CHAPTER 12
Zaki
M ontgomery Biddington had nerve, I’d give him that. During dinner, Arwyn recounted her day and apologized again for assuming Monty would behave himself, especially while taking care of Melody. She’d thought he took the baby upstairs to sleep and play.
Which he had.
I needed an epic response. None of the old regulars would do. Itching powder in the mascot headpiece, duct-taping his bag shut—all amateur level. He’d turned my hot tub into a koi pond, for Pete’s sake.
And it had to be somewhere he wouldn’t expect it. Not at the rink or at the arena. Or at his house.
I was a little afraid of his Nana, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
At the cheer gym? The birdseeding of the truck had been done outside the Palmer City sportsplex during their end-of-season banquet. I’d had some teammates help me with that one.
Teammates … Maybe I could infiltrate the cheer team! Tasha wouldn’t help me prank her own husband, but Kingston’s wife, Taylor, was a former cheerleader there and knew just about everyone.
I’d have to plead my case, but King and I went way back to when we played for the Voltage together, and I was sure I could convince him and Taylor to help me out.
“Daddy, what are you going to do to Ridgie Bear?” Amelie asked.
“I’m not sure yet, Amms. Got any ideas?” I glanced at Arwyn, who hid a smile.
“You could make him dress up as a princess!” she squealed.
“Or a snowman!” Isla suggested.
“He’s probably already got plans for those things. I’m thinking something along the lines of a surprise, like what he left for us today.”
The girls looked at each other, then at me. “We’ll get back to you.”
I laughed. I loved it when they spoke in unison.
After we all pitched in to clean up dinner, I suggested a movie night. Arwyn wanted to get back to her project, but she said we were fine watching on the bigger screen in the front room instead of upstairs.
“Zaki?” she asked, turning back to the kitchen as she approached her door. “You’re off tomorrow morning, right?”
“I am.”
“Is it all right with you if I went to church and then for a soda? I’ll be back around one thirty.”
I nodded. “Sure. Mind if we come with you? The girls haven’t been since Christmas.”
She hesitated, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear. “Um, of course. We’ll need to leave by ten.”
“I’ll have the girls fed and dressed by nine fifty,” I promised.
“Great. Well, enjoy your movie.”
“How can I not? It’s Frozen 2 . I know every word by heart. Let me know if I’m singing along too loudly and I’ll turn myself down,” I joked.
This time she smiled. “I will.”
I watched her go into her room and then joined the girls and the dogs on the sofa.
The next morning, I donned a dark gray suit, light blue button-down, and a tie with shades of blue and red that the girls had chosen for me to wear the night before. They’d decided to wear their Christmas dresses, which were light blue and red plaid, and wanted me to match. Once my tie was knotted to perfection, I went to their room to see if I could help them get ready. I smiled when I saw Arwyn in a long, charcoal skirt and pale blue tuxedo-style blouse, braiding Isla’s hair.
My girls had coordinated Arwyn to match us. A warm, fluttering sensation warmed my veins as I thought about how happy the girls must be here and with Arwyn.
Church at St. Mary’s was exactly what I expected. I hadn’t grown up Catholic, but I attended with Viki’s family when I moved to Canada and then joined before we got married. It was important to Viki that our children grow up in the church. The girls had been baptized as infants, and we went to Mass as often as we could when we lived in Denver.
Arwyn preferred to sit in the back so she could be the first to leave, and that was probably a good idea since I was stopped at least a dozen times walking in. Palmer City was a hockey town. I’d lived here for a year, playing for the Voltage before I got called up to a permanent spot with the Edge. All the charm of the town was just as I remembered, and everyone here either knew me or knew of me.
With the soda shop being next door to the church, we left the van and walked the short distance. Arwyn and Amelie walked just ahead of Isla and I, the girls holding our hands and chattering about the second reading from Nehemiah.
“He said eat the fat!” Isla shouted to her sister.
