Page 41 of Much Ado About Hockey

“I was eyeing the ribeye and…”

“I’ve got good-looking ribs you can eye if you want to,” Jett interrupted in a hushed voice, winking at her and completely ignoring that the waiter was walking up to their table.

She saw the surprised look on the man’s face, felt a rush of heat to her face, and swallowed. Her husband was flirting with her, and she wasn’t about to squash it or ruin this moment. Instead, she put on her bravest face and looked Jett directly in the eyes.

“Maybe I will,” she whispered back.

His eyes widened, his lips parted, and his head snapped to the waiter. “My wife will have the nicest ribeye you have – and I would like the fattest, juiciest tomahawk you’ve got hidden back there. This is our first date… do you have some champagne or something else fancy?”

Karen sat back – completely stunned. Not one word of what Jett just uttered was in English. There was no hesitation, no stumbling to find the word, and she had already discussedhow he comprehended French, but this was different. She took language classes, spoke several herself, but the more you learned, sometimes it got muddied in your mind. Was it‘agua,’ ‘l‘eau’, or ‘wasser’– and there was always a brief pause in her speech as she struggled to sort the word in her head.

This wasn’tcomprehension.

This wasconversational.

As the waiter walked off, she practically pounced on this unknown skill.

“How do you speak French fluently?” she marveled – and he shrugged, looking away. “You asked me but never commented on yourself. Don’t gimme that shrug either. I want to have a discussion, to talk, and I really want to know how you speak conversational French so easily. I can read Spanish, French, German, and dabble in Portuguese. I’ve attempted to read hieroglyphics and still struggle with comprehending Egyptian Arabic…”

“That’s cool,” he interrupted, looking at her with an amazed expression.

“But that is not as ‘cool’ as speaking it,” she pounced once again, trying to keep her voice hushed in the restaurant. “I can utter a few phrases and ask a few questions, but it’s hard to keep it straight. Do you put the descriptor before the noun or after? Is it ‘the pretty table’ or ‘the table is pretty’…” and her voice trailed off as his smile softened.

“I get what you mean,” Jett began and hesitated. “Bragging about myself on the ice is easy. I put on a show, can show you by just pulling up a video on YouTube, or I can talk smack easily with anyone who is a fan… but my education isn’t something I normally talk about.”

“Why?”

“Because…” he drew out, glancing at the menu again. “I forgot to order a side for us. What do you like – au gratin potatoes? Asparagus?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

He sighed and put down his menu, giving her a flat look.

“Fine. I’ve got a doctorate in communication with a minor in French. Happy now?”

“WHAT?” she yelped and then slapped her hand over her mouth, sinking down in her seat in embarrassment, glancing around. “J’escuse… I’m sorry!” she hissed in embarrassment, trying to keep her voice low now as she turned back to Jett.

“I don’t tell people because ofthat– your reaction. Now, do you like glazed Brussels sprouts?”

“Love them – but we’re not done discussing this.”

“I am.”

“I’m not,” she lobbed in response before Jett was shrugging again.

“I think I’ll get the Brussels sprouts since that works for both of us.”

“You have a doctorateand…” she prompted, waving her hand in front of her in a rotation motion encouraging him to talk.

“On paper – and can we not do this?”

“You. Have. A. Doctorate,”she whispered, stressing each word.

“On… paper,” he said back flatly, looking at her before sighing. “I wanted to play hockey and needed an easy degree, so I picked a foreign language that I’d already excelled at in high school and then selected communication as a degree plan that gave me time on the ice. I got drafted into the NHL before graduating, so I finished my bachelor’s degree online.”

“But you continued?” she marveled, amazed.

“Online,” he continued, shrugging. “I don’t feel like some fancy-schmancy highly educated person because I showed up for online classes and a few in-person classes.”

---