The Empty Chair at Our Table

Synopsis

Told through the eyes of Mei Vance, this intimate companion novella follows the aftermath of a devastating on-ice injury to her son Connor Vance, captain of the Silverwood Storm. When Mei retrieves Connor's phone from the locker room, she discovers a stream of desperate messages from someone saved simply as "Iris" — a contact whose worried pleas reveal a connection far deeper than friendship. What Mei doesn't expect is that "Iris" is Alexei Petrov, the Ironport Rovers' star captain and Connor's fiercest rival. As Mei navigates the revelation of her son's secret relationship with the one man he was supposed to hate, she must reconcile the arrogant athlete the world sees with the terrified young man who appears at the hospital, barely holding himself together. Over the weeks that follow, Mei becomes an accidental confidante to both men, texting Alexei updates on Connor's recovery and watching their relationship unfold through stolen glances at phone screens and whispered calls. Through playoff heartbreaks, a historic coming-out moment on live television, and a long-awaited summer reunion at the lake, Mei discovers that the empty chair at their dinner table was always meant to be filled — and that love, even when hidden, has a way of finding room to grow.