Amelie craned her head over her shoulder, “And drink the sweet wine! That’s soda, right, Daddy?”
“He could have meant soda,” I said, “if it had been invented back then.”
“He said you’ll find joy in it, Daddy,” Isla said. “I do!”
“Me too!” Amelie agreed.
It was always interesting to me what the girls took away from church and their school lessons. I’d have to look up that verse later and help them unpack the purpose of it.
We arrived at the soda shop, and I reached for the door handle. “Do you mind if I run into the Coffee Loft and get a Matcha Madness? I’ll bring it back here if you’ll save me a seat,” I offered as I opened the door.
“Of course, Daddy,” Amelie said.
Arwyn nodded, and I held the door as they entered. I watched them head straight for the stools at the counter. Arwyn set her Mary Poppins bag on the one farthest to the left by the old-fashioned register and helped the girls onto the stools to its right before settling on the one next to Amelie.
I hurried next door and entered the queue. It wasn’t busy, but I had a feeling the crowd would pick up as the church continued to empty. Surprisingly, I didn’t run into anyone I knew—or who recognized me—and I was able to get my drink and get back to the soda shop in under five minutes.
I pulled open the door and paused, surprised to see Arwyn chatting with a man in scrubs on the stool next to her. The woman behind the counter—who I assumed was Arwyn’s friend Shanna—was chatting up my girls but kept looking over at Arwyn and the guy.
Did she know him? Were they friends? Was he a serial killer? Unlikely in scrubs, but you could never really know, right?
All important questions I would need the answer to ASAP.
For my girls, of course.
I couldn’t have their nanny associating with serial killers.
I plastered a grin on my face and sauntered in like the famous professional athlete I was.
The man was the first to see me. He sat up straighter, and his eyes went wide.
Ah, a fan.
This was going to be fun.
I walked up to my girls first and kissed each of them on the tops of their heads. “How are my favorite girls? Enjoying your sodas?”
“I got Peach of My Heart, Daddy!” Isla held it up. “Try it.”
I took a sip. “Peachy.” I turned to Amelie, whose straw was poised for me to try next. “And what’s this?”
“Lime of My Life!”
“Mmm, that’s citr-errific!” I looked up at Shanna. “Thanks for making my girls awesome drinks and for being a great friend to Arwyn. She says great things about you.”
“She’s my favorite,” Shanna said. “Sure you don’t want an ice cream soda?” She pointed to my drink.
“Want? Yes. But my chef would go on strike if he found out I had all that sugar in one sitting.” I turned back to the girls. “Your turn. Sip my Matcha Madness?”
“Ew, Daddy,” Isla said. “You know we don’t like that.”
“But it matches your sister’s dress,” I protested.
“So does my Lime of My Life,” Amelie retorted.
I sighed dramatically. “Fine. What’s Wynnie drinking?” I whispered. “And who’s that guy?”
Amelie set her drink down and cupped her hands over my ears. “Straw-Berry Dreamy. We tried that one last time. It’s good. That’s Adler. He asked if Wynnie was seeing anyone. What does that mean?”
I shrugged and turned to get a better look at the guy. In the scrubs, he could be anything from a transportation guy to a doctor.
“How ’bout I go find out?”
They both nodded profusely.
“And report back, Daddy!” Isla shout-whispered.
I straightened up and smoothed out my tie as I walked around Arwyn and offered my hand to the guy. “Zaki Marsch. And you are?”
He smiled easily. “Adler Lansing. You’re really Zaki Marsch?”
“That’s what my work visa says. You’re a friend of Arwyn’s?”
“Working on it.” He grinned and glanced at her. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and she was avoiding eye contact with the both of us. “Shanna’s husband is my best friend. Arwyn and I were in their wedding several years ago. We’re catching up.”
I stole a glance at Arwyn, who looked like she’d rather man the goal at a puck shooting contest—sans equipment.
