by Kat Mizera
“I can make an omelet,” she said, “though I’ve never made one with just egg whites.”
“It’s better for me, less fat, but you can make your own however you like,” he said. “I usually add a little cheese, along with turkey sausage, tomatoes, and green onion. Sometimes I throw in whatever veggies are in the fridge but today I kept it simple.”
“Works for me.”
They sat at the island and ate, talking about tonight’s game. “So I’ll bring home a special laminated pass for you when I get back from the morning skate,” he said. “You’ll need it tonight. Are you going to the game with Charli?”
She nodded. “Yes.
“She can answer any general questions you have, and obviously, I can answer any specifics as you think of them.”
“Don’t worry about me. Should I plan on dinner or do you eat at the arena?”
“I’ll eat at the arena.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about me on game days, I’m not around much and usually really distracted.”
“Don’t worry about me on game days, either,” she said, smiling back. “I have plenty to do and will see you tonight afterward.”
“Okay.” He put his dish in the sink. “Do you mind putting the dishes in the dishwasher? I have to get going.”
“I don’t mind at all.” She got up and moved to the sink, but he took a second to grab her, pulling her close. “By the way—good morning.” He pressed his lips to hers and she sighed against his mouth.
“Good morning.”
“I’ll be home around one and will probably take a nap. Will you be here?’
She nodded. “I don’t have any way to go anywhere, so where else would I be?”
He froze. “Shit, I forgot about that. I’m used to you driving Gage’s cars.”
“Me too.”
“I’ll be home in plenty of time for you to get to practice at three, and Miikka can pick me up for the game. Does that work for you?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all. We’ll have to talk about getting you a car at some point because you driving me around daily will get tedious, but I don’t like the idea of you being stranded at home all day, either, especially if you need to go help Gage or Hailey with the kids.”
“Yes, but we don’t have to talk about that today.”
“Okay.”
He thought about her the whole way to the arena and mentally shook his head. He had to stop thinking about her when he was supposed to be thinking about hockey. Damn, he had it bad for his new wife, and he wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
They fell into a routine easily over the next week, and as they geared up for the next road trip, Donovan had finally found his focus with hockey. The last game before Thanksgiving was intense because the guys on the team knew they’d be off for a couple of days and then they’d be hitting the road. Tonight, though, there was an added element of intensity because Dani had gone into labor sometime during the game. She didn’t tell anyone until it was over, and everyone wished her and Sergei good luck as they headed for the hospital.
When Donovan wandered into the family lounge, he immediately looked for Tara, who was deep in conversation with Charli. He’d had another big win tonight and was looking to celebrate, but he and Tara hadn’t officially made their relationship public yet. The marriage was a secret, but not the relationship itself, so he figured this was as good a time as any to stake his claim. He saw the way his single teammates looked at her and while he wasn’t typically the jealous type, he was definitely possessive of Tara.
“Hey, beautiful.” He leaned down and lightly kissed her, right on the lips, and smiled at the twinkle in her eye.
“Hi. How many in a row is this?”
“Shhh.” He chuckled, sliding an arm around her waist. “Let’s not jinx it.”
“You played well, as usual.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, we’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Sara asked as she and Aaron got ready to leave.
“We’ll be there,” Tara said. “I’m looking forward to my first Thanksgiving and am going to bake my first pumpkin pie.”
“We have plenty of food, but I’m anxious to see what you come up with.” Sara and Aaron waved goodbye, and Donovan looked at Tara curiously.
“You’re making a pumpkin pie?”
She nodded. “I found a recipe that seems simple and bought all the ingredients, so I’m going to get up early to make it.”
“That’s awesome. I can’t wait to try it.”
They walked out to his SUV holding hands.
“Hey, Tara!” Logan called out to her and she turned.
“Hey, Logan.”
“You guys want to go out?” he asked. “I’ve got a date and thought we could double. The bars are always hopping the night before Thanksgiving.”
Tara glanced at Donovan and the look they exchanged was telling: they wanted to go home a lot more than they wanted to go out.
“I have to get up early to bake for Thanksgiving,” Tara said. “Maybe next time?’
“Okay.” He gave them a grin and jogged back to his truck.
“Do you mind?”
“Do you mind?”
They spoke at the same time and grinned at each other.
“I’d rather be home with you,” Donovan said softly. “But we can go out if you want to.”
She shook her head. “I really do have to get up early to bake. In case I screw it up, I’ll have time to try again.”
“You’re not going to screw it up.” He reached across the center console for her hand and their fingers threaded together.
“You have more faith than I do. I know how to cook and bake, of course, but I’ve never made a pie.”
“Neither have I, to be honest.”
“Does your mother cook and bake?”
“She does. She and my dad are coming for Christmas.”
Tara glanced over at him. “So are my parents and little brother.”
“Have you told your mom we moved in together?”
She shook her head. “You?”
“No, but I’ll call tomorrow and I’ll tell them then.”
