by Beth Ehemann
Shaking my head, I let out a small laugh. “I have a feeling nothing would be good enough for you when it comes to food though. If there’s one area you’re the master of, it’s that.”
“Damn right it is.” She nodded proudly. “In my opinion, serving bland food should be a crime punishable by law.”
“Oh, Gam. You would hate my kitchen.”
“I thought Viper was teaching you how to cook?”
“He was. He did . . . kinda. Then we started dating, and now he just cooks for us,” I said with a quick laugh. Gam was important to me, and not just because she was my boyfriend’s grandmother, but because over the last year I’d grown to love her . . . a lot. She wasn’t just his family, she was my family, too.
“Maybe he wasn’t the right teacher for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sometimes you need to let the master teach you in order to really learn.”
“You?”
“Yes, me!”
My eyes traveled down her body and back up to her face. “How would that work now?”
“My mouth still works, doesn’t it? I’ll sit at the kitchen table with my whiskey and tell you what to do.” She shrugged. “Sounds like a perfect plan to me.”
“What sounds like a perfect plan?” Viper bellowed as he walked back into the room, making us both jump. “You two conspiring to take over the world?”
“Maybe,” I said in a facetious tone.
“What’s that?” Gam asked as he set a white box on the end of her bed.
“I ran to the bakery at the corner. It’s a blueberry muffin, a piece of lemon poppy seed bread, a cinnamon scone, and an éclair—your favorite.”
Gam’s mouth dropped open as she stared up at Viper in amazement. “You went and got this for me?”
“Of course I did.” He smiled back as he handed her the box.
She quickly lifted the lid and peered down into it. “There’s a bear claw, too.”
“That’s Michelle’s. They’re her favorite.” He shot me a quick wink.
“And three key lime tarts?”
“Mine. I’m starving. Don’t judge.” He snatched the box back from her and started pulling the pastries out, setting them on the tray one by one.
“This is really sweet of you,” Gam said, watching him closely.
“What can I say?” He held his hands out as a big grin spread across his lips. “I’m an amazing human being.”
“We’ll see how amazing you are.” Gam raised an eyebrow at him.
He dropped his arms and stared at her blankly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She covered her mouth and let out a small laugh. “It means what am I getting for lunch and dinner?”
Gam was up and walking that day and back home a week later. Though she complained about the food every chance she got, she handled the rest of the week like a champ. But boy was she glad to be home.
Unfortunately for me, the day she came home was also the same day I had to head out of town for a quick three-day road trip with the Wild. Michelle assured me she had everything with Gam under control. What I didn’t tell her is that I had Andy Shaw, my friend and agent, ask his assistant look into hiring a full-time nurse to help Gam out around the house. I didn’t tell Michelle, or Gam, because I knew they would both argue, but it was the right thing to do.
Michelle had the kids to take care of already and spending most of her days and some nights at Gam’s just wouldn’t work. And if I told Gam, she would just say that she was fine and possibly end up hurting herself again. That was a risk I wasn’t taking. Period.
“Hey!” Brody smacked me in the hand. “Why are you so serious today? What’s up?”
“I’m not serious,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose and squeezing my eyes shut. “I just have a headache.”
“No shit. I would too after all you’ve been through.”
“It’s been a long week. Everything hurts . . . my back, my head.” I arched my back off the airplane seat, trying to get some relief for my tense muscles. “I need a vacation.”
“Yeah, well . . . the season just started, so you’re gonna have to wait eight months for that. Hopefully nine.”
“Nine would be nice, wouldn’t it?” I sighed. If we were still playing in nine months, that meant the Wild made the play-offs. Not only did I want to still be playing in nine months, I wanted to be winning. We all did. We’d been working our asses off, and we deserved it.
“It would,” he said, probably thinking the same thing I was about play-offs. “And then—I’m serious—you drop those kids off with us and take your girl on a great vacation. A real vacation. None of those rent-by-the-hour shady ass places that comes with its own semen-filled pool right there in your room.”
My shoulders shook as I laughed. “I haven’t been to one of those in a long time, but oh the memories.”
“Disgusting.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it,” I joked, looking over at him just as his lips curled and his eyes widened.
“No thanks. Those STDs can stay right where they are.” His eyes slid over to me. “And you better not even be thinking about taking her there. She deserves better, especially for putting up with your dumb ass on a daily basis.”
“She really does, doesn’t she?”
Without lifting it off the seat, he turned his head to face me. “Between you and me, I think she deserves a ring.”
“A ring?” I sputtered, scowling at him.
“Yes, a ring,” he repeated. “A big, fat diamond one.”
I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’ve clearly lost your fucking mind. I’m not buying anyone a ring—ever.”
“Oh come on,” he said, rolling his eyes dramatically. “You guys have been together for a year now. It’s seriously never crossed your mind?”
“It seriously never has,” I responded with a shrug.
“Why not? It’s the natural progression of things.”
“Maybe it was natural progression for you. For me, it’s a death sentence.”
