This Is Crazy

by Natasha Madison

  “Evan, I could have opened my own door,” Zara huffs. I grab her hand and start to walk inside when my phone beeps. I look down at it and see it’s from my mother.

  Mom: We are waiting for you inside.

  “My parents are here,” I tell them, and Zara puts a hand to her stomach.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Zara says, and Zoe stands closer to her. I pull open the door that leads to the dressing rooms and walk down the red carpeted hallway.

  “Holy shit, there are two of them.” I hear someone say, and when I turn around, there is no one there. I walk out to the arena where I know my parents always wait for me, and I smile when I see my mother dressed in jeans and one of my jerseys.

  “There he is,” my father says, and my mother now looks over at me smiling. Her eyes go wide when she sees Zara.

  “Oh my,” she whispers.

  “Mom,” I say, hugging her on the side, not letting go of Zara’s hand. She is squeezing it so tight I think it’s going to turn blue soon. My father stands beside my mother with his hand on her shoulder. “Dad,” I say, and he just nods at me with a beaming smile on his face. “This is Zara.” I pick up her hand in mine and kiss it. “And that is her twin sister, Zoe.” I take a deep breath. “This is my mom, Jackie, and my father, Patrick.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Richards,” Zara says, reaching out her hand to shake my mother’s. “It is so good to finally meet you.” My mother reaches out and hugs her.

  “She is so beautiful,” my mother says, and I can see tears in her eyes, then she looks at Zara. “You are so beautiful.”

  “Jackie,” my father says, “don’t scare her away.”

  Zara laughs, and then Zoe talks. “She doesn’t scare away that easily. I’ve been trying since we were in utero.” I shake my head, and I’m about to say something to her when I hear talking coming from down the hall, and I look up, and all I hear is Zara.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispers when she finally looks down the hallway. There walking down the hall is Cooper, Parker, Matthew, Karrie, Max, and Allison. Zara turns to Zoe. “Did you know about this?” Zoe just shakes her head. They make their way to us, almost like a flying vee with Cooper and Parker in the front and Max and Matthew with their wives on each side.

  “Well, well, well,” Matthew says. Karrie nudges him, and he looks at her.

  “Behave,” Karrie says and smiles.

  “Sweetheart,” Cooper says, and he comes forward to hug his girls, my hand never leaving Zara’s. She actually squeezes it tighter.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Zara asks when her mother comes to hug her, and I look over at my father who is watching everything with his back straight.

  “We had four days off, and I thought why not come to Dallas,” Matthew says, and I watch him as he looks at my father and then my mother.

  “Excuse us,” Parker says, smiling and going to my mother. “You must be Evan’s mom.” I don’t know what my mom is expecting, but I’m sure it’s not the hug that Parker gives her. “You raised a true gentleman,” she tells her, and my mother now beams with pride. “And I see he’s just as handsome as his father.”

  “Excuse my wife,” Cooper says, pulling her away from hugging my father, and I want to laugh. I think my father would do the same, and I sure as fuck know I would also. “Mr. Richards.” He holds out his hand, and my father smirks and does the same. “I’m Zara’s father.”

  “Mr. Stone,” my father says, holding out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” If you have been on the ice or have even watched hockey one time in your life or even if you haven’t, you know who Cooper Stone is.

  “I have to go get ready,” I whisper to Zara who just nods her head. I lean in and kiss her lips not even caring that her family is there. She is mine now, so they better get used to it. Because I’m not going anywhere.

  “Skate hard,” she tells me, and the boys chuckle. “I heard Dad tell you that all the time.” She glares at them.

  “Yeah, when I was ten,” Matthew says, and I just shake my head.

  “I’ll see you when I get out.” I look back at Matthew and Max. “M&M, want to tour a winning locker room?” I joke with them, and they just glare. “I didn’t say it.” I look at Cooper who just smiles. “The stats did.”

  “Can I tag along?” Cooper asks, and I nod.

