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“Right. You’ll be dessert round two.” He jabs his legs into his boxers.
He’s just pulled his shirt over his head when Herman starts barking.
“Oh my God. People are here. I need to make sure my hair doesn’t screamfreshly fucked.” I grab my brush and yank it through, smoothing out knots at the crown. My cheeks are flushed, but there’s nothing I can do about that.
It could be from running around the kitchen as easily as it could be from sex.
The first people to arrive are Lavender, Kody, and River. Lavender and Kody flew in from New York this morning, and they’re staying at his parents’ place. It worked out well because he has a game tomorrow night in Chicago, and we’re all going to see him play.
Lavender pulls me in for a hug. “FYI, my mom is going to bring up a trip to New York for a girls’ weekend. She’s already got the whole itinerary planned, and she’s convinced your mom it’s a great idea. Sorry in advance, but I promise we’ll have fun, even if it will also be mildly embarrassing.”
Kody lifts his hand in a wave. He’s an interesting guy. Mostly quiet and pretty serious, but he lightens up a lot when he’s around Maverick, and it’s very, very clear that he’s painfully in love with Lavender. The sun rises and sets on her.
Our little cabin slowly fills with family. All the parents arrive next, and his cousin BJ. His brother Robbie couldn’t make it because he’s still out in British Columbia managing a crop harvest, but he visited this summer, and this morning he and Maverick had a video chat. He also sent a giant bag of edibles that arrived last week. I put those in the freezer.
Over the past three years, Maverick and I have grown, both individually and as a couple. He took classes part-time and completed a master’s in business administration. I’m still working at the library, but only part-time now, because last year we opened Lavender House, a not-for-profit women’s shelter designed to give women in abusive relationships and their children a safe place to get back on their feet.
We’ve hired an entire team of counselors, including Sophia, and part of the program includes self-defense classes. In addition, we’ve managed to grow the volunteer program of both professional and non-professional athletes who escort these women to court dates and help them retrieve their personal effects from their homes while we transition them into new housing.
None of it would have been possible without the help of Mav’s parents. And part of our staff includes Queenie Kingston. Her husband, Ryan, was the team’s goalie when Maverick’s dad was the coach in Seattle. They’ve been friends with his parents for a long time, and their family moved out this way a couple of years ago. She developed an art therapy program for children coming out of abusive homes, and I run their literacy program.
Every day I get to see Maverick shine his light on people who are struggling to find their way out of the dark. He’s a beautiful soul, and I’m lucky to have fallen in love with him.
We eat dinner, laugh, joke, and talk about our plans for the Chrismukkah celebration at Lavender House. We’ve been able to secure donations from local businesses, so all the kids will have presents, as well as their mothers, and we have a huge dinner planned with a movie night for the kids. Violet is a tremendous support, as are all the other women in their hockey family.
Being part of Maverick’s world and his family has opened my eyes to exactly how supportive they all are of each other. And I love that my parents have been folded right in. My brother and his girlfriend couldn’t make it this time, but they came and spent a week with us this summer, and they’re coming out this way again for Thanksgiving. And I see now, in a way that I couldn’t before, exactly why hockey has been such an important part of Mav’s life and why choosing a different path was such a challenge for him.
Maverick opens his gifts after dinner. It’s almost a surprise when his mother doesn’t give him something embarrassing. Instead, she gives him the Onyx Scrabble edition, which he gets irrationally excited about. She seems pleased, and she doesn’t need to know that his excitement is more about the fact that we play by a very different set of rules.
“You have to come outside to see your gift from me,” I tell him.
“Did you buy me a star?”
I shake my head. “You’ll never guess. Come on.” We all put on our shoes and head out to the small garage. Over the past few months, I’ve been working on a project with some help from his family.
“Did you get me a riding lawn mower?”
“We already have one.”
“A tractor? We have two acres. We should definitely have a tractor.”
“No. It’s not a tractor.” I hit the button, and the door whirrs as it opens. I thread my arm through his and watch as his expression turns from questioning to surprise. “It’s a home office. I know how important it is for you to have space carved out for working, and the cabin isn’t really set up for it, so on the days you’re not in the office or on the ice, you’ll have this.”
“Holy crap, Clover. How the hell did you manage to do this without me knowing?”
“Careful planning and a lot of help.” I look over my shoulder, smiling at his family and mine, who seem just as excited as me for this unveiling.
He takes a few steps forward, pulling me along with him. “Holy shit, is that . . . are those my cranes?” He reaches up and touches one. They’re hanging from the ceiling in a spiral design. They’re every color of the rainbow, and some of them sport inappropriate and hilarious designs, which I found out from Violet was old wrapping paper from Christmas and other holidays over the years. She always held on to them.
In the very center of the spiral is the first crane he ever gave me. The one he left on my nightstand. It wasn’t until we moved in together that I realized there was a note inside that read:
Clover,
I wanted to leave my number, but I don’t think I could handle the disappointment if you didn’t call. 1000 cranes equal a single wish.
Mine is that the universe brings you back to me.
Only 999 to go.
