Free Finding His Shot by Sarah Rose Page A

Chris on the back and walked around. Chris went down to his locker only to find it had already been packed up by the equipment manager while he was in his meeting. He went down to pick up his bag and noticed the bus ticket placed on top. He walked outside of the rink and called a taxi. Chris needed to think and process all that just happened and he was going to get time to do that on the long bus ride out to California.

Chapter Two
    Three days, three hours and fifty minutes later Chris Savard finally got off the bus for the last time. He picked up his bag and walked around the bus station until a man tapped him on the shoulder.
    “Are you Chris Savard?” he asked.
    “Yup,” Chris replied.
    “Great I’m Eddie Wilson and I’m with the Ice Hawks. I’m here to pick you up and take you to the rink to get you settled in,” he said.
    “Is there a game today because I’m pretty exhausted,” Chris admitted.
    “No actually the team is on a road trip so they won’t be back for a few more days. That should give you some time to get acclimated out here,” Eddie said.
    “Perfect,” Chris responded.
    “I’ve got my car outside. I’ll get you to the rink for your physical and a meeting or two. Is that bag all you have?” Eddie asked.
    “Yeah the rest of my stuff is going to be shipped out in a few days once I know where I’m living,” Chris said.
    “I’ll find out for you where you are staying when we get to the rink. We should get going,” Eddie said. Chris followed Eddie out to his car. At the rink Chris was given a full physical and was on a conference call with his new coach. After that he was fitted for new equipment and got a light workout in. Once he was finished he showered and met Eddie in his office awaiting to see where he would be staying for the rest of the season.
    “I’ve got some good news for you Chris. You are going to be staying with Ms. Julia Whelan. Ms. Whelan is one of the more passionate team mothers,” Eddie said.
    “You know because I have already spent a year down in the Juniors I was really hoping the team could put me up in a hotel for a bit until I found a place of my own,” Chris said.
    “Sorry man, team rules. If you are over 21 we can make an exception but until then you gotta stay with a team approved family. Trust me though, you got very lucky with this placement. Ms. Whelan was instrumental in getting Sam Fitzpatrick back on track last season,” Eddie said.
    “Wow. Fitzpatrick is destroying the league right now. What did she do?” Chris asked.
    “I honestly have no idea but whatever she did it worked. If you grab your stuff I’ll take you over there,” Eddie said.
    After a ten minute drive Eddie pulled up to a large modern mansion with a gate. He pushed the button to speak.
    “This is Eddie Wilson with the Ice Hawks I’m here to see Ms. Whelan,” he said. The gate buzzed and opened and Eddie drove through. The grounds the house were on were immaculate. Eddie pulled them up to the front of the house and they both got out.  Chris saw an attractive older woman come out to meet them.
    “Hello Chris, I’m Julia,” she said extending her hand to shake his.
    “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Whelan,” he said shaking her hand.
    “Oh please call me Julia, no need for such formalities here. Please come inside you’ve had a long trip I am sure,” she said. They walked into through the house and into the kitchen where a man was setting up a sandwich platter.
    “This is Tommy. I guess you could say he is my house boy for lack of a better term,” she said. Chris noticed that Tommy was a few years older than him and had the look of an athlete about him. They sat at a large kitchen table and began to have lunch.
    “This is a beautiful house you have Ms… errr I mean Julia,” Chris said.
    “Thank you. My father was very successful and I have been lucky to have invested wisely. If you play like I think you are capable you’ll have a house like this one day too,”