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Chapter Thirty-One

Lars

I didn’t think the day could get any worse, but this dumb jock clearly lacked imagination.

“Oh, someone doesn’t look happy to see me!” She giggled nervously.

“What are you doing here?” I should have been asking if she was okay but after the events of the last couple of weeks, I’d run out of fucks to give.

“Now, Lars.” She stepped forward and I blocked her. “No need to be a dick about it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Her brows angled down in confusion. “I took a break and now I’m here.”

“My lawyer has been trying to contact you. They even sent notices to your in-laws in New York.”

“We were on a cruise. Marriage rehab, you know how it is.” She made a face. “Didn’t work.”

As if I cared about her damn marriage. “And you think you can just waltz back into your daughter’s life after dumping her without a care?”

She had the audacity to look surprised. No one could be this obtuse. “I know it was a shock for you, Lars, but surely you can see it as a blessing in disguise. Aren’t you crazy about her?”

Not just about Mabel. All I wanted was to get rid of my daughter’s absentee mother and run to the woman I adored.

“Vicki, you abandoned your daughter in a bar with a complete stranger.”

“I told you. I needed the break. I needed a chance to save my marriage.” A sour look crossed her face.

“For all the good that did. But I’ve realized that maybe he wasn’t the one for me.

I did everything he asked, and he still made me beg—on my knees, mind you—and it made no difference. He just wanted to humiliate me.”

This made sense now. She’d tried and failed with her husband, and now she was here for Plan B. I pinched the spot between my eyes, trying to stave off an incoming headache. This was exhausting. Vicki was exhausting.

“Vicki, why are you here?”

“To see my girl. And you.” She moved back to her car, a Range Rover, and opened the trunk, which was filled with shopping bags. “I brought her some gifts. The cutest onesie you ever did see. Picked it up in Aruba during one of our port excursions.” She tilted her head. “Now where’s my daughter?”

Adeline

I sat in Aurora’s kitchen, letting the French country chic calm me while she poured hot water into two cups of Earl Grey.

“Hob nobs, honey?”

“Is my name Adeline Kershaw?”

She smiled at my nervous joke, put them on a plate, and set it before me. At just after six in the morning, I shouldn’t have been eating chocolate cookies, but I needed some bite-sized comfort.

Taking a seat, she grasped my hand. “That was one of the livelier Thanksgiving dinners in memory.”

After Lars and Mabel left, we’d tried to pretend everything was normal.

Thankfully my brothers, Aurora, and my uncle Jason, who had joined us for his second meal of the day, managed to Band-Aid the silences and keep the dinner chugging along.

Occasionally I’d catch my dad looking at me, like he couldn’t believe what I’d done.

Then he’d avert his gaze and study his turkey.

I was a stranger to him.

After dinner, I’d put together a care package of turkey, sides, and two slices of pumpkin pie, and drove to Lars’s house. He wasn’t alone. A Range Rover was parked behind his SUV, the vanity plates announcing its owner.

VICKI 3.

The wandering momma had returned.

A bolt of jealousy slammed through me, though I truly didn’t think Lars was going to fall for Vicki’s charms. He’d come a long way since that night in the Empty Net bathroom, just not far enough for me.

I considered turning back, not leaving the food. Instead I crept up the drive, tiptoed to the door, and left the meal outside, a different brand of cowardice. Once back in my car, I texted to let him know Thanksgiving had come to him.

He sent me a text thanking me an hour later. Nothing since.

“Dad’s disappointed in me.”

“Pfft! Like he’s never done anything risky.”

But had he? Sure, we joked about the one-night stand that resulted in Dino Boy, the start of the Great Love Story, Trademark. But my father had always lived his life with zero regrets. All his choices came from a heartfelt and decent place, while mine were selfish and immature.

“I really hurt him.” I stood to finish the tea, adding a drop of milk to both, and a spoonful of sugar to Aurora’s. “Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?”

“Nothing to forgive, Twinkle.”

My father stood at the doorway, looking like he had barely slept.

I hated to see it, not only because it meant he was upset, but because he had a game tonight.

The Cross-Town Classic against the Hawks played annually the Friday after Thanksgiving, and he needed to be in top form.

He carried a Boba tea in one hand—my favorite—and a coffee cup in the other.

“I see you already have a Jean Luc Picard.” Earl Grey, hot. He lingered at the entrance to the coach house, as if unsure of his welcome.

“I never say no to Boba.”

Aurora stood and picked up her teacup. “I’m going to take a shower and leave you two to talk.” She kissed me on the forehead. “Go easy on him.”

Go easy on him ? I nodded all the same, my throat heavy with emotion. Dad took the seat Aurora had vacated and pushed the Boba tea my way.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“You get any sleep?”

“Not much. You?”

“I can nap later before the game.” After a fortifying sip of coffee, he asked, “Where do you want to start?”

“A schoolgirl crush.” At his arched eyebrow, I continued. “I didn’t want that nanny job. I did tell you.”