“Will they be upset?”
“About what? Me finding a girlfriend?”
“A girlfriend that’s already moved in.”
“We’ve known each other for almost two years and were friends. Now we’re more than friends.”
“My mother and I are very close,” she said slowly. “She’s going to suspect something.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows how stressed I’ve been about getting my visa. Now suddenly I’m living with a guy I really like and not talking about the visa anymore.”
“Just say it came through, which I think is technically going to be true sooner rather than later. Team lawyer said it shouldn’t be a problem now that we’re married.”
“Yes, I’ll have to tell my mother it’s done.”
“Why do you sound funny?”
“Because then she’s going to ask about the job at the college, and when they come for Christmas, they’ll probably want to see the team play.”
“College teams usually don’t play around the holidays unless there’s a tournament or something.”
“Oh, good. I’ll just make sure she doesn’t see Cassie if she comes to see me play hockey.”
“I’m bummed I won’t be at your next game. I enjoy watching you guys play.”
“I’ll miss having you there, but Charli and the girls will probably come, so I’ll have a cheering section.”
He grinned over at her. “Just don’t dislocate your jaw or anything—I’ll be too far away to hold your hand.”
“No plans to ever do that again.” She shuddered.
“This trip is going to be a long one,” he murmured, squeezing her hand. “I’m going to miss you.”
“This is going to be a problem when you go back on the road—what will I do without you for fifteen long days? I’m going to be very, very horny.”
“Video sex,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“That sounds like fun.”
“Oh yeah.”
“I’ve never done anything like that,” she said. “I had no reason to. Saku and I were always together unless he was out with his buddies, but he always came home at night.”
“Then I guess I have to introduce you to a whole new world. We don’t have much choice here in Alaska because road trips are always pretty long. We never go for less than a week. The flip side is that we’re home for at least a week at a time, usually two. But when we go, it’s ten to fifteen days.”
“So video sex will be something to look forward to.”
“Not as good as in-person sex, but yes, an acceptable substitute when we have no choice.”
“Let’s hurry home,” she said softly. “Tonight we get the real thing.”
20
Tara made two perfect pies the next morning and was extremely proud of herself. She was excited to celebrate her first Thanksgiving in America and was fascinated by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which Donovan had turned on while she’d been baking.
“This is every year?” she asked him.
“Since something like 1924,” he told her. “I’ve watched it every year my entire life, as far as I can remember. It’s part of the Thanksgiving tradition. My mother would be cooking, and we’d be watching the parade before football.”
“Football?”
He met her gaze questioningly. “You know what American football is, right?”
“Yes, but on a Thursday? Usually it’s on Sundays, no?”
“Sundays and then there’s Monday nights, too, but Thanksgiving is a huge tradition. The Dallas Cowboys always play and there’s intense rivalry—those who love them and the rest of us who hate them.”
She laughed. “Gage watches a lot of football on Sundays but I’m not that into it. Mostly I watch hockey.”
“I’m a baseball fan, personally.”
“Oh, wow,” she mused, watching the cast from a popular Broadway show performing during the parade. “This is cool. I’ve never been to a Broadway show.”
“They don’t have shows in Finland?”
“Not on that scale, no, and certainly not in Savonlinna, although there are local theater groups and such. But it’s not the same.”
“Probably not. Have you been to New York City?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Maybe you can fly out and meet me when we’re out there. We usually do the New York and New Jersey teams all in row, and then either go down to Washington, D.C. or up to Buffalo or Toronto.”
“I’ve been to Toronto, but none of the other places.”
“We don’t go back east until mid-January, I think, so we have time to come up with a plan. We don’t have a lot of free time, but I’ll look at the schedule and see if I could carve out a tiny bit for you. It would be more fun if some of the other WAGs came, too, that way you wouldn’t be alone because I truly wouldn’t have much free time.”
“That sounds lovely.” She gave him a big grin. “I’m already mentally planning the trip!”
They had a great time at Aaron and Sara’s, and Tara had never eaten so much at once in her life. She loved her mother’s cooking but she’d been anxious to try every traditional option at the table today and there had been a lot of them. Everything from turkey and ham to three kinds of cranberry sauce, two types of sweet potato dishes, and a green bean casserole she’d never heard of before. Not to mention dessert. In addition to her pumpkin pie, there were three others, along with a sweet potato pie and pecan pie, which turned out to be her favorite.
“If there was ever a night to do the calorie-burning sex we talked about, it would be tonight,” she said to Donovan when they got home.
He chuckled. “I will admit to being shocked at how much you ate tonight. I’ve never seen anyone your size eat that much, but it was fun to watch you so excited to try things that I’ve been eating my whole life.”
“Well, when you get back from the next road trip, I’ll cook some of the foods I grew up with and we can compare.”
“I hope I’m up to the challenge,” he teased.
“Hopefully, more than one.” She pulled off her top.
