Final Score (Madison Howlers #5)

by Camellia Tate

  Dipping her spoon into the shchavel borscht, Maria took a brave taste. I watched with interest as expressions flicked across her face. I wouldn’t have minded if she’d disliked it - the taste was not for everyone. But she gave a loud ‘mmm’ of approval, her face lighting up. “It’s delicious!” she informed me, eagerly taking another spoonful.

  “It’s like solyanka, a little,” she mused. “They’re both sour but - in different ways. It tastes like it’s good for me!”

  That also made me laugh. I was just glad she liked it. I would’ve been fine if she hadn’t, I had ordered something she could eat instead. But it pleased me that Maria liked my favorite. “Secret Russian,” I teased her. I, of course, loved Russian and all things Russian. I had never truly had a chance to show those things to someone else.

  My teammates said I was too obsessed with Russia (no such thing) and Kira was Russian. Outside of that, I didn’t have other people to take to Russian restaurants.

  Maria gave me an accusing look, but I could tell she was only pretending. “Liking Russian food doesn’t make me Russian!” she argued. The slight flair for the dramatic made me smile. “If you eat hot dogs and popcorn, does that make you American all of a sudden?”

  Before I could answer, she laughed. “I suppose hot dogs and popcorn aren’t allowed. I know athletes have to watch what they eat, or you wouldn’t look as good as you do.”

  The compliment was unexpected. I liked it, especially the way Maria delivered it as if it were a simple fact. She wasn’t giggling and simpering at me the way some women seemed to think I would like.

  “You must still travel a lot for games,” she observed. “Do you get to see more than the hockey arenas now?”

  “Yeah, also the insides of hotels,” I answered with a snort. Honestly, I tried to do some traveling in the summers when I had time off. A lot of that was spent just at home. I liked spending time in Russia. Traveling often took second place to that.

  “What about you? You said you can work from anywhere? You take that up much?” I asked. Maria had told me she did finance-y things. I wasn’t going to pretend that I remembered or understood precisely what they were. I did remember her saying she was lucky because she could work from anywhere. Even Russia.

  “Probably too much,” she answered immediately. “I’m not very good at leaving work behind when I travel. It’s so easy with technology to fire up my laptop in the morning and answer a bunch of emails. It makes me feel like I’ve started the day right.” Even though I rarely looked at my laptop first thing in the morning, I could understand what Maria meant. With me, it was training. If I started the day with a workout, I felt good about how I’d begun.

  She fished a quarter of an egg out of the bowl, spooning it into her mouth with obvious enjoyment. “It drives my sister mad when we vacation together,” she continued. “She wants to be up and out seeing the sights as early as possible so that she can spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool.”

  “Are you and your sister close?” Obviously, I remembered the sweater. Maria had told me that her sister had wanted her to look like she was having more fun. I felt that was probably something you said to someone when you got on with them well. Like chirping in the locker room.

  Maria nodded. “She’s my best friend,” she answered without hesitation. “She always has been. I mean, maybe not when she was thirteen and I was still a kid. But definitely before then, and even more definitely now.”

  Taking a sip of my drink, I motioned for her to carry on. “Emily’s three years older,” she explained. “You’d like her. She’s a much bigger hockey fan than I am.” Seeing that Maria hadn’t recognized me, I wasn’t sure that was hard. “But she did always say she could never understand why I liked Russian food so much. Not that she’s tried any. Neither of us was making enough money when I was there for her to fly out to visit.”

  “Dissing Russian food?! She can’t be that great!” I proclaimed. Hearing Maria speak about her sister so highly, I didn’t actually doubt that I’d like her. I liked Maria. She was easy to get on with. I could tell that there was so much more I could learn about her.

  Letting her eat more of her food, I reached to take a sip of my tea. Maria did seem to enjoy the soup, which was nice to see. “Is this living up to what you were hoping for?” I asked. “You have to say yes, because I think Anya’s eavesdropping on us,” I warned.

  “I’m not!” I heard Anya call out from the kitchen, making me laugh.

