Page 5 of Coast to Coast

I’d also come to rely on Sam as a friend. Yeah, I thought baseball was boring as shit, and the players were more superstitious than a goalie, but he’d talked me through some challenging moments as a rookie. He is also helping me figureout how to fire my agent and find someone who represents my interests better. Sam negotiated one of the biggest contracts in baseball, and while NHL contracts don’t compete, there were so many more restrictions.

I kept replaying the interview with Calliope earlier this afternoon. She looked like she belonged in a boardroom but dropped her knees in that pencil skirt and played blocks with my toddler son.

I’d almost been pissed off for her when Sam suggested that a relationship between players would solely be her fault, but I cheered silently when she mentioned she might not be at fault. My teammates are going to notice her. She’s so buttoned up; who wouldn’t want to see what she looks like with her hair down? The bit of fire that flashed in her eyes when she pointed out that the men could be the problem? I wanted to see more of that.

When I met Kelsey, I was a bit of a player, and there was no thought of anything past that night. My mother honestly wasn’t surprised to find out that I’d accidentally gotten someone pregnant. I think she was more surprised that other women wouldn’t come forward. Since I found out about Crew, there’d been no one serious outside a couple of half-assed attempts. Mainly because I hadn’t found anyone I would want to be involved inhislife, and he shouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of my poor decisions.

I turned the baseball game off when Sam handed the ball to his pitching coach, officially ending his outing. I texted Kelsey to tell her that Crew was down for the night. I always appreciated her updates when she had him, and I knew she worried when she wasn’t with him.

I went to bed, thankful for where we were and hopeful for the future.

CALLIOPE

Icalled Monica as I left the interview, “Um, why did you think of me to be a nanny?”

“To be fair, you were the sixth applicant and the only one they let meet Crew. These are some of my favorite clients, and I wouldn’t trust many people with that little guy.”

“That’s some tea they shared. How did you keep that shit together for them over the last year?”

“I can’t talk about that, even with you signing the NDA. But aside from the salary, I thought you’d welcome the change. It will give you time to get away from Zander and be independent from your parents.”

“Well, I can’t exactly tell my parents I’m a nanny.”

“Just tell them you took a marketing position with the Blizzards,” Monica offered. She’d been almost the fourth child in my family, and she knew that while my parents were supportive, that support had its limits. Things had always been predictable for me: work hard and achieve results.

“Yeah, that would work, except what do I know about hockey? They’d never believe that.” My parents would smell the bullshit a mile away, and I never had an interest in sports, andwhenever PJ forced us to watch any sports, I was the loudest resister.

“A lot of it is about managing people and their stories. Watch a couple of games; you’ll pick up on it. I doubt either of your parents will ask for a post-game play-by-play.” My parents were pissed for me that I wasn’t able to turn the internship into a full-time position and furious that Zander had walked away with the opportunity I had earned. But I hadn’t shown even a passing interest in sports, so taking a job with a Colorado sports team, with so many more lucrative options in Boston, wouldn’t be believable.

“Are you allowed to comment on how fucking hot Bio Dad is?” I asked, attempting to change the subject and talk to my friend candidly as if she were my friend and not professionally motivated by this situation.

“No, Callie. I can’t ogle my clients, and I recommend you don’t either,” her tone practically dripped with scorn.

“No one needs to know I renamed my mechanical boyfriend ‘Tom Campbell.’ And besides, as your friend, I’m saying my new boss is hot as fuck.”

“And yet you still felt the need to tell me...” Monica replied.

“Seriously, though. Crew was adorable. But do you think I can manage an active toddler and his travel schedule?” After all was said and done, I did have some doubts creeping in. The position was going to be a lot to manage.

“Did you miss the fact that I’m the one managing the travel schedule? You’re supposed to show up at the airport and keep him safe.”

“And warm Daddy’s bed at night.”

“Calliope, please stop saying this shit to me. I would be expected to inform my clients if their new nanny planned to seduce one of them. Could you not put me in that position? Please.”

I laughed at her obvious discomfort, “You know I’m just kidding.”

“Yeah, ish,” she said, sounding frustrated. “I’ll send you your ticket to the game. It would be best to remember that you're still interviewing even though you have a conditional offer for the position. You’ll sit with Tom and Kelsey; after the game, you’ll be around other players and wives. Remember, it’s still a test. Stepdad was raised in a baseball family, he had some shitty nannies, and that experience informed his non-negotiables. When he was six, he walked in on a nanny and one of his dad’s teammates. He doesn’t want his son to have a similar experience.”

After Monica and I hung up, I spent the afternoon researching hockey since I was likely to be spending time at a ton of games this season. I might as well try to understand it. I hoped they didn’t expect me to explain to Crew what his daddy was doing on the ice because my commentary would be limited to “Daddy is skating” and “Daddy is fighting.”

I then ended up on a TikTok rabbit hole of video after video of Tom; he seemed to be a fan favorite with both the men and the women. Hopefully, that didn’t mean I would be at home with his kid while he was out entertaining women in every city where he played. No matter how much I searched for evidence of his dating history, I couldn’t find anything. He was either a monk, or really good at avoiding press.

Since I’d be responsible for a toddler, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to research milestones. Crew seemed tall for his age, with age-appropriate vocabulary, and I admittedly melted at his attempt at saying my name.

An unknown number texted me as I continued researching toddlers, traveling with toddlers, toddler likes and dislikes, and toddler television shows.

Kelsey: Hi, it’s Kelsey. I wanted to share my number and see if you had any questions after the interview.

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