Instead of answering, I ask about the cat and she tells me about her work and we talk for forty minutes, the way you do with someone who has known you your whole life and doesn’t need the backstory to understand the story.
She doesn’t mention Erik.
She never does unless I do, which is the agreement we reached somewhere in the wreckage of six months ago without ever stating it explicitly. But near the end of the call, when we’re winding down and she’s pulling her cardigan around her against the Gothenburg cold, she says:
“You sound different.”
“Different how?”
She considers it, her head tilted, genuinely thinking about it rather than just saying something.
“Less far away,” she says finally. “Than you did last month. Than you did for a long time.”
I don’t know what to do with that, so I say goodnight and I love you and I’ll call at the weekend, and I close the laptop and sit in the quiet of the apartment.
I think about the ice this morning. The satisfaction of watching technique click in a player who didn’t think they could do it. Russo’s face when I said he should try actually scoring goals if that’s what he’s there to do.
I think about Calloway sayinghe’s a great guyabout Jake Skelly like it was the simplest thing in the world, which maybe it is.
I stand up, stretch, and go to make another terrible cup of coffee.
My phone buzzes on the counter.
I pick it up.
Hey - Jake Skelly. Good to meet you last night. If you’re free on Saturday evening, there’s a place I think you’d like. Nothing fancy. Just a good spot if you’re still finding your way around town.
Before I can talk myself into or out of anything:
Sounds good. What time?
The reply comes back in under a minute.
Seven? And for what it’s worth - your guys weren’t bad last night. They’ll get there.
I set the phone down and pick up my coffee. I try to decide what I think about Jake Skelly, who is straightforward and texts back in under a minute.
I think about what Iris said.
Less far away.
Maybe.
6
Chapter 6
MATEO
Calloway finds me at six fifteen.
I’m already on the ice, which he knows is where he’ll find me. He stands at the boards and talks to me. I skate a slow circle while he does it and I don’t interrupt because there’s nothing to interrupt with. He’s right about everything he says and we both know it.
First, I have to apologize to her for undermining her in front of the group. I already planned to - I feel bad for that. Second, I have to do a private session with her after the group session today to make up for what I missed yesterday. The private session is non-negotiable. He doesn’t say it like a punishment, but like a fact, the way Calloway says most things.
“She’s giving up her own time,” he says. “Use it well.”
I say yes and I mean it. He nods once and that’s the end of it.
