Chapter 119 The Last Secret
The championship after-party was in full swing by the time Lenora and the hockey boy arrived.
Music pulsed through the lake house his teammate’s parents had loaned for the night. Students spilled onto the deck overlooking the water, laughing and taking photos with the trophy.
The second they walked in hand in hand, a cheer went up.
“There they are!”
Lilibeth appeared from nowhere and shoved two sparkling drinks into their hands.
“To the champions,” she declared, “and to the hottest couple this school has ever produced.”
Kylen followed with a plate of fries.
“I’m only here because she threatened to leave me in the parking lot.”
Pamela lifted her glass from the sofa.
“To surviving family drama.”
Everyone clinked glasses.
Lenora laughed, her championship medal still hanging around her neck.
The hockey boy kept one arm around her waist as if he had no intention of letting her out of reach.
And honestly, she didn’t mind.
Not even a little.
An hour later, they escaped to the back deck.
The music became a distant hum.
The lake reflected the moonlight in silver ripples.
Lenora leaned against the railing.
“I still can’t believe tonight happened.”
He stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.
“We won.”
She smiled.
“You won.”
He kissed the side of her neck.
“You said that already.”
She turned in his arms to face him.
“And I meant it.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek.
“I meant what I said too.”
Her heart fluttered.
“I love you.”
His smile softened.
“I know.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully.
“That’s not what you said earlier.”
He laughed and kissed her.
Slow. Deep. Familiar now.
When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you, Lenora.”
The words still made her dizzy.
Before she could answer, the deck door slid open.
Pamela stepped outside.
She looked unusually hesitant.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “But your grandmother is here.”
Lenora blinked.
“At the party?”
Pamela nodded.
“She says she needs to see you.”
The hockey boy frowned.
“At midnight?”
Pamela gave a small shrug.
“She insisted.”
Lenora found her grandmother standing at the end of the dock.
The older woman was wrapped in a cream coat, her silver hair catching the moonlight.
For once, she looked less like a woman who controlled everything and more like someone carrying a burden she was tired of holding.
Lenora approached slowly.
“You came to a high school party.”
Her grandmother smiled faintly.
“I’m full of surprises.”
The hockey boy stayed a few steps behind, close enough to step in if needed.
Lenora folded her arms.
“What’s so important?”
Her grandmother turned to face her.
“There is one final truth you deserve to know.”
Lenora felt her stomach tighten.
“Please tell me no one else is secretly related to anyone.”
That earned a soft laugh.
“No.”
The older woman’s expression sobered.
“The reason I hated the relationship between your mother and his father wasn’t only because of the affair.”
Lenora waited.
Her grandmother looked toward the water.
“Years before your mother was born, his family destroyed ours.”
The hockey boy straightened.
“What do you mean?”
She met his gaze.
“My husband trusted your grandfather in a business venture. He was ruined.”
Lenora frowned.
“My grandfather?”
She nodded.
“The scandal cost us nearly everything. My husband never recovered.”
The hockey boy’s expression shifted.
“My grandfather did that?”
“Yes.”
Her grandmother’s voice remained calm, but there was old hurt underneath it.
“When your mother fell in love with his father, all I saw was history repeating itself.”
Lenora stared at her.
“So this goes back even further than we thought.”
“Much further.”
The older woman stepped closer.
“I am not telling you this so you’ll carry my bitterness.”
Her eyes moved from Lenora to the hockey boy.
“I am telling you because I refuse to let old wounds become your inheritance.”
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Then Lenora asked quietly, “Can you let it go?”
Her grandmother looked at the boy standing behind Lenora.
At the way his hand found hers.
At the way neither of them let go.
A small smile touched her lips.
“I think I already have.”
The words hit Lenora harder than she expected.
She stepped forward and hugged her grandmother.
After a brief hesitation, the older woman hugged her back.
When they pulled apart, her grandmother reached into her purse and removed a small velvet box.
Lenora blinked.
“Why does everyone suddenly have boxes?”
The older woman chuckled and placed it in her hands.
Inside was a delicate gold bracelet with a tiny engraved charm.
“What is it?”
“It belonged to my mother,” her grandmother said. “She gave it to me when I was your age.”
Lenora traced the engraving.
A single word.
Fearless.
Her throat tightened.
Her grandmother fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
“You are stronger than any of us were.”
Lenora’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you.”
The older woman kissed her forehead.
Then she turned to the hockey boy.
“Take care of her.”
He met her gaze.
“With my life.”
Her grandmother nodded once.
“I believe you.”
After she left, Lenora stood on the dock in silence.
The hockey boy slipped his fingers through hers.
“You okay?”
She looked down at the bracelet, then up at him.
“I think my family might finally be done with secrets.”
He smiled.
“Mine too.”
She leaned against him.
“Good.”
He brushed a kiss across her temple.
“So what happens now?”
Lenora thought about the past few months.
The rumors.
The lies.
The investigation.
The fear.
And all the ways he had stayed.
She smiled.
“Now we get to be normal.”
He laughed softly.
“With us? Good luck.”
She grinned.
“Fair point.”
Music drifted from the house behind them.
Lilibeth’s unmistakable voice carried over the water.
“If you two are being romantic again, at least pretend you need us!”
Lenora laughed.
The hockey boy groaned.
“She has excellent timing.”
“She really does.”
He turned her to face him.
Moonlight reflected in his eyes.
“I meant what I said earlier.”
Lenora’s breath caught.
“I know.”
He reached into his jacket pocket.
Lenora burst out laughing.
“Another box?”
He grinned.
“Told you it wasn’t a proposal.”
Inside was a silver keychain shaped like a tiny hockey puck.
One side was engraved with his jersey number.
The other with a single word.
Mine.
Lenora looked up.
He suddenly looked nervous.
“I know it’s cheesy.”
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
When she pulled back, she smiled.
“I love cheesy.”
Relief and happiness flashed across his face.
He hooked the keychain onto her house keys.
“So you can’t forget me.”
Lenora touched the engraving.
“As if that’s possible.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You’re stuck with me.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
They kissed again under the moonlight, with the sounds of their friends and the celebration surrounding them.
Just the two of them.
And a future that finally felt wide open.