Chasing Charli (Alaska Blizzard Book 6)

by Kat Mizera

  “This is ridiculous,” he muttered. “You were a teenager and you made a mistake. It’s not as if you did something really terrible. You weren’t the first teenager to get pregnant.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I wish I knew why, but I don’t.”

  “Maybe we should ask,” he said quietly.

  “Ask her what? Why she’s still angry I got pregnant when I was seventeen?”

  “Exactly. Your relationship is already bad—what harm can this do?”

  “Maybe you’re right.” She seemed to be contemplating the idea as they walked inside and got on the elevator.

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “Leave?” She shook her head. “God, no. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to do it without you here.”

  “You’re much braver than you think,” he whispered, kissing the side of her face. “But I’ll be right there, as long as you want me.”

  “Always,” she said, squeezing his hand.

  They walked into her father’s room and he was sitting up eating his dinner. He smiled and called out a greeting when they came in, though her mother seemed to tense, sitting quietly in the chair next to his bed.

  “It’s good to see you, Charlotte. Hi, Mike.”

  “Why can’t you guys call him by his name?” Charli asked, trying to rein in her temper. “His name is Miikka. Not Mike, not Michael. Miikka.”

  “It’s okay,” Miikka whispered to her, seemingly surprised by her outburst.

  “Well, Mike is the American version of it,” her mother protested. “You’re so grouchy, Charlotte.”

  “You can call me Mike,” Miikka said, holding tightly to Charli’s hand. “And someday I hope you call me your son.”

  “Are you actually going to marry her?” Denita asked him. “I don’t know why you’d choose Charlotte, being a professional athlete and all. Seems to me you have a lot more choices out there than a girl who—”

  “Mom!” Charli snatched her hand out of Miikka’s and threw it up in frustration. “If you have something to say, by all means, let’s get it out in the open now. I have a wonderful man and a great life in Anchorage, so if you don’t want me here, I’ll be happy to go home. Today. The sooner the better.”

  “Charlotte, no. Please.” Her father seemed upset by the idea of her leaving, but Charli had had enough.

  “Then tell me the problem.” Charli was still talking to her mother, arms folded across her chest.

  “You know what my problem with you is.”

  “I made a mistake,” Charli said slowly. “I was seventeen and stupid. But I’m the one who had to live with the consequences of my actions. I’m the one who had to carry a baby in my belly for nine months and then watch strangers take him from me. I’m the one who’s had to live with the guilt for more than seven years. I’m the one who lost my friends, my family, and my home. I’m sorry if you were temporarily embarrassed, but I didn’t commit a crime. I didn’t kill someone or sleep with someone’s husband. I got pregnant, and in case you’ve had your head buried so deep in your Bible you forgot, people have sex. Accidents happen. And that’s what it was—a fucking accident.”

  “You watch your mouth, young lady!” Denita shot up out of her chair.

  “Or what? You’re going to ground me? Give me a break.”

  The two women glared at each other and Charlie was grateful Miikka was standing close enough to her to offer support by proximity and osmosis. He hadn’t said anything, but he placed a gentle hand on her back so she’d know he was there.

  “Denita, it’s time to move past this,” Norman said after a moment.

  “She humiliated us. The whole town was talking about her and that hooligan, Roy.”

  “It was the congregation at the church,” Norman corrected her gently. “A few hundred people, Denita. And they love gossip. They forgot all about it within a few months and people still ask me how she is, if she’s doing okay, if she’s coming home. You’re the only one who’s still embarrassed.”

  “Whose side are you on?” she demanded.

  “The side that gets my family back together. The side that allows for forgiveness.”

  “The Bible is pretty straightforward,” Denita said. “Hebrews says, ‘Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.’ This isn’t debatable.”

  Norman shook his head. “The Bible also says if a man lies with a man, he should be put to death—and neither of us believe that. We both know the Bible can’t be taken literally most of the time. And if Mike, er, Miikka doesn’t care that Charlotte isn’t a virgin, why are we still hung up on it?”

  Denita didn’t answer and Charli sighed in frustration. While part of her wanted a relationship with her parents, another part of her was just tired. It had been an emotional week and this was unnecessary drama and heartache.

  “Have you never made a mistake?” Miikka asked Denita, speaking up for the first time. “You are perfect?”

  She met his gaze but didn’t respond.

  “I am not a virgin either,” Miikka continued, his voice low but steady, filled with the quiet passion that was part of who he was. “I have slept with many women I didn’t love. Does this make me bad? Unworthy of love now that I found Char-lot?”

  “It’s about more than sex,” Denita said after a moment. “It’s about self-respect and the fact that she gave away her child.”

  “I wouldn’t have given him away if you’d let me stay home,” Charli said. “I had no choice but to give him away!”

  “I couldn’t have more babies!” Denita cried out, her eyes filling with tears. “And then you just got yourself pregnant and gave it away like it was nothing, when we could have taken it and raised it!” She burst into tears and Charli stared at her.

  What was she talking about?

  “Denita, we kicked her out of the house,” Norman said, a frown of confusion on his face. “What else could she do?”

