Holiday Shot, page 8
“Thank you for inviting us.”
“There’s a bar and bartender in the great room, a buffet set up in the dining room, and both indoor and outdoor seating.”
We had no chance for small talk as more people arrived and we were swept up in a sea of friends, co-workers, and mostly unfamiliar faces. Since Sutton was the head of the Junior Knight Hockey program, she and Cam were here, which was a relief for me because I didn’t know many people.
“That’s Susan Gaines,” Sutton murmured to me. “She’s the GM’s wife and she’s a bitch. Steer clear. If anyone has something to say about the age difference, it’ll be her.”
“Thanks for the head’s up.” I felt a moment of discomfiture as I looked around. Almost all the couples here tonight were married, or at least engaged, like Cam and Sutton. Then there was me, who’d been dating Henrik for a few weeks. When it was just the two of us, everything felt easy, but the idea of answering questions about how long we’d been dating, what I did for a living, and all the other inevitable small-talk questions, might be awkward.
“Judy Simon is nice,” Sutton continued. “She’s Coach Simon’s wife. He’s kind of a prick, though—and handsy. He’s usually on his best behavior if Toli’s around, but watch yourself because I’ve heard rumors.”
I grimaced. “Good to know.”
She gave me a quick synopsis of the people she knew but eventually she was pulled away, Henrik was outside talking with a few of his friends, and I was left to my own devices.
“Hello. I don’t think we’ve met.” Susan Gaines approached me with a cool smile. “I’m Susan, Coach Gaines’ wife.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Autumn Nicholls.”
“What a pretty name.” Her gaze drifted to the fingers of my left hand. “Are you a new employee?”
“No.” I smiled as sweetly as I could. “I’m Henrik Vanek’s girlfriend.”
I watched her brows lift slightly, as if I’d caught her by surprise. “Well, how sweet. I didn’t realize he’d met someone. How long have you been together?”
I wasn’t embarrassed by the newness of our relationship, but this woman was looking for something to gossip about and I refused to give it to her. “We met last spring,” I said casually. “I was playing hockey for the women’s league in New York, and he was busy with the team, of course, so we kept things casual until recently.”
“You played hockey? For which team?”
“The New York Mustangs.”
“I myself played back in the day. Of course, we didn’t have a professional league for women back then.” She seemed momentarily wistful and I almost felt bad for her.
“Well, you weren’t missing much,” I said. “Between the horrible pay, the minimal health benefits, and no league support whatsoever, I retired at twenty-four.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and I figured she was going to home in on my age. Instead, she surprised me. “That’s disappointing. What is the point of all these new leagues if they don’t treat the women fairly?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Autumn, hi!” Tessa came up beside me and gave me a one arm hug. “I didn’t have a chance to say hello yet. Hi, Susan. Are you guys having fun?”
“I was just getting to know Henrik’s new girlfriend,” Susan replied. “These women’s professional hockey leagues are truly disgraceful.”
“They are,” Tessa agreed, nodding. “But the bright side is she’s here now.”
“Speaking of which, I’m hosting a wine tasting at the club on January fourteenth. I’d love it if the two of you joined us.”
“It depends on what’s going on with the kids,” Tessa said smoothly, “but text me the information and I’ll get back to you.”
“Lovely. And then you can send me Autumn’s number—oh, excuse me.” Twittering her fingers at us, she moved off to talk to someone who’d just arrived, and I glanced at Tessa questioningly.
“Did I pass? I feel like that was a test of some kind.”
“If Susan is inviting you to a wine tasting, I think you may have won over her cold, black heart.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “That’s good, right?”
“It is. I think you’ve just been welcomed into the fold.”
“Tessa, do you mind if I steal Autumn?” Henrik asked, coming over and sliding an arm around my waist. “I’d like to introduce her to the other coaches.”
“Of course.” Tessa winked and moved off in the other direction.
“What was that about?” he asked, leading me toward the patio.
“Oh, just me getting invited to some wine tasting Susan Gaines is hosting.”
His eyes widened. “Holy shit, you got an invitation from Susan? She hates everyone.”
I chuckled. “Apparently, she used to play hockey when she was younger and the fact that I played won me some points.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. I think.”
I met so many people, there was no way I would remember all their names, but everyone seemed genuinely happy that Henrik had a girlfriend, and no one asked any embarrassing questions. Everyone in the Knights organization was friendly and outgoing, and of course, having Sutton here was a nice bonus. It was easy to picture myself living here full-time, and I told her that as we chatted out by the pool.
“I’m going to love having you here,” she said, grinning. “Think of all the fun we’re going to have!”
“I am.” I giggled. “And it’ll be even better than when we were in New York because we’re not broke anymore.”
“Exactly.”
I was having such a good time I didn’t realize how late it had gotten, so I was startled when Henrik came over to ask me if I was ready to go. “It’s almost two, babe, and I have practice tomorrow.”
“Is it that late?” I stared at him. “I had no idea, but yes, we should get going.”
