Page 29 of Whiskey Wednesdays

“I don’t know. We’ll see if he’s there.” He looked over at me. “Should I drop you off at your depressing apartment, or do you want to come?”

I rolled my eyes but grinned a little. “I’ll come.”

As Connor drove, I turned to him. “I’ve never been to the arena before. It’ll be nice to check it out before I start my hours there.”

His brow furrowed. “What hours? I thought you were working at the pediatric office.”

“I’m doing the other part of my rotation with the sports medicine clinic that provides medical care to the team.”

Connor’s jaw clenched and he sat up straighter but didn’t say anything.

“What’s wrong?”

He glanced at the rearview mirror to see if Elodie was paying attention. She stared out the window humming.

“You know I used to be a professional hockey player.”

“I do now. I had to google you when my dad told me he’d be working for you.” I turned to him. “Most of the online photos are of you with women. Lots and lots of women. You don’t really have a type, do you?”

He shifted in his seat. “I was young and stupid. You had to google me? Don’t you like hockey?”

“Until recently, Seattle didn’t have a professional hockey team. I like hockey more now.”

“Vancouver isn’t that far from Seattle.”

I knew the team he used to play for was in Vancouver. “Huh. Thanks for the geography lesson.”

He shook his head. “So you’re a sports fan if the team is in Seattle.”

“Absolutely. A friend of ours used to give us tickets sometimes, and we got hooked.”

“Paul Curtis?”

I turned to him, surprised. “How did you know?”

“I did a background check on your dad before I asked him to be Elodie’s nanny, and there’s a glowing reference in his employment file from Curtis.”

I couldn’t be annoyed since I would have done the same thing. “That was smart.”

He glanced at me. “You weren’t exaggerating. Your dad has been fucking fantastic so far.”

“I know. Elodie was smart to ask for him.”

“You owe me five bucks,” Elodie said absently from the back seat. “And Mémé says fuck is a bad word.”

“Damn it,” Connor muttered. “You shouldn’t say fuck, Els.”

“That’s two more bucks,” she chirped.

“You need to stop dropping the f-bomb in front of her. Can I play this game?” I asked.

Elodie’s ability to keep track of the cost of each swear word was impressive.

Connor shook his head. “Absolutely not. She’s killing me. She could probably pay for her own college education by now.”

“That bad, huh?” I turned around and gave Elodie a thumbs up. She smiled happily.

Connor rolled his shoulders. “As I was saying. Hockey players aren’t known for clean language and wholesome living. You sure you want to work there?”

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