Page 3 of The Love Penalty

A week later,I wait for Jack to pick up the call. After four rings, he finally does. I can’t contain my excitement when I yell “JACK, I got it, I got the job!!”

“Honey, I will have to bill you for my hearing aids now,” he says and I laugh uncontrollably.

“I am really proud of you, Olivia. I’m sure your dad would be too.” My laugh softens into a sigh and I nod along even though Jack can’t see me. My dadwouldbe proud.

“Thanks, Jack.”

“How are you celebrating?” he asks.

“I got some donuts and I’m on my way over to see grandma and tell her the good news in person.” I enter my car and place the donuts in the front seat.

“That sounds wonderful. I have to go, Bonnie needs me to help with something, but send me your schedule, please. Especially for when you’ll be in Wisconsin.”

“Will do, Jack.” We end the call and I make the drive from downtown to my grandma’s townhouse in the suburbs.

When she sees me walking towards the house, she starts smiling and waving her hand around. I love my grandma, but she can be so dramatic sometimes.

“Oh my God, look who it is. You must be my long lost granddaughter, because I don’t even recognize you. How much weight have you lost?”

I cut in before she can go down the rabbit hole with all the questions. “Hi, Grandma, it’s me. No, I haven’t been abducted by aliens. No, I haven’t been kidnapped and held hostage,” I joke and she narrows her green eyes at me, the same dark shade as mine. “I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL recently, I’ve just been working a lot.”

“Tsk, all that work, but no fun?” she taunts.

“Well, the reason I am here, with donuts no less,” I say and show her the big box I picked up at the bakery, “is that all of that hard work finally paid off.” I stand tall and take a deep breath, then tell her, “I got a job in the American Hockey League.” I have to spell things out for her, she’s always been terrible with abbreviations.

“Eeeeek!” She yells out right before she crushes me in a hug, donut box between us. “Honey, that’s amazing, I am so proud of you!”

“Thanks, Grams.” I hand her the smushed box and we walk into her kitchen. My grandma, Elizabeth, lives with her two best friends—Ethel and Marianne. They are all in their late sixtiesand early seventies and having the time of their lives in a three-bedroom townhouse. Grandma and Ethel are both widowers who never felt the need to remarry, and Marianne has always been something of a lone wolf. They’ve been living together for more than a decade now.

When my dad died ten years ago, I was eighteen and ready to go to college. Grandma suggested I push it back for a year and that she’d come live with me, but I couldn’t do that. I needed to keep going, keep playing, keep living, otherwise the grief would swallow me whole. So I went off to college and grandma took care of the house while I was gone. Growing up, I was always a bit ashamed of our house. We didn’t live in the best neighborhood and the house was a bit run down, but it has been in our family for a few generations, so at least we didn’t have to pay a mortgage.

Every summer I would come home and take care of anything that needed improvement. I didn’t accomplish much since every penny I made from working at restaurants and cafes needed to go to food and hockey equipment. I also had my dad’s life insurance check, but his will specifically requested I used it for my college tuition. He wanted me to succeed, so that’s what I strive to do.

After college, once I realized I wasn’t going to make it further in women’s hockey, I came back. I’ve been living here since, but lately it’s felt less and less like home.

Once I tell my grandma everything about the new job, I head home and make a plan for the future. My path to the NHL won’t be an easy one, but I am determined. As a young referee, my contract is with the AHL, but after some experience, I can extend that to the five year NHL contract. Basically, I would be paid by the National Hockey League, but work for the American Hockey League. At the end of the five year contract, I would either be promoted to the NHL, or I would become a veteran referee.

Veteran referees don’t officiate at the NHL level, so my only course of action is to be the best I can be and get that five year contract. I check my schedule for the coming season, and I am booked solid officiating lots of games in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, Ohio, and Michigan.

I open up the information about my first game. It looks like in a few weeks I will be officiating the home opener game for the Grand Marquee Manticores in Michigan.

THREE

Robbie

September weatherin Northern Michigan is the best. It’s warm enough that I can still wear shorts and a polo and even go out on the water, but at night it gets cold enough that I can start a bonfire like the one tonight. Some teammates that I consider close friends are with me at my parents’ cabin, enjoying the last night of freedom before training camp starts tomorrow.

“Yo, captain! When are you gonna retire?” Ashton, the team’s hot-headed forward, yells from the deck as he’s bringing a cooler to us by the fire pit.

“Who said anything about retiring?” I mock glare at him.

He rolls his eyes and smirks.Bastard. “Come on, you know you’re getting old. Are you gonna let any of us get a chance at captainship?”

“I think you meancaptaincy, and no, I won’t,” I say, smirking back.

I’ve been the captain of the AHL Grand Marquee Manticores for the last five years. As the number one draft pick fourteen years ago, fresh out of high school, I spent a couple of yearswith Chicago’s AHL team before getting called up to the NHL. After two years there, a trade to Detroit was in the cards. I was having my best year here in my home state, and everyone said I had so much potential. Right as we made it to the playoffs that year, I tore my ACL and had to sit out for the rest of that season. The team didn’t win the Stanley Cup, but I don’t think they blamed me, either. There was just a lot going on that season and everyone was a bit sloppy.

After my recovery, I had a pretty bad season and with my contract coming to an end and was sent down to the AHL team. I couldn’t complain much though, as the Manticores played in my home town which meant I got to see my huge family all the time. I improved a lot with the team, so much so that I got called up to the NHL quite often. But after another ACL injury followed by a gruesome recovery, it was pretty clear that I wasn’t going to be able to play at the same level as I had before. Five years ago I was offered the captain position and that really solidified it for me. I would never play in the NHL again, but I’ve made my peace with it.

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