Mandy was sitting next to his parents. She'd been on edge since their arrival at Kip's house. He raised his glove hand at her as he skated off the ice between the second and third.
She blew him a kiss in response to his wave. Colton was jumping up and down, vibrating in his seat. The game had been tight, with New York ahead, two goals to one, at the end of fourty minutes.
And then slowly, the minutes ticked by. Doug scored, tying the game. Kip stopped shot after shot. The crowd was deafening. And then, Kyle scored his second of the game, putting Calgary ahead with just four minutes to go. The volume was ear shattering, and she and Colton joined along with every Calgary fan in the building.
The ten second count down came. The crowd calling out the numbers. Kip was relaxed, the puck in the other end of the rink.
And then, unbelievably they had won. Kip thought there was going to be a riot as the crowd erupted in louder cheers and the entire team tackled him. Kip thought his heart was going to pound out of his chest. It didn't seem real, even as he held the Cup as a champion of the league. He'd been the best. He could relax. There'd be a contract and he could propose to Mandy, move her to Calgary, and life would be perfect. His dream would be complete.
There was a blur of pictures and interviews. The congratulations were endless. His agent flashed in front of his eyes. "Hey, like, three teams have called asking about you."
"What?" Kip said, distracted by a hundred people all at once. This was a rather important conversation and he needed to focus but someone was calling his name from across the dressing room.
"Uh yeah. San Jose and Vancouver and, uh, Nashville, I think. They're all asking. Free agent right?"
"No word from Calgary? From Todd?" Brett Todd was the Calgary general manager.
"Nothing yet. Did they say anything? Why you so bent on staying here? You've moved around more than once in your career?"
"Personal reasons," Kip snapped back.
"Right, your high school sweetheart. Look, I'll see what I can find out. Congratulations on the win."
"Thanks." It didn't feel like much of a win at the moment. He was supposed to be celebrating. Right now Mandy had finally managed to find him and he'd better put his celebration face on because he didn't really feel like explaining the depressing news at the moment. He smiled and hugged her close. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he said to her, looking into her eyes, needing her grounding energy next to him. It was all too much for one night.