Chapter Eighteen

When Bryan left that night, an hour or so after she'd woken up, she went around the house trying to find something to do, something to clean or straighten or put away, but failed to find a thing. Bryan had taken care of any conceivable household chore, the kids were in bed, and the puppy was fast asleep in her bed in the laundry room. Fresh from an incredibly long nap, Lydia knew there was no way she'd be able to fall asleep again anytime soon, so she decided to go into the office and kill some time on the hockey team's official website.

Early on in Trent's hockey career, she had stumbled across the forums on a sleepless night much like this one. She'd been shocked to learn how much the fans of the team indulged in idle gossip and discussion of the players' personal lives. At the time, the twins were very small and because of their precarious health in those early months, she hadn't been to any of Trent's games and the twins had certainly not been taken out in public. She was surprised to see an entire discussion topic labeled "Trent Hale married?"; she'd immediately investigated further, only to learn that the thread had been started by a young woman who had been interested in Trent, but had heard that he was married, and inquiring as to whether anyone knew for sure if he were married. Someone had quickly informed the girl that Trent was married, and with two small daughters, but from that moment on, Lydia's curiosity was insatiable and she checked the message boards every so often to see what the latest gossip was.

Sometimes it was perfectly harmless, and little more than a means for the "team moms"—the wives of couples who were assigned a player upon his arrival in town as part of the welcoming process—to spread news about one player or another. When she had gotten pregnant with Ryan, the news had been announced there, as had Jewel's pregnancy and her own several months earlier. When she lost that baby, one of the team moms had made a post informing the others, and they had joined together to send her flowers and a sympathy card. Things of that nature, she didn't so much mind; what she did mind were the posts that centered around the eligibility or attractiveness of one player or another, or those which crossed the line between understandable curiosity and an invasion of privacy. She tried to be understanding, reasoning that the players were local celebrities and it was natural to be interested in their personal lives, but some things just weren't any of their business—for instance, her divorce.

It didn't take long for her to find what she was looking for. About ten topics down was the heading, "Trent Hale's marriage on the rocks". It was dated as having been started the night of her very public argument with him—the night she'd been with Bryan. Interested to see what the rumor mill was putting out, she clicked on the link and began to read:

'Was anyone else outside the locker room tonight? There were some fireworks between Trent Hale and his wife. They had a big blowout right in front of the fans and left separately. It looks like their marriage is on the rocks. Anyone know what's going on?'

The next few messages were full of speculation and idle gossip; some others had also witnessed the fight. A few remembered seeing Trent leave with a red-haired girl, leading many to assume he had been having an affair, but no one knew any specifics or whether a divorce was being discussed. Then, a week after the first post, someone had received 'official' word:

"My cousin is an intern at a law firm in town, and she was filing paperwork today and saw Trent Hale's name on a folder. She asked around, and it turns out he's hired one of the partners to act as his divorce lawyer, so I guess we were right—Trent and Lydia are done."

The next posts were varied; some encouraging and sympathetic, and others downright mean-spirited:

"That's a shame to hear. I had hoped that they'd be able to work out whatever problems they were having. They were always such a sweet couple; Lydia has always been very friendly to the fans and we all like her a lot in the booster club. And those beautiful children—what a shame."

"I saw Trent with some girl after the game tonight. Looks like he's moving on pretty quickly. Makes you wonder if he was cheating, and that's why they split up."

"I doubt Trent was cheating on his wife. She was probably the one fooling around on him. I'm sure she's nice and all, but I've heard that she's always flirting with other guys, and just look at how she dresses! If anyone's been cheating, I'd put my money on it being her."

Lydia was shocked at the last one; the writer of that message must not even know who Lydia was. Flirting with other men? Dressing inappropriately? That sounded nothing like her! She calmed herself down, reasoning that it was probably one of the young college-age girls that had their eye on one or more of the players. They usually didn't care whether the guy was married—unfortunately, some of the guys didn't care that they had wives, either—and those girls were known to make nasty comments about the players' wives out of jealousy. Pushing it out of her mind, she continued reading, until she reached a post, dated two weeks earlier, that made her heart plummet to her stomach.

"Here's some news for you—I was at Sinclair's today for lunch, and who should I see but Lydia Hale and our own Bryan Aiken. I wasn't close enough to hear anything, but they were smiling and laughing and the whole thing looked pretty cozy. I wonder if Trent wasn't the only one to move on so quickly?"

She hurriedly scrolled down to the next person's reply:

"I don't know if I'd make too much of that, although it does look a bit suspicious. Bryan has always been close to the Hales, and he might have just been with Lydia trying to cheer her up. It's probably been really hard on her to have her husband leave her, and with three little kids. He was probably just trying to be a good friend."

Lydia felt a moment's relief, until she read the very next message:

"I think the question we should ask is just how good a friend is Bryan? We've always assumed that he was Trent's friend, but remember the night that Trent and Lydia had that fight at the game? Trent left with another girl, but Lydia left with Bryan Aiken. It could have just been a friendly move on his part, but I wouldn't be surprised if it came out that Bryan and Lydia have been messing around behind Trent's back. It would definitely explain their divorce, if Trent found out about it—his wife and his so-called best friend—poor Trent. No wonder he left her."

