‹ Prequel: Never Meant to Be
Status: Whenever I can
Ghosts of Our Past
Chapter Twenty-Five (Edited)
August 19th, 2027
Thursday
Holiday Inn, Boston, MA
6:00 A.M.
The day before the training camp Trenton begged to go. All of his bruises had gone down and were no longer swelled, his hand had mostly healed, and his fingertips had downgraded from the heavy cast they’d had on at first to two small thick bandages on both fingers. Evangeline finally gave in but told him she would have to tape the stick or secure somehow into his glove so he did not have to grip so tightly. It was in Boston again and they would be staying at the same hotel as before. They packed up the car and headed down again. This time it took them an extra hour because of traffic and when they arrived it was one in the morning and they checked in easily without a line. Since training began early, at 6:00 that next morning they quickly went to their room and got into bed.
Nathan, Tammy, Zach, and Dylan had taken a flight up to Boston for the training camp. They decided to just check into the Holiday Inn across the street from the Garden rather than have to re-open their house and put sheets on the beds. They got into Boston early at around 8:00 P.M. and the next morning was well rested. Nathan had been asked to get onto the ice with the NHL prospects and skate with them for the scrimmage. He went into the Garden with Dylan and down to the familiar locker room to change. He got his own separate room alone to change and after the boys had warmed up; he’d go up and see them. He was slow to get his gear on. He wished that his teammates from the Bruins were there with him instead of being alone in the silent locker room. Twenty minutes later a man came down and told him it was time to go up. He walked down the hallway slowly, seeing the entrance to the arena up ahead. He pushed it open and saw the large group of boys out on the ice in a group. Their heads turned his way and Nathan instantly spotted Trenton amongst them. They stared knowingly into each others eyes. He didn’t detect any hostility in his gaze at all, just curiosity. Then he saw the hatred come into his expression. Nathan almost felt a little intimidated. He knew he was being sized up. He tore his eyes from Trenton and found Dylan watching him happily on the other side of the group. He took a deep breath. Hopefully there wouldn’t be a fight today. He skated over to where the coach was standing and the coach began his speech.
“Nathan Horton has come today to skate with you all and help prepare you for the NHL.” Nathan Horton looked at the crowd to see all of their eyes beaming in admiration at him except for Trenton who looked like he was ready to kill. Nathan mustered a smile and said
“Anything you need I’ll be glad to help you with. You guys are the future of hockey and if you work hard at it you could one day be a great legend like Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby.”
“Or you,” said someone from the crowd. Nathan smiled, he never liked to show off or brag about his success in the NHL. The coach spoke again
“We’ll be starting with a scrimmage like we did last time.” He handed Nathan a red colored jersey and said “Do you mind playing?”
“Not at all,” said Nathan smiling. He pulled it over his head and saw that he was on Dylan’s team. His son smiled and came over to him. He looked up and saw Trenton was in a blue jersey. They were eye to eye again. Trenton was smirking slightly with the same hostile gaze as before. He knew Trenton was a hitter. He’d seen him play plenty enough to see that he enjoyed checking and would definitely be a great enforcer. Not only would he have to keep his focus on the puck but on the Trenton to make sure he wasn’t hit to hard. The opposing blue team had two more players to make it fair that the red team had Nathan. He was placed in the first line as was Trenton. He skated over and crouched down in the face off. He looked over at Trenton like Dylan had done back in the first training camp. Trenton stared into the brown eyes he had inherited. He was so shocked to be so close to Nathan that all the want to fight had gone out of him and he stared at the man who he was half of. There was something familiar about his face, a far more intimate familiarity than a fan would have. When he had been a baby he had spent a lot of time in his care according to his mother. The puck was dropped and the two parted. Trenton felt the crazed fury rise in him again.
Nathan was passed the puck and he took it down towards the net. He had forgotten to keep his eye out for Trenton and felt someone ploy him over in a body check. He watched Trenton look back at him with absolute hatred and then take the puck back up the other end. Nathan was quick to get on his feet again.
