AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hey everyone! Number 2 in the New Series is underway. This story will probably be completed pretty fast as it is totally written out on paper. Until they get to LA, it's pretty much D2 with another character. But I added some interest after that. In this story it has been two years since A New Life.
A NEW TEAM – CHAPTER ONE – GREAT TO BE HOME
Gordon hobbled off a Greyhound bus using a cane. The falling rain matched his mood. That jerk tore my ACL, he thought bitterly. He'd never be able to play professional hockey again. His childhood dream had vanished within seconds. "Great to be home," Gordon mumbled, only half meaning it.
"Dad!"
Gordon turned around, allowing half a smile to flicker across his face at the familiar voice. "Hello, Kaley!" He said, opening his arms to his thirteen-year-old daughter. Not much had changed in the two years he'd known his daughter-she was still small, her hair was still short and blond, and she still looked just like her mother. Whenever Gordon commented on how unchanged she was, Kaley just smiled and said, "I'm consistent."
"Kaley, be careful of his knee!" Gordon heard someone yelling. "And both of you get in here before you get pneumonia."
Kaley pulled away from Gordon and rolled her eyes. "Jan, you can't get pneumonia from getting wet. I've told you a million times!"
"Just get in the car, sweetie," Gordon said, giving Kaley a little shove towards the car. "Hello, Jan!" He said, opening the door and giving Jan a hug. "Thanks for coming to get me."
"It's good to see you, Gordon." Jan said.
"Hans couldn't make it?" Gordon asked, pulling away.
"Ach!" Jan gave a dismissive wave. "Don't get me started on that strudlehead. He went back to the old country and left me to run the skate shop all by myself. He wanted to visit our mama. She loves him more, you know."
The three shared a laugh over that, and Gordon felt his mood lifting a little.
A horrible squealing sound yanked Gordon out of a deep sleep. Where am I? He thought, looking around. Right, the skate shop. He remembered with some relief. He and Kaley had spent the night there in the "living room," where Jan kept an old couch and recliner. Glancing over at the recliner, he saw that it was empty. Kaley must have already gotten up. In the two short years he'd known his daughter, one of her characteristics Gordon had picked up on was that Kaley was the ultimate morning person.
"Sorry about that, Coach," Charlie Conway said apologetically, poking his head through the glass door. "Did I wake you up?"
"It's no problem, Charlie," Gordon said, yawning.
Charlie's face melted into a smile. "Hi, Coach." He said, walking over and giving Gordon a hug. "It's good to see you! I really missed you."
"I missed you, too," Gordon said, returning the hug. "You know where Kaley is?"
"Yeah, she's helping Jan make-" Charlie started.
"Nobody move!" Jan commanded from the doorway. "It's time for Jan's specialty."
"Hasenpfeffer and eggs." All four of them said.
"I thought I smelled something burning," Gordon said as Jan began to dole out the hasenpfeffer.
"I helped Jan make the hasenpfeffer this morning," Kaley announced proudly, entering the room and sitting down next to her father.
"I'm not touching it!" Charlie said in mock horror.
"Charlie!" Kaley admonished.
"I see you've met my new apprentice," Jan interjected before Kaley and Charlie could go any further.
"Jan said you did this job when you were my age," Charlie said, taking a bite of his eggs.
"Sure did," Gordon answered. "And I hope he pays you more than he paid me."
"You got paid?" Charlie asked in shock, shooting Jan an accusatory look.
"Eat, everybody, before the hasenpfeffer gets cold," Jan urged quickly.
Kaley giggled and picked some hasenpfeffer. "This does beat the heck out of inner-city Baltimore," she sighed.
Later that day, Gordon hobbled past a picture of the Ducks on the wall. He took it down and began to look at it as Jan walked in.
"That was a good day," Gordon said, gazing down at the picture. "Look at Charlie. Gosh, he's grown."
"They'll do that," Jan said. "Since his mother's been married, he started spending a lot of time here. I just had to hire him."
Gordon bit his lip. "I should have kept in touch more," he said wistfully, a pang of guilt stabbing at him.
"But you are here now," Jan took the picture and hung it back on the wall. "So what is your plan? Have you talked to Ducksworth?"
"No, no," Gordon said dismissively, limping over to a rack of hockey sticks. "I'm not a lawyer, Jan. I'm a player."
"But your injury," Jan cautioned. "It needs rest and time."
"Well, time is something I don't have a whole lot of," Gordon countered. "I was this close to the NHL, Jan." He held his thumb and forefinger inches from each other. "I was back in the game. And man, I was alive."
"Have you thought about coaching?" Jan suggested. "After all, you were the Minnesota Miracle Man."
"Coaching the Ducks was one of the best things in my life," Gordon agreed. "But I can't make a living coaching peewee hockey, not with Kaley to support. I still have to pay off some of her medical bills from almost two years ago."
"Where there is a way, there must be a will," Jan insisted. "My hockey suppliers tell me Team USA is still without a coach for the Junior Goodwill Games."
"Sounds great," Gordon said sarcastically. "Give them a call for me, Jan. Maybe I can sharpen their skates."
"Don't knock skate sharpening-" Jan started his usual tirade.
"I know, I know, it's a fine skill, Jan," Gordon sighed. "But I don't want to spend the rest of my life sharpening skates in this rink-a-dink town. I want something better. Something bigger."