“....and when she makes the ones with the cherries in the middle and the
sugar has melted to caramel on the top!”
“OK stop it!” Danny laughed and he slugged at Alex as he was grinning and
rubbing his tummy. “That’s my favorite one!”
“It’s her best one,” Alex said soberly, nodding his head. “I don’t think
I’ve ever tasted a better cherry sugar pie then that one... even the butter on
it and everything. But it’s not my favorite one.”
Danny couldn’t stop smiling, he was dead tired, his muscles were no doubt
drowning with lactic acid and he knew that he needed to sleep for the next eight
hours straight, but discussing Mimi’s talents as a dessert chef was actually
energizing him. He could already taste the glazed sugary crumbles dissolving on
the tip of his tongue before he had even slid a whole bite into his mouth. He
could already feel his triglyceride levels bobbing off the mark and the rolls
beginning at his waist. She was deadly for hockey players! “What’s your favorite
then, Tangers?” Danny asked.
“Vanilla!” Alex said, “When she makes the vanilla ones in that almond
paste.”
“You guys are saps!” Keaner barked as he speared his last piece of
dripping, juicy steak with his fork and shoveled it into his mouth. He washed it
down with a swig of beer and then he looked Danny straight in the eye.
“Cherry... HAH!” and then he looked at Tangers. “Vanilla... HAH!”
Danny giggled and took a drink of his beer. Alex pursed his lips in
irritation and crossed his arms. “Well which one of her sugar pies do you like?”
he asked.
“A MAN’S sugar pie, if there is such a phrase,” Keaner replied. “The Rum
Apple with a thin slice of cheese under the crust. Now that’s a real dessert, it
leaves your blood pulsing!”
Danny shook his head. He was intensely intrigued now. “I don’t think I’ve
ever tasted that one!” He said with an awed voice.
Keaner’s eyes twinkled and he dipped his chin towards his chest, almost
impaling him with a look. “You’re too young, that’s why.”
“I’ve never tasted it either!” Tanguay said peevishly. “How come she
never make that for us!”
Keaner laughed and shook his head. “I doubt you boys will ever have the
pleasure.”
Danny frowned. He exchanged looks with Alex and he could tell that he was
somewhat on the same page. Keaner was challenging them! Damn old goat was
challenging them about of all things, little pies!
“Well,” Tanguay said with a huff, “Today is her sugar pie day and I’m
willing to bet that she has a Rum Apple right now! And if Noter and I asked then
she would gladly give us a taste!”
Keaner raised and lowered his eyebrows and grinned with a devil’s
amusement. “It would be over your head, too bold.”
Alex shook his head. “No it isn’t!”
“Yeah!” Danny said and he pointed as tough a look at Keaner as he could.
Of course the old goat wasn’t appreciably cowed by it but at least he was
showing Tangers some unity. “What are ya implying Keaner?”
“Besides, Rum is not as good as vanilla,” Tangers sniffed. “It couldn’t
be.”
“Which,” Keaner said after he had swallowed down the last of his beer.
“Is why you will not be tasting it... Danny-boy on the other hand, heh heh she
might let ya have a bite.”
Danny shook his head and looked at Alex who was also shaking his head.
Keaner obviously was in one of those moods where he made little if any sense
about anything. What he did know at this point, though was that there were pies
hot out of an oven and here they were, sitting, wasting precious moments. He
grimaced and nodded. “Yup,” he said slowly, “Yup.”
“Yup,” Tangers answered, and Tangers looked at
Keaner.
“Yup,” Keaner said.
Danny nodded and they all exchanged glances and nodded. “YUP!” they all
said loudly.
“Check please!” Keaner growled loudly. “We got some PIES to get
to!”
Danny had been an entire load of worries over the past few days. His guts
had actually been flinching with stress. And it wasn’t that he was in any
physical harm or as if he was in any sort of unstable standing within the team.
Plain and simple, it was women.
The issue of Michele was a constant stirring within his brain. It was an
issue he couldn’t discuss with anyone he knew. His teammates would never discuss
the welfare of another teammates’ wife with each other, a veteran’s wife no
less. And Cecile only got distressed whenever he brought up her name so now he
just didn’t around her. So he only had himself to talk to, his own thoughts to
try to figure out why he cared so much, and if he should.
They were all piled in Tanger’s car and he was practically speeding all
the way down the icy streets to their destination.
“Eh, don’t kill us, aye?” Keaner said.
There was also Cecile on the flipside of the coin. He had not seen or
spoken to her since they came back from the roadtrip. He wanted to desperately
but she wouldn’t risk any chance of her mother catching her on the phone with
him or asking suspicious questions if she were to disappear with him for the
evening. The weekends were their only oasis together. He was beginning to
wonder, if she loved him so much, why couldn’t she bring him to her mother, show
her what a good person he was? Frankly, it was beginning to hurt his
feelings.
“Hey!” Tangers exclaimed as they were turning down the street that led to
the
“He’s been at Mimi’s pies!” Keaner snarled.
“That chubster!” Tangers barked. “He doesn’t need
pies!”
Danny laughed. What a popular lady!
Debbie Sakic answered the door and Gigi exploded onto the porch, wagging
her tail before deciding to bury her little teeth into Keaner’s pant
leg.
“Hey, Michele,” Alex said, “Hope we’re not bothering
you!”
She had a lovely blush on her cheeks and a glow on her face, and her
eyebrows lifted in an almost jaunty fashion. Danny already felt calm and
comforted, and there was that lovely scent of pies wafting out of the house. His
mouth watered at the scent.