Evangeline sat in the front row again with Lucille. She watched Trenton hit Nathan and felt a pang of fear and worry as she saw him go down hard onto the ice. She took a breath of relief when he got back up and seemed uninjured. No matter how angry she was at him she still felt concerned. He looked up to see Tammy and Zach sitting on the other side of the rink also with worried expressions. Evangeline wished she could tell Trenton to stop. She watched him come in closely in front of Nathan and try to table top him. But Nathan was to smart and cut away at the last second. The first period ended and the coach gave them a quick break before moving onto the second. She watched Nathan go over to the bench and squirt some water into his mouth. He looked over at her and quickly looked away. She continued to stare at him as he talked with one of the boys who had come up to him. It made her feel depressed that they were no longer talking. It had become worse over the past few weeks. She had head and stomach pains and it made her heart feel heavy with grief.
She continued to watch Trenton try to check Nathan at every opportunity he got. Most of the time he would fail, Nathan being the more experienced player would dodge him. The red team won 2-1 and Nathan left the ice to go shower and change after saying goodbye to the group. Evangeline saw him walk down to sit with Tammy a half an hour later. She watched him sit close to her in the next seat and pull his arm around her kissing her cheek with a smile. She felt more sadness and a bit of jealousy and wondered why he was suddenly being so romantic with her. Before the fight, he’d told Evangeline that he and Tammy were barely speaking and weren’t even sleeping the same bedroom anymore. She watched Tammy smile at him and put her head on his shoulder. It was an even worse blow to know that he was going back to her but she knew it was exactly as she had told him to do. At last he had taken her advice.
The second part of the camp started at 12:00 P.M. that next day and Evangeline felt happy that they could sleep in a bit and not have to get up early. They went out to dinner at a nice restaurant in Boston and then came back to the hotel to relax. Trenton and Lucille went down to the pool and Evangeline stayed behind in the room. She decided to go down the hall to the vending machine and by a snack. She walked down the hall and into the small room. As she was waiting for the bag of chips she heard someone walk in behind her. She didn’t look until she pulled the bag out of the machine and turned around to come face to face with Nathan. He had on a blank expression as he looked down on her. His mouth then turned up in a small smile and he said
“Excuse me Evangeline,” She could hear the venom in his voice as he said it. She felt insulted and moved past him and back into the hallway.
Nathan got mad just seeing her. As much as he wanted to take back what he had said on the phone he couldn’t help but feel angry towards her. He waited until he heard her room door shut before he went back out into the hallway to go to his room.
The next day was the last part of the NHL training program and then all they had to wait for was where Trenton would be placed in the draft. His name was already popping up in NHL websites predicting that he’d be in the top ten. Evangeline had to again watch Nathan and Tammy canoodle the whole time. Lucille must have spotted him and said
“Is that Tammy?”
“Yes,” said Evangeline quietly as if they would hear her. Lucille didn’t comment after that but instead watched her father and his wife with observant eyes.
“I thought he wasn’t happy with her?” she asked.
“They are now,” said Evangeline. “Just as I told him to be.” Lucille continued to watch them and it made Evangeline uncomfortable.
“Who’s the boy with them?”
“Zach, they’re other son.” Evangeline wasn’t sure if Lucille had come to full realization yet that she had to biological half brothers. Dylan being older than her, and Zach being younger.
The camp ended at 5:00 and to avoid seeing Nathan again Evangeline packed and left as soon as possible. There were no more secrets to hide and Trenton asked
“Why are we in such a hurry?”
“Because I don’t want to see him.” said Evangeline.
“I would,” said Trenton. “I want to finish what I started out on the ice with him yesterday.”
The drive was quick and there was no traffic getting them home at 7:30. Tomorrow Evangeline and Trenton had to be up early again to go to Portland. He’d be getting his fingers and hand checked and she’d be getting a yearly check-up. Evangeline went to bed thinking of Tammy and Nathan close together in the rink all day. This was what she had wanted. Shouldn’t she be happy?