  Maria laughed, too. For someone who claimed that she worked too much, she wasn’t buttoned-up like I imagined accountants to be. In the time I’d known her, her face had rarely been serious. Even when she talked about losing her dad, there was a lightness and a life in her expression.

  “It’s better than I hoped for,” Maria answered. I didn’t doubt that it was true. “But then, I don’t have a Russian grandmother to compare it to,” she pointed out. “Food made by family tastes better than any restaurant. I should know, my sister cooks for me once a week!”

  She finished her vodka. “Do you cook?” she asked me.

  “Not according to my mama,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “But yeah, I do cook. I’m not anywhere near as good as baba, but I can cook a pretty good kotlety.” I didn’t put the recommended quantity of white bread in it or cook it in fat; that was where mama’s objections came from. She said it didn’t taste right.

  Reaching for one of the pelmeni, I popped it in my mouth. “Do you? Can you cook Russian foods?” I asked, but it was teasing. “I’m not totally obsessed with Russia, I promise.” I obviously had to make room to be obsessed with hockey, too.

  “I barely cook American foods,” Maria teased. “Emily says I try to be too ambitious. I don’t have the patience to learn the basics. I just jump right in at the kind of food I like to eat, then get disappointed when it isn’t good.” She took another pelmeni, nibbling it slowly. It was very different from the way I’d popped it whole into my mouth.

  Shrugging one shoulder, Maria added, “I have a lot of cookbooks. Including a Russian one. I tried to make solyanka.” She gestured at my almost-empty bowl. “But I didn’t know where to buy Polish sausage or allspice berries.”

  She grinned. “The one thing I can make is snickerdoodles,” she told me proudly. “My nana taught me when I was little. We did it so often, I don’t even need to look at a recipe now.”

  “I bet Anya could teach you,” I suggested. There was some clattering and an agreement of ‘da’ resounding around us. It made me laugh. Anya was not very good at eavesdropping. She came through, then, sensing that she’d been caught one too many times.

  “I just wanted to make sure you enjoyed the food,” she defended herself. Turning to Maria she gave her a wide smile. “You like food? Come again?” She asked. “I teach you solyanka,” she promised.

  Maria’s smile was brighter than ever. “Yes,” she responded enthusiastically. “I will come again. My sister, too.” She nodded. Anya seemed delighted at the prospect. Perhaps Anya’s food could convince Maria’s sister about the merits of Russian cuisine. Then Anya might have two new customers.

  “Thank you,” Maria added, including me in her grateful look. “Practice Russian, then learn solyanka,” she suggested. Anya laughed and nodded as she gathered the plates.

  Maria turned her attention back to me. “I’ve had a lovely time,” she said. “I know you must be busy, but would you like to do something fun the week after next?”

  The question didn’t exactly surprise me. I thought we’d had a good time today. Still, it felt nice. Maybe I could make a friend! “What sort of fun?” I asked. “So far I only know that you wear sweaters for fun. Will you make me wear a sweater with an animal I’ve never heard of on it?”

  I had looked up narwhals after meeting Maria, even going so far as to watch a video on YouTube of them swimming. It was still weird to imagine that they actually existed. It made me wonder what other animals on earth I didn’t know about.

  “My sweater
s wouldn’t fit you,” Maria laughed. She wasn’t wrong. Maria might be nearly my height, but her body was much more slender. “We can go to the museum of Geology.” I frowned. Rocks were not exactly my idea of fun. Maria reached out, giving my hand a playful push. “They’ve got fossils of dinosaurs,” she explained. “I bet there’s at least one you’ve never heard of. Maybe we can even buy you a t-shirt.”

  Oh.

  Well, I didn’t mind dinosaurs.

  “Yeah, alright,” I nodded. “And you’ll have to come to see a game,” I added. “If we’re going to be friends, it’s very important that you come watch hockey. I’ll get some tickets for you and your sister,” I promised. Honestly, I felt excited to see Maria again. I got on with her well. Helping her with improving her Russian was going to be fun.

