Goalie Interference (NHL Scorpions) (18 page)

Vlad looked at the older man with some relief in his eyes. “Thank you. I appreciate it. You were very close with them, weren’t you?”

“Carla’s father was my best friend for thirty years. When he died, my wife and I stepped in to look after his only daughter. She was scared when she discovered she was pregnant. We tried to get her to tell you, but she was afraid she’d ruin your career, and she didn’t want to be responsible for that. You can learn about that from her letters, though. I can tell you this. Maybe keeping Crystal from you was wrong, but Carla didn’t have a malicious bone in her body. She believed, until her dying day, that it was the right thing to do.”

Vlad looked up at the knock on the door. Zoe stood there holding Crystal’s hand. Crystal’s eyes were red and puffy, but dry. She stood there with the courage of an adult, lip trembling slightly, head held high, looking at Vlad. “Hi. I guess I’m your daughter. Uncle Thad told me that I shouldn’t be mad at you, because you didn’t know about me, but I still kind of am.”

Thaddeus walked over to her and picked her up. “That’s okay, honey. I’m sure your father understands. I know I told you that you shouldn’t be mad, and you shouldn’t, but it’s okay to show your feelings. Just be fair to him and listen to what he has to say. Give him a chance, okay? And remember, you can call me and Aunt Maggie anytime. Day or night.” He kissed the top of her head and set her down.

She took a deep breath, straightened up to stand tall, and walked over to Vlad. “Am I going to live here with you?”

Vlad was having a hard time getting past the lump in his throat. “Yes, little … Crystal. You’re going to live with me here. And I’m sorry that I didn’t know about you.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you want to go meet the rest of the family now? We were just going to eat brunch, although I guess we’re not having French toast now.” Vlad smiled, trying to lighten the moment.

“Okay.” She was a girl of few words.

Conversation at the dining room table was strained to say the least. Zoe decided something had to be done, and tapped her fork on her glass of orange juice to get everyone’s attention. “Let’s make this a better brunch. We are all so lucky today to get to welcome a new family member. Since I don’t know anyone but Vlad here very well, let’s all just say something quickly about ourselves, shall we? I’ll start. I’m Zoe, and I love hockey.” She smiled at Crystal, asking if she wanted to go next. Crystal shook her head and glued her eyes back to her plate. Zoe squeezed her hand and said, “No problem. How about you, Vlad? Why don’t you go?”

Vlad looked around the table, careful to include Crystal in his gaze, but not settle on her. “I just found out today that I have a beautiful little girl, and I couldn’t be happier. I have a lot to be thankful for. Oh—and I like hockey, too.” He caught Zoe’s approving smile and felt good.

Vladimir spoke up with a heavy Russian accent. “I am Vladimir, and I am lucky patriarch of this family.” Looking at Crystal he winked and added, “This means I am biggest, strongest man. You come to Grandpa Vladimir if you ever need to, okay little bit?” He looked away from her then so that she didn’t feel pressured to answer him.

“I’m Emma, and aside from being happy that we welcome another little one into our family, I also love animals.”

“I am Ruslan. I like to snack on little girls!” He then grabbed Lena and pretended to chew on her arm in rapture as she squealed in delight.

Vlad’s aunt Anna smacked Ruslan’s arm. “Not at the table, Rus.” She cleared her throat and addressed the table. “I am Anna.” She looked at Vlad affectionately. “Or Aunt Anna. I love animals, too, and hockey, and new little girls. Welcome, Crystal.”

Lena was chosen to speak for the girls. “Hi Crystal. We are your cousins Sasha, Julia, and Lena. And we’re sorry that your mom isn’t here, but we are very glad to call you cousin.” Lena quickly put her head down, not sure if it was okay to mention Crystal’s mother.

Zoe put her head down close to Crystal’s. “Do you want to say something? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Okay.” She raised her head, just like she did in Vlad’s office, and let out the breath she was holding. What a brave little girl she was. “I’m Crystal. I love animals, but I’ve never watched hockey.” She flashed Vlad a quick look. “But maybe I’d like to.”

“I’ll take you to a game anytime you want, Crystal. You just say the word.” He smiled at her and then asked if she wanted some fruit.

Conversation flowed more freely after that, although Crystal didn’t say another word.

Crystal had become quite attached to Zoe by the end of the day. Zoe pulled Vlad aside when Emma had taken all of the children out onto the patio to watch the sunset.

“How are you holding up?”

“God, Zoe. I don’t know. What the fuck do I know about raising a child? A girl, no less? Maybe it would be better if I gave custody to Thaddeus and his wife. She seems comfortable around them.”

“Vlad! You can’t be serious. There is no better place for a child than with a parent who loves them. You’ll learn to love her, I know you will.”