“Yeah, it’s all Tangers’ fault,” Danny said with an earnest nod of his
head, “He couldn’t shut up all through practice today about your sugar pies and
how you bake ‘em on Thursday morning, he got us all worked up and
everything.”
Debbie laughed and Danny couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Michele
as she dropped her face into her hands. Of course she probably had many things
to be attending to rather than deal with some hungry hockey
players.
“Hey, we’re young men with appetites,” Tangers said and Danny grinned and
nodded, putting emphasis on Alex’s point.
Michele’s eyes sparkled through her fingers and he could see the white
flash of her grin. “And what’s your excuse?” she asked and he knew she was
talking to Keaner.
“I’m an old man with an appetite,” Keaner replied.
It was Keaner who led the charge into the house and to those delicious
smells.
“Get into the kitchen, they’re still warm. I hope you all get fat and
can’t skate tonight!” Michele said in a loud voice but Danny could hear the
laugh tinting it.
There they were! Pies about the size of large tarts on cooling racks all
over the kitchen table, the counter and the top of the stove. Michele, Danny had
learned to his delight in his first days when he was hanging around the house,
always baked these pies for the children and Patrick and offered them out as
treats for anyone visiting. Jonathan had once whispered to him after he had
consumed three of them in one sitting that he knew exactly how much butter and
cream went into each one. It was enough to make a grown man scream, and it
certainly was enough to get him into trouble with the coaching
staff.
“Hey, Meems,” Keaner said in a jolly voice already tearing into one.
“Oui my love?” Michele said flippantly but the sigh in her voice actually
tickled Danny in such a way that he felt suddenly vengeful towards
Keaner.
“You got Rum and Apple pies? The boys were curious about
them.”
Danny saw the color bleach completely from Michele’s face, her eyes
widened and she pressed her palm against her breast. “Pardon?” she
gasped.
Keaner looked wicked, and his grin was huge. “Yeah, the boys were
wondering about ‘em.”
Michele’s eyes narrowed and she walked past Keane, slapping him on the
back of his head. “Behave!” was all she said.
Keane shrugged and looked at Danny. “Maybe some other
time.”
Michele stabbed some forks into a couple pies and handed one to Alex and
then one to him. He felt her finger brush over his as she placed the warm plate
into his hand and Danny felt the first panic of a quickening in his body. He
didn’t even look into her eyes. “Thanks,” he muttered.
“So ya boys were lookin’ for pies?” Debbie said brashly, leaning against
the kitchen wall. “You know how many calories are in each
one.”
Danny felt the wash of guilt! Already he could feel himself
expanding.
“Yup,” Tanguay said with his mouth full. “We were so in the mood we don’t
care! In fact I bet we would have checked anyone or anything outta the way to
have one!”
Debbie smiled. “Oh yeah? What if it were a line of us wives, holding our
hands out and telling you to stop?”
Keane laughed. “Wouldn’t have stopped us! You ladies would have had full
body checks, no mercy!”
Danny took a bite of pie, it was a cherry almond and it ravished his
taste buds as sweet as ever it was. He sighed in bliss. This was worth an extra
two hours on the bike. It was something to live for.
“Oh really?” Michele said pouring glasses of milk for them. “And what if
we met you with big, mean STICKS!”
“Doesn’t matter, Meems,” Keaner said. “Doesn’t matter a’tall, with that
pie scent in our noses you ladies are as good as bowling
pins.”
Both of the women laughed and Danny swallowed the lovely bite in his
mouth. How happy Michele looked! Her eyes were shining, her cheeks were glowing.
She just seemed so pretty and content as if nothing had ever gone wrong with her
world. It was enough to make him doubt his own senses. There was nothing but
perfection in her demeanor, in her laugh.
“Psssh!” Michele hissed dipping her fingers into a glass of milk and
flicking Keane in the face with the droplets. “Bowling pins? Mon Dieu Mike we’re
not as helpless as that. I bet we could turn you boys into jelly, quivering
lumps of it!”
There was a simple smile on Mike’s face. “Perhaps,” he said
softly.
“Hey, Tangs,” Danny said to Alex, “Which pie did you
get?”
Alex grinned. “Vanilla!”
Danny looked at Debbie who had a pale expression. “OMIGOD!” she
exclaimed.
“What?” Danny asked. “Did you forget something?”
A huge smile spread over Debbie’s face. “Bowling pins?” Her expression
actually looked devilish and imposing as she began to walk slowly towards Keane.
Danny raised his eyebrows and Keane actually took a step back from her.
“Uh.. Debs?”
“Bowling pins, Mike?” Debbie said.
There was a stiff silence. And then Debbie hopped forward shoving Mike
square in the chest and knocked him back into Michele who caught him and held
him up, her skinny arms coming up underneath his arms and steadying his pie
plate in her hands. Debbie laughed. “BOWLING PINS?”
“Woah!” Keane exclaimed. “Easy there Debs!”
“What are you cooking up Debbie?” Michele asked, she had left off
Keaner’s pie plate and she was simply hugging him from behind now. Again Danny
felt a twinge of something there, what the hell?
“I’ve got an idea,” Debbie said, smoothing her hands over her skirt.
“Ooo,” Michele cooed. “I bet it’s a lovely one.”
“An evil one more like,” Keane said with a huff. “You
ladies.”
Danny took another big bite of pie. Kickass stuff!
“So are you gonna tell us what your evil idea is?” Tangers asked with his
mouth full.
“I’ll talk it over with Mimi later,” Debbie said and she
winked.
Oooo whatever it was, Danny thought, it was gonna be a
doozy!
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