Page 3 of Whiskey Wednesdays

Dad’s eye twitched. “Isa, stay away from Noah if you can. I don’t want to speak ill of Connor’s family, but Noah is…”

“He’s what?”

“I don’t trust him. Connor’s last assistant quit without giving a two-week notice, and I’m sure it had something to do with Noah.”

I shrugged and took another bite of my wrap. “Okay, I’ll stay away from both of them.” I paused and chewed. “It shouldn’t be hard. Connor made it clear he can’t be bothered, and I’m sure his brother is the same way.”

Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t be too hard on Connor. He was one of the best hockey players in the league until he retired. A lot of people want something from him.”

“You work for him. Even if he’s not your best friend, he should at least know who you are.” He seemed like one of those rich, self-centered athletes to me. “Did you know he has a five-year-old daughter?”

My dad’s head snapped up. “No. How do you know that?”

“He told me. He asked me to send her some ‘pink girlish’ presents for her birthday.”

Dad frowned. “Huh.”

We played for a few more minutes until my conscience got the better of me. “Do you know Connor’s assistant in Canada?”

“Yes. She’s the one who hired me. Why?” Dad asked.

I sighed and set my cards down. “Because I want to make sure his daughter gets a few birthday gifts from her dad for her fifth birthday.”

He smiled and patted my hand. “Let me call his assistant.” He pulled out his phone.

While he made the call, I texted one of my best friends from Seattle. Abigail was a single parent with a three-year-old daughter, so I asked her for some ideas.

Less than a minute later, she started bombarding me with texts.

“Hi Sherrill,” I heard my dad say. “This is Javier Cruz, Connor’s property manager in Palm Desert.” He paused. “Everything is fine. Did Connor get ahold of you to send a few birthday gifts to his daughter?”

He shook his head at me. “No? Okay. Can you order a few items and send them to her for Connor?” He paused again and looked at me with a panicked expression. “I’m not sure…”

“I have some ideas,” I whispered.

“Sherrill, I’ll send you a list in the next few minutes. Would that be okay? All right, I’ll send them to you soon. No, I haven’t seen his new assistant. You have a nice evening too.”

He hung up and looked over at me. “I know you don’t like Connor, but you did a good thing. Now let’s pick out some pink birthday gifts.”

For the next hour, Dad and I read through my friend’s list and googled ideas online. Then we came up with a few items for Connor’s nameless daughter.

We decided on bath bombs that turned into sponge animals, a fairy garden with plants and seeds, and a soft green and purple handmade blanket I found on Etsy that any five-year-old girl would love. A pink tutu also caught my eye, and I added it to the list on a whim. Then Dad sent the order with instructions to Sherrill.

When we finished, we continued our game. As we played, I stewed over Connor and what I knew about him.

To be fair, he didn’t treat my dad one way or the other, and I had no idea if he was a good father or not. I still didn’t like him.

Dad nonchalantly put down tracks and completed one of his short rails. He was now officially winning.

“Well, shoot.” I pushed thoughts of Connor aside and concentrated on the game.

Chapter 2

When Dad moved to the Coachella Valley to work for Connor, I’d put in a request to finish my clinical hours in Palm Springs. That way I could be close to him for a few months until I started working full-time as a PA.

My two rotations would be at a pediatric office and a sports medicine clinic. The sports clinic had a contract with the Coachella Valley Thunderbird ice hockey team, which was the farm team for the new national team, the Seattle Hydras.

And Connor McCoy held a significant stake in both teams. I hadn’t cared when I signed up for the clinical rotation. Now I wondered if we’d run into each other sometimes and whether I’d have to be nice to him.

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