Page 13 of Delayed Penalty

“Now, who might I know?” Lawson asks.

“A babysitter for Hayes. Or would it be a nanny?”

“A nanny for sure. Babysitters are like that old lady down the hall who watches you for a few hours while Mom’s at work. Nannies are live-in old ladies who do everything like cooking and cleaning and butt wiping.”

“I don’t want someone living with me,” I tell Lawson.

“Unless you want to schlep your niece back and forth to someone’s house, you might not have a choice with our travel schedule.” Lawson shrugs. “Besides, it probably won’t be so bad. Maybe she’ll be a hot older lady, and you can get frisky with her on cold winter nights.” The assclown bounces his brows up and down.

There will be absolutelynogetting frisky,especiallynot with my nanny.

“Want me to ask Rory? See if she might know anyone? A wide range of people are in and out of the vet clinic all day, and she could hit Auden up if she doesn’t know someone. That woman has connections all over the city.”

“Fucking billionaires,” Fox mumbles. Auden is, in fact, a billionaire after building a luxury hotel empire, then selling it for some big, big smackeroos after she got together with Hutch. Something about wanting to put down roots with someone and not be tied to a business she wasn’t as passionate about anymore. I don’t know. That’s her business, not mine.

“But he does have a point,” Fox continues. “Rory may know someone. I mean, she has how many people in her office daily?”

“I can text her and ask,” Lawson offers, referring to his girlfriend.

“Yeah, I guess.” I don’t know what else to do.

The only people I know here besides my teammates and their partners are my coaches and the training staff. Well, I guess Bess, too, but I’ve already determined I’m not asking her for help. She has enough on her plate with the bakery and trying to keep her own kids in line, especially her youngest.

“I liked her.”

Flora’s words about Quinn from when we left the corner store float through my mind. Maybe it’s just because Flora is young and doesn’t know better, but I’ll admit she did look genuinely happy talking to the woman with light brown hair and the most ridiculous pair of lollipop earrings I’ve ever seen. She was responsive, asked questions, and even used full sentences. She was downright friendly, and as surprising as it was, it gives me hope that maybe one day she’ll be a normal seven-year-old.

I look through the massive window along the wall and into the lounge. Flora is still sitting in the same spot where I left her when I began my training session. Her head is bent, and she’s dragging her finger along the page of her chapter book, her lips moving as she reads the words. She finishes the page in record time, then flips to the next, doing the same. Though she’s lost in her fictional world, that permanent frown that seems to grace her lips is still intact, and I wish I knewhow to fix it. I wish I knew how to bring back that spark she had earlier with Quinn.

“Don’t sweat it, man. We’ll find someone for you,” Fox says, mistaking my quietness for panic.

I guess it’s not a total mistake because I do have just a tiny bit of panic. I’ve been putting this off and putting this off, but I’m running out of time. I need to get this sorted, and I only have two weeks to make it happen.

“And if we don’t, just remember—she’s tiny. We can zip her up in your equipment bag and take her with us,” Lawson says, still pumping his legs hard like he didn’t just say the most absurd thing ever.

“I know you said you weren’t planning on having children, but I am begging you, Lawsy,pleasekeep that promise.” Fox shakes his head with a laugh.

I laugh too, though I’m not even remotely engaged in this conversation. I’m still watching Flora, wondering what the hell I’m going to do.

CHAPTER 4

QUINN

“So, Quinnicorn,” my father says, using the nickname I insisted on going by during my unicorn-obsession phase. “Anything new with you?”

Almost as if it were rehearsed, like we’re some choreographed family band, every single one of my siblings and their partners lifts their head, turning their attention to me. They sit blinking, waiting for me to reveal all my secrets while I sink lower in my seat, weighing my options very carefully because how the rest of the evening goes largely depends on what answer I give my father.

I could tell him the truth—I got fired. Or I could lie my ass off and tell them everything is amazing, tell them I didn’t lose my job and my car is running perfectly and I’m not hanging on by my fingertips.

The second I meet my mother’s hard stare, I fold.

“I, um…” I take a deep breath, sitting taller in my chair and tipping my chin up. “I parted ways with The Dock.”

“Jesus, Quinn,” my sister Liza mutters. Her husband, a total asshat if you ask me, shakes his head, throwing back the rest of his wine likehe’sthe one who needs a drink. Their four kids—who I much prefer the company of—are playing in the living room, having only eaten a few bites of their dinner before racing off to get back to their video games.

“What a surprise,” Ruthie, my other sister, offers, which really isn’t helpful at all. Her partner says nothing, which isn’t shocking. Kristin is always quiet, and I’m pretty sure she has hated me ever since my semi-drunken speech at their wedding, where I accidentally spoiled their pregnancy announcement.

“Again?” my oldest brother, Daniel, asks condescendingly. His wife gives me a smug smile, rubbing her pregnant belly. Baby number three is on the way, and we’re all hoping this one doesn’t get saddled with another D name like the other two. Having a Daniel Jr, Danielle, and Danika gets entirely too confusing as it is.

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