Sequel: Weapons of War ›
Seven Year Ache
JANUARY
January 2014
As he finished up with the post-game media stuff, got his equipment ready, showered and dressed Shea had gotten even more fidgety than he had been all day. He woke up in Vancouver feeling like his stomach would start doing flip flops but he had been able to put those feelings away when he was busy with practice and the game that finished not so long ago. Now he was feeling nervous again. He had nearly dropped his phone and wallet trying to stuff them into the pocket of his dress pants, practically jumping out of his skin when his hand brushed up against the ring box in the pocket of his suit jacket. Everyone in the locker room had noticed his weird behavior, but no one said anything to him.
He was pulling his suit jacket on and getting ready to head out to where Dave would be waiting for him when Pekka stopped him. Curiously the goal tender asked him, “You look like you could use a drink, you wanna grab a bite with some of us?”
“Sorry, I’m meeting Riley’s dad.” Shea told him, buttoning the single button of his suit jacket. Starting to head out of the locker room, a few of the guys following him upon hearing what he had said.
“Dave’s here?” Pekka asked, he was leading a pack of a few of the guys who decided to follow Shea out to see Riley’s dad, who seemed to be pretty popular with the guys in the locker room.
Pekka spotted Dave first, and the goal tender was quick to get ahead of the pack to say hello. The handful of times he had met Riley’s father were enough to make a lasting impression on both sides. Shea watched them interact for a few minutes before Dave turned to him, offered a hand to shake and told him, “Good game.”
“Yeah… I’d apologize for beating your team but…” Shea joked with him. He took a moment to look at Dave, who he noted looked older but not drastically. His hair was more grey than it was brown now and he looked more tired than usual but he was the same Dave he had always been.
Dave shrugged and joked back, “Next time.”
Shea let out a laugh, not surprised by that, and asked curiously, “I’m never gonna get you to ditch blue for gold huh?”
“Nope.” Dave affirmed with a shake of his head. He glanced at his watch before he asked Shea, “You good to go?”
Shea nodded and bid his teammates goodbye, before he followed Dave out to the parking lot to find them a cab. They took a cab back to his hotel, a silent ten minute drive and once they were in the elevator heading up to his hotel room Dave asked, “So wht did you want to talk about?”
“What?” Shea asked in surprise and confusion.
“I may be old but I’m not stupid.” Dave stated, and he waited until they were in his hotel room before he told Shea, “You didn’t just fly me out to Vancouver to watch you play Shea. Like I said; old but not stupid.”
Shea let out a small chuckle and nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed he stuck his hand into the pocket of his suit jacket, his fingers wrapping around the box that had been carefully placed in there before leaving his own hotel that afternoon. He cleared his throat and told Dave, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Riley isn’t pregnant is she?” Dave asked, and Shea turned to him with wide, deer in headlights eyes, which made Dave chuckle. He told him, “I was just checking, because her sending you to tell me would have been a pretty shitty way to do it.”
“Yeah… no she’s not pregnant.” Shea confirmed.
Dave nodded slowly and asked him, already knowing, “But it is about Riley, yeah?”
Shea nodded and said, “I wanted to ask you something.”
“The answer is yes.” Dave stated, not even letting Shea ask the question. Shea looked over at him in surprise, caught off guard by him answering what Shea hadn’t even asked. Dave laughed at his reaction and told him, “I figured from the minute you asked me to come here that you were gonna ask that.”
“You did?” Shea asked him curiously.
“Honestly I thought you were gonna ask when she graduated high school.” Dave told him, shooting him a look when he chuckled and then told Shea, “The answer then would have been absolutely not.”
“Yeah, I figured. That was why I never asked.” Shea told him, before adding honestly, “But I wanted to.”
“And that’s why I’m saying yes now.” Dave told him, and when Shea raised his eyebrow he started an explanation with a question, “The first time I met you, when I asked why you wanted to be with my daughter do you remember what you told me?”
“I honestly can’t say I do.” Shea admitted.
“You told me everything I could have possibly wanted to hear from the older boy who was dating my only kid.” Dave told him, and Shea nodded slowly even though he still couldn’t for the life of him remember what he had said. That was ten years ago, it honestly seemed like a lifetime ago. Dave interrupted his thought process and told him, “I always knew you were it for her, so there’s only one question I have to ask before I can give you an official answer.”
“And that is?” Shea asked, not sure if he should be afraid to hear the question or not. He had no idea what it might be.
