Page 7 of Coast to Coast

When I got to their house, Calliope had already arrived, and Crew had decided to show her his car and dinosaur collection. He’d been obsessed with dinosaurs lately and was practicing his adorable little roar, charming his new nanny.

“Dada!” Crew shouted and barreled over to me, throwing himself into my arms. I squeezed him tight, loving the bond we’d formed over the past few months. Playing professional hockey has been my dream since I tried on my first skates. My life had always revolved around the sport, but I’d never dreamed of having something I love more than the game.

“You ready to go to the baseball game, buddy?”

“Pops?” Crew’s wide eyes looked right into my soul.

“Yeah, we’re gonna watch your Pops pitch tonight.”

Crew clapped excitedly. He loved going to the ballpark; he’d been doing it routinely since he was three months old. Kelsey and Sam met when Sam at a point where he thought his career might be over; something had happened that night that made Sam think Kelsey was his good luck charm. He invited her to his game, and he pitched a perfect game, one of the rarest achievements in baseball. Since he’s superstitious as fuck, he asked Kelsey to every single game he pitched. It wasn’t longbefore she and Crew followed him to almost every stadium in the Northern Hemisphere.

Had Kelsey never met Sam, she may never have had the resources to find me. We’d met in Cancun as a one-night stand and never exchanged last names. Sam had hired a private investigator, though I think he initially thought I’d willingly sign Crew over to them once he found me. After being raised by a single mother when my father walked out on us, I would never be able to live with myself knowing I had a child out there being raised by someone else.

“Pops win!”

“I hope he does, buddy.”

“See Pee?” He asked, pointing at Calliope.

“Ca-Lie-O-Pee,” I pronounced slowly, trying not to make him self-conscious as he tried new words. “She’s coming with us.”

Fuck, me. What the hell was she wearing? I hadn’t realized when she was sitting down playing that her baseball jersey looked like a dress. Her legs were tan, muscular, and absolute perfection. It would be a pain in the balls keeping the guys away from her. Knowing Sam's feelings about her dating teammates, I hoped that warning would be enough.

CALLIOPE

True to her word, Monica sent me the ticket to the Minutemen’s game, which arrived in my electronic wallet well before the game and before I had to head to Sam and Kelsey’s home to meet everyone. Before heading to Beacon Hill to meet Kelsey, Tom, and Crew, I had texted my sister Juno and brother PJ on our sibling group text, hoping we could have a real chat before I left for the game.

Me: Guys. I need you!

Juno: What did Zander do?

PJ: If this is about Zander again, I’m out.

PJ had hated Zander from the start, he wasn’t sad to see him go, but he was pissed at how he’d stolen my work. But not enough to spend another chat dissecting our relationship and trying to find the missed red flags. My brother had learned to tolerate a lot of annoying shit, but he was DONE with anything that had to do with my breakup. To be honest, so was I.

Me: I got a job!

The telltale tone was almost immediate. I clicked to connect, and PJ and Juno’s faces popped on the screen. PJ took a little longer to come on screen while he found someplace more private where he could talk without interruption.

“Ok, sister, dish,” Juno rushed out while PJ fumbled with his earbuds.

“You know how Monica is a personal assistant, right?” I asked. Monica had been like a fourth sibling since I met her in high school. They knew about as much about her life as I did.

“Yeah, she’s still working for several of the Minutemen. Are you working for her now?” PJ asked. PJ was a major Boston sports fan, and in the past, anytime Monica came over, he would try to get as much team news as possible. Lately, the two of them had been unable to be in the same room together; something had happened, and neither would spill the tea. Monica was as tight-lipped with that incident as she was with all her clients. We only knew some of her client lists because she’d been pictured with them.

“No. But the Minutemen pitcher, his wife, and a hockey player from the Blizzards are looking for a nanny…”

“Wait, you aren’t applying to be a nanny. Shit, Callie. I know it sucks losing the internship, but I know you’re not that desperate,” Juno said.

“Hold on…” I said, texting the salary for the position in our sibling chat.

“Is that the salary?” PJ asked wide-eyed. “I guess that’s what you can afford when you have the highest salary in the entire league.”

I didn’t pay a ton of attention to the rumors about our local baseball team, but Sam Drummond’s contract had made front-page news. His salary routinely came up every time he pitched a losing game.

“Yeah, it’s more than double what I made at my internship, and it includes room and board in both Boston and Colorado. I met the little boy, and he’s fucking adorable.”

“You know you can’t swear around kids, right?” PJ asked.

---