “So tonight at seven-thirty?” he said to Chelsea, reconfirming their dinner plans.

She nodded and lifted her arms, intent on taking Lennon back.

Preston hesitated. He hadn’t lied earlier. Walking out of this building, away from her and Lennon, was going to be one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

Chelsea must have sensed his struggle. “I’ll send you a bunch of pictures and videos this afternoon, I promise.”

“Okay.” Preston bent his head, lifting the still-sleeping baby so that he could place a soft kiss on his forehead. “Daddy will see you again, very soon.”

Even as he spoke, he knew it wouldn’t be soon enough. Five minutes from now wouldn’t be soon enough.

Chelsea gently took Lennon away from him, tucking him into her arms, and the sight of her holding their child took his breath away.

Preston cupped her cheek. “I’m so glad I found you. Both of you.”

Chelsea blinked rapidly, her lashes wet again with unshed tears. “I’m glad you did, too.”

Unable to hold back, Preston decided if there was even the tiniest chance, he was going all in with this woman.

Letting her walk out of that hotel room was the biggest mistake of his life, so he wasn’t going to play it safe or cool this time around.

There was too much on the line. “This is probably going to sound silly, but…I missed you.”

“Goddamn, that’s romantic,” Ethan murmured.

Chelsea huffed out a breathy laugh as she rolled her eyes at her best friend. Then she looked back at him. “I missed you, too.”

Preston kissed her on the cheek when he really wanted to place one on her lips. Then he gave Lennon another kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll see you later.”

She nodded.

Somehow, he found the strength to walk away from them. Turning at the doorway, he twisted around and gave them a wave, then headed outside.

The Preston who left the bakery was completely different from the one who’d walked in.

He was a father.

He had a son.

He found Chelsea.

God willing, the life he longed for was starting right now.

And he couldn’t wait.