I hugged her back. "I'm hungry. Are we eating now?"

Dinner was delicious. My mom had made this chicken casserole dish I loved.

"I should learn to make this," I said, and my mom pretended to faint. "April insists that we take turns cooking, and she's getting tired of my salads."

"You're welcome to come over anytime for lessons. I remember trying to get you to learn all through high school. And when you come over, don't forget, you promised to clean your junk out of your bedroom."

That sounded like non-stop fun.

After dinner, my dad cleared his throat and gave my mom a significant look. This meant big news.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a panic.

"Nothing's wrong," my dad replied. "But your mom and I have come to a decision. Now that you are all settled in your job, and Roger is busy at Waterloo, we have a little freedom."

"Freedom? For what?"

"Well, we didn't want to burden you with our problems, but my business has not been doing that well lately."

My mom chimed in. "It's that big supermarket moving in across the street. They have all these cheap bouquets that don't even last a week."

"Really? I had no idea. Do you need financial help?" I didn't know why I was offering since my bank balance was negative if you counted student loans.

"Of course not, dear. But given the steady decline in revenue, I've decided to accept an offer for the building from a developer. They're offering a lot more than I could get by selling the business itself." My dad didn't seem too upset about this though.

"A developer? What are they going to put in there?"

"They're buying the entire block so they can build a new condo development with retail on the ground floor. They have offered me retail space in the new building, but I don't have to decide immediately."

"But what are you going to do it instead?" My dad worked six days a week, and it was tough to imagine him sitting around doing nothing. He didn't even have any hobbies that I was aware of.

"We've decided to rent the house out for a year and go and live in Japan."

"Japan?" This was shocking. Seriously, the farthest vacation my family had ever taken was Hawaii, and now he was making it sound like Japan was no big deal.

"Yes, your mom has been investigating artist residency programs, and she's found one that works with pottery kilns built into the earth-"

"Anagama, they're called," my mom added. Naturally, she knew the Japanese word and not my dad. How was someone who looked Japanese but spoke zero Japanese going to get along there?

"The program she applied for is on Hokkaido. I thought I might do a little research into my roots while we're there."

My mouth was actually open in shock. My dad reached over and patted my arm. "We'd go there for six months, and we would travel the rest of the time. It'll be our year off. As mid-life crises go, it's fairly tame."

I sat back in my chair. He might think it was tame, but I felt like my world was being turned upside down. My parents were always there for me, maybe it was a little boring, but it was reassuring. But hey, they had a right to live their lives however they wanted. And it made me feel proud that they considered I was launched in life and get by on my own.

Still, it felt like the ground was disappearing from under my feet. The comforting idea of having a home to retreat to when I needed pampering was gone-for a least a year.

14.

Team Chemistry

Phil

My new life was coming together fast. Dirk Vanstone was my boss on this building project, and he seemed like a good guy. He warned me there'd be a ton of work and overtime, but I expected that.

I debated living at home-where I'd have the advantages of good meals and low rent-but after only a week there, I missed my independence too much. Luckily, my best friend from high school, Dave Vanderhauf, had gotten a three-bedroom condo downtown. He and his buddy, Elliott Jackson, were looking for another roommate since their first one had decided to live with his girlfriend instead.

"You won't bail on us for some piece of ass, will you?" Hoff demanded.

"I'm only going to be here for eighteen months or so," I explained. That was how long Vanstone had estimated it would take to finish the project but these things often went longer.

"Sounds good. Anyway, you're not the commitment type," he concluded. It was true I hadn't dated anyone too seriously during university, but he knew nothing about my deal with Kelly. Anyway, once I won, we weren't getting married or anything-we'd just be dating normally.

Our place was in Coal Harbour and pretty convenient. My roommates could both walk to work, and my commute was only fifteen minutes. Hoff had a job as an assistant to a stockbroker at a big firm, and Elliott was working at a big accounting firm, so we were all had long hours, low salaries, and lots of potential earnings-if we succeeded.

Frankly, it was going to be a hell of a summer. I'd have to work tons of overtime, but I also needed time and energy for Kelly. Normally, she'd be the perfect person to date. She was low maintenance and didn't care about expensive nights out. But now everything was dialled up. I'd have to get creative to make sure that she chose me at the end. Not only was it my dream, but I had to protect her from Frechette. Maybe the asshole didn't even mean to hurt her, but he was one of those competitive guys who wants to win the prize but doesn't even appreciate it when he gets it. The guy practically flipped out when he found out she had plans with me on Saturday. Taking her to my parent's anniversary party had been fine, but I worried that it was too boring an event. As usual, Kelly seemed to have a great time. She loved the food and at the end, we ended up in the rec room talking to my brother, Ray, and his girlfriend. They had invited us to visit them in Kelowna, so we could do that trip some weekend.

And Kelly had looked so beautiful in this black dress with her shoulders and back bare. I couldn't keep my hands off her, but I managed to stick to her rules of contact.

Since I lived in Vancouver, I figured I'd get more time with her. But he was flying her to Fredericton next weekend. The asshole would have the coin to do special things with Kelly, but I'd make up for that by my superior knowledge of what she really liked. And my best chance came from an unlikely source.

"Hoff, you ate all my fricking yogurt," I told Dave one morning. "I like it on my breakfast cereal."