Tara called her mother Saturday morning after Donovan had left for the airport.
“Aiti, I have to tell you something,” she said as soon as she heard her mother’s voice.
“Something about Donovan?”
“Yes. We’re living together.”
“Really?” Her mother sounded surprised. “When did this happen?”
“About a week ago.” Tara figured she didn’t need to get into the details.
“And you’re just now telling me? What aren’t you telling me?”
Tara sighed.
“This sounds serious. Are you pregnant?”
“What? No! No, nothing like that.”
“Too bad. I’m anxious for grandbabies.”
“You still have a child at home,” Tara protested. “Isn’t Leon enough?”
“I would have had several more children if I’d been able to, but as you know, it took us a very long time to conceive Leon and now I’m in menopause so all that attention will have to go to grandchildren, in addition to Leon, of course.”
“Well, don’t worry. I’m sure Miikka and Charli are going to work on that soon.”
“So you’re not pregnant.” Her mother sounded amused. “What could you be hiding?”
“Aiti, I’m not hiding anything.”
“You’re lying.”
Tara laughed this time. Her mother knew her too well. It was wonderful that they were so close, but sometimes, like now, it was annoying.
“You might as well tell me.”
“You can’t get upset.”
“Why would I be upset?”
“And you can’t tell anyone.”
“My love, I would never tell anyone anything you tell me in confidence.”
“Donovan and I got married so I could get my visa.”
“Oh.” Her mother was rarely shocked into silence, but she appeared to be now.
“Aiti?”
“I’m here, love. I’m just a bit startled. Are you happy?”
“That’s the problem—I’m so happy. He’s wonderful, everything I could ever want in a man.”
“Except he’s not truly your husband. Not in the way that counts.”
“Right.”
“Have you talked to him about your feelings?”
“How can I? We’d only been dating a few weeks when this happened. He told me he’s not ready to fall in love again yet—did I tell you he’s divorced? Anyway, there’s certainly an attraction between us, and we have a lot of fun together, but it’s not a marriage.”
“Then enjoy it for what it is. As if you’re dating someone wonderful and now you’ve moved in together.”
“Intellectually, I know all this, but emotionally, I’m nervous. Donovan isn’t like anyone I’ve ever met before. He’s…special.”
“Don’t get all worked up over something you can’t control. You’ve made the decision to be his wife for however long the arrangement is, and the choices are to completely distance yourself so as not to get attached, or to give it everything you have so that there is no end date and you find the love you deserve.”
“Oh, Aiti, could it possibly be that easy?”
“No, it’s not easy. Nothing good is ever easy. It will take more work than you ever imagined to for this to go the way you want it to. Even if you were completely in love and this wasn’t a marriage of convenience, marriage is the hardest I’ve ever worked. There have been many dark days with your father and me. More than I can count. But we worked through them and we always will.”
“That’s just it—how do you work through issues when you’re not in a committed relationship?”
“Aren’t you? I mean, do you plan to date other people? Wouldn’t that be a flag to immigration?”
“We didn’t talk about monogamy, I suppose I just assumed, specifically because of the immigration stuff.” She paused. “I should bring it up, right?”
“Sooner rather than later.”
“What if he says no?”
“To monogamy? Then that decision is made for you. There’s nothing to do but detach yourself completely and get what you want out of the arrangement—the visa.”
“Oh.” Tara couldn’t even fathom Donovan saying he wanted to date or sleep with other women while they were married. He wouldn’t. She knew this deep in her gut, but it still needed to be a conversation they had.
She brought it up later that day on the phone. Though the timing was probably bad, it wasn’t something she could sit on because it was too important. Especially with him on a two-week road trip.
“I have to talk to you,” she blurted out.
“Okay.” He sounded confused and curious. “What’s going on?”
“Are you going to date other women?” It sounded ridiculous when she said it out loud, but her mother was right that it needed to be said.
“You mean, now that I’m married to you?”
To her utter astonishment, he burst out laughing.
“Seriously, babe? Did you just ask me if I’m going to date other women?”
“Yes! It’s important.” She didn’t know why it annoyed her to hear him laughing. “It’s not funny.”
“I’m sorry.” He sobered quickly, as if realizing she was serious. “Tara, what on earth would make you think that, much less feel the need to ask me?”
“Because we never talked about it, and I realized that I can’t be comfortable with the intimacy we’re sharing if you’re sleeping with other women. I know our marriage isn’t real, but the sex is.”
“Of course, the marriage is real. It’s not traditional, but we are legally married, and with the possibility of immigration showing up, how could I sleep with other women? And frankly, why would I want to? I think our sex life is pretty damn great.” He paused. “Isn’t it? Are you planning to sleep with other guys?”
“No. That’s the whole point. I mean, yes, our sex life is amazing, so no, I would never sleep with someone else while we’re involved. I just had to make sure we were in agreement because…” She felt a little silly now.