by Mandy Baggot
‘Hey! Bob, this is Cole. Cole, this is my Uncle Bob. Cole’s going to join the team. He played center for the Chicago Wolves,’ Robyn informed her uncle, quick to recover her senses.
‘Pleased to meet you, sir,’ Cole greeted, holding his hand out to him.
‘Hey there.’
‘You got skates?’ Robyn asked him.
‘Yep and a full set of armor and pads,’ Cole answered, lifting up the duffle bag he was carrying.
‘Good. Well, locker rooms are to the right, go and get changed,’ Robyn urged.
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Cole replied with a smile.
*
When Robyn and Bob got ice side, Grant was already putting the team through their paces in a warm-up.
‘Wes! Put more effort into the skating and stop talking,’ Grant called to him, turning when he noticed Robyn and Bob approach.
‘Yeah, yeah…why don’t you get out here?’ Wes yelled back.
‘Hey, Bob, hey, Robyn, good to see you,’ Grant greeted, holding out his hand.
Robyn swallowed as she met his gaze. She was shocked by how much he and Jason looked alike. She hadn’t realized the similarities before, but they were there by the bucketload. It was the smile and the pale, blue eyes, the freckled features, even the stature.
Bob quickly took hold of Grant’s hand and shook it, smiling at him, while Robyn took a moment to compose herself. People kept saying Grant wasn’t responsible for what his son had done all those years ago and they were right. He was a good man, her dad’s friend, she needed to remember that.
‘Is this really it?’ Robyn asked, looking out at the ten men.
They were all kitted up in full gear, passing pucks to each other on the ice.
‘Ten isn’t good, I know, but…’
‘Eleven. I’ve got someone getting changed. We need to get some more team members, hold try outs,’ Robyn told him.
‘We did try that at the start of the season but…’
‘Well? What happened? I mean, even the worst of the bunch would be better than no one at all,’ Robyn said.
‘No one turned up,’ Grant responded despondently.
‘Oh my God! What has happened to this place? The hockey team should be the life blood of the community! Jeez! Right, okay, I want a match now, no holding back. Do we really only have one goaltender?’ Robyn asked, fueled by the humiliation.
‘Yeah, well, Adam left us last year for—’
‘I’m not interested in who isn’t here. I’m interested in who is here. You! What’s your name?’ Robyn asked, pointing at a tall player with brown hair.
‘Wade,’ he drawled.
‘Well, Wade, go and get a full face mask on and some keeper’s pads…’ Robyn glanced to the side when she saw movement. ‘Oh good, you’re ready. Everyone, Brad, Mickey, Wade, Wes, the others I don’t know… this is Cole Ryan. He’s going to be your new center,’ Robyn informed them.
‘Robyn, maybe we ought to discuss this before we make any decisions,’ Grant suggested quickly.
The team looked less than excited by the new arrival and started to mutter among themselves.
‘We aren’t making any decisions, I am. Get into two teams.’
‘Come on, Grant, man, you can’t let…’ one of the players began.
‘I’m sorry? I thought I just asked you to get into teams. Why are you looking at him? I’m the manager now. Is anyone unclear about that?’ Robyn questioned, narrowing her eyes at them all.
No one answered.
‘Good. Grant, can you get some skates on and referee,’ Robyn said as more of an order than a request.
The team stood like statues on the ice, all looking to Grant and wondering what was going on.
‘Come on! Move! Jeez! If it takes you this long to get going, no wonder you’re not doing well in the league,’ Robyn exclaimed.
‘Come on guys, let’s go,’ Brad told his team before slipping in his mouth guard.
‘Why was that so difficult?’ Robyn asked Bob as they went to sit down.
‘Grant’s approach is different, that’s all. They weren’t ready for a full-on replica of Eddie,’ Bob said with a grin.
‘God, don’t say that! Next you’ll be telling me I’m growing a beard,’ Robyn said, touching her chin.
‘No, just starting to inherit the bad-ass attitude.’
‘You can’t say that, you’re my uncle!’
‘And you’ve never had anything but the truth from me,’ Bob replied.