“I’m glad you had fun,” he said. “Everyone loved you.”
“Everyone?”
“Well, a lot of people came to tell me how sweet and beautiful and interesting you are, so that basically amounts to everyone. Did you have a chance to chat with Dani?”
“I did. She’s amazing and she’s working on making that internship happen for next season.”
“Something to look forward to.”
“And in the meantime, I think I’m going to sign up to be a substitute teacher here. That way, I can work when I want, but take time off so we can be together on your days off.”
“That sounds like the perfect job for us right now.”
“I think so too.” I slid my hand into his. “Thank you for bringing me tonight, Henrik. I really enjoyed getting to know your friends and co-workers. It’s different than the guys on the team and their girlfriends, and I honestly wasn’t sure whether or not I’d fit in with them.”
“I knew you would.” He leaned over to kiss me.
“We’ve been invited to three different places for Christmas,” I said, chuckling.
“Look at you, filling our social calendar.”
“Well, I didn’t say yes to any of them. I wanted to talk to you first. I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do on Christmas since neither of our families will be here.”
“I have you,” he said with a soft smile, his hand on the side of my face. “That’s the only thing I want for Christmas.”
15
Henrik
My new girlfriend was the main topic of conversation the following morning at the coaches’ meeting, and I endured the ribbing good naturedly, even though I spent half the time refraining from telling Trevor to shut his fucking mouth. He had all the alpha-male, wink-wink, nudge-nudge comments about a middle-aged man dating an attractive much-younger woman. At least he didn’t use any derogatory terms in describing her, but that was smart because he knew Toli wouldn’t put up with anyone talking shit about the women in our lives. Yes, we were men in a somewhat misogynistic industry, but there was a line we didn’t cross. Not in front of Toli anyway. Or me.
“You bringing her to Remy’s party too?” Trevor asked me.
I had to make a concerted effort not to roll my eyes. “She just moved in with me, so yes, of course.”
“You already moved her in?” He belly laughed. “God damn, you good-looking Swedes have all the luck! Just watch your bank account.”
“Not my first relationship,” I said, eyeing him. “I think I’m good.”
“And get a prenup before you knock her up!”
I decided to ignore him, turning to Toli instead. “Are we doing the gift swap thing again?”
Understanding my need to move on, Toli nodded and held up a small bowl. “The names are all in here. Let’s pick names now so we can move on to hockey-related conversation.”
“She seems like a nice girl.” The other assistant coach, Burke Henley, spoke quietly from my right side. “I hope you’re happy. It’ll be good for you to have someone to come home to. This life is hard.”
“That it is.”
“So.” Toli looked around. “Jordan Palmer. We got side-tracked last time I wanted to talk about him, so it’s the first thing on today’s agenda. I’m inclined to keep him on the roster. He’s playing well and keeping his nose clean.”
“For now.” Trevor shook his head. “I don’t like him. I think we should trade him and stop dicking around with this back and forth to Atlanta nonsense. Let’s get someone we can count on regularly.”
Toli shook his head. “I’m not ready to give up on him. We invested a lot by drafting him.”
“I agree with Toli,” I said. I wasn’t sure if I was completely on board, but it seemed like a good day to go against anything Trevor said. “He’s talented as fuck. And I think he’s growing up.”
Trevor snorted. “Guys like that? They never grow up. They just learn to be sneakier about what they’re doing.”
“What they’re doing off the ice, as long as it isn’t illegal or unethical, isn’t our business,” Burke said. “I think he’s paid for the mistakes of his rookie season.”
Toli nodded. “Good. It’s settled. I’ll tell him just before the holidays, a little Christmas present.”
“Don’t come crying to me when he’s in the news for a bar fight or something on New Year’s Eve,” Trevor muttered.
Toli ignored him.
Technically, Trevor was Toli’s boss but that wasn’t the dynamic in our meetings. I wasn’t sure what the deal was other than Toli had a reputation and power within the industry that Trevor didn’t seem to have. Trevor knew the business inside and out, but Toli was more like Mr. Knight’s right-hand man.
For the first time since my conversation with Harper Barrowman, I wondered what our relationship would be like if she got control of the team and actually hired me.
Would we work together like Toli and Remy did or would I just be a pawn in whatever her restructuring game was? I didn’t believe the job would happen, but it was fun to imagine myself in a position of power. I loved working for and with Toli—that wasn’t the problem—but who didn’t want to be the boss? Especially when it would mean making three times my salary. Going from three hundred grand to around a million dollars a year was a huge jump, and now that I had Autumn in my life, I wanted to give her everything.
I had to start thinking about what to get her for Christmas too.
My first thought was jewelry.
A ring.
But that was crazy, even for me.
We weren’t ready to get married.
Did I even love her?
Was I in love with her?
Not yet.
I was a romantic fool but not an idiot.
I didn’t know if what I felt was true love.
Forever love.
Let’s-get-married love.
But it was close.
My phone rang and Lydia’s name made me grimace.
