Taking Charge

by Mandy Baggot

  “And what do you have to say about that?” Eddie asked Robyn.

  “Maybe not top of the league, but I agree with the rest of it,” Robyn said.

  “You’ve got something on your mind. Out with it,” Eddie ordered.

  Robyn shook her head.

  “Listen, Buttercup, you may as well tell your dad now, because I’m going to find out one way or another,” Eddie told her.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “Nancy, she’s hiding something from me,” Eddie stated.

  “I don’t want to worry you, Dad, not now. I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Robyn explained.

  “Is it Cole? Has he gone back to the Wolves?” Max guessed.

  “Tell me,” Eddie ordered.

  “Trudy Franklin called. They’re reopening my case. Jason’s found a witness who saw him at home the night it happened. They’re re-examining the evidence,” Robyn informed him.

  Eddie took in a sharp breath and gripped Nancy’s hand.

  “I have to go through my statement again,” Robyn told him.

  “Statement? Case? What case? What’s this all about? I don’t know anything about this,” Max exclaimed.

  “I’ve spent all these years believing it was him, knowing it was him. What if it wasn’t him?”

  “It was him,” Eddie assured her.

  “But the witness says he wasn’t there.”

  “Paid to say that, I imagine. I don’t believe a real witness pops up now after all this time. Anyway, you can’t argue with DNA evidence, Robyn, it was him,” Eddie stated, getting agitated.

  “Would one of you kindly let me know what all this is about?” Max interrupted.

  “You go through your statement and you tell Trudy exactly what happened, just like you did before. Nothing’s changed,” Eddie reassured her.

  “I keep trying to remember if I remember anything else. I mean, I didn’t see him, I didn’t see who it was. I didn’t see what they were wearing, I didn’t see anything,” Robyn babbled.

  “I know, Buttercup, it was raining and it was pitch black that night,” Eddie said, taking hold of her hand.

  “But if I could remember something else, something concrete about who it was, all this would finally be over. If it wasn’t Jason, you could be proper friends with Grant again, like you used to be. I know things haven’t been the same between you since it happened,” Robyn said.

  “Don’t you worry about me, I’m just fine.”

  “Do you want me to come with you and see this Trudy girl?” Nancy offered.

  “No. No, it’s okay, but thanks. I’d better get to training. Grant doesn’t push them hard enough in the drills,” Robyn said, standing up and looking down at her dad.

  “You don’t let them off the ice until they’re falling apart,” Eddie ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied with a smile.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Eddie said.

  All of a sudden she was overwhelmed by the poignancy of the moment. She threw herself at her dad and clung to him like a small child, breathing in the scent of him, relishing the firmness of his chest, the roughness of his beard against her cheek.

  “I’m going to be fine, Buttercup,” Eddie assured her, resting his hand on top of her head.

  “I know that! Just checking you’re all monitored up. There, you’re good,” Robyn said, adjusting one of Eddie’s wires.

  “Can no one hear me above all the emotion? I want to know about this cop case. I’m feeling left out over here!” Max shouted.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  “Someone might come in,” Cole said as Robyn kissed him hard on the mouth.

  “I don’t care.”

  “Yes you do.”

  “I don’t care right now.”

  “I’m burning up in this uniform, I need a shower,” Cole said, kissing her back.

  “I’m not stopping you,” Robyn replied, pulling at his top.

  “This isn’t fair, we’re supposed to be going slow.”

  “That was yesterday’s plan.”

  “And today’s?”

  The dressing room door burst open and the other team members all trooped in, tearing their uniforms off and discarding them as they went.

  “Man, I’m done for,” Wes announced, tugging his shirt over his head.

  “Me too! You were fierce tonight, Robyn!” Wade called to her.

  “That was special orders from Eddie,” Robyn said, moving away from Cole.

  “How’s he doing? We’ve all chipped in for a coach jacket and cap. It’s beautiful, he’s gonna love it,” Wes informed her.

