Kerri gritted her teeth, concentrated on bending her right knee, and climbed the stair step. The pain was intense but not as bad as it was three months earlier when she felt her ACL tendon tear loose in her knee after trying to land the quad Lutz at the Skate America competition. Eight weeks ago she had a full ACL reconstruction, and she was now starting her third week of more intense physical therapy that included climbing steps and lifting her leg with small ankle weights. Soon she would be working in the swimming pool.
Her recovery was not going fast enough for her taste. She was tired of doing nothing but keeping her leg elevated for months on end interspersed with the few stretching exercises she was instructed to do. She did them so that her knee joint wouldn’t freeze and become locked into place.
The combination of inactivity and pain made her cranky on most days and fighting off what felt like a losing battle with depression on other days. She yearned to be back on the ice so much that her mother began to drive her to the local rink in Iowa City where Kerri learned to skate. It was only for a few hours twice a week, and she went when a group of children learning how to skate met with their figure skating instructor. But to Kerri, the time she spent there was a lifeline. Kerri knew the instructor from years ago and offered to help with the children. As much as she could with her limited movements on the bench, Kerri worked with the young skaters on improving their form by giving them gentle instructions. Her time with the children helped see her through the darker days of her recovery.
The current skating season was in full swing. It was the first season Kerri had missed in her eight years on the senior ladies’ world tour and in her three years in the juniors. She was now twenty-three, would be twenty-four on President's Day in February a month from now, and she had the rest of the year to heal up and get ready to compete again. The first senior ladies’ championship was the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany followed by the Skate America competition in Detroit in nine months. She would make it to both and all the way to the Olympics. Kerri had one more Olympics left in her. She could feel it even if nearly everyone in the sport was telling her to retire. That it was over.
But she didn’t want to leave yet. She didn’t want to be forced to retire due to an injury because she still wanted the one medal that had eluded her thus far. The Olympic gold, the medal of all medals, was still missing from her awards cabinet at home.
She would heal up. She would come back and show everyone that she had what it took to go out on her terms as an Olympic champion. With her teeth clenched and a determined look in her eyes, she put her weight on her knee and climbed to the top of the four-step platform.
"Good, Kerri. Now come down the other side and lead with your right."
Kerri did what she was told by Karen, her physical therapist, and walked down the four steps before she hobbled over to a nearby chair. Her forehead was wet with sweat, and she wiped the sleeve of her Iowa Hawkeye's sweatshirt across her forehead.
"That was good, Kerri. I'm impressed with how far you've come even with the brace. On a scale of one to ten, can you tell me your pain level now that you've done a few exercises?"
Kerri said "five" even though it felt like much worse. Once she got home, she would ice her knee, take some painkillers, and elevate her leg again. But for now, she needed to work through the pain. Kerri looked over at Karen who was busy scribbling down notes in Kerri's file. Then, after telling Kerri to wait, the therapist left for a few minutes and returned with several sheets of paper with photographs that depicted different exercises.
"Now, I want you to do these four that we did today plus the others at least twice a day. Ice when you get home and after your exercises. I don't want you trying the stairs at home unless you have someone there with you. You see the orthopedist again on Friday, right?"
"Yes."
"I'll have my notes to him by then. Now I want you back here on Thursday. Ok? Bring your swimming suit. We’ll start in the pool."
Kerri picked up her crutches and used them and her left leg to pull herself out of the chair. Then after taking the sheets of paper in her hand, she folded them up and shoved them into the front pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. They left the room a minute later, and Kerri walked beside the therapist to the front desk to schedule her appointments for the following week before Karen walked away. Kerri's mother was waiting for her in the busy waiting room and rose when Kerri walked in with her new appointment card wrapped around the bar of her crutch.
"How did it go?" her mother asked calmly when Kerri walked up. Nothing ever fazed her mother, Kerri thought for the hundredth time. With four brothers in hockey and Kerri in competitive figure skating, Kerri's mother had seen her fair share of injuries and played chauffeur and nursemaid too many times to count.
"Good. I think it went well. Let's go home."
Home was a large red cedar and brick, two storied, colonial styled house located on the outskirts of Iowa City. It sat on a five-acre parcel of land that looked out onto Muddy Creek on the north end of town, two mile outside of the city limits. A permanent ice rink was set up off on one side next to a small warming house. At one point or another, every one of the Sullivan children had used it. The rink was being used now by Kerri’s youngest brother, Jeffrey, who was in his senior year of high school and who played center on the high school hockey team. She also had two older brothers who played in the National Hockey League, one for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the other for the Dallas Stars, a younger brother who played hockey for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, and a younger sister who lived in an apartment close by.