‘Come on, guys! You starting this game or do you need an air horn?’ Robyn screamed at the players on the ice.
*
Play began, and Robyn watched intently as the two sides battled against each other. It didn’t take long for her to work out the best players and the members of the team that were the weak links.
‘What’s happened to Mickey? He’s all over the place,’ Robyn commented as she watched Sarah’s boyfriend get bundled off the puck by Wes.
‘He got injured in the last match, took a nasty fall,’ Bob replied.
‘Henrik’s good.’
‘He scored three last game.’
‘And Cole is…’
‘The best player I’ve seen for a long time,’ Bob finished for her.
She was finding it hard to concentrate on Cole’s speed and athleticism. She was distracted by the way he wiped at his lip with the sleeve of his shirt when play halted. It was cute the way he did that.
‘Yeah, he’s real good. He’s a cut above the rest of them out there,’ Robyn said, watching Cole hone in on the goal and shoot the puck past the goaltender.
‘What you gonna do?’ Bob wanted to know.
‘When’s the next game?’ Robyn asked.
‘Saturday, at home—against Reading,’ Bob informed her.
‘Shit, aren’t they—’
‘Top of the league, yepper,’ Bob answered with a nod.
*
With practice over, all that was left for Robyn to do was talk to her team.
‘Listen, you all did well tonight, but we can do better. We need to find that camaraderie, you know, the team spirit. We may not be the best team in the league, but we’re going to be the best unit. We’re going to get to know each other inside and out. And we’re going to practice more than you’ve ever practiced before,’ Robyn informed them.
There were audible grumbles.
‘So, this is your new morale officer, Bob. He’s going to be in charge of the tab when we go to Taboo on Friday night,’ Robyn announced.
This news was met with collective excitement, surprise and happy faces.
‘What is Taboo?’ Henrik asked.
‘Girls, Henrik, girls and poles,’ Mickey informed him.
‘We’re all going to bond over beer and burgers and…’ Robyn began.
‘Boobies!’ Henrik announced with a high-pitched laugh.
‘We?’ Brad asked.
‘Yes, Brad, we.’
‘You’re coming to a strip club?’ he clarified.
‘I’m the manager, of course I’m coming. Now go and get changed and get out of here,’ Robyn ordered.
Most of the team skated off the ice and headed toward the locker rooms, glad the vigorous session was over.
‘They worked hard tonight,’ Grant said to Robyn.
‘I know, I told them.’
‘I’m just saying, don’t be too hard on them.’
‘Are you trying to tell me how to manage the team, Grant?’ Robyn asked. She set her expression to suggest it would be unwise to challenge her.
‘I’m sure he wasn’t trying to do that,’ Brad spoke quickly.
‘No, of course not, I just—’
‘Grant, why don’t we go get a drink, huh? Robyn, I’ll meet you at the car,’ Bob said, putting his arm around the man and leading him off.
‘You were a bit harsh with him. He hasn’t had much luck himself these last few years,’ Brad said to Robyn, hopping off the ice and joining her.
‘I’m not sure I
want to know.’
‘After Jason went away, Francine died. Then a couple years later, he lost his job at the factory, had to start over again, retrain. All he’s got is the hockey team. Don’t take it from him.’
‘Some people say you make your own luck,’ Robyn answered stiffly.
‘He’s a good guy,’ Brad reminded her.
‘People used to say that about Jason,’ Robyn replied.
‘Let’s not talk about him,’
‘Has he ever been back here… you know …since I left?’ Robyn asked, swallowing the knot of emotion that had risen up.
‘No,’ Brad answered. His words couldn’t have been more definite.
Happy with the response, Robyn let out a breath of relief she hadn’t realized she was holding in.
‘You okay?’ Brad appeared concerned.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Listen, thank you for arranging the new locks and the alarm for the roadhouse, I’ll pay you back.’
‘It was no big deal. Was it all good?’ Brad asked.
‘Yes, as long as I remember the code number. If I don’t, it’s going to set off some alarm at the Portage Marshals’ office,’ Robyn replied with a grin.
‘So, where d’you find Cole?’ Brad wanted to know.