  “I’m sure he will. He’s doing okay; we’ll just have to see how the operation goes. You okay?” Robyn asked, going over to where Mickey was taking off his kit.

  “She still won’t take my calls. D’you think I ought to go over to Pam and Bob’s?” Mickey asked her, his eyes sorrowful.

  “D’you know what? I think you deserve Chinese. Hey, Brad, you don’t mind if Mickey and Cole come with us, do you? Mickey’s not feeling the best and I know Cole hasn’t eaten properly because I caught him eating my chips and dip earlier,” Robyn called across the locker room.

  “Well, I thought it was just going to be…” Brad began, looking less than pleased.

  “Great! That’s settled, I’ll meet you out front,” Robyn said before she hurried to excuse herself from the locker room.

  “So, isn’t this nice? I haven’t been here since forever. I’m so glad they still do the sweet and sour chicken balls,” Robyn said excitedly as Cole, Brad, Mickey, and she sat at a table in the local Chinese restaurant.

  The atmosphere was stiff. No one had spoken on the drive to the restaurant and it had been all Robyn could do to get their drink orders out of them. Something had happened between the guys, she was sure of it. That damn locker room held a thousand secrets behind its door. There was only so much legitimate time she could spend in there without the team thinking she was present to get off on their nudity. She needed a spy—maybe she could convince Mickey to do just that. It might take his mind off Sarah for five minutes.

  “Chicken balls are Sarah’s favorite, too,” Mickey stated with a sad sigh.

  “And mine,” Brad added.

  “Mine too,” Cole replied, glaring at him.

  “Man, I never knew we all had such similar tastes. I’m going to have seaweed as a starter, I think,” Robyn said, looking at the menu.

  “Me too,” Brad stated.

  “Count me in,” Cole said.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had it before. What’s it like?” Mickey asked.

  “And then I’m going to have the deep fried bull’s balls with intestine stew,” Robyn suggested.

  “I’ll go for that, too.”

  “Yeah and me.”

  Robyn looked at Cole and Brad and shook her head in disapproval.

  “What’s going on?” Robyn asked, fixing them both with a hard stare.

  “Nothing,” Brad said immediately.

  “Cole?” Robyn asked.

  “Nothing,” he replied.

  “Mickey? Am I going to get any sense out of you?” Robyn asked.

  “Brad wants to date you; Cole said you weren’t in to him,” Mickey told her.

  “Jeez, man!” Brad said, throwing a napkin down on the table.

  “I’m starving, can we order?” Mickey asked, taking a prawn cracker from the bowl on the table.

  “What have you said?” Robyn asked, looking at Cole with wide eyes.

  “Nothing. He said you have a bond. He said you’re going to change your mind about the way you feel about him. I said I was pretty sure you wouldn’t,” Cole told her.

  “Is this true?” Robyn asked Brad.

  “He’s in to you. Did you know that?” Brad said, slanting an accusing eye at Cole.

  “Brad, I don’t feel that way about you. We’re friends, we’ll always just be friends,” Robyn began.

  “Yes, we’re ready to order. Can I have the crispy duck and
the sweet and sour chicken balls with special fried rice and…shall we share some noodles?” Mickey offered as he gave his order to the waitress who had appeared at their table and gingerly stepped forward in a bid to be noticed.

  “I don’t want to talk about this in front of them. We were supposed to be having dinner on our own, so we could talk,” Brad said, looking at Robyn.

  “About what? Anything I need to say, I can say in front of Cole and Mickey. What is it you can’t say?” Robyn asked.

  “Noodles guys?” Mickey asked.

  “Just get the noodles,” Cole told him, watching Robyn and Brad.

  “Can we just have a minute?” Brad asked Robyn.

  “A minute for what?”

  “Please, Robyn,” Brad said, looking uncomfortable.

  Robyn stood up with a sigh and walked over to the tank where they kept the lobsters. They looked surprisingly cheerful seeing as most of them would end up in a pot of boiling water before the week was out. They all looked decidedly more cheerful than Brad.

