Love on Ice

Chapter 28

Rick came home from their first playoff game versus the St. Louis Blues and he looked like how he felt. Kate was even waiting for him. The game had been on TV and she along with Maria, with Alexis in bed asleep since it was late, had watched the entire game.

Maria learned quickly that Kate was indeed embedded into the game of hockey. Even at home she was excited about the game. However, most of this game they both sat there and watched the disaster unfold.

Kate wrapped her arms around him. They hadn't just lost, they'd been destroyed. 6-0 and it had been ugly. "Have you showered or eaten anything?" she inquired and watched him shake his head. She didn't know if no meant either or even both so she decided it was both.

Rick was so defeated that he let Kate strip him and push him into the shower while she retreated to the kitchen to make him a little something to eat. Then she was back and found him still in the shower. Just standing there letting the water hit him.

Kate turned it off and began rubbing a towel over him. For what was likely the first time in her life, she wasn't interested in sex and simply dried him off. Then got him dressed and down to the kitchen where they sat at the table.

Rick was nibbling on what she'd made for him while she sat across from him and watched him. "What happened, babe?"

"I wish I knew. It was like we couldn't get out of our own way. You would think we didn't even know how to play hockey." Kate's problem was she didn't know how to make him feel better. She had watched all of it and still couldn't believe it.

"The coach ripped each of us a new one. Was it because he sat most of us down for that last game and we somehow got rusty after just one game? I don't know. He didn't know. We don't know.

"Tomorrow was supposed to be a day off for all of us. Instead we're going to have a practice game so I won't be home much tomorrow. Then our next home game the following day. We lose that game and it might be over for us." The way they were playing it wasn't too early to think they couldn't recover.

Kate was going to miss having him home, but if it meant they didn't lose game number two, she could live with that.

Rick didn't want to talk about their utter defeat any longer. They all needed to just forget it and move on. "Did you get any studying in?"

"A little. It's different being the teacher and the student. I need to figure out just where to start." She had so much to read and learn and it was in her nature to try and do too much. So starting at the beginning just wasn't her.

Rick leaned over and kissed her head. "Sounds like we both have a lot of work to do."

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Kate watched him leave in the morning for his practice game and was there when he got home. Now she and Maria were sitting in front of their brand new big screen TV waiting for game number two to start.

"Cross your fingers, Maria." Kate held out her hand with her fingers crossed. The Canucks got one goal in the first period, one goal in the second, then they succumbed to a mad dash at the end and gave up one goal. The Blues got more shots on goal, however, it looked to Kate that the Canucks got more hits in on Blues players. Still they had won the game.

This time when Rick got home Kate jumped at him and kissed him then took him straight to bed where she could make love to him.

The next day was a travel day to St. Louis. Sadly St. Louis wasn't a good place for the Canucks to be playing. They lost both games, 1-3 and 1-4. After the game one pounding and now this, it wasn't looking good for the Canucks.

Two days off and they were back in Vancouver where the Canucks won 5-3.

"I think we've finally figured out their weakness. They don't like being hit. The more physically we play the less they like it," Rick told Kate as once again he was sitting at the table nibbling on what Kate had made for him to eat.

The next game was in St. Louis where the Canucks once again got really physical on the Blues and won the game 4-3. Then it was back home for game 7. They won this game and it was on to the next game with a different team.

"Win this one, please, babe," Kate begged then kissed him. She really would like to go to one of these home games. It was just since Rick had to buy her a ticket and there were no tickets to be had, she was forced to watch the games at home.

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Now they got to play the Minnesota Wild for their chance at the Stanley Cup.

After the first four games the Vancouver Canucks were up 3 games to 1. Kate celebrated their winning just one more game by letting Rick use the Velcro straps on the bed on her. It was basically a win-win for her. She truly loved what Rick could do to her body.

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Kate was ready to throw something at the TV three games later. The Vancouver Canucks had lost three straight games. 7-2, 5-1 and 4-2.

Kate wrapped herself around Rick when he came home. "What happened, babe?" They only needed to win one more stinking game.

"We got out played. We played our physical game but Minnesota fought back and we lost." That was the way Rick saw it. "Kate, I've got one more season on my contract."

"Are we staying?" Kate said into his chest and kept hugging him.

"That's up to my agent and the team. I'd like to stay. I'm a little tired of changing teams. This is my fourth since I started to play. Is that okay with you?" Rick knew she had sacrificed her job in New York to follow him out here.

"I'll let you know after I pass my exam." She was going to solve her mother's case either here or somewhere else. She just had to figure out how she was going to do that.

"I might get more money," Rick mentioned since money talked.

