Room for More by Beth Ehemann Page B

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    “So how do you think the Wild will hold up this year? Think you guys will make it to the play-offs? It’s a big year for you personally, huh? I’m sure contract years are stressful,” Dylan blurted out all at once as he turned to me.
    “Wow.” I stood up. “For someone who wouldn’t say hi a minute ago, you’re sure chatty now, huh?”
    “He’s a sports genius. All he does is read facts and stats.” Cole shrugged. “He knows everything.”
    “Good for you, buddy.”
    I messed up Dylan’s moppy hair again before excusing myself and walking back over to the girls. I silently prayed to all that was holy that Kacie hadn’t heard the last part of the redheaded chatterbox’s question assault.
    “You guys ready to go?” I clapped loudly as I walked up to them.
    Kacie gave me a weird smile and my heart sunk. I wasn’t intentionally lying to her about my contract being up this year, I just didn’t want to talk about it now. It weighed on my mind constantly as it was, and knowing that it would be weighing on Kacie’s too would kill me.
    “Why did those boys want you to sign something?” Piper asked innocently.
    “They wanted my autograph. Do you know what an autograph is?”
    She shook her head.
    “I do!” Lucy said excitedly. “It’s a piece of paper you write your name on.”
    “Exactly,” I said to her. “They just wanted me to sign my name.”
    “But why?” Piper still looked confused.
    “Girls, Brody plays hockey on TV, so sometimes people see him and ask for his autograph because he’s… famous.” She bit her lip and shrugged as she looked at me, unsure of if she’d explained it okay.
    I nodded and Piper seemed happy with Kacie’s explanation.
    We were making our way to my truck when Piper spoke up again. “If you’re famous, do you know Selena Gomez?”
    “Yeah, can we have her autograph?” Lucy followed.
    Kacie looked at me and tried to not to laugh at the ego shot her daughters had just given me. “Sorry.” She shrugged. “Guess you have to be on The Disney Channel and sing pop music to be cool in their book.”
     

     
    When we got back to Kacie’s, the girls wanted to take their new loot to their room and divide it into piles. What can I say? They have OCD like their mom. Sophia and Fred were in the kitchen having coffee with an older couple that was staying at the inn for a few days, so Kacie and I decided to sneak off to her room. We both collapsed on the bed and intertwined our legs while she rested her head on my chest.
    “Who knew school shopping could be so exhausting?” I sighed.
    Kacie giggled. “Just wait until you see the list for second grade.”
    “I better start saving now,” I joked.
    She sat up and looked at me with a pained look in her eyes. “I told you not to buy all that stuff. I could’ve done it. Not everything you threw in the cart, but the necessities.”
    “Kacie.” I laughed. “I was just kidding. Trust me, I haven’t even given it a second thought.”
    “I know, but… I also know hockey players don’t get paid like football players, and—”
    “Calm down. Do I make twenty million a year like other athletes? No. That’s not how hockey is and I’m fine with it; but I do make well into the seven figures and I live like a college student, so it all works out.”
    She rolled her eyes. “You do not live like a college student. I’ve been to your condo. It’s beautiful.”
    “My mom did all that. If I had decorated it, I’d have patio furniture in my living room. Seriously though, the condo is really all I’ve bought. That condo, my two vehicles, and the farm for my parents. If I retired today, we could live quite comfortably for the rest of our lives. The girls too, and probably their girls.”
    A sweet smile crossed her lips as her head looked down toward the bed. “I like when you say that.”
    “Say what?”
    “We, our, stuff like that. Especially when talking about the future.”
    “You are my future,