See You at the Finish Line (Run, Love, Repeat #1)

19. Adam

“Goddamn it!” Simon curses as he smashes his hand with a hammer for the third time in twenty minutes.

“Seriously?” Liam snorts, though his line of nails is crooked, so I don’t know what he’s laughing at. I should’ve hired someone to build the deck for me, but I thought it would be a good bonding experience with my siblings.

“You missed a spot,” Isabel says from where she lounges on a lawn chair. She’s monopolizing the small bit of shade with a pitcher of margaritas beside her, her hammer conveniently lost already.

“Care to help?” I ask. The sun beats down on my neck, but I know I shouldn’t complain. With autumn right around the corner, our sunny days will soon be gone.

“No thanks, I don’t want to be liable for anyone who falls and breaks their neck out here.”

My little sister, ever the lawyer.

“Have you talked to Dad recently?” Liam asks, stealing the glass from Isabel as she’s about to take a drink. She purses her lips but doesn’t object .

I was waiting for this question. I’m surprised it’s taken this long for one of them to bring it up. We’ve been working out here for what feels like six hours—it’s only been two—and this is the first time Dad has been mentioned.

“You know I haven’t,” I answer and then drown out whatever he was going to say, whatever guilt trip he had prepared, with a swing of my hammer.

The nail goes right into the wood. My hands ache from the labour, especially considering I’ve built half the thing by myself. But it feels good. I needed this outlet. Running reminded me too much of her .

I know what Liam wants to say. It’s nothing I haven’t heard before. Ever since I quit my physiotherapy job, my father has all but stopped speaking to me. It’s made holidays extra fun.

He’s not happy that I’m back in the NHL world. He thinks it’s a waste of my life to do something so selfish. At least as a physio I was helping people, but being on a coaching track for hockey is not a proper contribution to society.

Like helping other athletes fulfill their dreams and become the best players they can be isn’t rewarding. He has such a narrow view of the world, and I can never seem to fit into it.

My mom has been the one to support me through all my career changes. She drove me to my practices and signed me up for the training I needed when I was trying to make it to the NHL.

he supported me through physiotherapy school and then the process of getting my coaching certificates. She’s been a shoulder to rest my head on when life gets overwhelming. But she could never sway my dad’s opinion.

Liam and Simon followed in our mom’s footsteps and became doctors. Liam is an ophthalmologist while Simon is a psychologist. Isabel is a defence attorney, like our dad. At least he has three children he can be proud of. I wish that Liam could see it, but I don’t blame him for not being able to.

We were raised on a diet of work ethic and praise. He doesn’t know how to be anything but amenable to our parents.

Simon and Isabel are different. They understand and mostly stay out of it. Simon has tried to get us to go to mediation, but Dad wouldn’t hear of it. Isabel sits back and watches the drama unfold, much like she’s doing now.

“You know, Adam ...” Simon yells over the sound of my hammer pounding into the wood. I give up, setting it aside, and plop myself down in the shade beside Isabel. She wordlessly passes me a margarita and I chug it. Damn, that’s good.

“What do I know, Simon?” I ask reluctantly.

“If you thought about why the other jobs weren’t fulfilling, you’d be able to get to the root of the problem with Dad.”

“The root of the problem with Dad is that he thinks there’s only one way to be happy,” I retort.

Simon sighs in therapist. Yes, that’s a real thing.

“You can’t expect him to change.”

“Thank you, Dr. Ashford.”

I hand my glass back to Isabel and her eyebrows shoot up, meeting her blond hairline .

“Another one?”

I nod and she refills my glass. We’re all quiet for a while, watching the water ebb and flow in the bay. It’s not an uncomfortable silence. Like most siblings, it took a while for us to get along but, other than Mateo, I couldn’t imagine better friends to hang out with. Even grumpy old Liam. And yet, I can’t seem to sit still. My leg begins to bounce.

“Do you think Dad had any dreams he never got to chase?” I ask, breaking the silence.

“Doubt it. The guy’s a robot.” Liam snorts.

