Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,21

do you think? What name do we give?”

She smiled but cocked her head. “You talk funny.”

“Kaylee.” Her mother spoke softly.

“Is okay.” Miikka shook his head. “I’m from Finland. English is my second language.”

“Like Nana speaks French!” Kaylee said, nodding. “You’re doing good, Miikka.”

He chuckled. “Thank you.”

Kaylee hugged the polar bear to her chest and her eyes started to close.

Miikka turned to her mother. “Should we go?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. “She’s heavily medicated; I’m surprised you got a laugh out of her. Like I said, it’s been a rough day. Thank you for coming by.”

Miikka handed her an autographed puck and a key chain. “If she feels better next season, and your family would like to come to a game, please call this number and tell them I gave it to you.” He handed her a business card.

The woman’s eyes flooded with tears. “I don’t think Kaylee will be here in the fall, but thank you.”

“I’m very sorry.” He squeezed her hand, glanced back at Kaylee and then walked into the hallway. He leaned against the wall as Logan came out behind him.

“You okay, man?” he asked.

“She won’t be here in the fall,” he whispered, looking at his friend. “She’s just a baby… This is… paska.” Shit.

“I know. It’s hard sometimes. Just think about how you got her to smile, you made her laugh, she fell asleep holding the bear… This is what we can do, you know?”

“Will you remind me to find out how to write check to donate?”

Logan nodded. “Absolutely. Come on, let’s go to the next room. It’s a boy named Charlie. That should get you nice and confused.”

Miikka chuckled but his heart hurt for these kids. He couldn’t imagine how their parents felt or what he would do if it was ever one of his children. He promised himself he would come more often, though. These kids needed something to look forward to more than he’d realized, and whether his English sucked or not, he was going to try to be better about this. Maybe Charli would even want to go with him sometime.

10

After visiting the hospital, which had wound up being more enjoyable than he’d anticipated, Miikka was driving home when he remembered Charli’s new faucet. Instead of calling, he decided to stop by and surprise her. He needed a distraction to keep him from thinking about poor Kaylee, and Charli’s house needed a ton of work. While he respected the fact that she wanted to do it herself, realistically that would take forever, especially since she only had time on the weekends. Besides, he just wanted to see her. He’d thought of little else but the heated kiss they’d shared at the front door the night before.

He got out of his truck and walked to the front door, knocking briskly.

“Miikka.” Charli looked startled. Her hair was in its usual single braid, but today there were loose strands everywhere and her face was a little red. “What are you doing here?”

“I had time. I thought maybe I could help with faucet.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “That’s very thoughtful. I’m in the middle of a mess, but come on in.”

“What happened?” he asked, following her into the kitchen.

“The dishwasher died an ugly, soapy death,” she said.

There was sudsy water all over the kitchen floor, and the door to the dishwasher was open.

“Oh, boy.” He looked around. “You have towels?”

“Yeah, I was just about to get some.”

“Okay, I help.”

“Miikka, you don’t have to…”

“I’m here,” he said gently. “It’s okay. Don’t be so…stubborn.”

She flashed him a little grin before disappearing up the stairs and he paused to take off his shoes and socks. He rolled up his jeans so they didn’t get wet and then waded into the inch or so of water all over the kitchen. This was another nightmare for poor Charli, and while his gut reaction would be to simply buy her a new dishwasher, he had a feeling she wouldn’t let him.

He hated being in this position, where he could help someone but they were too proud to allow it. He understood, though. They barely knew each other, after all, but it felt like they’d been friends forever, even though it had only been a couple of weeks.

“Okay, I’ve got some towels,” Charli called out, coming back into the kitchen. She rounded the corner and took a step just as her foot slipped out from under her.

“Charli!” Miikka reached for her but the floor was slippery and though he caught her hand, the force of her