“You have things backwards, my poor, stupid little friend. Let me teach you.” He turned in his seat and leaned in close. “You don’t date a woman who has two kids for a year if you never plan on marrying her. That is a death sentence.”
“No, it’s not,” I scoffed. “Michelle is awesome. She feels the same way I do.”
“She does?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve talked about it?”
“No, because she’s not a needy leech like most women.”
Brody turned back in his seat, facing forward again. “It was nice knowing you,” he said dryly.
“Shut up,” I nudged him hard with my elbow. “I do agree on one thing though, she is pretty fucking awesome . . . and supportive of everything. For example,”—I mentally put on my salesman hat—“she thinks this bar idea is amazing.”
“Oh my God.” He stared straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him. “Don’t. Just don’t. I really don’t want to be known as the crazy hockey player who snapped and threw his best friend out of a plane, but if it comes to that . . .”
“You promised you’d think about it.”
“I did think about it.”
“And?”
“And . . . now’s not the time or the place.” He raised a finger and pointed to the row in front of us where Louie and a couple other guys sat.
I waved my hand. “Fuck them. Come on, tell me. What do you think? Honestly?”
“Honestly?” He raised his eyebrows and then let out a heavy sigh. “It sounds like a lot of work and a lot of money.”
Fuck.
I nodded slowly and sat back against my seat feeling defeated. While I understood his apprehension, I was still disappointed with the answer. I’d thought about that bar at least a hundred times over the last week or so, and every time I let myself get a little more excited.
“But,” he continued, and my head snapped toward him, �
��it also sounds like a lot of fun if we can make it work.”
“Wait. Seriously. You’re in?”
“Here’s what I’ll commit to . . . we’re going to take this in stages. Right now, I’ll agree to talk to people and do some research on start-up costs and shit. If I like what I hear, we’ll move to the next stage and I’ll agree to scout places with you. If I like what I see, I’ll agree to move to the stage after that. Got it?”
“Got it,” I agreed with a big, stupid smile on my face. “But I have one question.”
“Okay?”
“Is there a stage when we get to give each other a celebratory hug and hold on for an awkwardly long time?”
He closed his eyes for a quick second and shook his head. “Yes. It’s right before the stage where I hack up your body into little pieces and bury it somewhere.”
Once the plane landed and we got to the hotel, I called Michelle just to check in. The phone rang a couple of times before someone picked up.
“Hello?” a tiny voice said on the other end.
“Hello? Who is this?” I asked, knowing exactly who it was.
“This is Matthew. Hi, Viper.”
“Hi, buddy. How are ya?”
“Good. Guess what?” The excitement in his voice practically came through the phone and punched me in the cheek.
“What?”
“I was riding my bike outside today and I totally wiped out. I had to go to the hospital and everything!”
“Wait. You did?” I wasn’t too concerned because he sounded happy about it, but a trip to the hospital isn’t what I was expecting to hear from him.
“Yep. I had a big cut on my knee that wouldn’t stop bleeding, so Mom took me.”
“And what happened?”
“Well,” he said, his tone turning gloomy, “they used glue to close it up.”
“Okaaaaay. Is that a bad thing? You sound sad.”
“Kinda. I really wanted stitches. I’ve never had stitches before.”
I let out a hearty laugh that bounced off the walls of my empty hotel room. “Buddy, you’re young. You still have plenty of time for stitches. Trust me.”
He let out a small sigh. “I hope so.”
“Is Mom close to you?”
“Yeah, she’s sitting right here shaking her head. Bye. I love you.”
“I love you, too, kiddo,” I said, smiling to myself. “I’ll call later.”
The line was quiet for a minute and then I heard a heavy sigh. “That kid is something else, isn’t he?”
“He really is,” I said through a chuckle.
“I’ve never heard of a kid being mad because he didn’t have to get stitches before.”
I lay down on the bed and switched ears. “Oh, I totally get it.”
“You do?”
“Hell yeah. Boys love battle wounds. As much as it hurt, he was probably excited to go to school Monday and show his friends his stitches.”
“But he still has the cut. Isn’t that good enough?”
“No way. Stitches look tougher.”
Another sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand boys.”
“Trust me, we feel the same way about you girls,” I teased.
“So, how was your flight?”
“Good. I mean, Brody wouldn’t keep his hands off me, but other than that it was fine.”
She let out a quick giggle. “Ya know, if you weren’t such a hornball all the time at home, I might seriously wonder about the two of you.”
“We did talk about the bar thing though.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, he’s willing to at least check some things out with me.”
“I talked to Kacie for a while this morning and she said that he’d been thinking a lot about it. I’m happy for you.”
“Did she say anything else?”
“Not really. We laughed about how different the two of you are. You want the bar to have a super fun place to hang out, but Brody is looking at it as an investment opportunity for when he’s not playing hockey anymore.”
I waved my arm in the air. “Psh, that’s because Brody isn’t planning on playing forever like me.”
“You’re gonna play hockey forever?”
“Hell yeah. I’m immortal.”
“Did you inhale plane fumes or something?”
“I’m not kidding,” I defended.
