Life on the Edge (30 page)

I stopped before the top step and stared at the wooden swing near the edge of the porch. Mom and I would sit on that swing every summer evening when I was young. She’d drink a glass of iced tea, while I’d slurp on a popsicle. We could talk about anything–my skating dreams, catty girls at the rink, my favorite books. I never imagined a time would come when we’d barely be speaking.

My hand went to my stomach, where my dinner sat like a rock. I leaned back against Sergei’s chest and let his arms close around me. “I don’t think that could’ve gone any worse.”

He kissed the top of my head. “Look on the bright side. Your dad could hate me, too.”

I laughed, but the sound was hollow. “I don’t know what it’s going to take for my mom to see what we have is real.”

I led Sergei down the steps into the drizzling rain. The drops of water refreshed my skin and washed away some of the unpleasantness of the night. Sergei opened the passenger door, and I planted a slow, rainy kiss on his lips.

He smiled. “What was that for?”

“For keeping me sane through all this.”

He placed his hands gently on my neck and repaid my kiss with a tender one of his own. The longer it lasted, the more I knew being with Sergei was the right choice.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Good practice, guys.” I handed Courtney and Mark their skate guards.

They maneuvered around the three other novice pairs leaving the ice. As host of the Cranberry Open summer competition, our rink had been overtaken by skaters of all levels from across New England.

Sergei took Mark aside for another minute of instruction, while Courtney asked, “
Em
, what time do we skate tomorrow morning?”

I pulled the event schedule from my purse, and another sheet of paper slipped out and floated to the ground. Courtney picked it up and saw the flight itinerary I’d printed earlier.

“You’re going on a trip?”

“To Dallas for a coaches’ seminar. You know, one of those classes we have to attend to keep our certification. Sergei’s going, too, so you and Mark will be on your own a couple of days next month.”

“Are you and Sergei the only coaches from our rink going?” Hope twinkled in Courtney’s emerald green eyes.

“I think so.” I shifted my eyes to the paper in my hand.

I couldn’t tell her Sergei and I had made sure of that when we’d signed up for the class. We’d had our choice of seminars, and we’d deliberately picked the one to which we could travel alone.

“That should be a lot of fun.” She giggled and gave me the smile she always wore whenever she hinted Sergei and I should date–something she’d done quite a few times since she’d seen us together at the symphony.

Guilt carved a deeper hole in my gut. I longed for the day when I could tell her the truth, and I hoped she’d be so excited by the news she wouldn’t be angry with me for lying to her.

I was about to check the event schedule for the time of the short program when a heavy Russian accent exclaimed Sergei’s name. Looking behind me, I saw the man attached to the voice. He hugged Sergei, and the two of them exchanged a flurry of words in Russian.

“This is
Evgeny
Bobrov
,” Sergei said, appearing a bit startled. “We skated at the same club growing up.”

A ripple of excitement rolled through me. I’d never met anyone who’d known Sergei when he was younger. From my quick appraisal,
Evgeny
appeared to be in his early thirties, and his slight stature led me to believe he’d been a singles skater. We all exchanged introductions, and I asked, “Are you coaching now, too?”

“Yes, I just move to Connecticut,” he said, his English slightly broken. “I have two students competing here.”

My cell phone rang, interrupting my chance to find out how well
Evgeny
had known Sergei in Moscow. I excused myself, and my stomach knotted when I saw the number.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, sweetie, I was calling to check in. I haven’t heard from you in a few days.”

“It’s been a crazy week. Chris and I have been doing a lot of pre-season interviews, and the kids are competing this week . . .”

“I thought maybe you were avoiding my suggestion that you come home to visit soon.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m really busy right now.”

His audible sigh carried through the phone line. “I don’t know who’s more stubborn–you or your mother. How much longer are you going to keep up this standoff? I thought after months of not speaking, one of you would give in.”

“I can’t talk to her unless she’s going to be fair to Sergei. I know you’ve tried to reason with her, and if she won’t listen to you, then she’s not going to listen to me.”

“If you would just come over and give it a try, you might be able to reach an understanding.”

I glanced over at Sergei. His handsome face broke into a smile as he patted Courtney’s head. “I’m sorry, Dad, I can’t. Mom has to make the first move.”

****

The next afternoon, I made my daily stop at the coffee shop but sat alone since Sergei had business at the rink. I opened the copy of
Anna Karenina
he’d loaned me and flipped to my bookmarker. With my head buried in the novel, I didn’t notice a figure approach my table until I heard, “Hello, Emily.”

I popped my head up to see
Evgeny
next to my chair with a cup of coffee in his hand. His friendly smile plus my curiosity spurred me to an issue an invitation.

“Hi! Would you like to sit?” I pointed to the chair across from mine.

“Thank you.” He sat and took a sip of his drink. “I see you skate at Worlds this year. Very beautiful. You have great talent.”

“Thank you, that’s nice of you to say.”

“And you skate pairs only two years? Sergei must be very good coach.”

“He’s amazing. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”

He thumped his index finger on the table. “I always knew he would become coach. He help young skaters at our club many time.”