“Riley may have never asked this, but I’m asking. If you had to choose-”
Shea was quick to interrupt Dave by telling him, “Riley, no question. My choice would be Riley every time.”
Dave smiled and told him, “Then you absolutely have my blessing to marry my daughter.”
Pulling the ring box out of his pocket Shea held it out and asked, “Do you wanna see the ring?”
Dave took the box out of Shea’s hand and opened the top, looking down at the simple, round diamond on a plain silver band. Dave smiled at it, handed Shea the ring back and told him, “You did good.”
- - -
1 month later
Riley followed Shea out to the car from the restaurant, he had been quiet all night, almost nervous and she couldn’t figure out why. She watched him walk slightly in front of her, his long legs moving much faster than her own much shorter ones. He was shoving his hands in and out of the pocket of his suit jacket, and bouncing from one foot to the other while he walked. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him this antsy, maybe before the selection of the 2010 Olympics.
He turned his head over his shoulder and spotted her a few steps behind him so he slowed to a near stop, letting her catch up with him. He was silent as they got into the vehicle, even silent for half of the drive home before Riley asked, “Was your food good?”
Shea turned to look at her for a moment before bringing his eyes back to the road and replied, “Yeah it was good. Yours?”
She nodded slowly but didn’t respond with anything directed by food, no instead she asked him, “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” Shea asked, feigning confusion as he navigated through traffic.
She turned slightly in her seat to face him better and told him, “You’ve been weird all night. Quiet, and fidgety.”
“I haven’t.” He stated.
“You have.” She told him with a pointed look that told him not to argue with her.
He sighed and shrugged, telling her, “Just tired. Seasons been kind of shitty you know?”
“I know.” She said softly, not wanting to upset him.
He didn’t say anything else for the remainder of the drive home, so Riley didn’t push it and she also stayed silent. He didn’t even say anything to her as he pulled into the driveway and put the car in park, he was silent as he got out of the car and wandered into the house. Riley followed behind him, she watched him pull his suit jacket off and drape it over the back of one of the chairs in the kitchen before he filled a glass with orange juice and downed it. He put the glass in the sink and told her, “I’m gonna head to bed, early morning.”
Riley nodded and watched him head up the stairs. Once she heard the bedroom door close she sighed, took her shoes off and left them by the patio door, making a mental reminder to pick them up later. She picked up his glass from the sink and put it in the dishwasher, gave Dug a dog bone and a good pet before she slipped outside.
She spent fifteen minutes picking up beer bottles from on the deck from the team get together the night before, and she brought Dug outside and tossed a ball with him for almost half an hour. Neither of them had gotten around to taking him for a walk that day, so she figured this little bit of exercise was good for him. Finally when Dug was tired out or bored of the game of fetch he wandered over to the door and Riley followed him, letting him inside.
She locked up the house, and grabbed Shea’s suit jacket from the chair it was on, swinging it over her arm to bring it upstairs when she heard something clink against the floor. She bent down and picked up a box, obviously jewelry, and out of pure curiosity she opened it, finding a ring inside it. Not just any ring though, a near replica of a single stone ring Kelly had once pointed out to her online that Riley had said she liked. She wondered if Kelly asked for a reason, now that she knew what Shea had been planning. She glanced up at the stairs, before back down at the ring in surprise. So that was what he was acting so weird about all night, he had that ring in his pocket. That’s what he kept reaching in and grabbing.
Riley wondered if that was what tonight was for, the dinner plans he had made sure she knew about a week in advance. If he had been planning to propose tonight, and then she wondered why he didn’t. Was he too afraid, did he chicken out? Or was it more than that? She thought there was no way it would have been more than that. He probably just got afraid that she would say no, which in her opinion was crazy because she would never have said no to him had he asked. There wasn’t a single, tiny part of her that would have said no.
Still, instead of letting him know she knew Riley tucked the ring box back into his suit jacket and hung it back over the back of the chair as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just found the ring. She would pretend it had never happened, and then when he finally did propose she would act like she never knew.
She climbed the stairs slowly and walked into the bedroom, finding Shea already in bed so she crept quietly into the bathroom and changed into her pyjamas. She splashed her face with water and then shut the light off before she opened the door and went back into the bedroom, getting into her side of the bed as carefully as she could so not to wake him. She watched him, laying on his side facing the windows across from them, his body rising and falling with each shallow breath of air he took.
As she laid beside him all she could think about was that ring in the pocket of his suit jacket downstairs.