  “Well, in that case, I’m not staying with the women,” my father says, and we both walk toward the dressing room.

  My father and Cooper walk behind us, and Matthew and Max walk with me in the middle. “So you guys had nothing better to do than to come all the way to Dallas to watch a hockey game?” I ask them when we walk into the hallway and then turn on them. Looking over my shoulder, I see that Cooper is already being recognized and is shaking hands.

  “What can I say?” Matthew starts. “I live for the game.”

  “I just came because it meant I got to spend the weekend alone with my wife,” Max says, shrugging.

  “That’s gross. She’s still my sister,” Matthew hisses at him.

  “Your other sister is living with him,” Max says, pointing at me.

  “Do you guys ever not fight?” I ask them.

  Matthew and Max both answer at the same time. “No.”

  “So why the sudden need to come to Dallas?” I ask them again. “Cut the bullshit, will you.”

  “Zara called my mom, and she was almost in tears about meeting your mother with your sister there.”

  “She was in tears?” I whisper. “She never said anything.”

  “That is just the way those women handle things,” Max tells me. “You are always the last one to know.”

  “We came to show her that we have her back,” Matthew says, and I glare at him.

  “I have her back,” I tell him, and he holds up his hands.

  “Relax, there,” he says. “I know that feeling when you want to kill everyone who thinks they know your woman better than you do.”

  “Oh, I remember that,” Max says, leaning on the wall now. “My wedding day was one of those.”

  “You eloped with my sister,” Matthew snaps at him. “Not cool.”

  “Never going to apologize for it,” Max says, smiling. “Best day of my life.”

  “I love her,” I tell them both, and they just look at me. “I told her I love her, but I haven’t told her she’s the one yet because I don’t want to scare her off. But I’m not going anywhere.” I look around and then look back at them. “She’s mine. There is no other way to put it.”

  “What are you going to do about your contract next year?” Matthew asks me, and I don’t answer him. “You know that she comes from a close family. Her twin lives in New York, and those two cannot be separated for long.”

  “I’m not deciding anything without her,” I tell them the truth. “I won’t even sign a contract without her approving it.” Matthew looks at Max, and they share a look.

  “How serious is this thing with your sister?” Max asks me. “I’m not saying anything, but you push one of those girls against the wall, and it’s almost like you are taking them all on.”

  “My sister is worried about me,” I tell them. “Same as you are with Zara.” They nod. “I have to get ready.” I turn and walk away.

  “Skate hard,” Matthew says, laughing, and I flip him the bird over my shoulder. When I finally get into the locker room, there is chatter everywhere.

  “You going to be okay?” Corey asks me, and I just nod at him.

  “Never better.” I shrug off my jacket. “Never fucking better.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Zara

  It feels just like it does when I’m home. Sitting in the box with my girls, my father standing there watching every single play, but this time with Matthew and Max. Patrick and Cooper stand side by side as they discuss whatever it is they are discussing, both of them with their hand in front of their mouth. Just in case the cameras spot him and try to read his lips. It’s like he has all the secrets. They actua
lly had him on the jumbotron when the game started, and everyone turned to clap and stand. He got recognized the minute we started walking to the lodge as did Matthew and Max. But nothing can compare to my dad.

  “What do you think we should make tomorrow?” Jackie asks me, and I look over at her. I’m sitting in a chair with Jackie on one side and my mother on the other, nursing the same glass of wine since we got in. My nerves are on edge, and every time the door opens, I think it will be his sister. Zoe is sitting behind me with Karrie and Allison laughing away.

  I mean, I guess if I were kid free for the weekend, I probably would be living it up. Karrie told me that Doug has her kids while Denise, Max’s sister, is babysitting their kids.

  “I don’t know how to cook,” I say, my voice not coming out strong. Zoe senses it right away, and my mother reaches for my hand. “I don’t know how to cook,” I say again, looking at Jackie. “I tried to learn, I did, but …” I have to blink away tears. “And I know that I’m not the perfect person you would want for your son.”

