Goalie Interference (NHL Scorpions) (24 page)

When the phone rang on Friday morning, she finally answered it, letting her annoyance be heard. “Hello?”

“Zoe. I’m sorry.”

Silence.

His voice rising slightly, he said it again. “I said I’m sorry.”

He’s sorry.
“Yeah? Me too. Do you have any idea how many people thought that our losing our parents was just a little bit easier because of that damn trust fund? It was like it didn’t really count because I wasn’t poor. I could almost hear people saying, ‘Oh, that’s a shame, but she’s rich now, so she’ll be fine.’ What is wrong with you?” Zoe was even more pissed off than she thought. How
dare
he talk to her like that?

“I know, Zoe. I was an ass. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine losing my parents like that. And I know what it’s like to have people think your life is perfect because you’re rich.”

“Then why the hell did you talk to me like that? You’re supposed to be the one who’s always in my corner. You’re supposed to be the one who I never have to wonder about. You’re
not
supposed to be the one who can strip me bare and leave my emotions hanging out to dry. Not you.” Dammit, she was going to cry. She had put her childhood to rest years ago, hadn’t she? Much quieter, having lost some of her anger, she said, “You hurt me, Vlad.”

“Zoe. God, I’m so sorry. I don’t ever want to hurt you. I love you so much. I don’t know why I said any of that. I just know that I was angry because you seem to be able to handle anything—and
everything
. I want to be like that. I want to be the one who can comfort my daughter. I guess I’m jealous. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, moya lyubov. “

Zoe begrudgingly felt a smile tug at her lips. “That’s not fair. You know I can’t think straight when you speak Russian to me.”

“Pozhaluysta, moya lyubov, pozhaluysta prosti menya.”

“I don’t know what you said, but it’s working. I’m going to learn how to speak Russian one of these days so that I know you’re not calling me names.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I’ll never take my anger out on you like that again, Zoe. I promise. And I was just asking you to forgive me. In Russian.” He didn’t know what else he could say.

“Okay, Vlad. I’ll try to let it go. Thank you for apologizing.”

“Thank God! I was really afraid I’d fucked up beyond repair this time. It won’t happen again.”

“Okay. So, what’s on your agenda for the day?”

“That depends on you. Would you like to go shopping for school clothes and supplies with Crystal and me?”

Zoe knew Vlad didn’t want to take Crystal clothes shopping. “Gee, I don’t know.” She loudly shuffled some papers around so he could hear over the phone. “I have a lot of paperwork to do.”

“Please, Zoe. I’ll beg if I have to. I don’t know what kind of clothes to buy her. And she said she doesn’t want me buying her underwear. And she called them ‘panties’. I’m her father for Pete’s sake! What’s the big deal? She’s eight. And why does she have to call them ‘panties’?”

Zoe laughed. “Vlad,
your
daughter is eight going on thirty. Most of the time, she’s not a typical eight year old.” Crystal was mature for her age, sometimes too mature.

“Come on. You take her to buy the dresses and frilly shit, and I’ll take charge of her clothes for soccer and school supplies. I’ll even buy you dinner. Anywhere you want.”

“Even if I want to go to The Pub?” Vlad hadn’t been to the Scorpions’ hang out since he had his surgery. Aside from a couple of get well flower baskets, he hadn’t seen anyone from the organization, except Jody.

“I guess it’s time to see the guys. Okay, The Pub it is. We’ll pick you up in half an hour.” He hung up the phone before she changed her mind. Then he called her back.

“Forget something?”

“I love you.” He hung up again, and she knew he had that dopey smile plastered all over his face.

Crystal was animated the whole day. It seemed like each day that went by got a little better for her. Vlad thought that she might even be looking forward to school, because she was getting bored at home.

With the car still packed full of clothes, pens, pencils, notebooks, and soccer gear, the three of them pulled into the parking lot of The Pub. Vlad noticed immediately that the parking lot was full of the players’ cars. “Did you call people, Zoe?”

“I might have.” She raised her hand to stop him from talking. “Don’t get mad at us.”

“Us?” He looked at Crystal who immediately looked out the window.

“We thought it would be nice for some of your friends to know that you were going to be here. They miss you. You told them you’d be seeing them, and they haven’t seen you in over a month.”

“Fine. Let’s go in. You ready for this, Little Bit? You’re going to meet a lot of noisy people.”

Crystal stuck her chin up in that way she did when she was bolstering her confidence. “I’m ready, are you?”

Vlad tapped her under the chin. “If you can do it, I can do it.”

After spending a couple of hours at The Pub with his former teammates, it was official. Crystal had each and every one of them willing to cast themselves in front of a bullet for her. Even Cage, who seemed to only care about himself most of the time, was under her spell.

“That was fun. Cage is so cute; he could make you feel better when you’re sick just by looking at him.” Crystal sighed and leaned her head back against the headrest.

Good Lord, his eight-year old daughter sighed at the thought of Cage friggin’ Booker. Zoe and Vlad both turned to her at the same time and said, “Forget it.” They smiled at each other as Crystal frowned.

“I’ll never forget him. I’m going to marry him someday. You wait and see.”