‘He kind of found me, halfway to terminal three in O’ Hare. Isn’t he great? He’s so quick over the ice, and some of those goals he netted were unbelievable,’ Robyn said with a touch of pride.
‘Yeah, he’s good,’ Brad admitted reluctantly.
‘We’re so lucky to have a player of his caliber, I mean—’
‘So, are you seeing him?’ Brad asked briskly.
‘Seeing him?’ Robyn asked.
‘Yeah, you know… dating him or whatever.’
‘No! I mean, I’ve only known him a couple of days. Why is everyone around here so concerned about my status?’
‘I just wanted to know, is all.’
‘You know I can’t date anyone from the team. It would be highly unethical—I’m the manager now.’
‘Yeah, but we dated before.’
‘I wasn’t the manager of the ice hockey team then, and anyways, we were just kids,’ Robyn said.
‘We weren’t kids.’
‘Well okay, young adults, teens, whatever the watchword is these days. It was just high school stuff,’ Robyn said, bending her feet outward and balancing on the edge of her sneakers.
‘I wanted to ask you the other night, but you were tired, it was late, and you’d just got back and everything… I was just thinking maybe we could…’ Brad began tentatively.
‘God, is that the time? I’d better catch up with Bob,’ Robyn said, looking at her watch and backing away from him.
‘I thought maybe we could have some dinner together some time,’ Brad suggested.
‘No. I mean, no thanks. I’m not really into dinner these days. I’ll see you,’ Robyn called.
She turned her back on him and rushed down the tunnel like she was trying to outrun a grizzly bear.
Ten
‘Can we go? Like now,’ Robyn said, tugging at Bob’s arm.
He and Grant were having a beer in the corridor, courtesy of one of the refreshment stands they’d taken the liberty of opening.
‘Why the hurry? Grant and I were just reminiscing about the old days when we all used to play. Your dad was the best goaltender in the state,’ Bob reminded her.
‘Yeah, I know. Heard all the stories at least a zillion times—can we go?’ Robyn begged.
‘Listen, Robyn, I hope you didn’t think I was out of line earlier…’ Grant started.
‘No, of course not, and I really need you to carry on being my assistant. There are going to be training sessions I can’t make if the roadhouse does as well as I’m hoping. Bob, I need to go,’ Robyn repeated.
‘You need to find that Portage pace of life. Quit rushing around like you do in England,’ Bob insisted, taking a slow sip of his beer.
‘No rush, I just want to get back and tell Auntie Pam all about it,’ Robyn said, looking down the corridor, concerned Brad was going to try and catch her up.
‘Like she’s ever had an interest in hockey,’ Bob replied.
‘She has, she offered to make shirts once.’
‘Yeah, with rosettes on them,’ Bob reminded her.
‘Gimme the car keys, then. I’ll drive home and Grant can give you a lift,’ Robyn said, anxious to get going.
‘What’s gotten into you?’ Bob wanted to know.
‘Nothing. Oh, here comes Cole. Cole, can you give me a ride home? Uncle Bob seems to want to stay here drinking all night, reminiscing about the good old days,’ Robyn said as Cole came along the corridor.
‘No one said anything about staying here all night,’ Bob retorted.
‘Yeah, but I know how you talk. A good story takes like half a day to tell. Can you give me a ride?’ Robyn asked Cole bluntly.
‘I can do a bit better than that. I’ve got something for you,’ Cole replied.
‘What?’ Robyn asked.
‘Come on, it’s outside,’ he informed her with a smile.
*
‘This better be good,’ Robyn said as they arrived in the parking lot.
‘I think it’s good. Here,’ Cole announced, gesturing to an old car in front of them.
‘Oh my God! This is a Mustang, circa 1984,’ Robyn said, approaching it with excitement in every step.
‘1985, actually,’ Cole answered.
He watched as Robyn went around the red car, fondly rubbing the rusty fender and looking inside the windows.
‘This is a classic. I mean, some people hate the look of this compared to the first editions, but to me, it totally sums up the Eighties,’ Robyn told him.
‘I’m glad you think like that because… it’s yours,’ Cole informed her. He’d said the last two words in a whisper she had barely heard.
