“Yes. I’m Mrs. Campbell.” Mum stood up and I did too.
“Your father-in-law is doing well. We’ll be giving him an iron infusion tomorrow and it’ll take a few months, but I think he’ll get his strength back fairly quickly.”
“And the cancer?” I asked worriedly.
He smiled. “I’m not his oncologist, but according to the records, the procedure placing the radiation pellets went well, and though I don’t see any recent updates, I don’t see any indications there are problems either.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed Mum’s hand again and together we went into his room.
28
Dax
When I heard about Ian’s grandfather, I longed to reach out to Isla because I knew she was probably worried sick about him. She’d also told me about his cryptic comment about wanting to make sure all his grandchildren were settled before he passed away, which now made a lot more sense. The time difference was still a hassle and I wasn’t sure what I would do once I heard her voice, so I took the coward’s way out and sent her a text.
DAX: Hey. Heard about your grandfather. Glad he’s doing okay.
She responded right away, which was surprising, but nice.
ISLA: Thank you. It was scary to get that call that he’d collapsed.
DAX: Do you need anything? Ian is really struggling with not being there.
ISLA: No, we’re good. Mum is looking after him during the day and then us kids have been hovering in the evening, making him a little crazy, no doubt.
DAX: Well, turnabout is fair play, I believe.
ISLA: LOL. Yes, for sure. He’s decidedly cranky about being forced to stay home from the office for a week and having us mothering him.
DAX: Are you doing okay? Work going well?
ISLA: Work is a hassle, but I haven’t had much time to think about anything but Granddad this week. Anyway, I’m off to bed. Thank you for checking in.
DAX: Please reach out if you need anything. Take care.
ISLA: Good night.
It was so polite and distant, while incredibly intimate too, because we knew each other so well and our families were so close.
And it fucking sucked.
I was mostly too busy to nurse any kind of broken heart, but it was there, slowly eating away at me. I was playing my ass off in hockey, though, and having a hell of a season. We were only a few weeks in, but I already had eight goals and six assists, which wasn’t bad at all. I’d also done another job with Chains, shadowing him while doing security for the daughter of a sheik who was in town for a week. The teenager had wanted to go shopping, so we’d been added to the sheik’s personal security team, and though it was as boring and uneventful as we would have liked, it was another glimpse into the life I thought I wanted.
It was also time to tell my friends about my plans to retire. We were on a West Coast road trip now, and tonight, Ian, Tore and I had all scored goals. Everyone on the team was in a great mood when it was over, so many of them opted to go out for a few drinks. I convinced Ian, Tore and Zaan to meet me at the hotel bar instead of actually going out, and I waited for them to join me. Since I was closer to these guys than the others, it was time I read them in on everything going on in my head. Ian knew some of it, but not the latest stuff, so as we settled at a table in the back, I decided to bring it up.
“I’ve had some shit on my mind,” I said once we had drinks.
“All that going back to college stuff?” Tore asked curiously.
“That’s part of it.” I looked from him to Ian and back again, before blurting it out. “This is my last season. I’m retiring next summer.”
Tore was probably a lot more shocked than Ian, but none of them said anything for a long time. Until I finally took a pull from my beer and arched a brow. “Really? No comments at all?”
Ian smiled and lifted his bottle of beer. “Mate, I’ve seen this coming for a while, so I already kind of knew.”
“Well, I didn’t!” Tore said indignantly. “I mean, what the fuck? What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know exactly,” I admitted. “But probably get my degree and do some bodyguard stuff for Westfield & Carruthers Security.”
Tore frowned. “But why? I mean, I get the college thing, but bodyguard? Why would you give up the money to protect spoiled rock stars and politicians and shit? I could see you joining the military or something, but bodyguard? For what they’ll pay you? Is that going to fulfill you? I mean, I don’t know much, but I know you, and you’re better than that. I’m not saying it’s not important, but it’s not you.”
I frowned. He’d caught me by surprise with his reaction, and while I’d had a dozen responses ready for questions I’d thought they would ask, this wasn’t one of them.
“Well, as the husband of one of those spoiled rock stars,” Zaan said slowly, “I think being a bodyguard is important, but I’m also struggling to figure out why you would leave what we do in hockey to do that.”
“It’s not my end game,” I said, unreasonably annoyed with the turn the conversation had taken. “But I have to start somewhere. I can’t go from pro athlete to the FBI with a snap of my fingers. The FBI is just an example, but that’s what this is about. It’s about me looking for something else, something with a little more meaning. I haven’t figured out the details yet, but the longer I stay in hockey, the longer I put off following my heart.”
“Well, I for one, am going to miss you,” Ian said quietly. “But I respect you for listening to your gut when it’s telling you it’s time to move on.”
“What does Isla say?”