Awk-ward. “Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.” I turned on my heel, but he wasn’t done with me.
“Zaki? I’m a big fan. Can I get an autograph? You could sign my napkin.”
I’d learned to always be prepared to scrawl my signature. Pulling a Sharpie from my suit jacket pocket, I uncapped it and waited for him to set a clean napkin on the counter.
“Can you sign it to Doc Lansing? My patients will get a kick out of it.”
I scribbled on the napkin. “You’re a doctor? What’s your specialty?”
His face lost the starstruck chump expression. “Emergency medicine.”
I winced. “That’s tough.”
He nodded. “I’ve seen some things.”
“I’m sure.” Well, this wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. I was hoping for a chump to mess with. This guy, while a little awkward, was a lifesaving hero.
Arwyn looked up at me and spoke for the first time since I’d walked in. “He’d like to take me to dinner on your next night off. I think that’s Wednesday?”
It wasn’t, and she knew it. My next night off was tomorrow. I got the feeling she wanted to buy time to decide whether or not she wanted to go out with the guy.
I played along. “Yeah, Wednesday, unless another meeting pops up.”
“Great.” She smiled up at me with big, grateful eyes.
It warmed my heart that she trusted me to cover for her. I also couldn’t help feeling relieved that she didn’t seem very enthusiastic about dating the doc.
I returned to the girls, who were working on activity placemats. I picked up Arwyn’s bag and set it on my lap so I could sit on the stool. The shop was filling in with people, and sitting next to the register put me in an exposed position. I looked over my shoulder to find an empty table we could move to.
But then I thought against it. My gut told me that Arwyn would feel more comfortable with three wingmen at her side. Every so often, she’d turn toward us, catch my gaze, and look away.
After the girls had a slurping contest to finish their sodas—they tied, respectively—I slid off my stool and helped them down.
“I can bring Wynnie’s bag to her, Daddy,” Amelie volunteered.
I handed it to her. “It’s heavy,” I warned.
“I got it.” She tapped Arwyn’s arm. “We’re done, Wynnie.”
Arwyn smiled and turned back to the doctor. “It was great running into you, Adler.”
“You too, Arwyn. I’ll call you.”
She nodded. “I look forward to it.”
I bit down on my lip. Her tone didn’t match her words. “We’ll wait for you outside,” I said.
“No need.” She slid off her stool. “I can wave bye to Shanna from here.”
Adler stared after her as we walked out. I held the door for her and the girls and lifted my hand in a wave.
I suddenly felt very protective of my nanny—er, the girls’ nanny. I was sure Adler was a nice guy, but I didn’t catch any vibes between them.
Also, Arwyn and Adler? What would their couple name be? Arler? Adwyn? Lansingbaughn? Wynnabingo? Ick.
Zakwyn had a much better ring to it. Or Wyki.
I stopped in my tracks. Where had that thought come from?
“Daddy, why did you stop? The car is over there.” Isla tugged on my hand.
“Huh? Oh.” I fished for a reason. “I think I have a rock in my shoe.”
She huffed. “You can fix it at the car. Amelie and Wynnie are way ahead of us. Let’s go!”
Yes, they were. My feet began walking again, and my eyes found the other half of our group, about five yards ahead of us. Arwyn walked as elegantly as she looked. She carried herself with an air of importance, like a queen, but she wasn’t arrogant. Just … poised. Confident.
But Viki had carried herself confidently, too. I’d learned that the more put-together she was on the outside, the more of a mess she was on the inside. On the days she felt the worst, she wore more makeup or tried a new hair technique. She’d dress to the nines, force smiles, and exude grace. Then, as soon as we walked through the door to the condo, she’d fall apart. Straight to bed with a heating pad and a muscle relaxer, insisting she’d be fine.
Only she wasn’t.
Was Arwyn hiding pain underneath her carefully composed exterior?
And why was it suddenly so important to me that I knew if she was?