As he finished up with the post-game media stuff, got his equipment ready, showered and dressed Shea had gotten even more fidgety than he had been all day. He woke up in Vancouver feeling like his stomach would start doing flip flops but he had been able to put those feelings away when he was busy with practice and the game that finished not so long ago. Now he was feeling nervous again. He had nearly dropped his phone and wallet trying to stuff them into the pocket of his dress pants, practically jumping out of his skin when his hand brushed up against the ring box in the pocket of his suit jacket. Everyone in the locker room had noticed his weird behavior, but no one said anything to him.
He was pulling his suit jacket on and getting ready to head out to where Dave would be waiting for him when Pekka stopped him. Curiously the goal tender asked him, “You look like you could use a drink, you wanna grab a bite with some of us?”
“Sorry, I’m meeting Riley’s dad.” Shea told him, buttoning the single button of his suit jacket. Starting to head out of the locker room, a few of the guys following him upon hearing what he had said.
“Dave’s here?” Pekka asked, he was leading a pack of a few of the guys who decided to follow Shea out to see Riley’s dad, who seemed to be pretty popular with the guys in the locker room.
Pekka spotted Dave first, and the goal tender was quick to get ahead of the pack to say hello. The handful of times he had met Riley’s father were enough to make a lasting impression on both sides. Shea watched them interact for a few minutes before Dave turned to him, offered a hand to shake and told him, “Good game.”
“Yeah… I’d apologize for beating your team but…” Shea joked with him. He took a moment to look at Dave, who he noted looked older but not drastically. His hair was more grey than it was brown now and he looked more tired than usual but he was the same Dave he had always been.
Dave shrugged and joked back, “Next time.”
Shea let out a laugh, not surprised by that, and asked curiously, “I’m never gonna get you to ditch blue for gold huh?”
“Nope.” Dave affirmed with a shake of his head. He glanced at his watch before he asked Shea, “You good to go?”
Shea nodded and bid his teammates goodbye, before he followed Dave out to the parking lot to find them a cab. They took a cab back to his hotel, a silent ten minute drive and once they were in the elevator heading up to his hotel room Dave asked, “So wht did you want to talk about?”
“What?” Shea asked in surprise and confusion.
“I may be old but I’m not stupid.” Dave stated, and he waited until they were in his hotel room before he told Shea, “You didn’t just fly me out to Vancouver to watch you play Shea. Like I said; old but not stupid.”
Shea let out a small chuckle and nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed he stuck his hand into the pocket of his suit jacket, his fingers wrapping around the box that had been carefully placed in there before leaving his own hotel that afternoon. He cleared his throat and told Dave, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Riley isn’t pregnant is she?” Dave asked, and Shea turned to him with wide, deer in headlights eyes, which made Dave chuckle. He told him, “I was just checking, because her sending you to tell me would have been a pretty shitty way to do it.”
“Yeah… no she’s not pregnant.” Shea confirmed.
Dave nodded slowly and asked him, already knowing, “But it is about Riley, yeah?”
Shea nodded and said, “I wanted to ask you something.”
“The answer is yes.” Dave stated, not even letting Shea ask the question. Shea looked over at him in surprise, caught off guard by him answering what Shea hadn’t even asked. Dave laughed at his reaction and told him, “I figured from the minute you asked me to come here that you were gonna ask that.”
“You did?” Shea asked him curiously.
“Honestly I thought you were gonna ask when she graduated high school.” Dave told him, shooting him a look when he chuckled and then told Shea, “The answer then would have been absolutely not.”
“Yeah, I figured. That was why I never asked.” Shea told him, before adding honestly, “But I wanted to.”
“And that’s why I’m saying yes now.” Dave told him, and when Shea raised his eyebrow he started an explanation with a question, “The first time I met you, when I asked why you wanted to be with my daughter do you remember what you told me?”
“I honestly can’t say I do.” Shea admitted.
“You told me everything I could have possibly wanted to hear from the older boy who was dating my only kid.” Dave told him, and Shea nodded slowly even though he still couldn’t for the life of him remember what he had said. That was ten years ago, it honestly seemed like a lifetime ago. Dave interrupted his thought process and told him, “I always knew you were it for her, so there’s only one question I have to ask before I can give you an official answer.”
“And that is?” Shea asked, not sure if he should be afraid to hear the question or not. He had no idea what it might be.
“Riley may have never asked this, but I’m asking. If you had to choose-”
Shea was quick to interrupt Dave by telling him, “Riley, no question. My choice would be Riley every time.”
