Love, Mischa Read online

  Love, Mischa

  ✽✽✽

  Desiree Hart

  Love, Mischa Copyright © 2018 by Desiree Hart. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Boss Babe Publications

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Desiree Hart

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: Jan 2019

  Boss Babe Publications

  ISBN 9781792746765

  Chapter 1

  I

  was almost all the way to my car when it happened. Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind, his hand covering my mouth. I tried to struggle, but he was too strong.

  The next thing I knew, I was free. Someone else had pulled him off me and now held a gun in my attacker's face. "I wasn't gonna do anything to her," the man who'd attacked me whined.

  "No, you're not," my rescuer said fiercely. In the dark I couldn't make out his features, but I could see that he wore a security guard's uniform. "Are you all right?" he asked me. He had a slight Russian accent, and my heart began to beat faster as I realized that his voice sounded familiar.

  "I...I think so," I stammered. "He just scared me real bad, that's all."

  "Tracy?" His voice was full of wonder.

  "Do I know you?" I asked.

  "Don't you remember?" He laughed. "It's me, Mischa!"

  Mischa. I'd said good-bye to him ten years ago. I'd met him when he'd ended up practically on my back doorstep quite by accident. He'd befriended my brother Adam and his friends, and I'd taken care of his injured arm, but then he'd had to return to his home in Russia. At the time, I'd thought I'd never see him again.

  "But how...how did you get back here?" I stammered.

  "It's a long story. I'll tell you another time. Are you sure you're all right?"

  "I'm positive," I told him. "I need to get home to my kids."

  "Kids?" He looked disappointed.

  "I'm a single Mom," I explained.

  "Oh." He looked relieved. "Well, take care, and I'm sure I'll see you again soon." He gave me that enchanting smile I remembered so well and returned to his duties, and I drove home, still shaken a bit from what had almost happened to me but thrilled to have seen Mischa again.

  Upon returning home, I paid the babysitter, Penny, and went to check on Sage and Meadow before getting ready for bed myself. Four-year-old Sage lay sound asleep underneath his Power Rangers quilt, clutching his pillow tightly, and fourteen-month-old Meadow lay curled in her crib with her thumb in her mouth. I kissed them both lightly on the cheek before going to my own bedroom.

  As I drifted off to sleep, memories of my first encounter with Mischa returned to me. In his sailor suit, he looked so adorable, and with his longish dark blond hair swept back, his bright blue eyes, I'd fallen for him right away. In the brief amount of time we'd had together, we hadn't been able to get to know one another very well, but I'd become quite fond of him, and felt sad when he'd had to say good-bye. I'd watched until I couldn't see him anymore, hoping deep inside that I'd see him again someday.

  Now I couldn't wait to find out what had brought him back to the United States.

  ✽✽✽

  Is this seat taken?" asked a male voice near me. My heart skipped a beat when I turned to see Mischa's smiling face.

  "Now it is." It was the following day, and I was eating lunch in the hospital cafeteria. My morning tasks had pushed the reunion with Mischa out of my mind, but now it came to the forefront once again.

  "So, how has your morning been?' he asked as he sat across the table from me.

  I grimaced. "I helped sew up a kid who fell off a bicycle and needed stitches, mopped up vomit and blood, started three IV's, and did two surgical workups. How's yours been?"

  He laughed. "Not quite as exciting as yours. I prevented a vending machine from falling over onto a kid. He got mad because it took his money and didn't give him a candy bar and tried to push it over."

  "I'm glad I don't have your job."

  "And I'm glad I don't have yours." We both laughed.

  "So, tell me about your children." He was serious again.

  I brightened. "They're great kids. Sage is four, and Meadow just turned one. Sage just started four-year-old kindergarten. He likes it so far. Meadow just learned to walk not too long ago."

  "And what about their father?"

  "His name was Jeff. He was killed in a car crash not quite a year ago." I remembered it as if it were yesterday. Jeff had been drinking, and I could tell that he was in no shape to drive. I'd begged him not to go, but he'd angrily pushed me away and told me to leave him alone. The police had shown up with their sirens flashing only about a half hour later or so. Jeff had hit a telephone pole going about eighty miles an hour and had been thrown through the windshield.

  They'd asked me to come to the morgue and identify the body. Jeff's face had been so mutilated that it had barely been recognizable, and there had been blood and pieces of glass sticking out everywhere. It was the worst thing I'd ever seen, and it had given me nightmares for months.

  "I'm so sorry," said Mischa.

  "What about you?" I asked him. "Have you ever been married?"

  He shook his head. "I came close, once," he told me. "Her name was Evgenia. I met her in the grocery store one day, and it was love at first sight, just like it was for you and me. The line was even longer than usual that day, and by the time we got to the front, I felt as if I'd known her all my life. I asked her to marry me only a few weeks later, but on the day we were supposed to be married, she never showed up at the courthouse. Later, I'd found out that she'd eloped with my friend, Sidor. That was when I started thinking about coming back to America. I thought that perhaps it would help me to put my grief behind me, and I also thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd even see you again. I never forgot you, Tracy."

