Page 34 of Coast to Coast

“Well, they got married in July,” Mariana said with a shrug.

I burst out laughing, “He married his stalker?”

“Yeah, what a way to set an example for the rest of the bunnies. Now they all figure if they ramp up their efforts, they’ll get the guy.”

We chatted easily as the kids splashed and played in the pool. Several more women joined us, and while Mariana introduced me, I was having trouble keeping up with them. Marianalistened carefully as I shared my story of how I met Tom and why I had followed him to Colorado. She knew I was the nanny, but the other women joining us did not. I explained that we had met while I was singing at an open mic, and Tom had offered to buy me a drink. I left the details as bare as possible. The more color I added to the story, the more likely we could poke holes in it.

“How can you drop everything in Boston and fly out here?” a blond woman named Kayleigh asked.

I decided to share my internship experience, only leaving out the fact that Zander and I were dating. The women listened raptly, and I could see them getting angry on my behalf. Yep, we’ve all been leaders in a group project where someone else stole the glory. It must be another one of those universal experiences.

“What are your plans moving forward?”

“I’m not sure. But with Tom’s travel and the free time I have on my hands, I figured I would make myself useful and take care of Crew in the meantime. I’ll be grinding in Boston half-time and be here when Crew visits. We also will be traveling to some away games.”

“What’s his mother like?” asked Camille, who went by Mila. I had learned earlier that her husband was Andre Benoit, and they were both French Canadians from Montreal.

“Kelsey? She’s wonderful. She’s been great to me, and there’s no drama, which is the most important thing.”

Mila and Andre had one daughter, Anna, who was three years old, and he had a six-year-old son from a previous relationship. Julian only got to see his father when they were in Montreal, and it sounded like the custody arrangement was contentious. What surprised me was how open these women were with each other. Maybe it was the proximity of their living arrangement? Or perhaps it was because they were each other’s sole support system.

“When will the weather change around here?” I asked, wondering how long the pool would remain open.

Mila responded, “It’s unpredictable with the mountains. We can have eighty-degree days, then the weather can quickly change, and snow can be in the forecast. The pool will close the first week of September. We all have memberships in an indoor club to keep us swimming throughout the year. I’ll send you the information later. What’s your phone number?”

I gave her my number, and she added it to her contacts.

I made a note to discuss the indoor club with Tom. Monica had already provided me with a credit card and a debit card attached to a bank account that I could use for Crew’s routine care. Kelsey and Tom both shared in funding that account, but I wasn’t sure they considered buying a pool club membership as part of routine care.

We stayed by the pool most of the morning, but as the younger kids started to get crabby, we all returned to our respective homes for nap time. While Crew slept, I prepped dinner for tonight so we could pop it in the oven and then spent a little time working on my latest song.

After I had worked through a particularly challenging bridge, I sent a text to Tom.

Me: How is your day going?

I wished I could take back the text as soon as I sent it. Was I supposed to check in with my boss at midday? Maybe not, but I wanted to. He was the only other adult I knew here in Colorado. Yeah, I had spent the morning with the WAGs, but I wouldn’t classify them as friends yet.

Tom: YouTube link sent.

I opened the YouTube link, which brought me to a video of John Denver playing Rocky Mountain High. I laughed and sent him the video I had recorded of the song I had been working on earlier.

His response came shortly after in the form of a phone call. “Did you write that?”

“I did,” I answered shyly.

“Fuck, that’s incredible, Callie.”

His compliment made my heart speed up and caused a flip of excitement in my gut. His praise meant more than it should from my boss.

“It’s not finished yet. I was working on it while Crew slept. When will you be home? I can time dinner for when you arrive.”

“We’re finished now. Showering and headed back. But you didn’t need to make dinner.”

“Umm, what else am I expected to do while Crew naps?” I asked.

“Anything you want, write songs, read a book. I didn’t hire you to cook and clean,” he explained.

“Well, I like to cook. That’s not a problem for me. Oh, hey. I hear Crew. He’s just waking up. I’ll see you when you get home?”

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