Chapter 32 - Mi Casa Es Su Casa
“So, what are your next steps, hon?”
Curled up on the opposite leather chair than Emma was, Trent watched her close, still searching for the signs of another breakdown, the storm resettling in after another period of calm. But she surprised him, voice the same eerie temperament it had been not too long after her arrival in his humble little apartment. “I need to move out of there. And it’s not fair of me to just expect you’ll let me move in here.”
“Yes it is,” Trent interrupted, ignoring her glare and quirking a bit of a smile at her instead. “It is entirely fair to assume that, because my home is yours. But…” And he paused to glance around a bit, giving Emma another chance to jump in.
“Precisely. There’s not a lot of room for both of us here. I can bring clothes, my work stuff, and maybe if you’re willing, my Grandpa’s chair. But the rest should go into storage.” Sighing heavily, she continued after a moment, “I’m going to have to call Keegan, see if he can’t borrow money from my parents without them realizing it, and fund me.”
“Us.” Trent interrupted once more, this time meeting her stare with a grin. “What, did you think I’m going to let you mope on your own? And the team will cover my rent up to a certain point even if I don’t live here.”
Emma shook her head but Trent was pleased to see a small smile curling over her lips. “Okay. Maybe us. If that’s the case, room for not just us, but all our stuff, including your garden. And knowing Keegan, his part of the agreement will be that he gets a dedicated room.”
Trent shrugged, but kept the grin on his face. “I see no problems with any of these arrangements thus far. So, if you’re determined to move out of there, let’s start there since you’ve said he’ll be gone for a few days. We’re either going to need to get some of the remaining guys here to help us...”
Groaning, Emma filled in the rest of his thought. “Or I need to call Gabi and Devin, let them know that their brother/brother-in-law is a flaming doucherocket, and that I need help moving away from him, and in with you. That ought to go over like a lead balloon.” Making a face like she’d inhaled a pile of tart cakes, she let out a resigned sigh. “Guess the boys get to find out first that all is not well ‘tween me and the goalie who, if I’m lucky, will decide to move on and sign elsewhere for next season.”
I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one, sweetheart, Trent thought to himself, but was wise not to voice. “Let me call around, see who still is here, and who can help move stuff. Can you rent a U-Haul or something for whatever we’re not going to be able to fit here? I’m willing to split the cost of a rental unit with you until your brother can work his magic.”
Emma gave him another look like she was prepared to argue, but perhaps the weight of the day made it so that she was running out of fight and she just nodded at him, telling him, “I’ll handle moving and storage, if you guys can get my Grandpa’s chair over here, then that’ll be my big thing.”
Standing up to wrap Emma in another hug, sensing she was beginning to fray again, Trent lowered his face into her hair, telling her soft, “We’ll get you through this sweetie. Can’t turn back time, but we can move forward, okay?”
She only nodded her head and pressed her face further into his shirt.
~*~
It hurt.
If Emma could admit anything to herself as she watched a half-dozen hockey players loading up a U-Haul she’d managed to scrounge up on short notice, it was that the whole experience hurt. She’d moved the letter Ryan wrote into his bedroom, and deposited it on his computer desk before closing the door on him and that room.
Her table, desk, and a good chunk of her ‘winter’ clothes were loaded into the U-Haul, leaving summer clothes and suits to be moved into Trent’s, to share closet space with his jeans and t-shirts. Trent, and one of the defensemen, Gabe Gordon, handled moving her grandfather’s chair, and it almost brought Emma to tears watching the care they showed the rough and tumble object. Before long, her TV and couch had joined the other meager objects in the U-Haul, and Emma joined the gathered hockey players. “Thank you guys. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help with this.”
Gabe almost immediately spoke up, telling her, “We’re happy to help, and glad to know you’ll be somewhere safe. But if he gives you any trouble when the Captain isn’t around.” And one by one, pieces of paper with cell phone numbers slid her way, leaving Emma to bite hard on her lip to keep the tears at bay.
Without even seeing him move, Emma felt Trent edge closer, and wrap an arm around her shoulders, leaning down to whisper in her hair, “It’s okay hon. Let it out if you need to. No one here is going to judge you for it.” But still, she resisted, and instead just leaned a bit closer to Trent, failing to notice Gabe’s eyebrows roof for a moment before settling back into their normal positions. “Gordon, you up for ridin’ with me, helpin’ us unload when we get there?”
“Yeah sure. I’ll ride with you, Ms. Emma here can follow behind in her car, and we can all carpool back when we’re done.” Gabe replied, eyes a bit curious but locked on Trent’s the entire while.
Trent resisted the urge to groan but did nod his head as he gave Emma another squeeze before letting her go so they could finish up Operation: Move Out.
~*~
“You’re movin’ in where Goals left off mighty quick.”
Trent had expected the comment as soon as he and Gordon were alone, but it didn’t prevent him from shaking his head and letting out a sigh. “It’s not like that, Gabe, I swear to you on my little niece’s head. It coulda been like that at one point, but that was before the season. Before the Goalie. We’ve stayed at least friends the entire time so fortunately there’s someone left around to pick her up, dust her off, and right her back onto her feet again.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Trent noticed the defenseman giving him a small smirk. “So, then I don’t hafta threaten you to an inch of your life if you break her heart is what you’re telling me?”
Flipping the other man off, Trent shook his head to the negative. “Naw, right now, my main priority is to be her friend. To help get my friend through her broken heart, and if maybe, maybe, some months down the line she feels it’s appropriate to give me another chance? Well, I won’t object to that.”
“So, you did a number on her before the goalie was ever in the picture too, got it.”
“No,” And Trent’s voice got softer, a trace sadder as he spoke, “I just didn’t know how to react to her interest until she’d grown tired of waiting for me to figure it out. Few weeks after that, Goals got hurt, had to move into her place, and the rest was history.”
Again, Trent could feel Gabe giving him a curious eye as he questioned, “What, you of all people, never been in a relationship or something? I figured you, like our former captain, would have had them lining up at the door for the chance.”
Trent snorted at him before turning the U-Haul into the storage lot, telling him in a simple voice, “That’s not me.” But after another moment he added, “But between you, me, and these closed doors, no. Never had a significant other before. And if that gets out.” Stopping the vehicle, Trent turned to give him a full dark-eyed glower.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m not that stupid, trust me. Just never woulda guessed it for you.”
Shaking his head as they climbed from the vehicle to prepare to empty it, Trent couldn’t help but wonder if Gabe’s thoughts there were a good thing or a bad.