"I don't want your money. I want you." Kate looked up at him. "I want nothing more than to be married to you. Right along with finding out who killed my mother."

"We'll get there. I know patience isn't your thing so have a little faith."

Kate shrugged. "I'm not very religious either."

"We are so screwed then," Rick teased her. Kate chuckled into his chest before she swatted him.

"What do you want more," Kate asked, "dinner or sex? Maria left something in the warmer for you."

"Can I eat my dinner off of your naked body?"

Kate felt her blood rush south at that comment. She didn't know why, other than it was kinky and she loved kinky. However, the food was hot so maybe not. "Next time, perhaps. No third degree burns tonight."

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Rick watched as Kate sneaked food off his plate while he ate what Maria had left for him. "Any thoughts on where we should take our brand new RV? My season's over. And I should be able to finish my book before the next season."

"Just one or two. Can we reach Victoria, British Columbia from here? Or maybe somewhere in Alaska? I've heard good things about a place called Sitka."

"All we need is a computer then and decide when." Rick was willing to go anytime she was ready. "Right after Alexis is out of preschool again."

"She has new friends! You should listen to her now that you're home. She's so excited!" Kate and Maria had listened to Alexis gush over her new friends almost every day.

"I knew she could do it!" It helped Rick's heart that his little girl was adjusting to her new place. "How is she handling the stairs?" It had been a fear for both of them.

"Not bad so far. She walks down one step at a time for now and literally crawls up them on all fours just as fast as she can. It's like watching a puppy going up and down them." Kate still grinned each time she saw it.

"We do have a yard now. We could get her a dog. A real dog, not one of those teeny-tiny, wind up toys." Rick had been thinking about it ever since they had moved.

"Just how big are you talking here?" She wasn't adverse to a dog, so long as he wasn't thinking Saint Bernard.

"Bernese mountain dog, or maybe a Newfoundland."

"Jeez, Rick! Why don't you just get her a pony?" Kate knew those breeds and they were about the same size as a Saint Bernard. "And no, we're not getting a pony!" Kate stabbed her finger at him.

"So what is on your list for a dog? That isn't a wind up toy."

Kate sighed. "A Labrador maybe, or a Collie. Lassie loved everyone. Except for all that hair, though your two are a lot of hair, too."

Rick nodded. "I guess we need some research and find out who has puppies in the area. We can wait until after our trip."

"Poop and pee in the house instead of the RV!?" Kate rolled her eyes.

"I potty trained Alexis; we can potty train a dog."

Kate pointed out a flaw in his thinking. "Alexis had diapers."

Rick countered and said, "Puppy pee pads."

"We're going to need a crate full of them." Kate let her head rest on the table then sat up and stole something from his plate to eat and smiled triumphantly at him.

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Kate found Rick in his computer room the next morning after breakfast. "What are you doing, babe?"

"Victoria is out. It'll require a ferry ride and we're too big for that." He didn't know that for a fact but he was betting they were too big. Forty-one feet long and weighing tons. Cars, yes. But RVs of their size, no.

"So what about Sitka then?" Kate asked and watched him change the request on Google.

"Sitka's another island and is even a six hour flight from here let alone trying to drive it." Going there just got shot down.

"So long as I can read my books for my exam we could be gone weeks if we wanted. We just need campsites along the way that can accommodate us. Alexis will be out of preschool. We can find a gym along the way for exercise. So where do we go since those two are out?"

"Go find Maria. We have room for her. We need to know where she wants to go." Rick watched Kate leave to find her.

Moments later both of them were right behind him. "I can stay here while you're gone." It was their family. She just worked for them.

"No way, Maria, you're going with us. I'm not listening to Alexis ask where you are." Kate had learned that Alexis was more than willing to inform everyone when she wasn't happy.

Maria thought for a bit. "Well, we could go down to Seattle then all the way to San Diego. They have a really good zoo for Miss Alexis."

A moment later they saw what Rick had on his screen. "Twenty-four hours down Interstate 5. Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles to reach San Diego then back again." Rick studied his screen then zoomed in.

"We could go to Vegas, Salt Lake City, Boise, Portland, Seattle on the way back. Two weeks down and two weeks back, probably. We're going to need a lot of food and a lot of diesel." Rick just hoped they didn't break down along the way.

"I think we need to trade out my BMW for an SUV to fit all of us and get a tow bar on the front."

"My car is bigger than yours. Can't we just put a tow bar on the front of it?" Kate queried since she was starting to like this plan.

"Let me look into finding campsites along the way and begin making reservations. I just need to know when we want to go. Maybe 4th of July in Vegas?" Rick turned his head to look at them.

