Sunday, May 12th
Shane
closed his eyes and tried to will away the nausea. He’d made it to Nealy’s
office door, and that was hard enough. No one else on the executive level
today, but after practice, her majesty had requested a word. He took a deep
breath and let it out slowly, his heart beating like a jackrabbit’s. No idea
what she wanted, but mandatory meetings were rarely good.
“In
or out, Reese, don’t be a tease.” Her tiny voice came through the wall as if
she could sense him hesitating.
He
eased inside, closed the door and stood in front of her desk. “Wanted to see me,
Coach?”
“Have
a seat. And for God’s sake, take that look off your face. I’m not going to
demand your firstborn.” Expressionless as usual, but a lighter, more teasing
tone than normal.
A
smile started at the corners of his mouth but didn’t quite make it. He dropped
into the chair opposite her and folded his hands over his stomach, thought
better of it, and set them on the arm rests.
“Christ,”
she said in mock disgust and shook her head. She stared at him for a long
minute. Was that compassion in her eyes? “I want you to start in game one.”
He
blinked. “What?” It sounded like she said she wanted him to start. But that
wasn’t possible. If it was a joke, her sense of humor had taken a wicked turn.
“You
heard me. You’ve been through your bullshit. Gotten it out of your system. I
liked what I saw in practice today. You’re ready. Gotta get back in the saddle
and lead this team to the finals. You’re the franchise goaltender, and it’s
time to remind people of that.”
Funny.
Felt like she was reminding him. A
warm and fuzzy moment with Nealy never seemed possible before, but damn if he
didn’t want to hug her now. “Thanks, Coach.”
“You
want to thank me? Win on Tuesday. Simkins had a comfort level with the Sharks,
got in their heads. You have an undefeated record with the Blackhawks. This
one’s all you.”
He
nodded. Instead of pressured, he felt raring to go. Tuesday couldn’t come fast
enough.
“All
right, now get outta here. I gotta solidify the rest of the lineup.”
“Yes,
Coach.” He grinned and couldn’t stop, even as she shook her head watching him
leave.
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