Goalie Interference (NHL Scorpions) (10 page)

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” He walked out of the room feeling worse than he did before. He didn’t mean to step on the doctor’s toes, which he obviously did, but he didn’t appreciate being pinned as the bad guy either. He was dealing with enough as it was.

When Vlad left, Zoe called Lacey. “Hey Lace, how are you today?”

“Hungry—same as every day. I’m almost five months pregnant, and I’ve gained fifteen pounds. From what I’ve been reading, I’m already about five pounds over what I should have gained at this point. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow. We’ll see if I get in trouble.”

Zoe thought she looked exactly like she should. Healthy, but rounder. “Well, how about if we pig out today. I’ll help you plan a better diet tomorrow if the doctor says it’s necessary. What do you think? What do you feel like?”

“You know what I could go for? Some Mexican food. Extra, extra spicy. If I call in an order, will you stop at La Esperanza’s? I made pineapple ice cream last night, so we can have that for dessert.” Zoe could practically hear Lacey’s stomach grumble through the line.

She tried to keep her laughing to a minimum. “You’re making your own ice cream now, too? Is this the same girl who yelled at me for not getting enough vegetables at the grocery store when you lived with me?”

“Hey, I’m eating for two! As sweet as Jody’s been, he gently suggested that maybe it would be easier to buy an ice cream maker instead of him constantly running to the store at odd hours.”

“Sounds logical. Okay, order me some General’s chicken. I’ll be there soon.”

It took Zoe two trips to bring in the food and drinks. She had stopped at the store and picked up a few of Lacey’s other pregnancy-inspired favorite foods too.

Lacey was poking through the bags when Zoe returned with the last bag of food. “Ick, I don’t eat pork rinds anymore. God, they’re disgusting. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Jesus, Lace. You loved them just last week. You’re a mess.” Zoe took the pork rinds and set them aside. “Still into these?” She held up a value-size jar of stuffed cherry peppers.

“Oh my God, yes. Let me get some plates. You can open them now if you want.”

As they were eating their array of food, Zoe got down to the topic at hand. “Okay. There was a specific reason I wanted to come over here today. I need to talk to you, but you have to promise not to get mad.”

“I can’t promise I won’t get mad, Zoe. What did you do?”

Zoe took a deep breath and looked Lacey directly in the eye. “Vlad and I spent the night together last night. And it wasn’t the first time.” Zoe typically didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of her. For the most part, she was pretty tough. Lacey was different, though. Lacey had her respect, and Zoe couldn’t stand it if she thought less of her, which was why she’d never told her about her first night with Vlad. “I’m sorry I kept it from you, but I don’t ever want to disappoint you. I guess that sounds stupid, but you’re the one person I need to be proud of me.”

“Oh my God. Okay.” Lacey’s eyes widened. “Wait! Was
he
the OCD guy you were with that night you called me when I lived in Maine?” At Zoe’s affirmative nod, Lacey continued, “I always wondered what happened to that mysterious guy, but it was beyond obvious that you didn’t want to talk about him. I just figured he did something crappy and you were done with him.”

Lacey took another bite of a cherry pepper along with some of her enchiladas. She pointed her fork at Zoe while she kept talking. “You know, thinking back, I remember how happy you sounded on the phone that day. You loved him even then, didn’t you?”

“You’re not going to chastise me? Sleeping with the players and all that? You seemed to have plenty to say about it back then. And you didn’t even know that I’d slept with one.” Zoe sat with her hands together, waiting for Lacey’s answer.

“No, I’m not going to chastise you. You know what you did was wrong, and you did it anyway. I’d say that speaks volumes. Zoe, you’re a good person with a strict set of moral and ethical codes. I’m not going to judge you for falling for the wrong guy.” Lacey put her hand over Zoe’s when she didn’t say anything else. “What are you going to do about it?”

Zoe bit her lip and looked around the room, stalling for time. It was a shitty situation, and she didn’t even like thinking about it, let alone talking about it. Responding slowly, she started to tell her about Vlad’s upcoming surgery. “It’s not going to be an issue for much longer. Vlad has to retire.” Zoe was surprised to feel her eyes burning. She believed everything she had told Vlad. He’d had a great career, and was more than likely nearing the end of it anyway, but that didn’t make the fact that it was not by his choice that he had to retire any easier.

“Wow. I did not see that coming. Is that why he’s been such an asshole lately?”

Zoe instantly felt angry on Vlad’s behalf. She was now firmly in his corner, and she would defend him. “Maybe
asshole
isn’t quite fair. He’s been a bit edgy, but he’s had reason to be, okay?” Seeing Lacey smile, Zoe smiled herself. “Yes, I feel defensive of him, happy? It’s not like you didn’t know how I felt about him. Anyway, he’s got a hip disease and is going to need surgery. The longer he waits to have it, the worse it will get. He’ll probably still be able to play again someday, but he’ll never be like he was. He’ll never play professionally again.”

“Holy cow. How’s he taking that bit of news? I know it was hard for Jody to retire, and
he
did it by his own choice. Hockey gets in their blood. It’s how they define themselves.”