  We finished our meal with a couple of zefirs. I insisted Maria let me pay. She had been the one to rescue me. By the time we parted, we already had a plan for next time. And between then and now, Maria promised to come to see the Howlers’ play. Apparently, her sister-in-law absolutely loved us, so I’d make sure there were three tickets for them left at the reception.

  All in all, I felt like my friend-making was off to a pretty good start.

  Chapter Four

  After my dinner with Lev, I walked with a spring in my step for days. I hardly thought I was usually grumpy at work, but I must have been smiling more than usual. At least three people asked me what had made me so happy. I told them all about Anya’s amazing cooking. I don’t know if any of them were convinced to go and try it. I would be back as soon as possible.

  I spent my evenings brushing up on my Russian language skills. I was surprised how quickly it came back. Mom still had my old notes. When I went to pick them up, she quizzed me all about this man I was seeing.

  I made sure to tell her that I wasn’t seeing Lev. He was looking for a friend. I hadn’t got the sense from him that he wanted anything more than that. Which suited me just fine. I hadn’t even asked whether he was single!

  To keep me in practice, I would text Lev short messages in Russian. I had to download a Cyrillic keyboard for my phone, but it was worth it. It made me laugh how many of my carefully-made vocabulary lists were useless to me now. I didn’t have words for anything job-related, and it had been a long time since I’d needed to talk about pulling an all-nighter.

  It was in the middle of a conversation about my gym routine that Lev asked if he could bring some friends with him to the museum. Apparently one of his teammates had an interest in rocks. And another wanted to come because his girlfriend was out of town for the weekend.

  Of course, I said sure! Tanya and Emily were going to love me so much if I could get them gifts signed by three of the Madison Howlers.

  I’d gone to one of their games, just like Lev had insisted. I had to admit, it was a lot more fun now that I was actually rooting for the home team to win. I usually went with clients, so half my mind was on work. Being able to devote all of my attention to what was going on made it easier to follow the action on the ice.

  We’d agreed to meet at the museum. Watching Lev, Ricky and Devon pile out of Lev’s car was a bit like one of those clown acts - all three of them were so big that they didn’t look like they should have fit.

  “Hey!” I greeted brightly. “I’m Maria. You must be Ricky and Devon?”

  They introduced themselves so that I could tell which was which.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t know this place existed,” Ricky enthused. He was the one with an interest in rocks. “I used to love going to dinosaur museums as a kid. Fossils are amazing, aren’t they?”

  I laughed and nodded. “And we’re on the lookout for at least one animal that Lev’s never heard of,” I teased him. I was sure that we’d find one. I hadn’t heard of a bunch of dinosaur species.

  “I came to your last game,” I said, for the benefit of Ricky and Devon. “Are they always that intense?”

  “It’s hockey,” Devon answered like that explained everything. From how Lev chuckled, maybe it did. I’d never had friends who played team sports. I wasn’t sure if this was the sort of intensity they were meant to bring to it. Then again, the NHL was the very top. That meant all those competitive people were brought together even more.

  Lev nodded as we approached the museum. “We love the intensity, so yeah, I think it is always like that,” he confirmed. Ricky gave an absent-minded nod; he was more interested in getting a guidebook from the man in the ticket box.

  “He says it’s free entry!” Ricky announced. “Let’s go look at all the rocks!” And just like that, he bounced off.

  “Yes, he is an excitable child,” Devon confirmed, walking a pace ahead to... “Don’t touch that!” he said, voice echoing around us.

  Ricky pouted but drew his hand back from the person-sized globe spinning in the first room of the museum. “I wanted to see what it feels like!”

  It was pretty impressive. I’d been to the museum before, as a kid. I didn’t remember much beyond the dinosaur fossils.

  While I watched the globe spin, Ricky had already moved on to the next thing. “Hey, Lev,” he called back. “It says here there’s a kind of rock named after Moscow!”

  I laughed. “His enthusiasm is kind of infectious,” I told Lev. “I can see why you wanted to bring him.”

