Chasing a Blond Moon Read Online Free Page A

war. I made the team.”
    â€œYou made the team, but you got hurt. That’s hockey.”
    â€œThis sucks. Now I’m supposed to pack up and go with you ?”
    â€œYou can always go back to Phoenix.”
    â€œIt would almost be worth it to see Tommy-boy squirm.”
    â€œIt’s your choice,” Service said, immediately earning a sharp knuckle in his kidney from Nantz.
    â€œWhat about Northern Michigan?” the boy asked. “They have a pretty good club.”
    Service sighed. “Maybe you ought to think about finishing high school first.”
    The boy rolled his eyes. “I have finished.”
    â€œAt sixteen?” Nantz asked.
    â€œSheba talked to somebody who said it didn’t really matter about a grade point if I got a GED and took the ACTs. I got a thirty on the ACT, which means I can pretty much go wherever I want.”
    Service was trying to process all the bits of information and come to grips with the reality of talking to his son, still not quite believing it. “Okay, we’ll talk to Northern and see what they say.”
    â€œNorthern’s got a new coach, right?”
    â€œRick Comley left to take the job at Michigan State.” Comley had been at Northern forever.
    â€œWhat about Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State?”
    â€œNorthern’s got the best program up our way right now.”
    â€œBut Tech has the best academics, right?”
    Service nodded.
    â€œLet’s talk to Tech then, see what they offer.” The boy certainly didn’t want for confidence and clearly was used to getting his own way.
    â€œPhoenix or the U.P.?” Service asked.
    â€œI guess I’ll go with you,” Walter said without enthusiasm. “But I want to give Coach Bernard a piece of my mind before we leave.”
    â€œThat’s not a great idea,” Service countered. “In hockey you can’t burn bridges.”
    â€œIs that supposed to be fatherly advice?” the boy asked with a sneer.
    â€œIt’s common sense,” Service said.
    â€œLike you haven’t burned any bridges in your life?”
    â€œMy life’s my business,” Service said.
    â€œYou’re my biological father,” Walter said, “not my real dad. That makes my life my business.”
    Nantz’s knuckle was grinding into Service’s kidney again, “If you’re with us, you’ll play by our rules,” Service said.
    â€œYour rules? Are you two married?”
    â€œNo,” Service said.
    â€œGreat, I get to live with the man who abandoned me and his live-in scromp.”
    â€œYou might want to keep that smart mouth of yours shut some of the time.”
    â€œSame for you,” the boy said defiantly.
    Nantz again poked Service.
    â€œYou’d better get some sleep,” Service said. “We’ll be back.”
    The boy put a pillow over his face as Service and Nantz backed out of the hospital room.
    â€œThat didn’t go so great,” Service said when they were in the corridor.
    Nantz patted his hand. “He’s sixteen, he’s disappointed, and he’s got a hard head like somebody else I know. But Grady, he’s gone to the trouble of finding out about you and that has to mean something. We can make this work. I know we can.”
    â€œMaybe we’d better start by getting married.”
    Nantz began to laugh and shake her head. “You embarrassed, living in sin?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œHe’s a big tough hockey player. He can live with us as we are. When we get married, Service, I want to do it right.”
    â€œThis is not going to be easy,” Service said. If he was to be a father, he had thought it would be with Nantz, having a baby and watching the kid grow over time, not having a fully grown hothead dumped on his doorstep.
    â€œThe roller coaster is king in the land of the merry-go-rounds,” Nantz said.

1
    The sight of condominiums flanking