  "I never forgot you, either." By then my lunch break was up, so I had to go back to work. The time we'd spent talking together had seemed much too short.

  ✽✽✽

  After that, I began to see Mischa around the hospital frequently. We made plans to get together and take the kids to the zoo on the next day we both had off together.

  The night before we planned to go out together, Meadow developed a slight cough. I gave her Tylenol and cough syrup, and her coughing eased, but the following morning, I noticed that her skin was warm to the touch. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I was probably going to have to cancel out on the trip to the zoo and take her to the pediatrician, Dr. Tanner.

  I was still agonizing over what to do when Mischa arrived, dressed smartly in jeans and a light blue polo shirt that just matched his eyes. "Sorry I'm a bit early," he said sheepishly, noticing the cereal bowls still sitting on the table. "I suppose I was a bit eager."

  "Who are you?" Sage demanded.

  "Mischa," Mischa told him.

  "I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to have to change our plans," I told Mischa. "Meadow seems to be coming down with something."

  His smile evaporated, to be replaced with a look of concern.

  "Poor baby," he said. "Well, that's all right. We'll just have to do it another day, then." It broke my heart to see how disappointed he looked, and I felt sad about losing a chance to spend time with him.

&n
bsp; "You don't have to leave right away," I told him. "It might be a couple of hours before I can get her in."

  As it turned out, Dr. Tanner's nurse said that he could see Meadow right away, so I told Mischa that I had to get both kids ready and leave. "Why don't we all go together?" he suggested.

  "Oh, I couldn't ask you to spend your entire day off sitting in a waiting room!" I exclaimed.

  He grinned. "You're not asking. I'm offering."

  "I'm afraid it won't be nearly as much fun as the zoo would have been."

  "It doesn't matter so much to me what we do, as long as we do it together," he replied.

  "Well, in that case, how can I refuse?" I laughed, overjoyed that I'd get to spend the morning in his company, after all.

  We had to take my car because the car seat was in it, and when we arrived, the waiting room was so crowded that poor Mischa had to stand. After awhile, it cleared out enough that he was able to sit down. In spite of what I'd been told over the telephone, we had to wait a couple of hours for Meadow to be seen. It turned out that she had bronchitis, so we had to stop by the pharmacy to pick up antibiotics for her on the way home.

  "It sure would be a nice day to take the kids to the park," Mischa commented wistfully on the way home. "But I know that your little one doesn't feel well and you'd like to get home with her as quickly as possible."

  We went through the McDonald's drive-through, and he bought meals for all of us. Then we went back to my apartment, where I gave Meadow her medicine and then put her down for a nap. Then the two of us ate and talked while Sage played with his toy trains.

  "So, how's your brother?" Mischa asked me. He'd actually met my brother Adam before he'd met me. Adam and his friends had found Mischa washed up and stranded on the beach, where they'd befriended him and helped him to find his comrades.

  "He's doing all right," I told him. "He graduated high school five years ago. He works in a supermarket now. I can't wait to tell him you're back. He'll be so excited!"

  I'd actually had a very selfish reason for putting off telling Adam that I'd found Mischa again. I'd simply wanted to keep him all to myself for a little while before sharing him with anyone else, even my family members.

  Mischa ended up staying for most of the day. I cooked dinner for him, and he stayed and talked some more for a long time after that, until it was time for me to get the children ready for bed.

  "Well, I'm awfully sorry the trip to the zoo didn't work out," I told him as I walked him to the door.

  "That's all right," he told me. "The zoo will always be there. We can go anytime."

  "Thanks for being such a good sport about it," I said.

  "Hey, no problem at all!" he replied.

  The next time we both had the day off, it was raining cats and dogs. I stood at the window for the longest wondering whether he'd even show up at all, until he appeared in a rain slicker underneath which he carried two videos, 'Aladdin' and a nature thing with bears and foxes. When the rain finally stopped, he took Sage outside to look for tree frogs.

  "You're so good with him!" I exclaimed when they came back inside later with their three croaking prizes in a plastic shoebox with holes for air poked in the top.

  "I've always loved children," he told me. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to have any of my own."

  "But why?"

  He made a face. "Ice hockey injury. I got hit right in the...well, you know." He blushed.

  "That sure must have hurt like hell."

  "I thought I was going to die."

  "And you never got checked afterwards to see if there was any permanent damage?"

  He grimaced. "Well, it would have been kind of...embarrassing, you know? To ask a doctor to check you in that particular place...I suppose I was kind of afraid of what I might find out anyway...but I really do want to be a father some day, very badly."

  "Well, I hope that you can become one some day," I said softly, suddenly feeling very sorry for him.

  "I hope so too," he said. "You know what? I'd love to take you out for a nice dinner somewhere romantic, just the two of us. Do you realize that we haven't even been out on a proper date yet?"

