"Right. Will we see Corey after the game?" Corey was the team's star defenceman, he was young and single. He and Colton had taken a liking to each other.
"I don't know Cole. We'll see okay?"
"All right." Corey had promised him they'd go to Calaway Park together this summer. Mandy had some worries that the kid wouldn't follow through, but she couldn't say no. Hopefully, maybe, she'd be moving to Calgary this summer.
She didn't know. She and Kip had been sticking to the don't ask, don't tell policy and it was starting to drive her mad. Part of her wanted to see how his upcoming contract negotiations went. Part of her just wanted to move forward with things.
She just tried not to think about it. To focus on how good things were going with her and Kip. And it was great, when they were together, but, there was this lack of future. Okay, now she was going in circles of thought.
Thank god, they were at the Dome. She found a place to park, somehow, and hiked the mile, or so it seemed, to the front doors. She handed over their tickets, along with all the other ticket goers. It was getting close to game time already. She and Colton stopped and got hot dogs and sodas. On their way to their seats they acknowledged several people they'd met over time. Most of the wives were here tonight as it was the last game.
Mandy smiled at the ice as she came out. There was Kip in goal. He lifted his stick hand in his usual acknowledgement to her. She waved back, but was pretty certain it got lost in the sea of red. "Isn't this fun, Mom?" Colton asked, beaming up at her. He'd become quite the hockey fan, defending Kip and the whole team to older boys in his school. And then making friends of them when he said he knew the team, that'd he'd been in the locker room.
"It is, indeed." Ten minutes until the anthem was due to start, thirteen minutes or so until go time. She blew Kip a kiss, hoping he saw.
****
Kip could see Mandy in the crowd from the ice. She was slightly lost in the sea engulfing the stadium, but she was close enough that he could wave to her. At least she made it before game time. He was feeling good tonight. Strong, ready to play this game and then into the playoffs. He hadn't been on his game this year. It was Mandy either, he'd been off all year. He'd been chalking it up to a new team, but that made him nervous as his contract was running out and he didn't know if he was going to be able to stay here. There had been no word from anyone about it and he was getting worried. He had his agent with his feelers out there, but so far, not much was coming back to him.