Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,79

to know. In the meantime, I don’t have a problem with him seeing Miikka when the team comes to town, and you can come too. If you find me on social media, you can keep up with us there. Or I can send you pictures and stuff via email. However you prefer to do it.”

“You trust me to do that?”

“I don’t know why, but I do. Mr. Caldwell was very convincing when he contacted us.”

“Gage…is very convincing.” Charli shook her head. “I didn’t even know Miikka had approached Gage about this. We weren’t speaking at the time.”

“How come?” Heather seemed genuinely curious.

“We hit a rough patch,” she admitted. “Mostly because of me, because I know he wants kids someday and I didn’t think I did.”

“And now?”

“Now I think anything is possible. Miikka is…special.”

“It looks that way. He seems to love you a lot.”

“I know.” Charli’s eyes shone as she watched him and Dylan talking animatedly about hockey. “Could I take some pictures of them?”

“Sure.”

Charli got out her phone and snapped a few pictures of Miikka and Dylan talking, and then asked them to pose with Dylan wearing Miikka’s jersey.

“Dylan, can you thank Miss Charli for taking time out of her vacation so that Miikka could come meet you?”

“Oh!” Dylan looked up and grinned. “Thank you, Miss Charli!” Then he threw his arms around her legs and hugged her tightly.

Charli closed her eyes and squeezed him back, soaking in his warmth and the strength of his little body. She’d never imagined she’d have the opportunity to hug her son, and as she let him go, she looked down at him and wondered if he saw the love in her eyes. “You’re welcome,” she whispered, too choked up to find her regular voice.

“We’ll see you next season,” Miikka told him. “And if it’s okay with your mom, you can follow my Instagram page and say hello.”

“Yay!” Dylan high-fived him and then took off running towards his sister.

“Time to go?” Miikka asked Charli.

“Yes. Time to go.” She looked at Heather. “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.”

“You’re welcome. Now go be happy. Both of you.” Heather smiled.

“I will.” She slid her hand into Miikka’s and they headed back to the rental car.

She sank into the leather seat and let her head fall back. She loved this man more than she’d ever thought she could love anyone. She’d known that before he did this, but the last couple of days had shown her exactly who he was. His fierce loyalty, his inner strength, and his love for her were just a few of the many things she loved about him. “I don’t know exactly how you managed to make all of this happen, but thank you. I love you so much.” She turned to look at him.

“Yeah?” He leaned over and pressed his lips against the side of her face. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I was always sure. I was just scared.”

“I know.” He gave her a little grin as he looked into her eyes. “I have question.”

“Okay.”

“Drive back to your mom’s or go somewhere to have make-up sex?”

32

They wound up doing both. They went and found a hotel room so they could spend the rest of the day in bed. After getting a good night’s sleep, they headed back to Wichita the following morning. By the time they got there it was late afternoon and they went straight to the hospital to visit Charli’s father. She hadn’t told her parents the real reason they’d gone to St. Louis, saying only that they were going to spend a little time alone together after a recent disagreement.

“Your parents will ask why we left,” he said as they pulled into the parking lot. “And if we say we had a fight, they will ask why.”

“I don’t want them to know about Dylan,” she said after a moment. “It turns out Roy, my ex, spoke to my mother when he first got back to town. When I asked her about it, she lied.”

Miikka frowned. “Why do you think this is?”

“I don’t know. My mom seems to be having a much harder time forgiving me than my dad and I don’t know why.”

“This is ridiculous,” he muttered. “You were a teenager and you made a mistake. It’s not as if you did something really terrible. You weren’t the first teenager to get pregnant.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I wish I knew why, but I don’t.”

“Maybe we should ask,” he said quietly.

“Ask her what? Why she’s still angry I got