"Sorry PD, got hungry after my game last night. We won by the way. 3-0."

Dave was leaning into the fridge, searching for other foods of mine he could eat. He never went grocery shopping until it was a dire emergency.

"Oh yeah, who scored? You get the hattie?"

"Nope, just one goal. Matt Sakura got the second, and Kelly got the last one."

"Wait, Kelly is on your team?"

"Yeah, it's a mixed league. I ran into her at a party, and I recruited her. She's way better than any of the other chick-players. We're cleaning up most games. This is the season-we're taking down the Ice Hogs. They've ruled the league for ages. A couple of my ex-teammates from UBC are on that team. They didn't have room for me though, so I wanna whoop their asses."

"You're playing mixed league?" That didn't sound like something Hoff would do.

He shrugged. "I'm in two leagues. I heard that mixed league was a good way to meet women. Not only the ones who play, but 'cause the parties are supposed to be better since chicks always bring other chicks. Kelly's let me down so far."

Dave liked his women tall, blonde, and babelicious, and he found Kelly too intense. They were friends, but he had suggested more than a few times that I should give up on her and find someone better.

This team was an opportunity of major proportions. Kelly loved playing hockey, and she was always in a fantastic mood after a good game. If I were on her team, we would be sharing some great times every week. Not to mention that this was something that Frechette could not do with her. Suck on that, Mr. NHL Superstar!

"Dude, I need to be on your team," I told Dave.

He eyed me. "Man, I'd like to do that, but I might get in shit. The teams are set now, and we're pretty strong. If I added another good player like you, the guy in charge would be very unhappy."

"Fuck, then you need to trade someone off and add me. I won't let you down, bud, I'll be great." When I had last played, it was only university intramural, but I had been one of the top scorers.

"I know you're good enough, but it's not that easy."

"Please, Hoff, I need this."

"Are you still trying to get with Kelly? You should really go for someone more-what's the word-actually into you. Lots of fish, man."

"C'mon. What's it going to take?"

He smiled. "Okay, if you do the grocery shopping for both of us, I'll use my charm and connections to get you on the team."

Sure, I was good with that. I was pretty much doing it anyway, but now he would have to give me money. Plus Dave worked for a stockbroker, and negotiating was what he did constantly. If he knew how fucking desperate I was, he could have gone way bigger.

I had to work late on the night of my first game, so I drove straight to the arena and got there five minutes after the start. I got changed and headed out to the bench.

"Just like old times. Right, Sparky?"

Kelly looked up in surprise. "Phil! What are you doing here? I thought the teams were all set."

"Hoff had to make a few changes, and here I am."

Hoff leaned over and said, "I'm putting you two on the same line. Let's see if you've still got any chemistry."

Once we got on the ice, it only took a few shifts to remember where she'd end up and deliver the puck there. Of course, she was a way better player now than in our high school days. We connected for a beauty at the beginning of the second.

"Nice goal, nice goal," Hoff said, slapping us both on the backs when we got back to the bench.

Kelly didn't look so happy though.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No." She frowned. "Well, yeah. When's the last time you played hockey?"

"I don't know. I played intramural, so March, I guess."

"And you haven't probably been to the gym since school ended, right? I have to work my ass off to stay in shape, and you walk in here and you're already way better than me. Not fair."

I laughed at her. "Kelly, you're so much better than when we last played together-I'm just trying to keep up. Besides, I'll be hurting later. First game back is always like that."

That seemed to cheer her up, but what made her feel even better was our come-from-behind victory.

"Wow, that was great. I thought we really got it together in the third." She and Hoff were deep into the post-game analysis. "That was our best defensive period."

We all got changed in the same room. I sat beside Kelly, and it felt like old times. Except I didn't remember eyeing her so closely to see exactly how many layers she was going to take off. Unfortunately, she only went down to the Underarmour, then threw on a warm-up jacket.

"You want to go for something to eat?" I asked her.

"Now?" She checked the time. "It's kinda late. I usually go home and shower after, then have a snack."

"Why don't I take you home? You can shower, I'll pick up a pizza, and we can eat together."

"That's a great idea." She chatted about the game all the way home. April had a piece of pizza with us but then headed off to her room. After eating and more talking, I was starting to fade.

"I guess I better go. Another big day at work tomorrow."

Kelly reached out and stroked my back. Her touch was intimate and familiar, and I felt a jolt of pleasure.

"You're working so hard, Phil. But you're enjoying it, right?"

"Yeah, it's good. All the stuff you learn at school, well, it's nice to see the practical applications."

"You're lucky. To be doing work you love."

I stroked her cheek. "I'm sure you'll get there too, Kel. You work so hard, it'll happen."

Her bottom lip went out a little. "I guess. I'm always learning something new. But it'll be at least a year before that internship thing. I'm not the world's most patient person."

But I was. I had waited this long for Kelly. She figured we had changed, but I didn't think so. She was still a dreamer, full of youthful enthusiasm and joy. And beautiful-Kelly was more alive than other people, full of energy and animation. In four years apart, I'd never met anyone like her. The only thing I didn't like was this whole dating game. It didn't fit with her usual kindness, and I could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable either. Hopefully, she wouldn't take too long to realize how good we were together.