Dave smiled and told him, “Then you absolutely have my blessing to marry my daughter.”
Pulling the ring box out of his pocket Shea held it out and asked, “Do you wanna see the ring?”
Dave took the box out of Shea’s hand and opened the top, looking down at the simple, round diamond on a plain silver band. Dave smiled at it, handed Shea the ring back and told him, “You did good.”
- - -
1 month later
Riley followed Shea out to the car from the restaurant, he had been quiet all night, almost nervous and she couldn’t figure out why. She watched him walk slightly in front of her, his long legs moving much faster than her own much shorter ones. He was shoving his hands in and out of the pocket of his suit jacket, and bouncing from one foot to the other while he walked. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen him this antsy, maybe before the selection of the 2010 Olympics.
He turned his head over his shoulder and spotted her a few steps behind him so he slowed to a near stop, letting her catch up with him. He was silent as they got into the vehicle, even silent for half of the drive home before Riley asked, “Was your food good?”
Shea turned to look at her for a moment before bringing his eyes back to the road and replied, “Yeah it was good. Yours?”
She nodded slowly but didn’t respond with anything directed by food, no instead she asked him, “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?” Shea asked, feigning confusion as he navigated through traffic.
She turned slightly in her seat to face him better and told him, “You’ve been weird all night. Quiet, and fidgety.”
“I haven’t.” He stated.
“You have.” She told him with a pointed look that told him not to argue with her.
He sighed and shrugged, telling her, “Just tired. Seasons been kind of shitty you know?”
“I know.” She said softly, not wanting to upset him.
He didn’t say anything else for the remainder of the drive home, so Riley didn’t push it and she also stayed silent. He didn’t even say anything to her as he pulled into the driveway and put the car in park, he was silent as he got out of the car and wandered into the house. Riley followed behind him, she watched him pull his suit jacket off and drape it over the back of one of the chairs in the kitchen before he filled a glass with orange juice and downed it. He put the glass in the sink and told her, “I’m gonna head to bed, early morning.”
Riley nodded and watched him head up the stairs. Once she heard the bedroom door close she sighed, took her shoes off and left them by the patio door, making a mental reminder to pick them up later. She picked up his glass from the sink and put it in the dishwasher, gave Dug a dog bone and a good pet before she slipped outside.
She spent fifteen minutes picking up beer bottles from on the deck from the team get together the night before, and she brought Dug outside and tossed a ball with him for almost half an hour. Neither of them had gotten around to taking him for a walk that day, so she figured this little bit of exercise was good for him. Finally when Dug was tired out or bored of the game of fetch he wandered over to the door and Riley followed him, letting him inside.
She locked up the house, and grabbed Shea’s suit jacket from the chair it was on, swinging it over her arm to bring it upstairs when she heard something clink against the floor. She bent down and picked up a box, obviously jewelry, and out of pure curiosity she opened it, finding a ring inside it. Not just any ring though, a near replica of a single stone ring Kelly had once pointed out to her online that Riley had said she liked. She wondered if Kelly asked for a reason, now that she knew what Shea had been planning. She glanced up at the stairs, before back down at the ring in surprise. So that was what he was acting so weird about all night, he had that ring in his pocket. That’s what he kept reaching in and grabbing.
Riley wondered if that was what tonight was for, the dinner plans he had made sure she knew about a week in advance. If he had been planning to propose tonight, and then she wondered why he didn’t. Was he too afraid, did he chicken out? Or was it more than that? She thought there was no way it would have been more than that. He probably just got afraid that she would say no, which in her opinion was crazy because she would never have said no to him had he asked. There wasn’t a single, tiny part of her that would have said no.
Still, instead of letting him know she knew Riley tucked the ring box back into his suit jacket and hung it back over the back of the chair as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just found the ring. She would pretend it had never happened, and then when he finally did propose she would act like she never knew.
She climbed the stairs slowly and walked into the bedroom, finding Shea already in bed so she crept quietly into the bathroom and changed into her pyjamas. She splashed her face with water and then shut the light off before she opened the door and went back into the bedroom, getting into her side of the bed as carefully as she could so not to wake him. She watched him, laying on his side facing the windows across from them, his body rising and falling with each shallow breath of air he took.
As she laid beside him all she could think about was that ring in the pocket of his suit jacket downstairs.
♠ ♠ ♠
Final flashback chapter!Few more present time chapters left before this comes to an end, and lets see if we can get this to 100 comments before then!