  “But I told your father she could come home, that we’d raise the baby, and he said she refused.”

  “What?” Charli was really confused now. “What do you mean? I never said any such thing. I didn’t even know you’d spoken to Grandpa. He told me you wanted nothing to do with me.”

  Mother and daughter stared at each other.

  “I reached out when you were about eight months pregnant,” Denita said, wiping the tears that had dripped down her face. “I told him we’d take the baby, and you, and we would raise it for you.”

  “He never told me that.” Charli blinked away a fresh set of tears. “I didn’t want to give him up, but Grandpa didn’t want me at the house once the baby came, and I had nowhere to go.”

  “Oh, Charlotte.” Denita and Charli both burst into tears.

  Miikka was both relieved and saddened by the turn of events. Char-lot and her mother cried and hugged and sniffled through a lot of conversation but they were finally communicating without fighting. Miikka and Norman were quiet, though they exchanged glances now and then, as if understanding that the women needed to work this out together.

  “I just have one question,” Charli asked her mother after half an hour of crying and talking. “Why did you lie to me about talking to Roy?”

  Her mother looked startled. “I… How did you find that out?”

  “He’s been stalking me here at the hospital, demanding I tell him where our son is.”

  Denita lowered her gaze. “You and I weren’t talking much and I wondered if you knew where the baby was, how he was… I told Roy I didn’t know but maybe he could find out since he was the father. And then maybe I could see my grandson too. I’m sorry. I never thought you’d come here or run into him.”

  “Denita…” Norman looked shocked as well.

  Since Char-lot didn’t say anything about Dylan and their trip to St. Louis, he didn’t either. It would probably take a long time for her to trust her mother again after everything that had happened, and he thought
it was smart not to tell her about Dylan.

  “I’ve made a mess of everything. Again.” Denita sank into a chair and covered her face with her hands. “I’m a terrible mother!”

  “I think you’re human,” Miikka told her. “Just as Char-lot is. You make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. The idea is to move forward and do better, and not make the same mistakes again.”

  “You’re a good man, Miikka.” Norman nodded at him. “I’m glad you love our Charlotte.”

  “Me too.” Miikka reached out to hug Charli.

  They left a little while later because it was late and Norman was tired. They were going to a hotel tonight and promised to meet her parents back at the hospital tomorrow, when Norman would hopefully get released.

  “How long do you want to stay?” Miikka asked her when they were in bed that night.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m emotionally drained. Mostly I want to go home, to our house and our bed and our friends. I want to finish the kitchen and maybe refinish the hardwood floors. I want to make love with you, like, five times a day, every day, until everything that’s happened in the last month is just a memory.”

  “We can do this,” Miikka said softly, trailing his fingers along the curve of her face.

  “Don’t you want to go back to Finland?” she asked him.

  “Yes, but what you need is more important right now. Maybe we can go home for a few weeks and then invite my parents to come to Anchorage.”

  “I don’t have a lot of room,” she said, “but Leon could probably stay with us if we put your parents in a hotel?”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.”

  “You take care of everything,” she whispered. “You take care of me. I’m so lucky to have found you…and I love you so much.”

  “I love you too. And I’m the lucky one.” He looked at her tenderly, kissing her with what he hoped was more than passion. The only thing that mattered to him right now was making her happy.

  A thought came to him and he pulled away, looking into her eyes. “Char-lot… I have an idea. It’s crazy, but it feels good, right.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you want to get married?”

  “Now?” She looked confused.

  “Before hockey season and school starts again. Soon.”

  “We’ve known each other two months.”

  “Do you think you’ll love me more next year or the year after that?”

  She smiled. “I don’t know if it’s possible to love you more than I do.”

  “Then I’d like to get married in Finland. As soon as your father can travel.”

  “What if he can’t travel until after I have to go back to work?”

  “We’ll talk to the doctor tomorrow. Just say yes and I’ll find a way to make it work.”

  “Miikka…” She studied his face intently and then kissed him. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

  33

  The next three weeks were a whirlwind of insanity. Getting ready for a wedding in another country required challenges Charli had never even thought of, but true to his word, Miikka handled almost everything. Charli’s biggest task was finding the right wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses for Kendra and Tara, and Miikka flew them to Wichita so they could shop together.

  Getting married hadn’t been on Charli’s radar, but now that it was happening, Miikka was right: It felt good, meant to be. The fact that they hadn’t known each other that long, not in the grand scheme of things, didn’t seem to matter. He’d brought so much love and light to her life, she couldn’t think of a single reason to wait six months or a year or even six more days. Being with him was all she wanted and every day they spent together was better than the last. Marriage was the next logical step and though she’d initially had reservations, they were gone now.

  They were leaving for Finland today and Miikka had yet another surprise for her. Gage and Laurel had arrived on their private jet and were picking up Miikka, Charli and her parents, along with Kendra and Tara since they were already here, to take them to Finland. It was safer for Norman since he was still healing from his heart attack and stent surgery, and when Charli got on the jet, most of their friends were already on board.

