by Kat Mizera
He nodded. “Yes. Okay.”
“Now, let’s practice our conversation one more time before we call it a night.”
6
They met once more before Miikka left on his road trip, and Charli had to admit she was a little sad she wouldn’t see him again for a week. He’d promised her a ticket for the game next Saturday, though, so that was something to look forward to. In the meantime, she had a long, boring weekend in front of her. Fortunately, she had projects to do in the house.
She’d been enjoying renovating the master bathroom and she was ready to paint it now. Everything was taking forever since she was doing most of the work herself, but the dingy pink tile from the 1950s had to go. Last year she’d updated the plumbing for the whole house and it had taken her until two months ago to finally pay it off, but that hadn’t been optional. She was working on the master bathroom now and then she was going to have to update the electrical system too. She couldn’t run the stove and the microwave at the same time, and she had to turn off almost everything in the house before she could blow-dry her hair, so that was the next huge expense.
She’d contemplated getting a second job half a dozen times lately and maybe later this year, during the holidays, she would take a seasonal retail job. Even if she didn’t make a lot of money, it would get her out of the house more, which she desperately needed to do.
Changing into old yoga pants and a T-shirt with holes in it, she got out everything she needed for painting, including a small stepladder. The bathroom wasn’t very big, so it wouldn’t take long, even if she did two coats.
She’d chosen a pretty pale green color and once she put in the white tile and bronze fixtures, which were also on her to-do list, she’d hang the new matching shower curtain she’d found on clearance at T.J. Maxx. Little things made her happy these days and having an updated bathroom—with decent water pressure—was one of them.
She turned on some music using her phone, singing along to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” as she worked. Painting was physically tiring, but she enjoyed it. She liked watching the results all but appear before her eyes, and the feeling of accomplishment that went with it. She’d painted the kitchen when she’d first moved in because she couldn’t stand the ugly brown walls, and from there her motivation to renovate the old house had grown exponentially. Her biggest obstacle was having the money to do the major things she wanted to do.
She made a decent living as a teacher at a private school, and she didn’t have a mortgage, but between her hefty student loans and the yearly property taxes, she might as well have had one. She’d had no one to help her through college, so she’d needed loans for everything. She’d worked summers but she’d needed that money to survive, so the loans had added up quickly. The house had needed a new roof before she could move in, so she’d had to take out a home equity loan and she was paying that back as well. She was doing okay but renovations cost more than she’d been expecting, so she had to pace herself.
Her thoughts drifted to Miikka and she sighed, chiding herself for even considering that he might have been interested in her. As Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” came on, she started to sing, moving with the music and closing her eyes, reminding herself that she was strong too.
She’d been through a lot since high school, but she’d come out the other end. She’d gotten her teaching degree in Seattle and moved back to Anchorage after her grandfather’s death. She hadn’t even had a car back then, throwing two suitcases and two large bags onto the ferry to Alaska and then a bus to Anchorage. She’d been saving money for a car and managed to find one in time to start work at the school.
Her grandfather’s death had hit her hard, but in a way, it had saved her as well. After her falling-out with her parents during her senior year of high school, her paternal grandfather had taken her in. That had been the hardest, darkest year of her life and she couldn’t even think about what might have happened if it hadn’t been for him. He’d been a gruff loner who’d never recovered after the death of his wife, but though he hadn’t approved of Charli’s life choices any more than her parents had, he strongly believed in family. As far as she knew, he’d never spoken to her father again after discovering her parents had thrown her out.
She’d managed to get into college even after quitting high school during her senior year and getting her GED, but she’d left for college that fall and didn’t move back until after he’d died since it happened suddenly. He’d been there for her, but he’d also made it clear he wasn’t interested in having a teenager move back in, so she’d made her own way. She saw him for the holidays every year, and he’d paid for a cell phone so she had a way to reach him if she needed anything, but she’d pretty much been on her own since she was seventeen.
She hadn’t spoken to her parents in three years. She’d called to invite them to her college graduation and they’d declined. At that point, she’d essentially written them off. She sent a Christmas card every year, and they sent one back, but that was all the communication they’d had in a long time. They’d never forgiven her for being a teenage girl who’d fallen in love with the wrong boy, and in many ways, she’d never forgiven herself either.
The phone rang, interrupting both the song that was playing and her deep thoughts, and she smiled when she saw Miikka’s name on the screen.
“Hi, Miikka.”
“Hi, Char-lot! I’m Miikka Laasonen. How’s you day been so far?”
“Your!” she laughed, correcting him. “And I’m painting the bathroom, so I’m tired.”
“Painting?” He sounded unsure.
“You know, with a brush? The walls?”
“Oh, you paint walls! Is not hard?”
“It’s a little hard, but it’s good exercise and my house is old, so it needs new color.”
“What color?”
“The bathroom will be a mint green.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’ll send you a picture when I’m done,” she said after a moment.