"Fireworks in Vegas." Kate liked the sound of it.

Rick glanced from Kate to Maria. "This is going to take days to plan."

"You can do it, babe." Kate patted his shoulders and kissed head. "I'm going to go find Alexis and find out if she wants to go on vacation in our new RV. Not that she has a choice." Kate left them to go in search of her.

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Rick was used to being on one of his two computers alone. Either planning for their next vacation using their brand new RV or writing his next book. However, for the last week Kate had been up here using the other computer as part of her trying to be prepared for her exam.

It wasn't that it bothered him, even if she did talk to herself while she worked. It was just different. "Do you need help over there?" Rick inquired during one of her more silent episodes.

"What? No, I'm fine." Kate went back to reading and searching. Then she fired a question back at him. "How's it coming over there?"

"I know where we want to be for the 4th of July so I'm working backwards based on just how far I think we can drive and leave time for road construction delays. Right now I'm in the Portland, Oregon area."

That actually had Kate getting up so he could show her what he had.

"This is Vegas." Rick brought up that campsite where they had four days of rental.

"Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort, 700 sites!" It sounded huge to her. "Trees, grass, two pools, rec room, exercise room, grocery store, laundry, and more. Does Alexis even know how to swim?" Sitting in a hot tub was not swimming.

"Not yet, no." Rick hadn't seen the need until now. "I guess we'll have to fix that."

"Well if the others are just as nice this should be fun. Provided Maria and Alexis like sleeping in the RV. We'll still need a tow hitch for my car," Kate reminded him and went back to her computer.

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An hour later and Rick was in Seattle which would be their first stop. "Let's see, either Lake Pleasant RV Park or Issaquah Village RV Park." Rick had a choice: free cable TV or better views with a lake they could fish from since the park was all the way around the lake. "I think the ducks win. Lake Pleasant it is." A few minutes later and he was done.

He had a place in each city and they would stay from three to four days in each while it might take most of the day just to reach each site. If they were late, they were late. The draw back to that was that they needed those hook-ups. They couldn't just park along side the road. At least not for long.

Now he needed to find a place to have a tow hitch attached to the front of Kate's car so they could tow it behind the RV.

With that solved he went looking for lunch and found Maria feeding Alexis. "Hi, pumpkin. How's your room?" She had slept in it for a few days at this point.

"Great!" She was still adjusting to having a really big bed but she liked it. She also loved her little reading space where Kate took her to read to her before bed.

"Mommy reads every night." She was happy.

"How do you like your bear that's outside?" Rick was sure it would be a hit with her.

Except she was silent. It just didn't look like a bear to her. It wasn't brown with a big black nose so she wasn't sure yet.

"You'll get used to him. Your play set is supposed to show up sometime next week. You'll like that." It wasn't huge though he had thought about splurging on it. Still it was larger than most. He just didn't want to take up too much of the back yard with it.

"I've got our RV vacation all planned out." Rick looked at Maria then snapped his fingers. "I forgot to print it all out for everyone to see." Apparently he wasn't totally done just yet.

"A west coast tour sounds nice." Maria was sure she was going to like it. She had seen the beds in the RV and thought she could adjust to one of them.

"With a stay for the 4th of July in Vegas." Then Rick hung his head. "I didn't plan how to get us back home after Vegas. I'm losing it." He had been so focused on getting to Vegas that he hadn't planned for how to get back out again.

He was thinking of simply rebooking the same sites in Portland and Seattle for the trip home. It would make it easier on him.

"We need to go shopping, though. The RV has nothing in it. No sheets, towels, cookware, food, cleaning supplies, or anything. Good thing we aren't leaving soon." His vacation idea was suddenly sounding like a lot of work to him.

In addition he had to make sure they brought everything they would need to keep Alexis entertained. She might even have to sit up front in Kate's seat on occasion to keep her happy.

"You're sure you can work in the RV with the three slides pulled in?" Rick questioned Maria. The RV had three slides and one of them was almost the full length of the RV, or so it seemed. With them pulled in it got really tight inside.

"I just have to squeeze past the space between the sofa and the chairs. There's enough space to cook, though. The door to the bathroom…." Maria shrugged. She had tried it with the slides in and the door didn't open all the way. You had to squeeze to get in. Still it was possible.

"Please make a list of what you need in the kitchen. Kate and I will handle everything else. Then we can go shopping for food before we leave." Rick knew Maria would complete it easily.

"POTTY!" Alexis announced to everyone.

"I'll take her, ... A lot less volume sweetie. It isn't necessary to shout. You're a big girl and big girls don't shout that they need to potty." Kate said just as she walked into the kitchen after taking a break from her studies.