Frank Kellan flew in for the semifinal, a fact Reese hadn't told Cole until she spotted her father in the family section during warmups and nearly dropped her stick in surprise. Cole watched her skate two full circles trying to process it, a grin spreading across her face that he hadn't seen since the championship win, and felt something warm settle in his own chest at the sight of it — a father showing up, unannounced, because some things mattered enough to cross four hundred miles for without waiting to be asked.
What Cole hadn't expected, warming up at the other end of the ice, was his own father standing three rows behind Frank, awkward and out of place in a sea of college-aged fans, wearing an actual Northbridge jersey that still had the tags visible at the collar.
Cole nearly misse