  “Oh dear God, it’s happening,” Zoe says from behind me, and Allison and Karrie both lean in and squeeze my shoulder.

  “I can learn.” I look down at my hand, then back up at Jackie. “I’ll learn for him, and I’ll take care of him if he gets sick.”

  “It’s almost like she has diarrhea of the mouth,” Zoe says, and I turn to glare at her. She looks at me. “You need to stop, or you’re going to make yourself sick.”

  “I love him.” I look back at Jackie. “Like love, love him.”

  “Oh honey,” my mother says, and she puts her arm around me, and I’ve never been more scared in my life than I am right now waiting for Jackie to say something.

  “Will you be there to hold his hand if things get rough?” she asks me, and I nod my head. “Will you be willing to go wherever this takes him?”

  “Without ever looking back,” I tell her.

  “Taking care of someone is more than just cooking for him.” Jackie grabs my hand in hers. “I didn’t really cook when we got married, and well, it was a learning curve. I remember once I thought it would be a good idea to make meatloaf, and I broiled it instead of baking it.” She shakes her head, laughing. “Those were the days. It’s about being there when things are on a high, and then they go so low it takes everything you have in you not to try to fix it yourself.” She leans over. “’Cause men don’t always get things.”

  “True story,” Karrie says from behind me.

  “Before I met him, I was dating someone,” I start telling her, and I know I shouldn’t, but she has to know. “I thought I loved him. I really did.” I look at my mom, who smiles at me and nods her head. “But then he broke up with me, and I thought it was the end of the world. I thought there was no way I would be able to go on.” I blink away the tears. “I know now that isn’t the case.” A tear escapes me, and Zoe passes me a tissue that my mother holds for me.

  “The reason I know it now is because I went on. Sure, it stung, but I was able to breathe. I was able to go about my day.” The crowd gasps, and I look up and see that someone is on the ice, and he’s down. I don’t know who it is, all I know is that he’s wearing green. I jump out of my chair, and my father looks back at me.

  “It’s not him, honey.” He smiles at me.

  I sit back down, gather up all my nerve, and finish. “I know because every day without him there was a pressure on my chest. A heaviness that I couldn’t understand, and then, I finally was in his arms and the heavy was gone. I could breathe again.” I look at my mom. “I get it. I get what you and Dad would talk about. How Dad would pout when you would go away for the weekend with the girls to a spa.”

  “I don’t think he would pout,” my mother says.

  “He would start a timer on his phone with the hours of when you would be coming back,” Zoe says from behind me.

  “Remember the time he did the hours chart on the fridge, and every hour, he would cross off a number?” Allison says, laughing.

  “I’m here,” a voice says behind me, and I look over to see Candace coming in followed by another girl. She spots us, and her mouth drops when she sees Zoe, Allison, and Karrie.

  Matthew and Max turn around and then look at each other, then spot the girl behind Candace. “What in the hell?” I hear Patrick say, and then Jackie gets up.

  “Candace,” Jackie says between clenched teeth, “what in the world were you thinking?”

  “I didn’t think,” she starts saying, and now I get up.

  “You didn’t think that I would have anyone at my back,” I tell her, my voice soft. “You thought I would be a sitting duck.” Jackie looks at me, then at Patrick. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Zara.”

  The blonde behind her sticks out her hand, and I look at her up and down. We are like night and day. “Sophia.” She says her name, and my stomach hurts. She looks at Candace and then back at Jackie. “I think I’m going to go and …”

  “That would be a good idea,” Jackie says and then looks at me. “I’m so sorry.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing to be sorry about. I get to go home with him tonight.” I fold my arms over my chest, and I feel my family at my back. “If anything, I should have thanked her.”

  “Everyone, this is Candace.” I look around. “This is my family.” I smile, and she just nods at them.

  “If you will excuse us,” Jackie says, “I need a moment alone with my daughter.” She turns and grabs her arm to walk out of the lodge. I’m about to say something to Patrick, but I don’t because the arena goes crazy, and everyone jumps to their feet. I look on the ice and see that Evan is skating with his stick in the air.