  "I know, and I'm sorry..."

  "Hey, nothing to be sorry for. I've really enjoyed every minute I've spent with you and your kids, but do you think you could get a babysitter every now and then?"

  "Well, of course! That wouldn't be a problem at all!"

  "Great! See you later, then!"

  I watched him go, thinking about how lucky I'd been to find a man like him.

  Chapter 2

  I

  had to go back to work the following day. As it was a gorgeous day with a brightly shining sun and blue skies, I decided to eat lunch outside rather than in the hospital cafeteria. I was pleasantly surprised to be joined by Mischa several minutes later.

  "So tell me about yourself," I said to him. "You know a lot more about me than I know about you."

  "Well, I was born in Moscow," he began. "My father's name is Ivan and my mother's name is Alena. I have an older sister named Karolina and two younger sisters named Sonja and Viktoria. I joined the Russian navy right after school. After that, I was with the police force for a few years, and then when I immigrated to the United States, I became a security guard. That's what I've done since then."

  "So you're the only boy in your family."

  "Yes, I'm definitely in the minority." He laughed.

  "Did you like that?"

  "Being the only boy? It was all right, I suppose. I never really thought about it."

  "I didn't like being the only girl. I always wished I had a sister."

  "You can borrow one of mine anytime you like." We both laughed.

  "So your little brother works in a supermarket now?"

  "Yes. As a matter of fact, I have to do some shopping there after work today anyway. Want to go with me?"

  He grinned. "Sure!"

  He never met me after work that day as we'd planned. I waited thirty minutes for him, then went shopping and then home alone, apologizing to the babysitter for my lateness.

  I didn't see Mischa around the hospital at all for a long time after that, not even in the cafeteria. Once I saw him briefly at the end of a hallway and, desperate to talk to him, hurriedly pushed my way through until I was within hearing range. "Mischa!"

  He glanced up, seeming surprised to see me. "Tracy?"

  "Where have you been?" I asked him. "I haven't talked to you in ages!"

  "Uh...sorry, but I can't talk right now. I'm really in a hurry." He looked flustered. Crestfallen, I watched him hurry away.

  What did I do? I asked myself for the rest of that day. He'd seemed so happy to see me again, and we'd had so much fun together, and now he acted as if he didn't even want to talk to me...

  Between my job and caring for Sage and Meadow, I didn't have much time to dwell on the matter, but there was an emptiness in my heart, a hole where a presence had once existed but was now gone.

  Until the night my world came crashing down.

  ✽✽✽

  The evening started out pleasantly enough. My best friend, Lisa, knew how depressed I'd been about Mischa and had taken me on a girl's night out to cheer me up. We'd hit the mall and done some shopping, then went to a movie and then a dance club.

  As we sat sipping our drinks and talking together, this cute guy asked Lisa to dance, and while watching the two of them on the floor, I saw something that completely shattered me.

  Mischa was dancing with a co-worker of mine, Tina. They held one another closely, and she moved her body seductively against his. They gazed lovingly into one another's eyes as they kissed.

  Desperately I wanted nothing more than to be away from there. As soon as Lisa finished dancing with the cute guy, I picked up my purse and headed for the door. "I'm getting out of here right now," I muttered. She hurried after me.

  "Hey!" she protested as soon as we were outside in the
cool night air. "I was just getting to know that guy! I think he was about to ask for my phone number!"

  "Didn't you see them dancing together?" I asked.

  "Who?"

  "Mischa and Tina, that's who!"

  "No! Were they really?" she gasped. "Oh, Tracy, I'm so sorry!"

  I went home and cried myself to sleep that night.

  ✽✽✽

  Determined to confront Mischa, I patiently waited for a chance to talk to him alone. I got it several days later, when I saw him entering the same hallway as before from the parking lot and cornered him. "We need to talk."

  His eyes darted back and forth like those of a trapped animal.

  "I saw you with Tina at the club last Saturday night."

  "Yes."

  "Well?"

  He sighed. "Things were just moving too fast between us, Tracy. I'm not ready for the kind of relationship you want. To step into the role of substitute father just isn't for me, at least not right now. I want to have fun and not have to worry about canceled dates and being home in time for the babysitter."

  "But you said you loved kids!" I was near tears.

  "I'm sorry, Tracy." He walked away and left me standing there alone. Tina was waiting for him, and he smiled as he took her hand and they walked away together.

  ✽✽✽

  Numbly, I finished my duties for the day and then went back home to Sage and Meadow. I felt like a part of me had died. What we'd had together had seemed so natural, so right. How in the world had it gone wrong? Was it something I had or hadn't done?

  "Why do you look so sad, Mommy?" Sage asked me that evening.

  "I just feel a bit down because Mischa isn't going to be coming to visit us anymore."

  "Why not?"

  "Because he found another lady that he likes better than me."

  "Then he's stupid!" Sage exclaimed. "You're the bestest lady in the whole wide world, Mommy!"