There was a blur of pictures and interviews. The congratulations were endless. His agent flashed in front of his eyes. "Hey, like, three teams have called asking about you."

"What?" Kip said, distracted by a hundred people all at once. This was a rather important conversation and he needed to focus but someone was calling his name from across the dressing room.

"Uh yeah. San Jose and Vancouver and, uh, Nashville, I think. They're all asking. Free agent right?"

"No word from Calgary? From Todd?" Brett Todd was the Calgary general manager.

"Nothing yet. Did they say anything? Why you so bent on staying here? You've moved around more than once in your career?"

"Personal reasons," Kip snapped back.

"Right, your high school sweetheart. Look, I'll see what I can find out. Congratulations on the win."

"Thanks." It didn't feel like much of a win at the moment. He was supposed to be celebrating. Right now Mandy had finally managed to find him and he'd better put his celebration face on because he didn't really feel like explaining the depressing news at the moment. He smiled and hugged her close. He kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he said to her, looking into her eyes, needing her grounding energy next to him. It was all too much for one night.