‘What?’ Robyn questioned, turning around to look at him.
‘I saw it in the Gen-All car park, for sale notice stuck on it. I knew you were looking for a car so…’ Cole trailed off.
‘You bought me a car,’ Robyn remarked, eyeing him with suspicion.
‘Yeah, I know how that sounds. But it was a great price and it definitely isn’t a prologue to anything. If you don’t want it, I’ll—’
‘I didn’t say I didn’t want it,’ Robyn said quickly.
‘Try her out,’ Cole suggested and he threw Robyn the keys.
‘Her?’ Robyn asked, holding the keys and still admiring the car.
‘I’m afraid so. One previous owner, a guy named Gerry who works in maintenance. She’s called Leonora. First love, first wife—she died,’ Cole explained.
‘God, you’re kidding me, that’s tragic. I don’t know if I want a tragic car.’
‘Think of the history. I bet Gerry and Leonora had a whole pile of fun in her.’
‘I’m not sure I want to think about that, either,’ Robyn admitted.
‘Are you going to get in?’
Robyn eagerly wrenched open the door and jumped into the driver’s seat. She put the keys into the ignition and the engine roared to life.
‘Will you listen to that!’ she screamed excitedly.
The hum and rattle of the engine was like music to her ears. She revved it up, enjoying the sounds of 1980s manufacturing.
‘She might need some TLC, especially on those rust patches, but…’ Cole shouted over the engine.
‘It’ll be fun, and it will give me a chance to get Uncle Bob’s welder out. I’m always looking for an excuse to get the welder out!’ Robyn yelled back.
‘So you think you might keep her?’
‘We’re going to be inseparable, me and you, aren’t we?’ Robyn said, patting the steering wheel affectionately.
Cole smiled as Robyn put her foot to the floor again. The other players arrived, appearing eager to find out what all the noise was about.
‘Hey, a Mustang!’ Mickey exclaimed, touching the curves and lookin
g at it in appreciation.
‘Actually, she’s my Mustang,’ Robyn answered, taking her foot off the accelerator.
‘What is Mustang?’ Henrik asked, looking puzzled.
‘Henrik, you have to be kidding me! It’s an American classic. They must have American classics in your town in Austria,’ Brad replied, opening the door and jumping into the passenger seat.
‘Isn’t he Dutch?’ Mickey asked Brad.
‘It’s actually my American classic,’ Robyn said, wearing a smile from ear to ear.
‘Where d’you get it?’ Wes asked.
‘Cole got it,’ Robyn announced.
‘Yeah? What you trying to do? Buy your way into the team?’ Brad questioned accusingly.
‘Brad!’ Robyn exclaimed.
‘No, of course not. It was a steal of a price and I…’ Cole began.
‘You barely know her and you’re buying her a car, that’s weird man,’ Brad said, getting out of the car and squaring up to Cole.
‘It was a good deal, and Robyn needed a car,’ Cole responded.
‘You’ve known her what? A day?’ Brad exploded.
‘What has that got to do with anything?’ Cole asked.
‘What has it got to do with anything? I’ll tell you, shall I? You don’t know Robyn yet and we don’t know jack shit about you. Who are you anyway?’ Brad was pointing at Cole, his finger shaking, his face contorted with anger.
‘Brad! Have you gone crazy? Leave him alone,’ Robyn screamed, jumping out of the car and attempting to diffuse the situation.
‘Hey, listen, this is just about finding a ride for someone. If that’s out of line in this town, then I apologize,’ Cole replied, standing his ground.
‘I don’t trust him,’ Brad announced to everyone.
‘What did you say?’ Robyn asked, narrowing her eyes at Brad.
‘I said I don’t trust him. What do you know about him, Robyn? Nothing. And he’s buying you a car!’ Brad exclaimed, his eyes fixed on Cole.
‘I know enough to know that I trust him,’ Robyn responded angrily.
Brad just continued to stare at Cole, his blue eyes cold and full of anger.
‘And, just so we’re clear, not that it’s anybody’s business, but I will be paying him back for the car. Just like I’ll pay you back for the alarm system,’ Robyn retorted.