“Yes. Okay.”
“Is it time for us to talk? I thought you had a game?”
“Is early for game. I am bored.”
“I’m.” He’d said he wanted his English to sound natural, so she’d been reminding him to use contractions, but more often than not, he didn’t.
“I’m bored. I’m Miikka Laasonen. I’m painting.”
“Exactly.”
“I can read now?”
“Sure. I’ll put you on speakerphone and you can read to me while I paint.”
“Green Eggs and Ham,” he said, reading the title of the book. “This is strange.”
“It’s for children,” she reminded him, putting the phone on the counter. “Now, read.” She picked up her brush as he began to read the well-known children’s poem. She’d correct him when he stumbled over sentences he wasn’t familiar with, but overall, he was already showing improvement, and it had only been a few days. She was confident he wouldn’t have any trouble getting where he wanted to be.
“I’m sorry, what?” She realized he was talking to her, not reading.
“I have to go, time to leave. I will talk tomorrow.”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” she said automatically.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He laughed as he repeated it. “Hei hei!” Bye.
Miikka had fallen asleep reading Green Eggs and Ham and was still thinking about the silly story when he got to breakfast in the morning. He sank down with a group of his friends and asked, “Is possible to order green eggs and ham?”
Logan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “What are you talking about?”
“Is not real? Green eggs? Ham? I want to try.”
Donovan sputtered out a laugh. “What brought this on, buddy?”
“In book.”
“Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham?” Kane sank down beside him. “I read it to the twins all the time. It’s a classic kids’ book. Did you see it somewhere?”
“
I read for English lesson.”
“Oh.” Kane nodded. “Well, while you can use food coloring to make eggs green, and you can certainly find ham at most restaurants, I don’t think green eggs and ham are something you need to actually eat.”
“Oh.” Miikka was a little disappointed and Kane clapped him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, you’re not missing anything. Promise.”
“Okay.” Miikka dug into the plate of steak and eggs a waitress put in front of him.
“So when are you going to see your English tutor again?” Logan asked him.
Miikka shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“You gonna ask her out?”
“Maybe.” It was so damn hard to articulate his interest in Charli, and his friends already teased him enough. “Have to see her more.”
Logan gave him a funny look. “That’s how you get to know each other.”
“Charli’s nicer than all the other girls I’ve seen you date put together,” Donovan pointed out. “And she has a nice ass, too.”
Miikka froze, his fork midway to his mouth. “What?”
Donovan squinted slightly. “What? She has a nice butt. Those jeans she was wearing the other night after the game… You didn’t notice?”
Miikka was pretty sure his ears turned red, which was what always happened when he was embarrassed, even though he didn’t have any reason to be embarrassed. Why was talking about Charli making him feel uncomfortable? His hands were even a little sweaty, which was stupid. “She is pretty,” was all he could manage to say since he couldn’t explain the confusion he was feeling in English.
“She’s,” Logan interjected, since Miikka had asked him to help him try to use contractions.
“She’s my pretty English teacher. Nothing more.” Well, not yet, but he was working on it. In his head anyway.
Logan rolled his eyes. “Dude, you know she’s into you, right? I mean, the writing’s on the wall.”
“I see nothing.” This conversation was going sideways. He wanted to explain that he liked her but didn’t want to rush into anything and potentially push her away. But since he always messed up complicated conversations in English, he didn’t bother. Instead, he took the easy way out by saying he didn’t think she was interested.
“You will if you give it a chance.” Logan smirked at him.
“Oh, leave him alone.” Kane laughed. “He’ll figure it out in his own time. I don’t see you in a relationship.”
“By choice,” Logan responded. “I’m not ready. Miikka’s so ready it’s practically stamped on his forehead.”
The conversation moved to other things and Miikka eventually gave up trying to follow it. His teammates, especially these guys, were great and they didn’t treat him differently because of the language barrier, but he struggled to fit in because once they started talking amongst themselves, he couldn’t keep up. They spoke fast, which he was sure he did, too, when he spoke Finnish, but it meant he eventually missed so much of the conversation he didn’t know what was going on.
He’d mentioned this to Charli and she’d said it would take time, but he was impatient after so many years of this. He was getting prepared for his day at the children’s hospital with a handful of phrases and topics to start things off, but what would he do once he ran out of canned responses? He’d have to talk to Charli about this immediately. In fact, it was the perfect excuse to call her.
7
Charli was at her desk getting the day’s worksheets ready when Niko arrived with Sara instead of Dani. Sara didn’t usually walk him into the classroom, instead dropping him off out front with the rest of the kids, so Charli glanced up with concern.
“Good morning, Niko. Hey, Sara.”
“Hi, Miss Charli!” Niko bounded over to the row of cubbies to put away his things.
“I need a favor,” Sara said to her.
“Sure.”
