‹ Prequel: Never Meant to Be
Status: Whenever I can

Ghosts of Our Past

Chapter Eleven (Edited)

July 11th, 2027
Monday
Evangeline’s House, Jefferson, ME
5:30 P.M.

Evangeline put the last suitcase into the back of her car. She went around and got into the drivers seat and looked back at Lucille and Trenton.

“Got everything you need?” She asked smiling.

“Ya,” said Trenton. It had taken Evangeline an hour to stuff everything into the car. They were going to be away for awhile so they had packed a lot of clothes. They were heading down to Boston for the NHL training camp, and then Evangeline had arranged to visit her father down in Nashville. They wouldn’t be back until next week. Evangeline backed out of their driveway and double checked that Trenton had put the cover over the boat so if it rained it wouldn’t fill up with water.

“How long is this ride gonna be?” asked Trenton.

“Two and a half hours,” said Evangeline. “That’s if we don’t hit traffic.” Trenton groaned in annoyance and put his Ipod headphones in.

Thankfully, they didn’t hit traffic and went right through the state of Maine, briefly drove through New Hampshire, and made their way into Massachusetts.

Nathan was in his kitchen on his laptop reading an email he’d gotten about the training camp Dylan would be attending tomorrow. It would be good for Dylan to show off some his skills to different scouts for different teams. What worried him was that Trenton would also be there. He had been absolutely thrilled when Evangeline had called him the night he’d come home from Trenton’s hockey game. He had two sons both guaranteed to be drafted into the NHL next year, and one who was well on his way to being scouted. What bothered him was the two of them skating together. They both had a very close resemblance and played the same positions, right wingers like he was. But they played differently. Dylan relied heavily on his swiftness and quick maneuvers to get a goal while Trenton relied more on his strength and checking skills to get the puck into the net. If they did some sort of scrimmage tomorrow and put Trenton and Dylan on opposite sides they could be right up against each other in the face off, not even knowing that they were half brothers.

Evangeline could see the familiar city lights coming closer and closer as she drove onto the Tobin Bridge. She could see the TD Garden lit up in the night. There was a large picture that said BOSTON BRUINS 2027-2028 SEASON on the side. Below the large letters there was a picture of Nathan and another player standing together. She felt a pang of dread as she remembered what had happened here. She thought she’d never be visiting Boston again. She took a deep breath and came to the tolls, she paid and drove on. She was officially here. She kept driving until she pulled into the parking garage where they would be parking their car for the time they were there. The parking fee and food would be the only thing they would have to pay for. They were staying at the Holiday Inn across from the Garden and the room had been paid for by the NHL organization. All of the young men attending the training camp would be staying there as well, giving Trenton the opportunity to make new friends. She had been cheerful until they had crossed the Massachusetts border. From there she gotten downcast with the painful memories of the day she left. With her luck, she’d run into Tammy somewhere.

“We’re here,” she said turning to Lucille and Trenton. They looked at her with their eyes half closed stiff and groggy from sitting for so long. She got out and opened up the back and began pulling out suitcases. Trenton and Lucille came around and picked up their stuff and began to head towards the hotel. It was right next door and it wasn’t much of a struggle for them to walk there. When the got into the lobby she looked around to see several other boys that were just arriving. She could tell because they were carrying large hockey bags or sticks. She saw Trenton taking a look around the room uninterestedly. He didn’t know anyone there. They quickly checked in and headed up to their room. When they got off the elevator and turned down the hallway where their room was Evangeline saw a group of boys playing hockey in the hallway. They moved over to let her by. One of them looked at Trenton and seemed awe struck.

“Are you Nathan Horton’s son?!” Evangeline froze in her tracks and she turned around to see Trenton looking at the boy with a confused face.

“No,” said Trenton laughing.

“Sorry for the mistake,” said the boy. “I just heard from someone that his son is going to be at the camp this weekend and you sure do look a lot like him.”

“Oh its fine, I suppose I do sort of look like him,” said Trenton smiling. “My name’s Trenton,”

“I’m Caleb,” said the boy smiling. “Wanna play with us?”

“Sure,” said Trenton, “I’ll be right out.” Evangeline felt extremely cold as the boys words echoed in her head. Not only that but was Dylan really playing this weekend? Would he and Trenton come face to face? They continued on down the hallway and Evangeline unlocked their room and went inside. She turned on the lights to find a regular two bed hotel room. As usual, Lucille and Evangeline would take one bed while Trenton took the other alone. They put their things down and Trenton said

“I’m going out to play mom, I’ll be back later,” He grabbed a hockey stick and left. Lucille laughed and said

“I can’t believe they thought he looks like Nathan Horton, he looks nothing like Nathan Horton in my opinion.” Evangeline didn’t answer and instead continued getting all of the bags organized. “Are we going to watch him play tomorrow at camp?”

“Yes,” said Evangeline.

“The whole day?” She asked sounding annoyed.

“Yes,” said Evangeline.

“But I wanna check out the city,” said Lucille excitedly. “Please mom,”

“We can,” said Evangeline reassuringly “The camp is three days and on the third day it’s only in the morning. We can spend some of the afternoon out and then leave for Nashville.” Lucille went to take a shower and Evangeline quickly called Nathan. There was a small balcony outside and she quietly went out so Lucille wouldn’t overhear her. Nathan picked up and said

“Hey,”

“Is Dylan doing the camp this week?” she asked.

“Ya,” said Nathan sounding concerned. “I’m sorry I forget to tell you,”

“What if they meet Nathan? That would be horrible.”

“How so?” he asked.

“If Tammy sees me she’ll rip my head off. I don’t even like being back in this city, it makes me depressed. All of the memories and people I left behind.”

“There’s no one left that would recognize you except me and Tammy. Krejci hasn’t been on the team for years, he was traded back in 2015 to the Blackhawks, and didn’t you tell me your old friend Talia moved to New York City to get married.”

“Ya,” said Evangeline. “I’m just a little nervous to be back here.”

“Don’t worry, like I said except for me and Tammy there’s not a face left in this city that you’ll recognize. It’s been fifteen years, everyone’s gone.” His words made her feel lonely and she said

“I just have to stay out of Tammy’s sight then.”

“Ya,” said Nathan. “I gotta go; I have to go get Dylan’s stuff together for tomorrow. He’s already asleep and left me to do it.”

“Alright good night, I love you,”

“Love you too,” he said. When she hung up and felt the loneliness completely set in. She leaned against the balcony’s railing, looking over the city, seeing its lights stretch out to the skyline. Boston would forever be a miserable city to her.
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