“Learn to love her? Zoe, I already do. It’s been all of what, six hours? It freaks me out. But I don’t think she’s ready to stay here with me. What am I going to do with her tonight? Have her sleep on the couch? She probably won’t sleep a wink. She doesn’t know me at all.” He banged his fist on the counter. “It’s just not fair. No kid should lose their mother so young.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not much easier at thirteen.” Zoe knew what it was like to lose a mother
and
a father. “At least she still has you, even if she doesn’t quite know what to do with you yet.”

Zoe had been thinking about Crystal’s first night in a strange place. “Look, Vlad. I don’t want to step on your toes, but I’m only thinking of Crystal. I have an idea.”

“Please, fire away. What’s your idea? I’m sure it’s smarter than anything I can come up with.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Vlad. Aside from giving the poor thing a bear hug when she came in, you’ve been doing great.” Zoe was quite proud of him. She didn’t know what she would have done if he hadn’t welcomed Crystal into his home. “She seems to have taken a liking to me. I think she’s comfortable with me. I’m closer to her mom’s age than Emma or Anna, and she sees me as a friend. What about if your mom and dad go back to my house with the rest of your family and I stay in the guest room with Crystal? Just for the first night or so to get her settled.”

“Yes. Thank you, Zoe. That would work out great.” Vlad hugged her tightly. “Thank you for helping me. I know I’d royally fuck this up without you.”

Vlad’s family took their leave after making plans for everyone to meet back at Zoe’s house the next afternoon. Zoe made a quick phone call to Lacey, and gave her a brief rundown of everything that had transpired and then asked her for a favor. “Do you think we could borrow Izzy for a night or two? Would Jody let us?”

“What about your allergies? You know Izzy’s going to want to sleep on the bed with you. She doesn’t realize she’s one hundred and forty pounds. She still thinks she’s a lapdog.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take my allergy pills. This poor girl needs something like Izzy draped over her tonight.”

“Okay, hold on a sec.”

Zoe waited while Lacey checked with Jody. Izzy loved kids, so she knew she’d be happy spending the night with Crystal. Peeking her head around the corner to glance into the living room, Zoe saw Vlad trying to talk to Crystal. She answered his questions, but offered nothing more.

“If it goes like I think it will, Vlad will take her to get a dog tomorrow if she wants one. I really think she needs something of her own to care for. If not a dog, then maybe one of those furry rat things.” Zoe was
not
an animal lover. She wouldn’t ever hurt one or anything, but she never wanted one in the house. Her allergies were a great excuse to not have any, but they weren’t quite as bad as led people to believe.

“I think you might be talking about a guinea pig or a hamster, Zoe. They’re adorable, and most definitely not rats.”

“You say potato …”

Lacey laughed. “Okay, fine. So, is Vlad totally freaking out? I can’t imagine what that must be like. How could Carla keep that kind of thing from him? I mean, I guess I she had her reasons, but it was so unfair to both Vlad and Crystal.”

“Well, Carla didn’t see it that way. She left Vlad some letters, but he hasn’t had a chance to read them yet. Hopefully, in those, she’ll explain why she didn’t tell him.” Zoe heard a knock at the door and yelled to Vlad that she would get it. “I have to go. Jody’s here. Thanks Lace!”

“Call me tomorrow and let me know how it went.”

“Will do. Bye.”

Before Zoe got to the door, she heard Izzy howl. She couldn’t help the smile that tugged on her lips. Izzy was an exception to her ‘I don’t like animals’ rule. That dog was a pure sweetheart. She was a Great Dane/Bloodhound mix and was so ugly, she was adorable. One ear stayed up, one flopped down. She had one white eye, one black eye. She was spotted almost like a Dalmatian. Izzy was one strange looking pooch.

Opening the door, she braced herself for Izzy’s impact and wagged her finger to quiet her down. “You shush, missy. No howling.” She looked up at Jody with humor in her eyes. “Hey Jody, thanks a lot for letting us borrow her. I think she’s just what Crystal needs. Do you want to meet her?”

“Hell yes. I can’t believe this. It’s all so surprising. I can’t imagine how Vlad’s dealing with it.”

“Well, he’s a little lost right now. I guess we all are, but Crystal most of all. I think Izzy will help her get through her first night.” Jody loved Izzy as much as he did his wife.

Jody bent down and unclipped Izzy’s leash. She took off toward the sound of Vlad’s voice, letting out a “woof, woof!” as she went. Running on the wood floors, she sounded more like a herd of elephants than a mere dog.

“Well, I guess she’ll introduce herself,” Jody said.

His words were no sooner out when they heard a squeal of delight. It was the first sound of happiness Zoe had heard Crystal make, and it warmed her all the way to her toes. She looked up at Jody and said, “Thank you.”