“Over my dead body. Cage is not for you. Besides, he’s about a hundred years older than you.”

She giggled at him. “I’m good in math, Dad. He’s not that much older. He said he’s twenty-five. I’m eight, almost nine, so he’s only about—she counted on her fingers, “sixteen years older. And he’s so cute!”

Zoe took Crystal’s side and gave Vlad an innocent smile. “He really is cute, Vlad. Gorgeous even. Maybe too cute for words.”

“Yes, that’s it, Zoe! He’s too cute for words. I want to get a poster of him and put it on my wall, can I Dad?” He was starting to notice that she added ‘Dad’ in when she wanted something. He had to give her credit; she was good.

“Only if I can use it as a dart board.”

They pulled up in front of Zoe’s house just in the nick of time. She interrupted their discussion before Vlad got too angry. He still had a chip on his shoulder where Cage was concerned. “I’m going in, guys. I have appointments most of the day tomorrow and some paperwork to catch up on, so let’s make plans for Saturday. Is that good?”

Vlad got out of the car to walk Zoe to her door. Crystal followed him, tugging on his sleeve. “Give it to her.”

“This isn’t the right time, remember? Remember what we talked about?”

“But I can’t wait any more. I know you have it. You always have it.”

Crystal ran back to the car to get Vlad’s jacket from the backseat, while he called after her. “Wait! Crystal! We said—oh, forget it.” She was already back, dropping his jacket on the ground.

She looked at Zoe with a secretive smile on her face and a box in her hands, which she gave to Vlad. “Do it. Real romantic like I told you.”

Zoe knew what it was, and couldn’t help the hitch she felt in her heart. She folded her hands in front of her to keep from reaching out for the black velvet square box.

Vlad rolled his eyes at Crystal. “Zoe, I—”

“Get down on your knee,” Crystal said in a loud stage whisper. “Remember? Like the prince.”

“It’s okay, Vlad. You don’t have to get down on your knee.” It was one position that still made his hip hurt.

“No, no, I got this.” Vlad got down on his knee and started again. “Zoe, I—”

“Dadddddddddy. You’re supposed to take her hands. Here, let me show you.” Crystal got down on her knees before Zoe and grabbed her hands. “Then you say, Zoe, I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t have a ring for you before. And then you say that yucky mushy stuff and kiss her.” Crystal smiled at both of them and went back to the car to play a game on her iPod.

“I’m starting to think you rehearsed this, Vlad,” Zoe said in a happy tone.

Vlad looked up with all of his love for her showing in his eyes. “I may have once or twice, but there just aren’t words, Zoe. I love you and want you to make us complete. We both want you to be our family. I don’t want to wait long either, unless you changed your mind and want a big fancy wedding. If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do, but—”

Zoe interrupted him by going down on her knees in front of him. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. And kissed him again. And then kissed him some more. When they heard a muttered “gross” they broke apart, grinning like teenagers in the first throes of love. “Can I have my ring now?”

Vlad gave her the box and looked at her face to gage her reaction. He’d know instantly if she liked it or not. He thought she would, but who knew?

Zoe’s eyes shone when she looked at her ring. It was exactly what she would have picked out herself. “Oh my God, Vlad. It’s perfect.” It was a square-cut diamond—set so brilliantly. There was one smaller square cut diamond on either side. Simple but elegant, just like Zoe.

He took it from her and placed it on her finger. “Are you sure you like it? I don’t want you to keep something for the rest of your life that you don’t love.”

“Wow, for the rest of my life. I like the sound of that. I love it, Vlad. Thank you.”

“Did she like it?” Crystal yelled out from the car.

“She did!” Zoe yelled back.

“Are you two done kissing?”

“No!” Vlad yelled back.

“Ick.”

They both laughed and kissed some more. Vlad pulled away, but Zoe held him close. “You guys should move in with me soon. Assuming you’d rather live here than in a two-bedroom penthouse together.”

Crystal overheard her. “Really? Can we, Dad, can we?”

“You hate my place that much?”

“No, it’s just that, well, Zoe’s place … never mind.”

Vlad knew where she was going with her thoughts. “Zoe’s place is nicer than mine.” He looked at her, trying to encourage her to tell him what she thought.

“It’s not that it’s nicer, it’s just more of a home. I’m sorry.”

“I agree with you, Little Bit. Can we move in this weekend?” Vlad would put his place up for sale immediately. He didn’t have any emotional bonds to hold him back; it was just a place to live.

“That works for me. Call the moving company.”

It turned out that Vlad couldn’t get a moving company on such short notice, so he did the next best thing. He called Jody, who called Brandon, who called a bunch of the other guys from the team. He had six guys and two moving trucks within hours of his phone call. Sunday was a down day for the Scorpions, and he suspected that there wasn’t much they wouldn’t do for Crystal.

It was well after dinner time on Sunday night when they finished hanging the last of Crystal’s clothes in her closet. She started school the next day and was understandably nervous.

“You’ll be fine, Little Bit. How could those kids not love you? You’re nice, friendly, and funny. They’ll all want to be your friend.” Vlad hoped like hell that what he was telling her would be true.