She read the words in horror; she had always known that eventually, her relationship with Bryan would go public, especially once her stomach ballooned out from their child, but if people were going to accuse her of having an affair, announcing a relationship with her accused lover was hardly going to help her look innocent. Of course, delivering another man's baby nine months after her husband left her didn't speak much for her, either. Most of the next dozen or so messages debated whether or not she and Bryan were a couple, and whether they'd been having an affair. Finally, she found the one post made by someone who seemed to have a sensible head in the whole ordeal—none other than Hannah Nolan, the team mother assigned to Bryan when he'd arrived in town two years earlier.

"First of all, I feel it necessary to remind you that the rules for posting on this board discourage gossip regarding the players' personal lives as it relates to potentially slanderous or character-defaming discussion. This also extends to the players' families, and is a courtesy to them. Of course we all are concerned about the boys and their welfare, but please try to remember that they and their families also deserve privacy and a certain amount of discretion and respect on our parts.

"With that being said, my first point is on the original topic of this thread—Trent and Lydia Hale's pending divorce. It is now common knowledge, and confirmed by both Trent and Lydia (through Jewel Martens), that a divorce is pending. The motives or reasons for the end of their marriage have not been made public, and although we are certainly concerned and even curious, if the Hales choose not to disclose this information, I believe we should respect that and keep any suspicions to ourselves. Divorce is a terrible thing for any couple, and I am sure it is difficult enough for Trent and Lydia, as well as their children, without the fans interfering and spreading gossip and rumors. I am sure that while Trent and Lydia appreciate the support of the fans, they will be equally thankful of our respect for their privacy.

"As to the second discussion in this topic, I feel confident when I say that any rumors that Lydia Hale and Bryan Aiken were or are involved in a romantic relationship are completely false. As you know, Sam and I have been Bryan's host family for the last two years, and we have also known the Hale family for several years. Anyone who knows Bryan or the Hales knows that accusations of an affair are ridiculous. Lydia is a kind-hearted, devoted wife and mother, and completely incapable of being unfaithful to her husband. Bryan has been a close family friend for years, and is even little Ryan's godfather. If Bryan has been with Lydia in the past few weeks, I am sure it was in the capacity of a caring and supportive friend, and nothing more.

"Finally, as a moderator of this forum, I am closing this thread to further discussion. Let this also serve as notice that any other threads speculating on rumors regarding Trent and Lydia Hale's divorce, or any alleged relationships between Lydia and Bryan Aiken, will be deleted without warning. Thank you for your cooperation, Hannah Nolan."

Lydia breathed a sigh of relief; at least on the forum, gossip about her had been stopped. Of course, the same people would continue to talk among themselves, but she'd take any victory she could get at this point. She felt extremely grateful to Hannah for stepping up in her defense, but couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. Hannah's support was only half-deserved; Lydia did appreciate the respect for her privacy in regard to the divorce, and she and Bryan hadn't been having an affair, but they were involved now, despite Hannah's assurances that they weren't.

Lydia reached for the phone and dialed Bryan's cell phone; he should be at least halfway home by now, if not nearly there. He answered on the third ring. "Are you okay?" he asked after their greeting. "Not feeling sick again, are you?"

"No," she replied. "I'm fine. I was just online though, reading the team forum—"

"Why on earth would you do that?" Bryan interrupted with a laugh.

"Hush," she said, glad he couldn't see her blush. "I go on there from time to time to see what gossip people are spreading about the players and their families. Anyway, there's something you need to read. I've already emailed you the link to it."

"Okay," Bryan replied somewhat quizzically. "I'll look at it when I get home—I'm almost there. What is it?"

"Besides a lot of gossip about my divorce…there are some interesting rumors about you and me, too," she said.

He was silent for a minute before responding. "Really?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Bryan…someone saw us that day, at lunch. When I told you about the baby."

"Great," he sighed. "Okay, I'll read it when I get home, and I'll call you in the morning."

"No," she said. "Call me back tonight, after you read it. I'll be up a little while longer."

"Okay," he relented. "I'll talk to you soon."

They hung up and Lydia shut down the computer before heading upstairs. She stopped by the nursery and the twins' room to check on her sleeping children before returning to her own bedroom. For their sake, for the sake of getting this divorce over with—and with the least amount of drama possible—she didn't want news of this baby getting out. She didn't even want the new that she and Bryan were dating to be public just yet, but as she settled into bed, phone in her lap to await Bryan's call, she was very much afraid that all her secrets would come to light much sooner than she'd like.

A/N: I know this chapter is very uneventful and even somewhat boring. It's not intended to be plot driven. It had to be put somewhere, and this was as good a place as any. It serves as a transition between the last chapter and the next one, and could be called filler, but its main purpose is to show that this whole ordeal is very much a public one. I'm not sure if it's been made clear before, but the hockey team is not NHL or "major-league"; it's semi-pro, and while no one nationally will know the players' names, locally, they're like celebrities, and very much under public scrutiny. I have been around teams of this level and their fans, and this is a very accurate depiction. At any rate, the point is that, because of Trent and Bryan's profession, things (like the divorce) that Lydia would much rather keep private are the topic of idle gossip among people she barely, if at all, knows. It just makes everything she's going through that much harder, and that was really the point of this chapter. I'm posting the next one along with it to make up for the lack of eventfulness D