Chapter 32: Chapter Thirty-One

Two weeks after Sloan’s funeral, I was in the barn gym punching out my frustrations on a boxing bag when my phone started going crazy. It was pinging like mad and eventually I gave up and pulled the gloves off to silence my phone. It started ringing in my hand just as I was about to put it off without reading any of the messages.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Kage Hawthorne?” the man asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“This is Gordon McKnight,” he said.

“Gordon McKnight?” I asked him, my heart was beating a crescendo now.

I knew exactly who he was, but my mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend why he was calling me. I’d been so absorbed with my own sadness that I had shut everything else out of my life, hockey, college, even my brothers.

“You’ve been drafted by the New York Rangers,” he said and despite everything else going on in my life, I started to smile.

“Seriously?” I asked him.

“Seriously,” he said with a chuckle.

“I can’t believe this, thank you so much,” I said.

“We’ll speak again soon, congratulations, Ranger,” he said and ended the call.

My phone almost fell out of my hands as I looked at the darkening screen. Was this real? The New York Rangers drafted me? I couldn’t believe it, it felt so unreal. It was my one dream, to be drafted, especially by the Rangers. I loved them and now I was one of them, sort of.

“Alexander!” I yelled as I ran into the house, and they all came out of the living room.

“What happened?” he asked me as worry flashed in his eyes.

“I got drafted!” I shouted.

“What?” he shouted back.

“The New York Rangers drafted me!” I yelled.

“Holy shit!” they all yelled as they stormed me, and we laughed and cried as we stood together in the hallway celebrating my success.

It was an epic night. Alexander opened a bottle of champagne, and the first thought that went through my mind was to call Madison and tell her. The realization that I couldn’t put a slight damper on my current happiness, because I knew I wouldn’t call her.

“I guess you’re accepting NYU now,” Alexander said.

“I’m going to New York!” I said as we clinked our glasses against each other.

It was bittersweet celebrating so soon after Sloan, but I also knew that he would’ve been happy for me too. A new life awaited me, and I was as happy as one could be, given the circumstances. It was the first time in two weeks that any of us smiled.

Much later that night, I stood on the patio, and I dialed Joe’s number. I couldn’t stop the smile from appearing when the line clicked, and I heard his familiar, gruff voice.

“Hello.”

“It’s me. Did I wake you?”

Joe chuckled. “Wouldn’t matter if you did, kid.”

“I got drafted, Joe.” My voice cracked at the end, and I started crying again. “The Rangers drafted me.”

“You’re coming home, Kage. I’m so incredibly proud of you. You’ve really changed from that scared, cocky boy that tried to steal my money, into a young man of character, worth and infallible courage,” Joe said.

“Joe, I never said it, but you gave me a chance to live. You could’ve called the police that night and I don’t know what it was that you saw in me … but thank you for taking a chance on me,” I said, and I felt more tears well up in my eyes.

“It was your eyes, Kage. It was your eyes that drew me in. I wanted to see the light in your eyes again and I did, that’s thanks enough for me,” Joe said.

“I’ll probably see you in a few weeks. I’ll take you to that diner and you can order whatever you want,” I said, and he laughed loudly. He’d said the same thing to me on my sixteenth birthday, that I could order whatever I wanted.

“I’ll see you soon, kid. Take care of yourself and remember, never let your light dwindle and never allow anyone else to put your light out,” he said, and the call ended.

Joe wasn’t big on goodbyes, said it felt too final. I could relate to that. I was lucky to have met him, lucky to have had him in my life at a time when I needed guidance and a helping hand. Joe had saved me first and Alexander had kept me saved.

Three weeks later, we all traveled to New York with Alexander. I had found a place I liked, and Alexander had only crossed his arms and shook his head. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes,” I said with a grin as I looked around my Brooklyn townhouse.

After seeing the townhouse, he insisted on buying it. He did it for all of us, we each got an apartment as a graduation present, and we’d all helped the others move in.

“Property is the best investment, see it as your start in life, rent-free,” Alexander said.

My townhouse was on Lafayette Avenue, and it was spacious, maybe a little too big for just me, but I liked the space, and I converted the basement into a personal gym. One bedroom was a guest room, and I used the smaller room as a study.

We had all decided that I should move to New York earlier than planned. We were all in fact moving and Alexander was still undecided about what he’d do. The farm was our home though and for the time being we promised to go home as our schedules allowed.

My second day back in New York, I showed up at Joe’s gym and he put me through ten grueling rounds in the boxing ring. I’d missed it, and I’d missed him. That night we went back to our diner and Joe ordered the most expensive thing on the menu; we both did.

I wouldn’t have much time left with Joe. He waited two months to tell me he had pancreatic cancer and by the time he did, I only had a month left with him. I sat at his bedside until he blew out his last breath and it was a pain I would carry with me forever, like Sloan’s.