  Brad followed her, removed his baseball cap, and toyed with it in his hands.

  “Can’t we just have Chinese like we used to? Remember that time we ate so much we were actually sick?” Robyn said.

  “Yeah, I remember. I carried you from the car and put you to bed,” Brad spoke.

  “I was ill for a week,” Robyn said with a smile.

  “That’s what I miss. We were so close,” Brad told her.

  “We still are close, you, Sarah, and Mickey, well, when they’re talking…you’re my oldest friends,” Robyn reminded him.

  “We were more than friends.”

  “We dated loosely for a while, it was hardly Romeo and Juliet, was it?” Robyn said.

  “Wasn’t it?”

  “No, Brad, it wasn’t—not for me, anyways,” Robyn stated firmly.

  Brad let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his hair, trembling.

  “Listen, I know things have been difficult for you since Michelle left, but…” Robyn began.

  “But what? I mean, what are you going to do, Robyn? Pat me on the arm and say everything’s going to be all right? I don’t have anything in my life apart from teaching stranger danger and ticketing speeders.”

  “Come on, you have the hockey. We’re doing really well and that’s because of you, you’re the Panthers’ captain. We need you,” Robyn said.

  “Don’t patronize me, Robyn. I’ve tried to move on, focus on something else, throw myself into the service, but now that you’re back, it’s harder than ever. Robyn, Michelle didn’t leave because she fell in love with Randy, she left because she knew she could never be you,” Brad stated.

  Robyn shook her head.

  “It’s true. I have never felt for anyone the way I feel about you. That’s just the way it is. Michelle realized that and that’s why she fell for Randy’s surgically enhanced charms,” Brad continued.

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same, and I won’t. There’s someone else,” Robyn told him firmly.

  “I know there was someone in England, Sarah told me, but…” Brad started, taking hold of Robyn’s hand.

  “It isn’t him. He was nothing, just a way of coping. This is different,” Robyn said, swallowing the knot that had appeared in her throat.

  “It’s someone here? Well, who?” Brad demanded to know, his face reddening, the vein in his neck twitching.

  “I didn’t plan it to happen, it just did. I couldn’t stop it and I didn’t want to stop it. He makes me feel normal again,” Robyn said, looking over at the table and smiling at Cole.

  “Ryan,” Brad said, the word only just making it past his pursed lips.

  “Yeah,” Robyn admitted, looking back at Brad.

  “So, he wasn’t hitting on you when he bought you the car and invited you to live with him and started being by your side twenty four seven? Man!” Brad accused angrily.

  “No, he wasn’t, not then. He was just being nice, that’s all he’s ever been. But then it was more than that. Like I said, it just happened,” Robyn attempted to explain.

  “I don’t trust him. You don’t know him, he doesn’t know you. How can you be dating someone you don’t know?” Brad yelled at her.

  “I know enough and frankly, Brad, I know we’re friends, but something like this is none of your business,” Robyn snapped.

  “I care about you, Robyn, you can’t stop me from caring.”

  “I don’t want you to care like that, it’s suffocating!” Robyn blasted.

  That was it. He couldn’t let her stand with him any longer. Mickey had started to take him through a blow-by-blow account of every date he had been on with Sarah and he couldn’t hear what was being said. He was uncomfortable being so far away, with Brad standing so close to Robyn. He needed to do something.

  “Is everything okay here?” Cole asked, joining them.

  “Oh yeah, everything’s great, you freaking lowlife! She’s just told me you’re dating! You knew we had history, you knew how I felt about her…everyone knows how I feel about her,” Brad screamed at him.

  “You told him,” Cole said, looking at Robyn intently.

  “That we’re dating,” Robyn emphasized.

  If she had told him about the impending wedding he probably would have collapsed or trashed the restaurant.

  “You made out you were a good guy, down with the team, everybody’s buddy, and really you were…” Brad continued as he began to perspire.

  “Really he was what?” Robyn cut in.

  “I didn’t think you were like that,” Brad continued, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other as he turned his attention to Robyn.

