Page 22 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

“Still, what’s the big deal? What is she, twenty-three or twenty-four? So she has a boyfriend and it doesn’t work out—we’ve all got men in our past. That’s how we learn what we want.”

Cynthia shook her head. I remembered too late that she dated James right after high school and then married him. “The first time I met Eric he had landed Josephine in the hospital and punctured her lung. And he has a DUI on his record.”

“It’s been discharged.” I sighed. I’d looked at the personnel files and a surprising number of our players seemed to have legal issues like that.

“Anyway, who would want to date a professional athlete? They’re all notorious cheaters.”

“The Vice are not the same as an NHL team.” I wondered about Chris. Someone that attractive, who had captained an NHL team, must have slept with so many women. The medical considerations alone made me shudder, not to mention the emotional shallowness. Was it wrong to slut-shame a guy? Cynthia had a point though. “But yes, you’re right.”

She began to blink rapidly. I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Oh my God, Cynnie, you’re not crying, are you?”

“Of course not.” But she pulled a tissue out of her red handbag and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “It’s just really hard. Since our mother died, I feel like I have to look out for JoJo. But everyone is against me—James, Richard, and especially JoJo. They all say I should mind my own business. Even my kids like Eric. They want to go to Jojo’s place all the time. Zachary acts like going to a Vice game was the highlight of his life. And he’s been to Paris!”

I had to suppress a smile. The fact that our crummy arena could compete with the City of Lights was flattering, but not unexpected. What little boy wouldn’t prefer hockey to having to go to educational museums with his parents?

Cynthia went on. “So, after having everyone against me, hearing you say you agree with me is so comforting.”

Excuse me? I hadn’t agreed with her; I had only admitted that dating professional athletes was a bad idea. However, Cynthia’s enormous relief meant I couldn’t correct her now.

“You know, Cyn, one thing I’ve learned in business is that you can’t win every battle. Even when I know I’m right, I can only state my case and try to convince my bosses. If they don’t agree, that’s the end. But if it turns out I was right, everyone realizes that too.”

She raised her chin. “Maybe you’re right. And you know what—when he dumps JoJo and she’s all unhappy and depressed—I won’t even say ‘I told you so.’ I’ll be nice even if it kills me.”

On that happy thought, we both began eating our cake. I had ordered a delicious vanilla buttercream layer cake, while Cynthia was eating their signature truffle cake.

“You always order the chocolate mousse cake,” I pointed out. Once she had gotten her driver’s license, we needed a place to go that required driving, but had easy non-parallel parking. This café fit the bill.

“And you ordered something different every time,” she replied. “Scout always ordered coffee only, because she was on a diet. Then she stole everyone else’s cake. And Miriam always had cheesecake or cookies.”

We reminisced a bit about the other girls in our gang, all of whom had moved away.

“You guys all left me here,” Cynthia complained.

“It’s not like you were alone. You were dating James.” She was one of those women who completely disappeared into a relationship.

“I know. But it’s not the same. I miss having girlfriends.” She gave me a shy smile that was so different from her usual regal bearing. “In reality, I hang out more with women your mother’s age these days. We can do all kinds of things together. Oh! There’s this program at my gym where we can try out all the new classes. I’ve been too chicken to go alone.”

I smiled back at her. “Sure. I could use the exercise. But I’m only here for a short time.”

“Oh no. I was hoping you were moving home for good. Do you have a boyfriend back in Toronto?”

“Not really.” I had made the mistake of hooking up once with one of my roommates. Simon had turned out to be spectacularly needy, and I was relieved to escape. I was searching for a sublet, so I could be out of there altogether, and get a new place later.

“What do you mean? Either you’re seeing someone or you’re not.” In Cynthia’s world, everything was black and white. She would never have a second date with a guy if she didn’t think there was a future.

“Simon is... a good friend. He’s from the U.K., and he works for a labour union. But he’s definitely not a boyfriend.”

“A labour organizer? That’s more like the Amanda I remember. I was shocked to find out that you got a business degree; you were all about social causes and sticking it to the man.”

I winced. “I know. Sometimes I feel like I sold out. But I went back to school because of my father. It was a decision I made after he passed.”

“Really? Is that what he wanted you to do?”

This was tough to explain. But when my father had died so suddenly, it made me wonder if a lot of my ideals were about rebelling against him. Going to biz school felt like an apology for all the times I had rejected everything he stood for. I loved my father fiercely, but we fought a lot.

“No. He never saw me as someone who could work in the family business. But that doesn’t mean he was right or wrong. It’s my way of paying respect to what he was.”

She smiled suddenly. The sternness of her face changed into something younger and sweeter—more like the good friend I had so many long intense discussions with. “Look at us, still battling our daddy issues. My dad always thought I was the dumb one, and I can’t seem to get over that.”

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