Hat Trick by Diana Foster

Author:Diana Foster [Foster, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-03T18:30:00+00:00

Fourteen

Winter break is a brief but welcome respite. The team would be returning a week earlier than the rest of campus to continue their season. Tyler spent his morning on the train reliving the late hours of the night before. He had returned inside before the party had reached its peak, grabbed his gift from Wetzy, and walked all the way back to his dorm. It was a snow-filled journey but the numbness in his hands had kept him grounded to the earth. As he stared out of the train windows, his hands curled into the jersey he had folded on his lap like a lifeline, knuckles turning white.

His mom had hugged him tightly at the station at the very first look she took in of his face and posture. He had felt relief in those moments. But now, as he sits on the couch beside his mom, he can feel her waiting for an explanation. Never pressuring him to speak, just taking small glances away from the television over her mug of hot chocolate. Tyler's had gone cold in the embrace of his palms.

"Mom?" He finally speaks and watches as he looks over at him, feigning confusion like she wasn't waiting for him to explain why her son had come home looking like a ghost.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" She says softly, setting her mug on the coffee table. Tyler takes a second to take her in. She has wrinkles by her eyes that hadn't been there before this Summer, she's curled with her legs tucked under her, and wrapped in a fuzzy Penguins blanket. Tyler doesn't even know what to say.

"Before dad, did you ever fall for someone you couldn't have?" He doesn't dare look up from his lap. He hears his mom make a thoughtful sighing sound.

"Of course, honey. I fell in love openly and often." She sounds wistful. "I saw no reason to shield my heart--as soft as it was-- from pain. There are too many beautiful people in the world to do that."

Her words surprise him, and he lifts his eyes to meet his mom's sad ones. She reaches out and takes his hands in his, leaning forward to emphasize her words.

"Love hurts, sweetheart. Not every love you have ever truly begins. Even the love that feels like forever ends sometimes." Her eyes fog over. "Your dad was the love of my life and I'd live with this pain in every following lifetime if it means I get to experience his love again."

Tyler feels his own eyes cloud over at her words. The sheer sincerity behind them. It's not the same though. Tyler can see the curl of long fingers against red velvet in the back of his mind once again.

"It's different with me, mom." His voice doesn't sound pained, just tired. He feels her grip tighten on his hands.

"You listen to me, Ty." She has such a motherly strength to her tone that he can't help but look into her eyes.

"Any love worth having is worth the pain that comes before it.

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