  “Normally when we have a day off, we play video games. No one ever invites us to go to a museum.” Lev shrugged. “When I mentioned it, Ricky wanted to go. I figured why not.” I nodded at that, looking over at Ricky again. He did seem very excited by rocks. I couldn’t imagine denying him that pleasure.

  “And Devon’s just bored,” Lev added to a ‘hey’ from Devon.

  He turned around to give me a serious look. “I wasn’t just bored. I like being educated. Ricky promised to educate me about rocks,” he explained. “Are you very knowledgeable about rocks, Maria? Lev said you work in finance?”

  I grinned. “Will it disappoint you if I say I only know as much about rocks as I read on the museum’s website?” I was no expert on rocks. But I did like to be prepared. I’d highlighted a few things that I wanted to see while we were here. I could educate Devon about those if that was really what he wanted.

  “Did no one take you sight-seeing when you moved to Madison?” I asked Lev. To me, it seemed a shame to stay home playing video games when you could be out exploring. “You must have been on the lake, at least?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been on the lake,” Lev assured me. “And I am very educated about all the bars and clubs in Madison,” he added with a grin. Ricky disappeared into one of the side rooms. With a sigh, Devon went to look for him. Lev and I stopped to look at one of the fossils. It was of a dinosaur, though Lev didn’t look that impressed.

  “I’m not not impressed,” he defended when I pointed that out. “It’s just... it’s kind of hard to imagine what it looked like when all I see is an impression in a rock.”

  I nodded. “It gets better,” I promised. “They have whole fossilized skeletons in the last room.”

  “It’s hard to believe that the whole world was once populated by things that are bigger than elephants,” I said. “That’s what always impresses me. Imagine if we had so many different species of elephant that we couldn’t even remember them all!” As it were, elephants were pretty much the only truly huge land animal. “The planet doesn’t seem big enough. But I guess it was different then. No cities, just masses of open land as far as the eye could see.”

  “No hockey,” Lev sighed dramatically, startling a laugh from me. Of course, that was his main concern. My laughter earned me a grin from Lev. “I think I’m saying I’d trade dinosaurs for hockey any day,” he informed me. I couldn’t say that the proclamation surprised me. Hockey seemed more like a part of who Lev was than it seemed like just a job.

  We walked towards the room Ricky and Devon had disappeared into but there was no great rush. I let Lev stop us whenever he wanted to look through the glass on a display. “How’s y
our Russian?” he asked slowly.

  I grinned, pleased to have the chance to show off. “A little bit better, I think,” I answered. The words came more quickly, more naturally than they had when I had spoken to him before. I’d always been quick at picking things up, even if I didn’t necessarily retain all that information long-term.

  “I found my old Russian dictionary. I had to bookmark words about finance, now. And food.” I wanted to be able to understand Anya when she gave me a cooking lesson. That meant I needed to learn the words for things like chopping and frying and boiling.

  I stopped to examine some jellyfish fossils, and glanced up at Lev. “Has your mama made any more accidents?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how to say ‘caused’, but I figured my meaning would be clear enough.

  Lev laughed at that. My stomach swooped pleasantly at the sound. It wasn’t like I never made people laugh, I knew I could be both funny and entertaining, but... It just seemed more special to make someone I didn’t know that well yet laugh. Besides, Lev had a very nice laugh.

  “No, not as far as I know,” he answered. I could tell he took his time, made sure he was slow and clear with his words. “My mama’s not actually very accident-prone. But she was excited to hear that I’ve made a new friend,” he told me with a grin.

  Warmth flooded through me at the words. It had been a long time since I’d made a new friend. As an adult, and one who was busy with work, it wasn’t easy to find the time. Except with Lev, it did feel easy. This was only the third time we’d seen each other, but it was easy to keep the conversation going.

  I wanted to know more about him. I got the sense he wanted to know more about me, too. “What is your mama like?” I asked. He said she wasn’t accident-prone, but that didn’t paint a full picture. “Did your family have an interest in hockey, or did it start with you?”