I watched practice the next day carefully. Herb had the boys training hard. Dad had expressed concern that the boys couldn't handle this much work. Herb had the boys skating drills.

"Be prepared to go through pain gentlemen," Herb told the boys as they skated up and down the ice. "You're gonna skate harder than you've ever skated in your lives every minute of every day your on the ice with me."

I caught a glimpse of Rizzo skating hard. I knew how important making this team was to him and he was trying so hard.

"The fastest way to make this team is by being fast." Herb yelled at the boys.

After practice Doc was very busy with boys complaining of pulled muscles, sore joints and other problems. Many of the boys were lining up to use the hot tub. I had to meet with Herb after practice. He wanted to talk to me about how I felt the boys were bonding.

"Hey Herb, how is it going?" I asked when I walked into his office.

"Hey Chev. How do you think the boys are getting along?" Herb asked hardly glancing up at me.

"Very well. They are hanging out a lot at the dorms. They are going out after practice together to do things together." I told him. "I think that they are putting the rivalries behind them. I haven't felt any tension the past week or so."

"Good. How is Jimmy Craig doing?"

"He misses his dad and worries about him. I am not sure how much help I can be for Jim. I mean I lost my mom at such a young age, where he has just lost his mom." I said.

"Chev, you be his friend, give him someone to talk to, he'll appreciate it." Herb said. "Let me know if anything comes up."

That night I went to the dorms to hang out with the boys. I knew Rizzo would be there, and was anxious to see him. I asked dad if he minded if I stayed out late and he said as long as I was out of trouble, he knew I would be safe with the boys. Then he asked me about Jimmy Craig. I laughed, dad thought something was going on between me and Jimmy.

When I arrived at the dorm, I headed for Rizzo's room. It was so quiet, I thought that no one was around, but knocked anyway.

"Come in!" I heard from inside. I walked in and saw Rizzo sitting on the couch, drinking a beer and watching TV.

Rizzo looked up as I walked in. "Well hey there good looking."

"Where is everyone?" I asked as I walked over and sat down on the couch beside him.

"Mac and Jimmy got a huge poker game going on in their room, everyone is down there."

"Why didn't you go join them?" I asked.

Rizzo scooted next to me and put his arm around me. "Because I knew you would be coming to visit like you do every night and I wanted some alone time with you." Rizzo brushed his lips over mine.

"Have I ever told you that I think you are very wise?" I said with a smile. Rizzo chuckled and kissed me again.

"So what is good on TV?" I asked.

"I couldn't find much good and stopped on a re-run of Dallas but I have no idea what is going on." Rizzo told me. I snuggled against him and turned to the TV.

"Oh, yeah. You see SueEllen is married to JR who sleeps with everyone but her. She is a drunk too. Well SueEllen is pregnant but we don't know if the baby belongs to JR or Cliff Barnes who is JR's archenemy. On the season finale a few months ago, JR had locked SueEllen in a sanitarium to get her sobered up for the baby's sake, but she broke out and wrecked a car while drunk." I explained to him. "When the new season starts in two months, we'll get to find out if SueEllen had the baby, if they both died, what happened."

"You watch this show?" Rizzo asked with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, Patrick Duffy is very sexy." I said.

Rizzo actually sat back and watched with me. He would kiss me every now and then and then roll his eyes when I pushed him away when Patrick Duffy was on the screen.

"Explain to me again why JR hates Pam." Rizzo said.

"Pam is Digger Barnes' daughter and JR's dad hates Digger. She is also Cliff Barnes' sister." I told him.

"Cliff Barnes that might be the father of SueEllen's baby?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And JR's dad is Jock?"

"That's right," I told him. "We should make it a ritual to watch Dallas every week."

"No, you don't want to kiss me when its on." He pretended to pout.

"Aw don't pout Rizzo." I leaned over and kissed him and he held me in place. His lips were so gentle as they moved across mine. I stroked his hair and he deepened the kiss. He tightened his arms around me. I finally pulled back and rubbed my nose gently against his. "Still protesting the weekly ritual?"

"Not if we can do that occasionally during the show!" he said with a smile.

"You're so cute." I told him.

We sat snuggling and talking for a while. He told me about playing hockey in high school and college. I was just so content being in his arms.

"Chev, can I ask you something?" Rizzo asked.

"You can ask me anything, you know that." I told him.

"Well, we all know your dad has raised you because your mother passed away. What happened to her?"

I sat up and looked at Rizzo, his eyes were serious. I took a deep breath. "I was 14 months old when she died." I started.

"Chev, if you don't want to tell me…"

"No, its okay." I told him and he took my hand. "Memorial Day, 1959, mom and dad were having a picnic, barbeque, party thing for some of their friends. It went on all day. By six that evening mom noticed they were out of beer and low on ice and soda, so she asked dad for the car keys. She said she was driving to a market that advertised being open on the holiday. It was just a few blocks away. The entire trip should have taken her 15 minutes or so."

I looked at Rizzo, his eyes soft and he squeezed my hand. I continued on, "An hour later, a police car pulls up in front of the house. Two officers told dad that my mother had been killed in an accident. Drunk driver crossed into her lane, she was hit head on, killed on impact. Apparently the other driver had been drinking all day and decided to drive home."

"Oh, Chev, I am so sorry." He said.

"I can't remember her. But, I have a great dad. He has been mom and dad to me all these years. He made sure that I never missed out on anything."

Rizzo pulled me into his arms. I had never felt so safe in my life. We stayed that way talking for a while; I lost all track of time. We paid little attention to the television that was still on.