“Can you keep Niko here with you for half an hour or so after school today? I have to help Dr. Harjo deliver a foal about a hundred miles outside the city and I might be a little late. If I’m going to be more than half an hour late, Amy will come get him.” Amy Schumaker was Kane and Hailey’s nanny and she helped out sometimes when the team traveled.
“Oh, it’s no problem. If you want, I can bring him home with me and we can hang out until you get done.”
“Are you sure?” Sara looked a little harried and Charli laughed.
“Of course. He’s a sweetheart and I don’t do much at night anyway.”
“Oh, you’re the best! Drinks on me at the game Saturday night.” Sara paused to kiss the top of Niko’s head and then was gone.
“Are we going to hang out tonight, Miss Charli?” Niko asked her.
“If Sara’s late, then yes, we are. Is that okay?”
“Are we going to your house?”
“If you want to.”
“Can we have pizza?”
Charli laughed. “Let’s see what happens with Sara first. Then we’ll talk about pizza.”
“Okay.”
Niko was at the kitchen table eating a slice of pepperoni pizza when Miikka called that night and Charli took the phone into the other room to talk.
“Hi!” he said, automatically beginning their routine. “I’m Miikka Laasonen and I’m a hockey player.”
That was a new introduction and she laughed, something she did a lot with him. “Well, hello, Miikka. I’m Charlotte and I’m a kindergarten teacher. Tell me, what position do you play?”
“I’m a left wing.”
“Really? How fascinating.” She tried to improvise every time to mix things up. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m a badass.”
They both cracked up and Charli shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. “How are you?” she asked.
“I’m tired,” he said. “This has been…” His voice faded as he struggled to find the right word.
“Long? Exhausting?”
“Yes. Sometimes travel is…ex-haus-ting.”
“Very good, Miikka,” she said softly. “Your pronunciation is getting so much better.”
“You want I read now?”
“You want me to read now?” she corrected. “And yes, you can read to me for a little while, but I have a hot date tonight and he’s already here.”
“You have date?” Miikka sounded so confused, Charli chuckled.
“It’s Niko,” she said.
“Niko?”
“Dani and Sergei’s son? Sara had an emergency with one of the animals so he’s here with me. We’re having pizza.”
“Oh! Yes, I see. I would like pizza also.”
“We had that when we were together. Do you like pizza?”
“Very much.”
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Pizza.”
“What kind?”
“Everything.”
“You like it with everything?”
“No fishies.”
“Fishies? You mean anchovies? I’m not a fan either. I like extra cheese…”
“Extra sausage.”
“Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to like extra sausage?” She couldn’t believe she said that and clapped her hand over her mouth.
“Eh, perhaps we both like, yes?” Then Miikka laughed.
“And white chocolate raspberry cheesecake,” she said with a breathy sigh. “Mmm.”
“This is good? I no try.”
“Oh my god. Better than sex,” she responded before clapping her hand over her mouth again, even though he obviously couldn’t see it.
“Better than sex?” He seemed intrigued. “This is not possible…”
“Well, you’ll have to try it first.”
“Yes. Next time I see you?”
“Sure.” She had no idea if he was flirting with her or if he was genuinely interested in cheesecake, but she didn’t care because she was having too much fun. When was the last time she’d flirted with a guy?
“Pi
zza and cheesecake. Then we decide.”
“What do we decide?” she asked softly.
“Which is better.”
“Better than—” She cut off abruptly as Niko came into the room.
“Miss Charli, can I have another piece?”
“Of course.” She nodded at him before turning her attention back to Miikka. “Anyway, Sara’s going to be here any minute so I won’t be able to talk until later. Will you be up for a while?”
“Yes. I don’t sleep well sometimes.”
“Can I call you back?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
She was still thinking about the pizza and cheesecake conversation when Niko came back in, another piece of pizza in his hand.
“Miss Charli?” Niko came around the corner.
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Can I finish eating in front of the TV until Auntie Sara gets here?”
“Sure. Let’s put on the Disney Channel.” She changed the channel and went to get some paper towels from the kitchen. Niko jumped onto the couch, pizza in one hand, paper towel in the other, and snuggled against her side. He was such an easygoing kid, she loved spending time with him. He was also a vague reminder of the children she would never have. Not to mention the one she’d had to give away. That child was about the same age as Niko and as she cuddled him, tears pricked her eyelids. She’d only ever held her own child once; holding Niko was as close as she got to anything like that, and sometimes it broke her heart all over again.
“How come you don’t have kids, Miss Charli?” Niko asked as she absently started a movie.
She swallowed, her chest tightening slightly as she reached out to stroke his hair. “I’m not married,” she said, hoping her voice sounded lighter than it felt. “And I need a husband to have kids.”
“Why don’t you have a husband? My dad knows lots of hockey players that could marry you.” His blue eyes were guileless as he stared up at her, and she managed to laugh.
“Well, I don’t need to get married to be happy.”
“What about Uncle Logan? He’s really nice.”