“Really? He doesn’t talk much about those days.”
Evgeny
seemed like a talkative guy, so I decided to throw him some bait. “It was so unfortunate what happened with Elena.”

“You know about Elena?” He put his elbows on the table and angled forward.

“I heard what her father did.”

“Yes, it was bad . . .” He appeared to search for the right word. “Situation . . . with baby.”

A cold chill blanketed my skin. “Baby?” I croaked.

“Yes. You know about Elena and the baby,” he said as a statement rather than a question.

The chill took hold of my hands, causing them to quiver. I gripped my warm coffee cup to try to steady them.

“I know Elena’s father sent her away because he didn’t want her and Sergei to be together.”

“Right, but also he sent her away to have baby.”

My skinny latte crept up into my throat. Surely, there was some misunderstanding. Something lost in translation. My mind overflowed with questions; the most important one escaped my lips. “Did Sergei know she was pregnant?”

“Yes, he want to marry her, so they can be family together.”

A sharp pain stabbed between my ribs, as though someone had pierced my heart with a dagger and continued to grind it in deeper and deeper. I pressed my jaws together in a desperate attempt to keep my swirling emotions from my face. If I didn’t get out of there soon, I feared I could no longer hold in the anguish crushing my chest.

“Yes, that was, um, very sad how things turned out.” I shut my book and picked up my coffee. “I just remembered I need to run a few errands. I’ll see you at the rink.”

He stood up along with me. “You seem upset by what I say.”

“No, I just . . . Sergei probably wouldn’t want us talking about this, so . . . I’ll see you.”

I stumbled against two chairs and bumped into the newspaper rack as I hurried toward the door. When I reached my car, I shoved the key into the ignition and paused a minute to figure out my destination. My head was so foggy I had to close my eyes to bring some clarity. Sergei had said he was going home after he finished at the rink. If he wasn’t there yet, I could wait outside.

I credited God with guiding me from South Dennis to Hyannis because my attention was not on the road. After nearly side-swiping a truck in one of the Cape’s many rotaries, I shook myself and concentrated on the last stretch of highway before Sergei’s apartment.

His usual parking spot sat empty. I pulled in next to it and kept the engine running. The vents blasted cold air on my face, but I still felt like I was suffocating.

Over and over,
Evgeny’s
words pummeled my brain. I rested my arms and head on the steering wheel but jolted upright when “Every Breath You Take” came on the radio, filling the car with Sting’s voice. The pain in my chest tightened. I punched the button to change the channel and jumped again at the sight of Sergei’s car turning into the lot.

We climbed from our cars at the same time, and Sergei smiled. “This is a nice surprise.”

“We need to talk.” I marched ahead of him to the stairs.

He didn’t say anything until after he unlocked his door. “What’s wrong?”

I stood in the center of the living room and pivoted to face him. “Did you get Elena pregnant?”

The color drained from his face. “Who told you that?”

“Just answer the question.”

The shock in his voice quickly became irritation. “Was it
Evgeny
?”

“Answer. The. Question,” I said with short breaths.

He looked down at the carpet and rubbed his forehead before his eyes met mine once again. “Yes, but–”

The anger I’d been holding in exploded, and I threw my arms out wide. “I asked if what you told me was the whole story and you said yes. How could you look me in the eye and lie to me like that?”

“I’m sorry.” He reached out a hand, but I jumped back. “I was afraid what you would think if I told you everything.”

“You thought I was going to judge you?”

His Adam’s apple dipped hard as he swallowed. “I know you probably already are.”

I pushed an angry hand through my hair, tangling its waves. “Honestly, I haven’t even been able to process it yet. I’m more disturbed by how easily you lied to me.”

My phone rang in my purse, but I didn’t move. Above the ringing, Sergei said, “I thought it was best if you never knew. It’s a part of my life I’d rather forget.”

The phone quieted, leaving uneasy silence. I folded my arms and asked the question I was afraid to hear the answer to.

“What happened to the baby?”

Sergei swallowed hard again. “Elena gave it up,” he said flatly.

The slight droop to his mouth made him look sincere, but I’d been fooled before.

“Is that the truth?” Bitterness soaked my tone. “Or is there a child in Russia you’ve been hiding from me?”

“I don’t know where the child is. I haven’t spoken to Elena since the day she left Moscow, but I know people who’ve talked to her. She’s married but doesn’t have any children.”

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “
Evgeny
said you wanted to marry her.”

Sergei’s jaw clenched. “Sounds like he gave you all the details.”

“Well, it’s more than what you gave me,” I spat.

He wandered in a circle in front of me. “When I found out she was pregnant, I told her we could get married. Her father obviously had other ideas.”

“Why didn’t she stand up to him?”

“You don’t understand the kind of power he had. He knew people, people who could hurt me and my family. With the threats he made, she had no choice.”

My head pounded, overwhelmed with conflicting thoughts and emotions. I hated the fact I could harbor a thought such as this, but I couldn’t ignore it. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth? How do I know
you
weren’t the bad guy, and that’s why Elena’s father didn’t want you with her?”