"Hey, Gimpy," Jeffrey greeted her when she hobbled through the garage door into the kitchen. He was off from school that day due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. His hair and clothing were wet, which told Kerri that he had just finished with a workout. As he sat at the kitchen table with a small mixing bowl full of cereal in front of him and a tall glass of water sitting beside him, he watched a video on the small computer tablet that was propped on a stand. Kerri could see the movements and hear the sounds that were associated with a hockey game. It was likely a video of his last game that he was reviewing for the tournament that weekend.
"Hey, Squirt," Kerri said in return when she came in. She rested her crutches by the door and walked the rest of the way into the room carefully with the aid of the black knee brace that she wore for support. Her knee may have been killing her, but she refused to rely on her crutches inside of the house. She only used them now when she went outside so that she would not slip in the snow.
"Jeffrey, you could have at least waited until supper," Kerri's mother chided when she walked in behind Kerri. "It will be ready in a half hour. Kerri, go sit on the recliner and put your leg up. I'll get your ice pack and painkillers."
"Smells good too, Mom," Jeffrey said at the same time that their mother was addressing Kerri. He was referring to the delicious aroma coming from the pot roast in the slow cooker on the countertop. Then he took another spoonful of cereal and mumbled something unintelligent.
"What?" both Kerri and her mother asked on hearing the mumble.
"I said that Coach Baranski called for Kerri. You're supposed to call her back when you get home from therapy. What can I say? You left your phone here, so I answered it." He put another spoonful in his mouth and chewed.
"It's all right. Where did you put my phone?" He pointed to the living room. "Thanks."
Kerri walked into the living room, sat down in her father's favorite chair, and put her leg up. Her father preferred the brown leather recliner that sat in the corner and faced the flat screen television. The TV had been left turned on with the volume muted, and Kerri picked up the remote to turn it off. Since her injury in October, Kerri often claimed the recliner during the day when she needed to elevate her leg and while her father was at the university where he worked as the dean of the business college. He was off today, too, due to the holiday, but had left shortly after lunch. Her siste
r, Maddie, needed help setting up her new computer system and files, so their father was at her apartment in Coralville helping her.
Kerri could just picture them and smiled. Her sister was hopelessly non-computer literate, able to use certain office programs but helpless beyond that. Her father fancied himself to be a weekend techie. That was his alter ego.
Kerri’s mother walked in from the kitchen a few minutes later with the ice pack, and she set it on Kerri's knee. Then she handed Kerri some pain medication and a glass of water before she went back to the kitchen to work on clearing the kitchen table for supper. The ice immediately began to do its job, and Kerri sighed in relief. Once she was settled, she reached for her cell phone that sat on the table next to the chair where she left it that afternoon. After quickly checking for messages, she pulled up Coach Baranski's telephone number from her contacts list and pressed the "call" button. The phone rang several times. It reminded Kerri that her coach was probably busy in Canada with the Grand Prix event that week and likely wouldn’t be available to talk. But just when Kerri expected the call to switch over to the answering service, her old coach came on the line.
"Dytyna! So good of you to call me back so soon," Coach Baranski said by way of a greeting when she answered on her end. It was good to hear the other woman's voice. Kerri had missed her stilted way of speaking over the last few months. She hadn’t talked to her coach much after the surgery and was curious about what her coach had to say. "How is the knee today?"
"Getting better every day. I hope to be able to get back on the ice in another month. Two at the very most."
"What does your doctor say about that?"
"I should be able to skate as long as I don't do too much, initially, but no jumping for at least four months." That was a stretch, actually, but Kerri was anxious to get back into training as quickly as possible. She needed to be ready for next season.
"That is good, Kerri. That is also why I called. I will not be able to coach you for the next year." Coach Baranski jumped right to the point in her usual up-front style.
"What?" Kerri tried and failed to stop the shock and disappointment in her voice from coming through. Coach Baranski had been with her for over ten years. If Coach Baranski didn’t train her, then who would? Kerri needed a top coach for her comeback.
"Don't worry, Dytyna. I have been talking to other coaches, and I found you a coach that I think will work very well with you. He is strong skater, very familiar with your skating already, knows all about your injury and your desire to come back for the Olympics, and he wants to work with you."
"That's excellent, Coach Baranski. Who is it? Is it Mikhail Chenko?" Kerri felt a glimmer of hope now that the shock had worn off. She hoped that it would be Coach Chenko. He was one of the best.
"Ni."
"Oleg Alexander?" He was Kerri’s second choice.
