Once again, Ethan’s jaw dropped. From behind me, Helena chuckled. I’d recognize the sound anywhere, even if I couldn’t see her.
“Will you really? Will you come and skate with us? I’ve never skated with a real NHL star!” His gaze moved briefly to his mom. “Mom and dad take me to games sometimes. It’s amazing getting to see everything so close and happening right in front of me.”
Nodding, I remembered exactly how it had felt to attend NHL games when I’d been Ethan’s age. Mom and dad had poured every spare cent into mine and Pat’s interests. They’d always wanted us to have what was important to us, not what might seem valuable to other people.
“It’ll be even more amazing to actually get to skate on the same ice!” Ethan assured me.
“It sure will be,” I agreed easily. That agreement made Ethan’s excited smile even wider. Like he couldn’t believe that I was agreeing with him! He seemed like a sweet kid. “Do you want to tell me about your best game?” Before I’d even managed to finish the question, Ethan had already rushed into telling me all about how they beat a team from another school.
Sitting down, I accepted Kate’s offer of a drink. Ethan’s passion for hockey was so clear; it made it fun to listen to him. Eventually, Helena’s family left us just chatting about hockey and when it was time for me to leave, Helena walked me out.
“You don’t have to thank me,” I insisted when she for the fifth time told me how much she appreciated me sitting and talking with Ethan. “Really, Helena, it was nice. I can see why he’s your favorite nephew,” I joked.
In a way, meeting Ethan reinforced my decision to part ways with Becca. I wanted a kid like him - maybe even more than one! Someone I could pass my love and knowledge of hockey down to, who’d remind me how much fun it could be to play even at a junior level.
“He’s great,” Helena agreed. “He reminds me of you, in a lot of ways. Not just because he likes hockey. He… listens to me the same way, works with me to find a way I can explain things that will make sense to him.”
I remembered how Helena had always been so good at doing that for me. It didn’t surprise me to learn she helped with Ethan’s education.
“You were great with him,” she added. “I know that doesn’t come easily to everyone.”
There wasn’t a great deal I could say to that. I liked kids; getting on with them was pretty easy. Especially the ones who loved hockey the way Ethan did. So instead, I smiled at Helena and told her that it had been nice to see her. It had been nice to meet Ethan, too. I even told her that it had been nice to see her family. Both of us knew that was a lie.
After that, there was an awkward pause. Neither of us quite knew how to bid goodbye. In the end, we went with just a ‘bye’, since neither ‘see you soon’ nor any sort of physical gesture felt appropriate.
On the drive home, I thought a lot about how different things felt but also at the same time so similar. It was hard to explain, even to me. When I got home to my parents’ house, only to be faced with mom’s question about how my afternoon had gone, I felt a bit stumped.
“Yeah, it was okay. Helena and I picked tiles for Pat’s new kitchen,” I explained. “And then I dropped her off at her sister’s house and met her nephew. He’s into hockey so I stayed for a bit talking to him.”
It felt weird to say it like that. Like Helena and I hanging out was normal. Yet it was so reminiscent of us being teenagers, always doing stuff together.
“Ethan?” My mom asked, making me nod. Of course, she knew Kate’s family a lot better than I did. She could hardly help it, what with seeing them around town all the time. “I’ll bet that was fun. He seems very enthusiastic every time I’ve talked to him.”
She bustled around the kitchen, refusing my offers of help. Even so, I stayed there with her. Talking things over with my mom had always helped. Maybe it would give me some clarity on my feelings now, just like it had when I was younger.
“He seems almost out of place in that family,” mom observed. “But then, I suppose I said the same thing about Helena. She was always so sweet when she came over. I saw the way her eyes would drink in everything here. As if we had the fancy house and she’d never seen anything like it!”
Mom’s description made me chuckle. Many of the conversations Helena and I had had back then flashed before my eyes. It wasn’t quite that she’d thought our house was impressive. Helena had always loved my family for being so close. Our relationship was so much different than hers had been with her family and their expectations.
“She’d never seen anyone’s parents be like you and dad,” I pointed out. “That’s why she loved coming around. You were always so nice and supportive.” And they had been. Of me, of Pat, of Helena. And now, of Charlotte.
Seeing Helena’s family again brought back a lot of those memories. Of having Helena over for dinners almost as often as she wasn’t here. It made me appreciate my parents for having let me have her over so much.
“Did you ever worry?” I asked curiously. “About letting Helena