“Why do you ask?” Isabel turns her intense stare on me.

“I dunno. I was thinking maybe he’s so hard on me because he had to give up something for us.”

“It’s possible,” Simon chimes in.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to chase after more than one dream,” I say, almost to myself. I can’t even count on both hands how many dreams I’ve had.

“It’s not,” Isabel says quietly. “Do you have another dream, Adam?”

She knows me too well—she’s too perceptive. She hones in on my reddening cheeks.

Damn it.

“Adam ... what’s going on?” Simon looks over at me, therapist mode once again activated.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” Isabel has never been good at subtlety .

Liam saunters over to join us. “Oh no, is Isabel’s bullshit detector going off?”

I sigh. This is why I wanted to have them over, I need to talk about it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

“Paige is in town.”

Dead silence is the response. I swear there’s even a lull in the ocean.

“Paige?! Like Ultra Paige ?!” Isabel shrieks, grabbing my arm.

“Did she show up at your door?” Liam asks, immediately skeptical like I knew he would be.

“Yes, that Paige,” I answer Isabel’s question first. “And no, she showed up at work.”

“What the fuck?” It doesn’t take much to set off Liam’s temper.

“She got a job with the Whales not knowing I worked there.”

“No way.” Liam shakes his head in disbelief.

“Oh my god, Adam.” Isabel has not recovered. Out of all my siblings, I’m closest with my sister. She’s spent many nights with me at the bar helping me drink to forget my failures.

“How would she know, Liam? Two years ago I was a physiotherapist.”

“The internet exists.”

“There’s no way she knew. No one is that good at acting surprised.”

“Enough of this, tell me everything!” Isabel waves Liam’s rage away with a polished hand and slides out of her chair, coming to sit cross-legged in front of me. I have her full, undivided attention. So I tell them what’s happened over the last couple of weeks, which earns me several punches to the chest for keeping all of it to myself.

“I can’t believe you didn’t call me the second she appeared!” Isabel chides, whacking my arm.

“Probably because he totally shit the bed.” Big-brother-Simon has replaced therapist-Simon, and he thinks this is hilarious. He’s also good friends with Mateo so it doesn’t surprise me that they’d have the same reaction to my blunder.

“What are you going to do?” Liam demands.

“What do you mean? What can I do?”

“Fucking woo her, you idiot!” Isabel exclaims with another punch to my chest. I’m going to have a bruise tomorrow.

“Okay, first, stop hitting me,” I say, shoving Isabel. “And second, you need to calm down, Liam. She’s not a stalker.” It’s well established that I’m the stalker in this relationship. Not that we can really call it a relationship.

“Can you invite her to lunch? Can I meet her?!” Isabel is way too excited.

“Kind of gives away that he lied about not remembering her if he introduces her to his family.” Simon, ever the voice of reason.

I blow out a breath.

“I have a plan,” I say, getting back to my feet to start collecting our tools. There’s no way we’ll be able to finish this now. I’ll have to hire someone. Just another example my dad can use to prove I’m a quitter .

“You have to run this plan by me,” Isabel says, coming to help me. I think it’s the first time she’s touched the drill all day, except maybe to move it out of her way.

“I’m making the staff do a race,” I say, my cheeks flushing again. I’m not sure if it was a good idea, but I’m a sucker for sentimentality.

Another slap to my arm, but before Isabel can yank her hand back, I grab her around the middle.

“Adam!” She strikes me as I fireman carry her off the deck and over to the water. She’s kicking and screaming, but it doesn’t matter. I’m bigger and stronger.

“I said”—she struggles against me as I stalk down to the docks—“stop hitting me.”

I ensure the splash she makes as she lands in the water is as big as possible, laughing at the way she thrashes around until she can get her bearings.

“You’re the worst!” She sends a big wave of water my way and I easily dodge it with a smirk on my face.

I’m not fast enough to avoid the two big bodies that come barrelling towards me.

Liam and Simon each grab one of my arms and take me over the edge of the dock with them.

The water cools my burning skin, and I’m lighter than I’ve felt in a long time.