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But it wasn’t like he was going to see her brothers ever again. And, like she said, she knew her way around Europe.
Maybe better than he did.
Now, he opened his fridge to see what Claudia had left him for dinner.
Potato goulash, with a note written in English, in a pot. He pulled it out and set it on the stove. Opened the top.
Potatoes, onions, bell peppers, sausages, paprika. His stomach woke up, roared.
Dinner, then a nap, and by then, maybe Iris would be out of his head.
He took out a long wooden spoon and was stirring when his Alexa rang. He answered it and grinned at his brother Harry’s mug in the frame of his phone. His deep voice came through the surround sound speakers. “Hud. I just wanted to check in, make sure you were still alive after—”
“All good, bro.”
He still had a hard time wrapping his head around the events of the past forty-eight hours.
“Good. Then happy birthday, mate. Twenty-eight.”
“That’s today?”
“Here it is. I think it was yesterday, your time. I know your life is bigger than birthdays—”
“Thanks. I appreciate the call. What time is it there?”
“Ten p.m. You home from practice?”
“Yeah. We have an exhibition game tomorrow with the Milano team.”
“I saw you won your last game.”
“Barely. The ref missed a pass interference call. Nearly cost us the game.”
“Wait—that female ref? From America? What’s her name again?”
“Iris Marshall. And yes, she missed the call.”
“Wow, you just can’t catch a break with her.”
Oh, he had no idea. Still, maybe it wasn’t her fault.
“I don’t think she even remembers me.”
Harry had the same short, dark-blond hair and pale blue-green eyes, but he wore a perpetual smile, the charmer that he was. Used it to his advantage when he needed to calm down the scared and hurting.
“Seriously? Her bad call nearly ended your career.” Harry raised an eyebrow. “She seriously doesn’t remember you?”
Well, she did now, but before… “I don’t think so. But it doesn’t matter. I’m here, now, and playing, and that’s in the past.”
Harry gave a closed-mouth nod.
“How’s the new job? Like living back in Montana?”
“Yeah, the PEAK team is great. And now that we’re getting into snow season, we’ve got more broken bones and falls in the mountains. Good thing the park closes soon.”
“You say that like it’s fun.”
“Anything that gets me in a chopper, flying over the Rockies, is fun. Mostly.”