  “Woohoo,” Patrick says, clapping his hands, and they look at the replay, and even Matthew and Max agree it was a good play.

  “I need a drink,” I tell the girls who are all around me.

  “I think someone needs a kick in her vagina,” Zoe says.

  I shake my head. “It is what it is. Nothing is going to make that whole thing better,” I tell them and walk to the bar and pour myself a shot of tequila.

  I take the shot with shaky hands, then put the empty glass down on the counter. I close my eyes and let the liquid burn. “The things we do for love,” Jackie says from beside me, and I look over at her. She is wiping away a tear. “I’m so sorry that she did that.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I tell her.

  “She is really a nice living person,” she tries to tell me, wringing her hands.

  “I’m sure she is.” I am not going to put her in the middle of this.

  “He won’t forgive her for this,” Jackie says to me. “She was already walking a fine line.”

  “Then we won’t tell him.” I smile at her. “He doesn’t have to know this happened.”

  “You love him,” Jackie says. “That right there. Taking your pain and hurt and putting it aside to not have him know.” She comes to me and gives me a hug. “That makes you worth everything.”

  “I really hope so,” I whisper to her, and then I turn to my mother who is watching me with my father behind her.

  “What is Evan’s favorite meal?” I ask his mother.

  “I think it has to be beef stroganoff,” she answers, and I look at my mom.

  “Will you show me how to make it so I can make it for him?” I ask Jackie, and she smiles. “I mean, I won’t cook it, but I will watch and take notes.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Zoe says.

  “Why don’t we all meet at Evan’s place at noon, and we can all help?” my mother suggests, and Jackie just nods her head.

  “That sounds like a wonderful plan,” Jackie says, and the rest of the game is uneventful. They end up winning four to one, and we all sit in the lodge chatting. Then the door opens, and I look over and see Evan walk in. He looks pissed, so pissed that no one says anything, and the talking stops. He looks around the room, and his eyes finally find mine.

  “Are you okay?” he asks when he’s stand in
front of me. I’m still sitting on the stool.

  “What?” I ask shocked. “Of course, I’m okay.” I smile at him, but there is no smile on his face. “What’s the matter?”

  “Candace texted me,” he says, turning to look at his parents now. “It was not okay.” His teeth clench when he says this.

  “Hey.” I turn his face to mine. “It’s not a big deal,” I whisper and get up to stand in front of him. “Now, how about we take the goal scorer to get some food?”

  “I’m dying to eat,” Matthew says, then looks at Evan. “Good game out there.”

  “Thanks,” he mumbles, and everyone gets their things together. “Go ahead. We will meet you there.”

  Everyone walks out, leaving us alone together. He cups my face and kisses me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I tell him, trying not to feel sorry for myself. So what if his sister hates me.

  “She was going to blindside you,” he says, and I look down, not sure of myself. I don’t think I can mask that hurt. “She said she wasn’t thinking.”

  “Please don’t make it a big deal,” I whisper.

  “It’s a big deal,” he says, getting loud. “It’s a huge fucking deal. You were nervous to meet my mother and father, and then she brings my ex-girlfriend.” He looks down. “I dated her for a month.”

  I shake my head. “I honestly don’t even care,” I tell him. “Truthfully, I don’t care.” Then I look at him weirdly. “Wow, must be what it’s like to be mature and shit.” I laugh now. “I mean the old Zara would have been putting sugar in her gas tank.” I hold my stomach. “But now I just don’t want you to be bothered with it.”

  “I love you,” he tells me.

  “I know,” I answer him. “Everyone is coming over tomorrow, and your mother is going to teach me how to make beef stroganoff.” His smiles now, and I wrap my hands around his neck. “I’m going to try to learn.”

  His arms go around me, and he brings me in close, his forehead resting on mine. “I’m sorry that she did that.”

  “Do you love me?” I ask him.

  “With everything,” he answers.