  “You didn’t think I was like what?” Robyn asked, staring at Brad and biting her lip.

  “Let’s go,” Cole urged, taking hold of Robyn’s hand.

  “You should be with me, Robyn, not him. We were always meant to be together,” Brad said.

  “Robyn, let’s just go. We can get take out,” Cole offered, trying to get her to focus on him and deflect the intensity of Brad’s rant.

  “No, not yet. I think I might want to punch him first,” Robyn replied.

  “Robyn, we were good together, you know that. You said that yourself, the Chinese, the summers by the lake, the movies, at school, athletics club together, we…”

  “They’re memories, just old memories that have nothing to do with the here and now. I’m dating Cole. I’m together with Cole,” Robyn told him.

  “And how much do you really know about him?” Brad questioned, his eyes locking with Cole’s.

  “I know everything,” Robyn responded.

  “Yeah? Really? So you’ll know he was charged with criminal damage, assault, and DUI,” Brad carried on, a smug, satisfied smile crossing his face.

  “You ran Cole’s name through the police computer?” Robyn asked, looking at her friend open-mouthed.

  “So, now you know he isn’t Mr. Whiter than White. What have you got to say to that?” Brad demanded to know.

  Robyn swung her arm back and punched Brad hard on the jaw, sending him reeling back into an empty table. Plates smashed on the floor, the Chinese waitress screamed and went running toward the kitchen, her face in her hands, and Mickey stopped eating the prawn crackers to turn toward the scene. He stood up and meandered over to them.

  “You going to come and finish ordering?”

  “No, we’re done here,” Robyn said, taking Cole’s hand.

  “Robyn, you need to think about what you’re doing. You don’t belong with him,” Brad called, picking himself up and touching his face.

  “Do you think if I called Sarah now and told her we had sweet and sour balls by the dozen she would come down? I mean she does love chicken balls. Actually maybe you should call her,” Mickey suggested to Robyn.

  “We’re leaving,” Robyn said, pulling Cole toward the door.

  “Look, Sarah’s dumped you. She doesn’t want you, get over it,” Brad hissed, his lips set
in an angry scowl.

  “Get over it? What like you? Pining after Robyn for years? Turning down the cell number of that dancer at Taboo? Doesn’t sound like you’ve gotten over anything yourself,” Mickey replied.

  “Fuck you Mickey…and fuck you,” Brad snarled, glaring at Cole.

  He put his cap back on his head, roughly pushed passed Cole and belted out the door.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  “I want to kill him,” Robyn blasted as she burst through the front door of the house.

  “You don’t want to kill him.”

  “Why don’t you want to kill him?”

  “Because I kind of know how he feels and it’s not good,” Cole told her.

  “I’ve done nothing to make him think I feel anything for him, you know, that way,” Robyn assured him.

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

  “There isn’t anything to explain, Cole, honestly, nothing,” Robyn said, stopping in her tracks and looking up at him.

  “I know that.”

  “Do you?”

  “Yes, because I know you,” Cole told her.

  He reached out, took a strand of her hair in his fingers, and tucked it back behind her ear. She caught his hand in hers and brought it to her mouth, kissing his knuckles.

  “I’m scared, Cole,” Robyn whispered, putting another kiss on his hand.

  “Scared of what?”

  “Of how I feel about you…and what I should do about it,” Robyn said, swallowing.

  “We should eat something. We haven’t eaten and I’m starving,” Cole said, looking away from her.

  He was trying to buy time, for what he didn’t really know. He was scared too, but he didn’t want her to know that. After his comment about food, she was now looking at him like he was the most insensitive jerk she had ever met. At the moment, he agreed with her. If they could just get the monster trucks on the TV and rip open a bag of chips this could all be saved for another day. Another day when he might feel able to cope with it, because he couldn’t deal with it now. He was only one step away from wanting to take her clothes off, but if he did that it would ruin everything. He knew she couldn’t handle that yet. He could be patient, he could wait, but it was hard—really hard.