“I think he’s taking it okay. He has his moments, of course, but all in all, he seems like to be dealing with it. I think his biggest concern is what he’s going to do afterward. He about broke my heart when he came over yesterday. He had actual tears in his eyes.” Seeing big, tough men like Vlad cry wasn’t something you saw every day.

“Oh God. That must have been tough to witness. Poor Vlad. Did he tell the team yet? Does Jody know?”

“He’s talking to the coach today. He hasn’t told Jody yet either. I know it’s asking a lot, but could you please not tell him? I didn’t ask Vlad if it was okay to tell you, although I think he’d assume I would.” Zoe knew that if she asked Lacey to keep quiet, she would.

“Of course. I won’t say a word.” Lacey grabbed Zoe’s hands. “You know, there is one silver lining here.”

Zoe smiled. “Yes, I do. I’m not sure Vlad’s even realized that yet, but he sure did a fine job of showing me how he feels last night. Five times to be exact. Well, five times for me. Only three times for him.”

“Sounds like a hell of a night. I miss those nights. I run so hot and cold lately. Last night I wore poor Jody out, but last week I almost bit his head off for trying to touch me. The man really is a saint.”

After Vlad talked to the coach, he shot Jody a text asking him if he was done for the day and had time to talk. Jody worked as the head coach for the youth team that the Scorpions’ owner had started. They used the second rink in the same building the Scorpions practiced in, so he knew Jody would be around somewhere.

Vlad was sitting on the picnic table in the back parking lot when Jody strolled out. “Hey Jody, how are the kids looking?”

The kids came from all over the area. Some were only able to be there because they were sponsored by the Scorpions’ Wives Club. They were a non-profit organization who helped out anywhere they could, but mostly with children. The youth league gave kids a chance to stay out of trouble while building team skills. They also got the chance to learn life skills, such as hard work and tolerance of others, from great mentors, like Jody. Unfortunately, a lot of the kids didn’t have any of that at home.

“It’s going pretty well. The kids are great to work with. They’re so enthusiastic, and I think a lot of them are just relieved they have somewhere to go after school.”

“I’m sure their parents are, too. So listen, I wanted to talk to you about why I’ve been such an asshole lately.”

Jody stood there, obviously waiting for him to continue. “I figured there was a reason. People don’t change personalities the way you have without one. So, what is it?”

“You know how I’ve been a little sore lately? Falling on the ice? Almost falling the night of your wedding?”

“Yeah. I noticed.”

“Turns out I have avascular necrosis. It’s a career-ending disease for me. The Halloween game will be my last. I’m going on long-term injured reserve for the rest of the season, and then I’m done. I’m going for a surgery consult a couple of days after the game.”

Jody stood immobile, stunned into silence. After Vlad’s words sunk in, he rubbed his hands down his face. “Holy shit, man. I’m really sorry to hear that. I sure didn’t expect you to say that. I don’t know what I thought it was. I guess I just figured it was Zoe.”

Vlad told him the rest of the story and what the doctors had told him about the likelihood of him playing professionally again. “I’m not ever sure I’d want to come back if I couldn’t be one hundred percent. At least this way, I can go on LTIR so my salary doesn’t affect the cap. Then they can hire another goalie.” As he was talking, Jody got a peculiar look on his face. “I know that face. You’ve got an idea or something. Spill it.”

“Well, I was just talking to Mr. Clark about filling another coaching position. I’m one man short. I was actually thinking about looking for a goalie coach and overall help with the defense. What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I know I’ll need to do something, but I haven’t gotten that far. I have no idea how long it’s going to take me to get back to skating after the surgery. What if it takes months, or what if I never get back on skates again? Fuck, man! This is some scary shit.” Vlad had to admit, though, the idea was intriguing. It definitely had merit, but how could he expect Jody to hold a position open for him when he couldn’t ensure he could do the job?

“Tell you what. Why don’t you just worry about the surgery, and let me talk to Mr. Clark? I’ve been operating without the extra coach for a while. I can hang on for a while more until we know what you’re dealing with. Are you even interested in something like that? I can tell you that working with the Mini Scorpions is a hell of a lot of fun. They’re good kids. Well, most of them.”

Vlad pulled Jody over for a one-armed man hug. “I think it sounds like I have some thinking to do. But yeah, talk to Mr. Clark, and let me know how he feels about it. We’ll go from there. And thanks a lot, Chief.”

Zoe had missed three calls from Vlad while she was seeing clients. Hoping nothing else had happened, she quickly called him back.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Vlad answered on the first ring. It seemed he was feeling better than he was earlier. She knew it would take time for him to accept the situation, but there was nothing he could do but learn to live with it.

“Hello yourself. You sound pretty chipper. I’m glad. I was a little worried when I saw you called three times.”

Vlad laughed. “Well, I’ve finally got you where I want you. I don’t want to give you a chance to change your mind about us. Plus, I was wondering what you were going to wear to the Halloween game. Can I assume it’ll be something skimpy like last year?”