“You okay, Abuela?”
“I’m fine. I just can’t drink like I used to.”
“You mean like last year, when you were eighty-eight?”
“Eighty-eight to eighty-nine was a big jump!”
She smiled, and everyone laughed. I felt her hand on my shoulder and she spoke so only I could hear. “Everything’s going to be okay, Cata. But just remember. Only the king of fire can handle the queen of the ice.”
I don’t think my grandmother had seen more than one hockey game in her life, and so she didn’t understand the significance of what she just said.
Or I was just reading into it way too much.
In that moment, my stomach sank.
I’d been here for weeks now, and aside from our goodbye phone call, we hadn’t talked. I hadn’t really given him any room to fight back.
Maybe he would. After all, heiswith the queen of ice.
We talked late into the night, and it felt therapeutic to drink and chat knowing that I still had an identity here in Spain.
At one point after I went into the dining room for more wine, I pulled out my phone, my heart beating, and I did a Google search of Dustin’s team.
My heart beat fast when I saw there was an update from a game that had just been played. The first headline was not good.
Chicago Falls to Cougars, out of playoffs
A quick click on an article led me to see that there was a press conference that had been recorded. I excused myself from the table and went inside to grab my headphones and watch the conference on my laptop in my room.
The connection was a little grainy, but I was able to at least generally see and hear the video of the interview that had happened. It was from yesterday. Coach Slanch had just gotten up and now they invited up a few of the players. Dustin and Chip sat down with caps on, looking devastated.
Even just seeing him, I felt goosebumps roll over my skin.
One interviewer asked a question. “People are saying that the last shot from Baldwin to beat you tonight could have been the luckiest shot of all time. What do you say to that?”
Dustin’s voice seemed pained. “Overall, we played well tonight. There were a few situations we could have managed better, but we gave it our best shot. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, it’s that some things just aren’t meant to be. Luck plays a part in these games sometimes.”
My heart sank into my ribs. I wanted to reach out and touch him.
Chip answered, and then they both took a few more questions about the game until a reporter asked a different question.
“So, Dustin, what’s this rumor going around that your wife is your ex-wife already?”
Chip interjected, obviously agitated. “People, please. Questions about thegame.”
“No, no, it’s alright,” Dustin said, clearing his throat. “Like I said, one of the things I’ve learned this year is that some things just aren’t mean to be. And you’ve got to try again, and start fresh.”
When I heard those words come out of his mouth, I think I stopped breathing for a moment.
Maybe I was reading too much into things, but I couldn’t help it. I felt those words reverberate through to my soul, and I knew he was talking directly to me.
And it set in that we were really over.
I headed back to the patio, where it was dark now.
“The ice queen is back!” I announced, a pit in my stomach. “Where’s the wine?”
CHAPTER 32
