We Don't Have Forever

Kylee has been acting very strange as of late, just kind of like a skittish cat. I wasn’t sure if Jon was noticing it too but I sure as hell was. The other night, Jon had told her something about coming to Winnipeg over the summer and she was just looking at her phone, smiling stupidly then asking Jon to repeat himself. Then, she came over to tell Jon that she was heading to Columbus for two weeks for a job. I didn’t say anything about it, she hadn’t been really responding to any texts lately so I figured she’s doing something super important, right?

“Playoffs are starting soon.” Jon said to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Huh?” I asked, not really hearing what he had said.

“Not you too! Is everyone gonna start ignoring me?” He whined slightly, making me start laughing. “I haven’t heard from Kylee since she texted me when she first landed. She said she would be busy but I didn’t think I wouldn’t hear from her at all.”

“She’s probably just doing a ton of work, I’m sure she’s fine.” I said, sending him a quick smile before checking my phone, seeing nothing new.

“Well….anyway….I said playoffs start soon.” He said again, messing with his water bottle.

“I know, you guys are going to do great.” I said, making him nod in reply. He was quiet for a few more minutes.

“Spring break soon, you going anywhere?” He asked, looking at me carefully.

“Yeah, I’m going to the Cayman Islands with some friends; we’ll be there for our entire vacation.” I said, looking back him.

“Cool…don’t burn, would hate to have a lobster as a sister.” He teased, making me reach over and smack him. Of course I wouldn’t tell him about going to Pittsburgh.

“Jerk, go get ready for your game.” I said, shoving him a little and making him laugh again.

As soon as he was out of the room, my phone chimed with a new text from Kylee. She was coming home in two days and things were going well. Jon left his phone on the kitchen counter but there was no text for him. It was really weird. I sent her a quick reply, telling her that Jon missed her and that he would probably really like to hear from her. I didn’t hear anything after that but I shrugged it off and went to go get dressed for the game. By the time I finished getting dressed, Jon was waiting by the door. We headed down to the car and headed to the game. We headed down the hall of the United Center, him heading to the locker room and then a member of the coaching staff grabbed me.

“Hey, Kathryn, do you have a minute?” He asked, not really waiting for an answer before pulling me into a board room where Coach Q was waiting, along with a few other people from the front offices.

“Oh god, what did Jon do?” I said jokingly, making them all chuckle lightly. One of the women from their Charity division spoke up first.

“As you know, we do a charity red versus white game every summer. It raises money for local charities and it also gives the team a chance to get some ice time during their summers.” She explained. I nodded along with what she was saying, then Coach Q spoke up.

“Only thing is, Hjalmarsson won’t be able to make the summer game. He, his wife and their daughter are going back to Sweden for the summer and he won’t be back in time for the game.” Coach Q explained, now allowing another member of the coaching staff to speak.

“Which is why….we wanted to ask if you would like to join the team for the red versus white game.” He asked, looking at me with a smile.

“Whoa….what?” I asked, slightly stunned at this. Did they all lose their minds?

“We saw you skating at the Olympics, I mean, you used to play for Montreal. We thought it would be fun to have both Toews siblings out there. It would also help sell tickets. You absolutely don’t have to do it but we would love for you to consider it.” The Charity division rep said, smiling at me.

“Wow….uh, yeah, I’ll definitely think about it and get back to you soon.” I said, getting a few more details about the game before I was allowed to head to my seat. I sat down and twisted my hands together, my mind racing. Should I?