  Miikka hadn’t known that his friends and teammates would be coming either, so he was immediately caught up with them, hugging and shaking hands as they congratulated him. Charli sank into a seat next to Kendra, Tara, Laurel and Dani.

  “You sure know how to spice up a summer vacation,” Dani told her with a grin. “We just got done getting Sara and Aaron married—which you missed, by the way—and now we’re off to Finland. I’m pregnant, you know. All this excitement might be too much for me.”

  “You’re so full of shit,” Laurel laughed. “Even pregnant, you’re in better shape than half the guys on the team.”

  “There’s that,” Dani conceded, chuckling.

  “You look amazing,” Charli told her. “When are you due?”

  “Late November.” Dani rubbed a hand over her baby bump. “I’m excited about the baby, but it’s weird not fitting into my regular clothes. I’m not at all excited about maternity clothes.”

  “Depends on how big you get,” Laurel said. “If you stay in shape like you usually do, you’ll probably be able to get away with stretchy yoga pants and sweats with sweatshirts and hoodies.”

  “Do you know the sex of the baby yet?” Charli asked her.

  Dani smiled. “We do but we’re not telling until we have our gender reveal party.”

  “We’re taking bets that Sara comes home from the honeymoon pregnant,” Laurel said, “so my guess is we have a dual gender reveal.”

  “So many babies,” Charli murmured, looking around. No one but Kendra knew she’d had a child, and this wasn’t the time or place to bring it up, but it wasn’t a scary topic anymore. Not like it used to be.

  “You and Miikka gonna be popping one out any time soon?” Dani asked her, eyes twinkling.

  “I don’t think so?” Charli chewed her lip thoughtfully. “We want kids, but not yet. I just turned twenty-five and he will in a few months, so it feels like we have a little time.”

  “Don’t rush it,” Laurel said. “Having a little time to be a couple before you have kids is a good thing.”

  “I think so too.”

  “I agree.” Dani nodded. “Sergei and I started trying last year but we waited a year so we could have time together as a couple, and for Niko to adjust to me being his mom.”

  “We’ve only known each other a few months,” Charli said. “So we’re definitely going to take time for it to be just us. We’re rushing into the wedding because I start school again soon and he really wanted to get married in Finland, but we have lots of time to be together before hockey season starts.”

  “Are you going to keep teaching?” Dani asked curiously.

  “For now, yes. That may change down the road, but he’s busy during hockey season, so what else would I do while he’s traveling and doing hockey stuff?”

  “Very true.” Kendra nodded. “Plus, I’d be super bummed without you at school every day!”

  They talked and joked throughout the flight, even when they should have been sleeping. There was excitement in the air and Charli was a little flabbergasted that everyone was focused on her, that she was the center of attention and it was all good things. She and her mother had been slowly repairing and rebuilding their relationship, but it would take a while and Charli was okay with that. Just the fact that her parents were here with her and going to be at her wedding was a huge step in the right direction.

  “Hi.” At one point during the night, when some of their friends had dozed off, Miikka sank down next to Charli.

  “Hi.” She turned to look into his eyes. “I missed you.”

  He smiled. “You had all your girlfriends.”

  “But I still missed you.”

  He leaned over to brush his lips across hers. “I’ll never be far. And
even if my body is far, my heart will remain with you.”

  “We’re getting married,” she whispered, as if it were a secret.

  He smiled. “Three days.”

  “Then our honeymoon.”

  “Then the rest of our life.” He brought her hand to his lips. “I love you, Char-lot. Thank you for being mine.”

  “I can’t wait to be your wife.”

  How Aada had put together an American-style wedding in Finland, in such a short time was beyond Charli, but everything about it was surreal as her father walked her down the aisle. He was beaming as they walked, and her mother was dabbing her eyes from where she sat up at the front of the room. Most of their friends were there, including Kendra, Donovan, Logan, Gage and Laurel, and many of the others Charli had come to love since she’d begun dating Miikka. And everyone looked so happy it made her a little weepy.

  “I’m really happy for you, sweetheart.” Her father smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Be happy. Both of you.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She turned to Miikka and blinked back tears of sheer joy.

  Miikka looked as handsome in a black tuxedo as she’d ever seen him, and their eyes locked as she approached him. Everything else fell away and it was suddenly just the two of them. His sweet, smiling face. The tenderness in his eyes as he took her hand from her father. The way he wiped her tears with his thumbs, whispering that he loved her. The gentle way he slid the gold band on her finger. His sweet lips as they kissed.

  And then they were married.

  Husband and wife.

  Wife and husband.

  Miikka and Charli.

  Nothing had ever felt so right.

  Hugs and laughter followed the ceremony and as they moved into the hotel ballroom for the reception, it was like a black-and-white world suddenly came into full-color focus. Everything that had been drab and boring before was now full-bodied and beautiful, filling her soul in a way she never would have thought possible. All because of the wonderful man she’d just married.

  “I don’t think there has ever been a bride as beautiful as you,” Miikka whispered as they danced.

  “I don’t know about that, but there’s definitely never been a bride as in love with her husband as me.”