"Ni. He is Jake Takeda. Now that he is retired from skating, he is coaching. Already, he has several skaters from his school winning in the junior level and is coaching Yuka Mori. He wants a caliper female skater in the senior level. He wants you."
That news was a shock to Kerri. She hadn’t seen Jake since the Senior World Championships three years ago just before he retired from competitive skating. Over the years, ever since that day in Turin and up to that last world championship before he retired, she would run into him occasionally. She usually saw him in the hallways or at a mixer at one of the competitions. Each time that she saw him, she waited to see if he would say something to her. She was half afraid that he would. But he never spoke to her again after that day in Turin even though she often thought that he was looking at her.
She never saw him do it, though, but she always felt that same burning sensation whenever he was near. When she saw him, he was usually in the company of Izumi in the beginning, and later on he was with a beautiful Japanese woman whom Kerri learned was his wife. Why he would want to coach her now was a mystery.
"You say he wants to coach me? I'm not sure that he even likes me."
"What does 'like' have to do with it? You need a strong coach who understands the world-class system. He knows that you will still need time for your knee to heal, and he knows an excellent orthopedist that lives close to his training center. There are only a few issues, but with you, they would be non-issues. His training center is in Matsumoto, Japan, and you need to live on the premises. He assures me that you would be very comfortable there."
"A year in Japan? I would be living in a dorm for almost a year, Coach. I would much rather get an apartment."
"Ni. He said because you had no family there that you would need to live with him at his family home outside of Matsumoto."
"He wants me to live at his house? I can't live with him!" It would be difficult enough working so close to the man. She didn’t know if she even wanted to try working with him. There was no possible way that she would live with him and his wife.
"You will if you want to compete in the Olympics next winter. Those are his stipulations. The truth, Dytyna, is there are no coaches who want to risk a season working with you when there is no guarantee that you can come back. Your injury ends careers. You will work with Jake, Kerri. You will do what he says. It is to his benefit, as well as yours, to see you healthy again and competing. I'm told that his parents and grandmother also live at the house, so it would be more than just you and his immediate family."
Kerri's heart sank. This was not what she wanted to hear. She had been looking forward to working with Coach Baranski for her comeback. Knowing that all of the other top coaches did not want to work with her did not, unfortunately, come as a surprise. She knew what they would be dealing with only too well. But she sighed in resignation. There was no other choice. If she wanted to make it back, then she had to do it. She would work with Jake Takeda because she wanted to return to the sport. Going back to her conversation with her old coach, Kerri asked, "How big is his house, anyway?"
"I'm not sure, but I imagine it’s large." Kerri could hear the relief in her old coach’s voice come through the phone. "The man comes from old money and did his part to add millions. You'll go, Dytyna, if you want the Olympics next year. When will you be ready to leave?"
"A month, maybe two, I suppose." She wanted to go back to Connecticut to train. A year in Japan working with Jake Takeda was not what she wanted at all. Although, she had liked Japan very much the several times that she was there, she could not get over her worry over how it would work out between her and Jake. "Did he send a contract?"
"Yes. I'll send it to you tomorrow. Do you want to call him and confirm or should I?"
"I'll call. Give me his number if you have it." Coach Baranski read the telephone number to her from the contract, and Kerri wrote it down on the back of an envelope that her father left sitting on the table.
"Don't worry, Dytyna. If you really want to come back for next season, this is the only way. Too many coaches are worried that you won't be able to with your injury. But I know you, Kerri. You are stubborn and strong. You need someone stronger and more stubborn than you to make a comeback. Jake will get you to the Olympics. You will see. He and I had a long talk about you before he made the offer. He's the coach you want. I wish I was, Kerri, but I am too close to you now. I'm afraid I won't get you what you want. Let me know how it goes when you get to Japan. I must go now. Do pobachennia, Kerri."
"Do pobachennia, Coach." Kerri said goodbye in Ukrainian just as she had done with Coach Baranski since she was taught the words as a child and disconnected the call. She checked the clock app on her phone, saw that it was still too early to call Japan, and decided to wait a few more hours. The number that Coach Baranski gave her was Jake Takeda's business phone number, so she would need to call during business hours.
Later, after eating supper and watching a few hours of mindless television, Kerri decided to make the call to Japan knowing that it would be earl
y afternoon there. A pleasant sounding woman answered the call. She spoke Japanese but switched to English when Kerri began talking, and when Kerri explained who she was and why she was calling, the woman transferred the call to another number.
"Kerri, how are you? How is the knee?" Another woman answered warmly. This woman spoke with a British accent. "I'm sorry. You must be confused. Jake is in Canada right now for the London competition this week, but he told me that you would be calling. I'm Evelyn Takeda."