“Sorry, I need to take this,” I told my colleagues. “It’s about my kids.” I got up and walked out of the room. “Hi, Lydia.”
“Hi. How are you?”
“I’m good. What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“Yes.” She took a breath. “I need a favor.”
“I’ll try.”
“I have a job opportunity. Over the holidays. So I’d be willing to let you have the boys for Christmas.”
I frowned. “How long are we talking?”
“Three weeks.”
“Lydia, I have to work. You know that.”
“Well, so do I! This is huge, Henrik. It’s National Geographic. It could be my foot back in the door. And they’re willing to work around the boys’ school schedule, for the most part. I could bring them to you on the twentieth, and then pick them up around the tenth of January. Please say yes.”
“I leave on a road trip on the first and will be gone ten days. And I’m on the road on the twentieth. I get back on the twenty-second. Can’t your parents help?”
“They’ll take Aiden, but said both would be too much for them. What if I just brought Adam?”
“So you want to separate the boys at Christmas? And one kid is no different than two as far as my travel schedule goes. I would do it if I could, Lyd. Really. But I don’t see how.” I had Autumn, of course, but it was way too soon to put her in this position. She’d met them for a few minutes on Thanksgiving, so it would be unfair to just dump them on her unexpectedly. She was my girlfriend, not a live-in babysitter. In the future, I hoped she would want to help and work toward the role of stepmother, but not a week after moving in.
“Dammit, Henrik, not everything is about you!” she snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I said. And I meant it. It wasn’t like I didn’t want her to get her career on track, but I paid the bulk of everything for the boys, so I had responsibilities too.
“Can’t you hire a nanny or something?”
“Can’t you?” I countered.
“I have to do everything! Bedtime and hockey practice and homework. You’re going to be inconvenienced this one time, dammit!” And on that note, she hung up.
A familiar wave of guilt washed over me.
This was nothing new.
I’d been battling guilt since the divorce.
No matter the state of the relationship between the two of us, she was the one doing all of those things. Wiping runny noses and driving them from place to place. Not to mention cooking and feeding them, bathing them, getting them dressed and ready for school. It was a lot but she wasn’t willing to move away from her family and my job was here. I didn’t know what the solution was.
Once again, I thought about Harper Barrowman’s pseudo-offer.
If it happened, it would solve a lot of problems.
Of course, it would create problems too.
Autumn would have to pack up and start over again. She’d have to step into the role of stepmother and move to a place with no friends. And there was no internship in L.A. I could talk to Harper about it, but then we’d both be working and there would be no one to help with the boys, which made me feel selfish.
I didn’t want Autumn to feel like nothing but a convenient, live-in babysitter.
Yes, being a stepmother to my children would be part of the deal if we were going to be together long-term, but again, that was something we’d work up to. I couldn’t just throw it all at her from the get-go.
I also didn’t want to have to choose between Autumn and my children.
This was a big part of the reason why I hadn’t called her when I got back from Sweden.
I came with the kind of baggage that wasn’t fair to someone like Autumn, who had her whole life and career ahead of her.
Yes, she wanted a family too, but she was conflicted about what she wanted. It was only fair to let her explore her opportunities until she was ready for motherhood, or whatever was next. Forcing her into it would be wrong on so many levels. I cared about her too much for that, but letting her go was equally unappealing.
I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.
My gut told me this situation with Lydia wasn’t over, but I didn’t know what to do to fix it. I could ask for time off but that didn’t look good professionally, and even though the job in L.A. probably wouldn’t happen, I didn’t want to get a reputation as the coach who didn’t have his personal life under control. In some ways, it was a small industry, and word would get around.
If I asked Autumn for help, she would say yes, but it wouldn’t be easy for her or for the boys since she was basically a stranger to them. And Adam didn’t like change. At all. I could hire a babysitter to help, but that would be a similar situation for Adam. Not to mention the extra cost and confusion for everyone.
This sucked.
Just when things were going so well, Lydia went and fucked it up for me.
It was like she knew how happy I was, so she had to make sure she ruined it.
And no matter how hard I wracked my brain, there was no easy solution.
16
Autumn
There was something off with Henrik, but whatever it was, he wasn’t talking about it. Everything was fine between us, and he was as sweet and attentive as ever, but I could see the tension in his eyes. The way he was up early and tossed and turned all night. I’d asked him about it and got a vague answer relating to work stress, which I didn’t buy at all. I hadn’t pushed it because we were still new and figuring each other out, but I wanted to. It bothered me that he didn’t feel comfortable telling me about things going on in his life. Good or bad.
We were living together now, which meant we were a couple. He needed to be able to talk to me.
At least that’s how it was supposed to be in my head.
He was leaving on a road trip tomorrow, so I’d planned a quiet evening for us. I’d picked up his dry cleaning and had everything set out to make it easy for him to pack. I’d put a pot roast in the crockpot and had found an easy recipe for fresh bread that was in the oven. He’d be home soon, and I hoped maybe a romantic dinner and a bottle of wine would get him to open up about whatever was going on.
