At least the money problems were starting to make sense. If Richard was keeping a mistress for all that time, she understood why money was tight a lot longer than it should have been. Kate gazed at one picture of Richard and Marie at the beach. It looked tropical, like they’d taken a vacation together. Kate had wanted a vacation like that, someplace warm and romantic. They never went. He was always too busy.
Kate wanted to be in love, but more than that, she wanted someone to love her back. She wanted someone to hold her, touch her, protect her. Even though they hadn’t had a marriage in years, she missed the feel of Richard’s body in their bed. How he would unconsciously wrap himself around her during the night and tell her she was beautiful. Kate understood, after he’d asked for the divorce, that he was talking to someone else when he uttered the words in the dark, but she missed them anyway. Even though they belonged to another woman, those words were all she had, and at the time, they gave her hope.
Well, now the photos gave her hope. And leverage. Glancing again at the pictures in her lap, and thinking about her ex-husband’s latest threat, Kate tucked everything back in the envelope and marked it for her lawyer.
Chapter 7
‡
“Goddamn! Would you be careful? My arm hurts like a son of a bitch.” David spat the words at the trainer who was strapping a huge ice pack to the upper part of his right arm.
The trainer grinned and continued applying the ice. David was sure the guy was a closet sadist. How else could anyone get pleasure out of a job like his? He was suffering in silence when one of the media assistants poked her head into the trainer’s room and asked him about doing an interview.
“I’m not doing any fucking interviews.”
“But, Dave, John said—”
He turned on the assistant, who might have been twenty-three. “I don’t give a shit what John said. No interviews!”
The young woman scurried off and the trainer clucked his tongue. “A little hard on her, don’t you think?”
David heard his own low grumble. He had been too hard on her. It would cost him. Any minute their communications director would be reaming his ass for the venom he spewed. He’d have to buy flowers or something to make it up to her.
For the past eight years, his life in the NHL had been enough for him. The games, his teammates, and the women who were always available for company were enough. But now there was a hole inside him, something vacant. He hadn’t ever felt the need to settle down. But since he met Kate, everything had changed. None of it made any sense. For the first time in a long time, David felt like he was missing out on something.
Jay came in and lay on the training table next to David’s. “Rough night?” he asked.
“Fuck off,” David responded.
It had been a bad night, and if he was lucky he’d get away with a slap on the wrist from the NHL. But holy shit, it wasn’t his fault that the Canucks leading scorer liked to admire his own passes instead of watching for other players. So, David hit the kid hard in open ice. It was a clean hit, but it was ugly. After that, their enforcer dropped his gloves and David had his first serious fight in two seasons.
Jay propped himself up on his elbows. “Still thinking about the teacher?”
David draped his unwrapped forearm over his eyes. “Shit.”
“You wanna tell me about it?”
His best friend knew him better than he knew himself. They’d been teammates for seven years, a lifetime in this league. “I can’t get her out of my head.”
“What is it about this one?”
David growled.
“Look,” Jay clapped his hands together and rubbed them quickly, like he was trying to start some internal fire. “Let’s get the hell away from here and go to my house. We’ll pick up some beer and pizza and watch your fight on Sports Center.”
David glanced at the ice pack resting on the knuckles of his right hand. He’d be remembering the fight for a few days. “Annie won’t mind?”
Jay grinned and shook his head. “Nah, I’ll call her.”
David flexed his fingers and rolled his shoulders when the trainer took the ice off his arm and hand. He stood and thought about his friend. Jay had the best marriage of anyone he knew, and his wife was something special. She was practical and down to earth, and she had a job. She worked part-time as an ER nurse at the university hospital. That was how she and Jay met. Annie was on duty when Jay was rolled in with a dislocated shoulder and a concussion. He said he fell in love with her when she told him to stop screaming like a baby and threatened him with restraining straps. For six months, he pursued her with a passion until she finally agreed to marry him.
David sat on the bench in the dressing room and pulled one of Kate’s books out of his bag. This was a problem. He was obsessing over a woman he’d gone out with twice. Jesus. If he wasn’t the captain of this team, he would have been the subject of every joke and jab for the rest of the season. He flipped it to back cover and gazed at the picture. Every inch of him responded to the image. He had to find a way to see her again. For some reason it was important to him that she know he wasn’t a total idiot.
*
David swung his car into a parking space and felt intimidated before he even opened the door. The ivy covered walls and quiet elegance of the old private school screamed money. The students here had made a huge contribution to the team’s annual food drive and had earned an appearance from a member of the team. Originally, one of the rookies was supposed to come, but the kid separated his shoulder in last night’s game and David volunteered. Being a veteran meant he could pick and choose the charities he supported, and he usually represented the team at more high-profile events. This was a simple photo op at a small school, but being the team captain, he had a responsibility to go above and beyond. That, and he owed the community relations director a favor since he bit the head off one of his little minions the other night.
The school was incredible. There were three old, brick buildings, one with a large tower, facing a grassy common. Students walked past him in small groups. If ever there was a perfect image of a prep school, St. Andrew’s was it.
It was foreign to David. Even with his top flight education, he never really felt like he completely fit in at a place like this. At B-C he stayed with his own kind, jocks mostly, kids who were there to learn and play hockey. He partied, he broke heads on the ice, and he pulled good grades.
He looked at the slip of paper, and after a survey of the grounds, still had no idea where he was supposed to be. Normally, he’d have one of the community relations people with him, but no one was available, and, initially, David didn’t see the big deal in taking a ride by himself. Until now. He didn’t know where the hell to go.
He walked over to a group of students and cleared his throat. They turned to him and he noticed they were perfect, all the same… not even a zit.
“Can one of you tell me how to get to Larchmont Hall?”
One of the girls cocked her little blonde head to the side and spoke, although it seemed her mouth barely moved and her words came out with a nasally cadence. She didn’t make eye contact, and once she’d pointed out the building, David ceased to exist. Oh yeah, this was going to be a rip-roarin’ good time.
*
David found the headmaster’s office without too much trouble and the photo session was relatively painless. The headmaster, the teacher, and kids who attended the reception were very pleasant, and he guessed that was why they were involved with the charity. Unlike the kids he met outside, this group seemed to care about something other than themselves.
He signed some autographs and made small talk with everyone about the team and how the season was going. It was standard stuff, and David had to admit he rarely minded these personal appearances. He made a lot of money playing a game for a living. The least he could do was give a little time to the people who supported him and the team.