Page 18 of Coast to Coast

We spent the next forty-five minutes with Calliope, sharing stories about her favorite ski mountains. Her eyes bright and animated as she talked about something she so obviously loved. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, more convinced that there was no way I wouldn’t stand guard between her and my teammates. I just had to let her come to the realization that my plan was the best one for her.

CALLIOPE

Other than suggesting that we fake date while in Denver, lunch with Tom was comfortable. Honestly, I resisted fake dating because I knew I wouldn’t be faking a very real attraction to him. Yeah, I joked with Monica about it being attracted to Tom, but there was more truth to it than I was comfortable admitting. I had a type, and Tom was it. If I could draw more than stick figures, I would sketch him in a doodle pad while daydreaming about him. Maybe the new song lyrics I had written had been borrowed from him as inspiration.

“I have Crew tonight; I’m picking him up about five from Sam and Kelsey’s. We try to keep him on the same routine in both of our homes. You can come by and see our bedtime routine if you have time tonight since you’ll be handling it on game nights.”

“Oh, I thought we’d go to most of your home games?” I asked.

“Most, but not all of them. He’s adaptable, but that’s because he’s had to be. This is the first time he will be away from home with me without Sam or Kelsey nearby. And I want to give him as much normalcy as possible. If that means he needs a night at home reading farm board books, that is what he’ll get. I wanthim to love going to my games, not be dragged and forced to go when he is exhausted.”

“Monica mentioned that your mom visits as much as possible when you’re on the West Coast. How about your dad?” I asked.

“My mom raised me on her own. I’ve talked to my father here and there. He’s not interested in a relationship. I’d held out hope that success would draw him in, but it didn’t. Not even a grandson. Between Sam’s father and grandfather, Kelsey’s dad, Crew has more than enough strong grandfather figures than most. I’m not going to force a relationship with someone who clearly doesn’t give a shit.”

My heart broke a little bit as Tom talked about his father. He played it off like it was just a fact he accepted, but his speech seemed a little bit too rehearsed. Crew wasn’t lacking in male role models, but I couldn’t imagine not having my dad. Did he sometimes put too many of his expectations on his children? Yeah. But I loved knowing I could go to him whenever I needed him.

“Your mom lives in Vancouver?”

“Yes. You and Crew will stay with my mother when we play in Vancouver. She’s been looking forward to that first sleepover for the last year. As much as our lives are absolute chaos sometimes, I am so incredibly grateful that Sam and Kelsey are so committed to making this work.”

“To be completely honest, I did some Google research. And it’s not my business, but I’m curious: you and Kelsey never tried to make it work?”

Tom shook his head, averted his eyes, and stared into the distance. “That’s a loaded question. I don’t know how much you learned on Google, but Kelsey and I were complete strangers. If I had found out about Crew and she hadn’t already been in a relationship with Sam, I probably would have tried. Because it sucks not waking up to my son every day.”

“Do you want more kids?” I asked, knowing that I was no longer just pushing the edges of inappropriate questions for your employer; I had trampled the line.

“You’ve seen Sam and Kelsey together, right?” he asked, his bright blue eyes boring into mine.

“I have,” I said, unable to look away.

“That’s what I want. The partnership, the friendship, all of it. Kelsey rolls with the punches of being a professional athlete’s wife, and Sam is ready to do whatever is necessary for her and Crew. They’re having a baby together, but I never worry about him treating my son any differently from one who is blood-related to him.”

Even in just the short time I had spent with Sam, there was no question that he considered Crew his son. And he’d also balanced sharing that role with Tom.

“And that makes dating next to impossible for you, doesn’t it?”

He scrubbed his hands through his dirty blond hair, only to have it flop right back down. “I haven’t exactly dated since the day the news story broke. I was with someone then, and she planned to follow me to Denver. But she didn’t want to play stepmom and wasn’t even sure she wanted to have kids, period. We split up.”

I wanted to ask if he met women on the road, but I didn’t want to know the answer if it was yes. At twenty-four, I didn’t expect him to be celibate, but I also didn’t want to contemplate him sleeping with other women. The flash of jealousy as I imagined him bringing another woman home was another reminder that fake dating would blur some lines. I needed to remain crystal clear.

At two o’clock, we were still sitting in Quincy Market. We’d gone from discussing bringing Crew skiing to hitting some verypersonal topics. None were what you’d expect to talk about with your future boss.

“Shit,” he said, looking at his watch. “I’m not holding you up, am I?”

“Not exactly. But I need to start to sort out what I’m moving to Denver and what’s staying in Boston. I’ve been procrastinating. What time should I plan to come by for Crew’s bedtime routine?”

“If you don’t mind coming by for dinner, we’ll eat at about 6:00.”

“OK. I will be by a little before. I can help with dinner.” While I hadn’t officially started as their nanny, a nice signing bonus had been deposited in my account earlier this week to help me prepare for my move, and I will be on payroll by the end of the week. I tried to convince myself the only reason I was going over tonight was out of obligation. But honestly, I wanted to be there, know more about my boss, and grow a relationship with Crew, and I couldn’t attribute either of those feelings to a paycheck.

“And please, think about the other thing,” Tom said, and it was understood that he meant a fake dating arrangement.

“OK,” I said, knowing that if I agreed to fake date this man, it would be more than convincing. Our lunch wasn’t a date, but if it had been? It would have ranked as one of my better lunch dates, especially with the ease I had felt talking to him.

TOM

Igot to Sam and Kelsey’s house a little before five, and Crew met me at the door, throwing himself into my arms.

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