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Thanks for reading :) Please comment.
Thursday
Holiday Inn, Boston, MA
6:00 A.M.
The day before the training camp Trenton begged to go. All of his bruises had gone down and were no longer swelled, his hand had mostly healed, and his fingertips had downgraded from the heavy cast they’d had on at first to two small thick bandages on both fingers. Evangeline finally gave in but told him she would have to tape the stick or secure somehow into his glove so he did not have to grip so tightly. It was in Boston again and they would be staying at the same hotel as before. They packed up the car and headed down again. This time it took them an extra hour because of traffic and when they arrived it was one in the morning and they checked in easily without a line. Since training began early, at 6:00 that next morning they quickly went to their room and got into bed.
Nathan, Tammy, Zach, and Dylan had taken a flight up to Boston for the training camp. They decided to just check into the Holiday Inn across the street from the Garden rather than have to re-open their house and put sheets on the beds. They got into Boston early at around 8:00 P.M. and the next morning was well rested. Nathan had been asked to get onto the ice with the NHL prospects and skate with them for the scrimmage. He went into the Garden with Dylan and down to the familiar locker room to change. He got his own separate room alone to change and after the boys had warmed up; he’d go up and see them. He was slow to get his gear on. He wished that his teammates from the Bruins were there with him instead of being alone in the silent locker room. Twenty minutes later a man came down and told him it was time to go up. He walked down the hallway slowly, seeing the entrance to the arena up ahead. He pushed it open and saw the large group of boys out on the ice in a group. Their heads turned his way and Nathan instantly spotted Trenton amongst them. They stared knowingly into each others eyes. He didn’t detect any hostility in his gaze at all, just curiosity. Then he saw the hatred come into his expression. Nathan almost felt a little intimidated. He knew he was being sized up. He tore his eyes from Trenton and found Dylan watching him happily on the other side of the group. He took a deep breath. Hopefully there wouldn’t be a fight today. He skated over to where the coach was standing and the coach began his speech.
“Nathan Horton has come today to skate with you all and help prepare you for the NHL.” Nathan Horton looked at the crowd to see all of their eyes beaming in admiration at him except for Trenton who looked like he was ready to kill. Nathan mustered a smile and said
“Anything you need I’ll be glad to help you with. You guys are the future of hockey and if you work hard at it you could one day be a great legend like Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby.”
“Or you,” said someone from the crowd. Nathan smiled, he never liked to show off or brag about his success in the NHL. The coach spoke again
“We’ll be starting with a scrimmage like we did last time.” He handed Nathan a red colored jersey and said “Do you mind playing?”
“Not at all,” said Nathan smiling. He pulled it over his head and saw that he was on Dylan’s team. His son smiled and came over to him. He looked up and saw Trenton was in a blue jersey. They were eye to eye again. Trenton was smirking slightly with the same hostile gaze as before. He knew Trenton was a hitter. He’d seen him play plenty enough to see that he enjoyed checking and would definitely be a great enforcer. Not only would he have to keep his focus on the puck but on the Trenton to make sure he wasn’t hit to hard. The opposing blue team had two more players to make it fair that the red team had Nathan. He was placed in the first line as was Trenton. He skated over and crouched down in the face off. He looked over at Trenton like Dylan had done back in the first training camp. Trenton stared into the brown eyes he had inherited. He was so shocked to be so close to Nathan that all the want to fight had gone out of him and he stared at the man who he was half of. There was something familiar about his face, a far more intimate familiarity than a fan would have. When he had been a baby he had spent a lot of time in his care according to his mother. The puck was dropped and the two parted. Trenton felt the crazed fury rise in him again.
Nathan was passed the puck and he took it down towards the net. He had forgotten to keep his eye out for Trenton and felt someone ploy him over in a body check. He watched Trenton look back at him with absolute hatred and then take the puck back up the other end. Nathan was quick to get on his feet again.