“Viper, you’re almost thirty and not getting any younger.”
“Yeah, and I’m gonna be the oldest guy to ever have an NHL contract, you watch.”
She let out a small chuckle and I wasn’t sure if she was laughing with me or at me. “I hope you’re right,” she finally said. “I can’t imagine being any prouder of you than I already am, but that sure would bump it up a notch.”
“Thanks, babe.” I let out a heavy sigh. “I sure miss you guys already.”
“We miss you, too,” she said in a soft, sexy tone. “But thankfully this is only a quick road trip and you’ll be back home soon.”
“I can’t wait. I hate being away, especially now with Gam just coming home and stuff.”
“She’s totally fine. We were there with her all day, except for our little detour to the ER. We helped her take a bath, she read a few books to Maura, and she taught me how to make skirt steak. Then she wanted to take a little nap, so we came home to pack overnight bags.”
I’d known Michelle was an amazing person for a long time and she’d been my amazing person for a year, but she continued to surprise me with the way she cared for me, and now Gam. I was overcome with gratitude and not sure how to process it all.
“Are you still there?” she asked a couple seconds later.
“Yeah, sorry.” I cleared my throat. “It’s just that . . .” My voice trailed off and I took a deep breath.
“Viper, what is it?” she asked softly.
“It’s just that I love skirt steak so much, and knowing that you know how to make it now is overwhelming me.”
“Oh, you’re such an asshole!”
“What?” I exclaimed defensively. “I really do love skirt steak.”
While I hated Viper being away, thankfully it was an easy transition. I was already used to that lifestyle from being married to Mike. I handled it all in stride. The kids, the house, life in general. It all balanced out. Now I had the added task of helping Gam out, and while it wasn’t that big of a deal, it worried me a little. She lived about half an hour away from my house, so it wasn’t that easy to just zip over if she needed me. Most days we went over in the morning and hung there until bedtime. A couple nights we’d even slept over just in case she needed anything during the night.
I spent the morning at her house and then Regina came over to visit with her daughter and grandkids. Feeling guilty that I had to be there so much, Gam told me to head on home since she had people there. I probably should have argued more, but I was happy to have a day to do some other things. I gave her a kiss good-bye and told her to call the minute Regina left.
Just as I was loading the kids in the car, my phone beeped, letting me know a text had come in. I clicked Maura’s buckle shut and grabbed my phone from my back pocket. It was a text from Brody’s wife, Kacie.
K: Hey! What are you guys doing today? I know you’re busy with Gam and stuff, but I was wondering if you wanted to come up here and swim while we still have a few nice days left?
I let out a heavy sigh and looked back and forth from Matthew to Maura. I had a million things to do at the house, but those two had been such troopers about going with me to Gam’s every day, they deserved a little fun. Plus, the thought of having another mom to chat with for a while sounded more exciting than a bubble bath and a glass of wine.
“Hey, you want to go to Kacie’s and swim with the kids?” I asked Matthew.
His arms shot straight up in the air. “Yay!”
I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed the bag behind the passenger’s seat. “Wait. Let me just see if I have—Bingo!” I pulled their wadded-up
bathing suits from the bag and held them up. “Guess it pays to leave your junk in the car for a couple weeks, huh, Matthew?”
He grinned and nodded.
I sent Kacie a quick text.
You have no idea how bad I needed this today. On our way!
Kacie and Brody lived about an hour away, but the kids were ready for a nap anyway, so the timing was actually perfect. They slept in the car while I drove along, bopping my head to the soft music.
We pulled onto the long dirt road that led to Kacie’s house and drove slowly through the trees until her house came into view. Lucy, Piper, and Emma were running around the front yard and Kacie was sitting on the big porch swing with Grace in her arms. She stood and waved as we pulled up.
“I still can’t believe you live here,” I called as I unbuckled Maura from her car seat. Brody and Kacie had built their dream house just a hundred yards or so away from her mom’s place, The Cranberry Inn, and it was beautiful. An enormous, white country-style house with the most massive front porch I’d ever seen. In the back was a huge deck that looked out over their large yard that butted right up to the lake. It was a dream.
“Sometimes I can’t believe it either,” Kacie said as she came down the steps to meet me. “Hi, sweet girl.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on the side of Maura’s sweaty head before wrapping her arms around me, too. “How are you? Brody told me about all of the craziness with Gam.”
“I’m good.” I shrugged with a smile when she pulled back. “It does add a lot of work to my day, but nothing I can’t handle.”
“Come on in. I made lunch,” she said cheerfully, waving us to follow her.
“Matthew, I’m gonna go inside with Kacie. You stay by Lucy and Piper, got it?” I asked him in that way that moms do, where it’s more telling than asking.
“Yes, Momma,” he answered quickly before turning around and chasing Emma across the yard.
“Lucy and Piper?” Kacie called out.
“We got him, Mom,” Piper called back.
We climbed the wooden steps of her porch and went through the door. Kacie’s house was bright and open, yet warm and inviting. The strong smell of cinnamon invaded my nose and I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. “That smells so good. Are you baking?”