"Jake's mother?"
"That's right. I'm sure that you have many questions. Jake can be a little short on details as I'm sure he was when he talked to Petra."
"Actually, Mrs. Takeda. I do have some questions."
"Call me Evelyn. Now what can I help you with?"
What followed was a half-hour conversation where the missing details were filled in. The training center, located on the large family estate, was owned and operated by Jake, his mother, and one of his sisters. The center trained beginning skaters up to world-class senior amateurs, and most of the athletes lived locally either with their own families or with foster families. But because of Kerri's age, nationality, and lack of family in Japan, it was decided that she would stay at their home at least for the first few months. After that, it would be up to Kerri to decide if she wanted to rent an apartment in the city. During her stay with the Takeda family, Kerri would be using one of the guest rooms in their large house.
They had an orthopedist lined up to work with her. She would also work with a physical therapist and strength trainer in between her time with Jake and his assistant coach to get her back into world-class shape. Then after a few months, Jake would take over the majority of her coaching to prepare her for her return to competition.
Kerri found that talking to Evelyn Takeda was extremely easy to do. It was almost as if they had known each other for years even though they had never actually met. The rapport was instantaneous. She couldn’t help but compare Jake and his mother based on her limited interactions with them. The differences between Jake and his mother were like night and day. Jake was cold, closed off, and intimidating, and his mother was warm, friendly, and inviting. After Kerri disconnected the call, she smiled her first real smile in months. Like it or not, she was going to Japan. With Jake as her coach, she would win the gold at next year's Olympics.
* * * * *
Jake Takeda ended the phone call from Japan and walked over to the hotel window to look out onto the London, Ontario skyline. Kerri Sullivan had accepted the contract and would be coming to Japan after the Junior World Championships in March. His heart gave a little jump, and his nostrils flared in remembrance of her. He took a deep breath and lifted his cup of tea to his suddenly dry throat. He had a little over two months to get ready before she was in his life, before he would begin to help her heal and get ready for her return to competition. A lot would be determined about their future once his orthopedist cleared her for jumping, and that could be months away yet. Without that ability, she would never make it back into any competition let alone the world tour and the Olympics.
The Olympics. He knew well the allure of the Games having been there three times. Wanting that gold medal was like a drug to an athlete. On that he was sure. He had three Olympic gold medals to show for it. He was also finding that it was equally addictive for a coach. To take one of his skaters to the Games and watch him or her win a medal would be a crowning achievement. Kerri would be with him when he returned next winter.
For years he had watched her skate and grow into her potential. She was a natural and had won several world and national championships in addition to the silver medal from the last Olympics and a bronze in Turin. For most skaters, that would be enough. Not for Kerri, though. She was a fighter who loved competition. Her coach, Petra Baranski, told him what Kerri was going through and what she wanted when he saw Petra again at the Grand Prix tournament in Oslo two weeks ago. Jake knew that this was his chance. He didn’t know if another one with Kerri would come, and he wasn't going to let this one go by. He was the kind of man who reached for what he wanted and was not the kind who let things just happen in the hopes that it would work out in his favor. The plain and simple truth was that he wanted Kerri. He wanted her.
After he stepped away from his window, he crossed the hotel suite and sat down on the white, leather sectional sofa located in the sitting room. Then he leaned back, pulled his legs up onto the chaise sectional, and set his cup of tea on the side table. Once he picked up his cell phone again, he pressed the button that would connect him to the person he most wanted to talk to now. The phone rang several times and was eventually answered by one of the servants in his home. He spoke in rapid Japanese to the woman and then waited patiently at his end. It didn't take long before the female voice he most wanted to hear came on the line. Jake grinned broadly as she spoke, and he leaned back on the chaise to listen to her tell him about her day. His heart lifted with each of her words. But all too soon the conversation ended, and he switched his phone off and prepared for bed.
About the Author
Author Eleanor Webb has always loved reading contemporary and historical romances and writing stories that are filled with passion, adventure, and suspense. From an early age she created characters and stories that have engaged her readers and taken them on an adventure into the lives of her characters. After years of working in the corporate world and earning two master's degrees, Eleanor decided to return to her roots and pursue her passion for writing and storytelling to reach a new crop of readers. Her first digitally published book is The Job Offer. She resides in Minnesota with her husband and best friend, her two sons, and family dog. Eleanor would love to hear from her readers and can be reached at www.eleanorwebb.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/eleanor.webb.982?fref=ts, or email her directly at mailto:emailto:
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