Evangeline sat in the front row again with Lucille. She watched Trenton hit Nathan and felt a pang of fear and worry as she saw him go down hard onto the ice. She took a breath of relief when he got back up and seemed uninjured. No matter how angry she was at him she still felt concerned. He looked up to see Tammy and Zach sitting on the other side of the rink also with worried expressions. Evangeline wished she could tell Trenton to stop. She watched him come in closely in front of Nathan and try to table top him. But Nathan was to smart and cut away at the last second. The first period ended and the coach gave them a quick break before moving onto the second. She watched Nathan go over to the bench and squirt some water into his mouth. He looked over at her and quickly looked away. She continued to stare at him as he talked with one of the boys who had come up to him. It made her feel depressed that they were no longer talking. It had become worse over the past few weeks. She had head and stomach pains and it made her heart feel heavy with grief.
She continued to watch Trenton try to check Nathan at every opportunity he got. Most of the time he would fail, Nathan being the more experienced player would dodge him. The red team won 2-1 and Nathan left the ice to go shower and change after saying goodbye to the group. Evangeline saw him walk down to sit with Tammy a half an hour later. She watched him sit close to her in the next seat and pull his arm around her kissing her cheek with a smile. She felt more sadness and a bit of jealousy and wondered why he was suddenly being so romantic with her. Before the fight, he’d told Evangeline that he and Tammy were barely speaking and weren’t even sleeping the same bedroom anymore. She watched Tammy smile at him and put her head on his shoulder. It was an even worse blow to know that he was going back to her but she knew it was exactly as she had told him to do. At last he had taken her advice.
The second part of the camp started at 12:00 P.M. that next day and Evangeline felt happy that they could sleep in a bit and not have to get up early. They went out to dinner at a nice restaurant in Boston and then came back to the hotel to relax. Trenton and Lucille went down to the pool and Evangeline stayed behind in the room. She decided to go down the hall to the vending machine and by a snack. She walked down the hall and into the small room. As she was waiting for the bag of chips she heard someone walk in behind her. She didn’t look until she pulled the bag out of the machine and turned around to come face to face with Nathan. He had on a blank expression as he looked down on her. His mouth then turned up in a small smile and he said
“Excuse me Evangeline,” She could hear the venom in his voice as he said it. She felt insulted and moved past him and back into the hallway.
Nathan got mad just seeing her. As much as he wanted to take back what he had said on the phone he couldn’t help but feel angry towards her. He waited until he heard her room door shut before he went back out into the hallway to go to his room.
The next day was the last part of the NHL training program and then all they had to wait for was where Trenton would be placed in the draft. His name was already popping up in NHL websites predicting that he’d be in the top ten. Evangeline had to again watch Nathan and Tammy canoodle the whole time. Lucille must have spotted him and said
“Is that Tammy?”
“Yes,” said Evangeline quietly as if they would hear her. Lucille didn’t comment after that but instead watched her father and his wife with observant eyes.
“I thought he wasn’t happy with her?” she asked.
“They are now,” said Evangeline. “Just as I told him to be.” Lucille continued to watch them and it made Evangeline uncomfortable.
“Who’s the boy with them?”
“Zach, they’re other son.” Evangeline wasn’t sure if Lucille had come to full realization yet that she had to biological half brothers. Dylan being older than her, and Zach being younger.
The camp ended at 5:00 and to avoid seeing Nathan again Evangeline packed and left as soon as possible. There were no more secrets to hide and Trenton asked
“Why are we in such a hurry?”
“Because I don’t want to see him.” said Evangeline.
“I would,” said Trenton. “I want to finish what I started out on the ice with him yesterday.”
The drive was quick and there was no traffic getting them home at 7:30. Tomorrow Evangeline and Trenton had to be up early again to go to Portland. He’d be getting his fingers and hand checked and she’d be getting a yearly check-up. Evangeline went to bed thinking of Tammy and Nathan close together in the rink all day. This was what she had wanted. Shouldn’t she be happy?
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Thanks for reading :) Please comment.