He frowned at my disjointed thinking. “So this is my fault?”

“Can we say it is and move on?”

He snorted. “So you had a crush on Lars.”

“He overheard me talking about it with Rosie last year before I went away.”

“And?”

I sipped my Earl Grey. “He was embarrassed about it. But kind.”

My father nodded, approving. “And then I threw you together under the same roof. Gosh, if only I’d known that someone had a crush on someone else.”

“Okay, point taken. I wanted to help, be a team player, contribute to the Kershaw enterprise. I don’t always feel like I do that in the way the boys do.

And I … I wanted to spend more time with him.

I can admit that now. The more time I spent with him, the more I started to like him beyond the silly infatuation.

Seeing him grow and learn as he became easier with Mabel, as they fell in love with each other.

It was beautiful to witness. And then we became closer.

” I broke off there, so it was clear what exactly I meant by “closer.”

Dad grimace. “Okay, I don’t need to know the details. From my viewpoint, and not just as the father who wants to wrap you up in cotton wool and never let you date, he took advantage?—”

“Dad.”

“No, hold up. He knew you had this crush. He knew anything between you would have to be a secret. He’s older, more experienced, and supposed to be my friend. He took advantage, Twinkle, that’s all there is to it.”

There was no reasoning with him when he was like this. Still, I tried.

“I made the first move on him.” No need to mention overhearing him jerk off with my name on his lips when he came.

My cheeks flushed at the memory. “And he tried to tell me how wrong it was. I agreed—at first. But after a while it became too hard to resist what was happening between us. Our chemistry. He came to the club because he knew I wasn’t having a good time with Rowan, and the only reason I went out with him was to make Lars see me properly. ”

I swiped at a tear.

“Twinkle.” He put his arm around me and pulled me close.

“So, please don’t blame him. We both went into it with our eyes open.”

“Okay.” Said with a reluctance bordering on fury.

“There’s more, Dad.” At his tightening grip, I met his concerned gaze. “Not about Lars. There’s a reason we came home from our travels early. I-I was mugged in Greece.”

“Addy … you were hurt?” He sounded positively woebegone.

“I healed quickly. Physically, anyway. I didn’t want to tell you and Mom because you’re so protective of me and this year is such a big deal for you and your career. Nothing should get in the way of that.”

“Nothing should get in the way of that ? You mean, my daughter’s well-being shouldn’t get in the way of that ?”

He rubbed his forehead, like that could wipe away everything he’d been through in the last twenty-four hours. Adeline Kershaw, the ultimate trial.

“I didn’t want to rock the boat.”

“Then I guess you shouldn’t have started sleeping with my teammate!” He pushed off the stool and paced for a few seconds, hands on hips.

“And this is why I didn’t tell you.”

“Are you saying I’m overreacting?”

“No, this is completely within the range of Theo Kershaw’s standard responses to stimuli.”

His eyes narrowed to slits at my smart-assery. “This is because of the Finals thirteen years ago, isn’t it? That’s why you didn’t tell me … anything !”

“Dad, if I can’t contribute to this family positively, the least I can do is keep my actions carbon neutral.”

Emotion gripped him. “You actually think you don’t contribute to this family positively?

Twinkle, have you any idea how much joy you give me?

How you complete us? You took time off college to help when Tilly was born.

That was epic. I don’t think I could have kept playing if you weren’t here during that first year. ”

“What are you talking about?”

“I was this close to retiring but knowing you were keeping the home fires burning and the support this family needed gave me the confidence to keep at it. You’re the reason I’m a legend!”

No one had ever told me this. “Really?”

“The Kershaws would be nothing without you. I would be nothing without you. So I missed a game thirteen years ago. Big deal.”

I sniffed. “An important game.”

“But my family is more important. My daughter is more precious to me than any championship ring. If you’re hurting, I need to know. Don’t hide that from me. Ever.”

I swiped at another tear. He gave me a moment to get over myself before resuming the interrogation, dad-style.

“What happened in Greece?”

I told him an abridged version.

“Did you tell Lars about it?”

“Yeah. He advised me to be up front with you.”

He scoffed. “So he does know right from wrong!”

“He’s not the villain here.”

I could see him recalibrating, retooling his attack, looking for another way in. Defense turned to offense. “Are you in love with him?”

Well played, old man. Yesterday, I’d insisted it was a fling, but I’d already lied enough. Besides, my mother would have told him her suspicions.

“Yes.”

“And who broke it off?”

“Why does it matter?”

I’d had time to think it through. I was under no illusion that Lars loved me, but I did think he cared. His upbringing with Sven had done a number on him. He didn’t think he was good enough. For fatherhood. For friendship.

For me.

Telling him that Lars considered himself a failure because of Sven felt like a betrayal. Better to keep the blame centered on me.

It didn’t work. My dad remained silent, which was always a bad sign, but he did gather me in his arms again and held me close.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Dad, about everything.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

The “you” in that sentence said it all. Lars wasn’t off the hook just yet.