No arms had ever felt stronger. No body had ever sheltered her so well. No heart had ever called to her so clearly.
A few minutes later, they walked hand-in-hand back to the cemetery entrance.
“Would you sit with me for a moment in my warm car with its heated seats?”
“I’d love that.”
He opened the passenger door for her and the back door for Bucky. When he got in on the driver’s side and closed the door, he pulled something from his pocket.
“As well as stopping by to see Bucky and get stuff for my trip, I also planned to leave a gift for you.” He placed a wrapped box on the dash.
“Reid, really?”
“Yes, Kennedy, really.”
With shaking hands, she took it and removed the wrapping. It looked like a jewelry box and she opened it with a held breath. It was a key. It also looked familiar.
“What’s this to?”
“The apartment. I know you have one already but this is a spare, one you can keep in a special place in case you lose the other one. I want you to have a key so you know you’ll always have a home to return to. With me and Bucky.”
He reached in back and petted his dog. “I can’t clip your wings, Kennedy, and I’d never expect you to stick around for me—”
She sniffed. “Why not?”
“Because I’m not the kind of guy who inspires devotion. I’m not a fan favorite or a flashy star. I’m a worker, a grinder, and when my career is over, I’ll be remembered as a journeyman who scrapped his way out of the AHL and cobbled a career together with spit and sneers and time in the gym and miles on his skates. People respect that guy but no one loves him.”
He was so, so wrong, and she hated Henri Durand for ever making him doubt his lovability.
“You listen to me, Reid Fucking Durand. That guy is the backbone of the team. The center who directs traffic and controls the ice and makes the game hum. That guy might be a grinder but that doesn’t mean he’s unpopular or unlovable. Bucky loves that guy and so do I.”
Reid’s swallow was audible in the close confines of the car. “You mean, like a friend or something?”
“Bucky, do you love Reid like a friend?”
Their good doggo—and he was as much hers as Reid’s—gave a quick bark and raised his head for a rub. Which he got, of course.
“Bucky adores you, no friend zone for him. These last few weeks, I’ve seen you change and open your heart to this little guy who needed you so badly. There is nothing but slavish devotion from that quarter.”
“I needed him, too.” He reached for her and cupped her cheek. “He wasn’t the only one I needed. The only one I need. Present tense, future, now and always. If we’re talking slavish devotion, I have a serious case of that for my roomie.”
“Reid,” she whispered, as the tears fell freely.
“I love you, Kennedy. I love you so fucking much. And though my natural inclination is to be a total dick and demand that you stay with me and Bucky, I won’t do that. That’s how much I love you. But you have my key—to my apartment, to my heart, to my soul—and I hope that one day you’ll return and use it.”
This guy. She shouldn’t be nervous, not after a declaration as beautiful as that. But she was. Her heart thumped like a wild beast.
“And what if one day is … this day?”
He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. “Is that something you might consider?”
“While you were doing the work and becoming an awesome dog daddy, team player, and roommate, I was making some changes of my own. Or my heart was doing it for me.”
“Tricky things, hearts.”
“So tricky. I’ve been terrified of standing still because it would force me to think, force me to feel. I’ve been caught up in this pretense of free-spiritedness when really my spirit and my heart have been in a prison, one I made for them. But with you, I can be open. I feel free. I feel seen. You have my heart, Reid. It’s all yours. I’m all yours and I love you so much.”
“Ma couer,” he whispered as his mouth found hers and settled it once and for all. They belonged together, and Kennedy would be going nowhere without Reid and Bucky at her side.
But first she would be heading away from Silver Springs, where a little piece of her heart remained, toward the next adventure, one that required she stop moving for a while.
The lines of Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road” came back to her, more precious to her now that she finally understood.
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money;
I give you myself before preaching and law:
Will you give me yourself?
Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
She no longer needed to go around the world to travel the pathways of the heart. She just needed someone to stick with her through it all, as long as they lived.
She had found him at last, and he came with a cute dog. How lucky was she?
Gazing into the eyes of her camerado, she spoke the three little words she had yearned to say for so many years.
“Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Four months later …
The water rippled and licked the jagged rocks, looking much less treacherous than it had six months ago.
Reid peered down at his dog. “No swimming for you today, Bucky. Kennedy doesn’t want to get wet.” Before she could respond, he pulled her close and kissed her open mouth.
“Hey, you set up an awesome sex joke and then ripped it from under me! What kind of straight man are you?”
“One who would rather kiss his woman than—”
“Get her wet? My attempts at innuendo will not be denied!”
A few feet ahead of them, Bucky trotted along the mix of sand and grass, though his innate survivor skills kept him well back from the rocks fronting the water where he’d almost died that cold day in November.
“You think it’s a good idea to bring him back here?” She squeezed his hand.
“I do. It’s always best to face your fears. And this place is special for all of us.”
“Right, the sopping wet ice clothing is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.” A jest, but he knew from the softness in her eyes that she felt it, too. They had each started a new life on this beach.
The Chicago Rebels were headed to Dallas tomorrow to begin their trek to the Stanley Cup Finals. Reid’s play as center had been instrumental in getting them to this point, and a month ago the offer of a three-year contract had come through. He didn’t pretend any kind of coyness about it, just signed that baby on the dotted line as soon as his agent passed it to him in the Rebels HQ conference room.
It was official. He was a Chicago Rebel at last.
Bast was over the moon. They made an effort to meet once a week for dinner, cementing their bond and deepening their friendship. As for Henri, Reid was reframing the relationship on his terms with Bast’s and Kennedy’s help. His father didn’t enjoy being told no but hey, it was good for him to get some pushback. Good for them all.
Kennedy’s business was growing and she was already looking at taking on an assistant. Her first love was her dog clients, so finding someone to help with the other tasks made sense. The Rebels certainly sent plenty of work her way and Reid tried not to get annoyed at how they fawned over him just to get preferential treatment. It would be nice to be popular because he was a good teammate but it was what it was.