Page 16 of Goalie Interference

“Yeah. Dad said Spencer Cotton, the Aces owner, had a problem and asked if I could help. New hockey player with a dog, couldn’t stay in a hotel, figured I could give him a place for the season. I’m happy to help out the team, and those guys travel all the time anyway so I didn’t think he’d be around much.”

I was grateful that my brother, despite his success, wasn’t an asshole. Maybe it was because he never became quite as famous with his band as our dad. Maybe because he was a producer and not a performer now and didn’t get recognized as often. Possibly, he was just a better person. But his helpfulness in this case was causing problems for me.

“Did you ask who the guy was?”

“No. I was heading into a session, so I was distracted.” He’d been in a rush to get Dad off the phone, which was fair enough.

“It’s Daniel Rempel.”

“No shit!” My brother sounded a lot more alert suddenly. “Ollie’s nemesis? He’s been signed to the Aces?”

“Exactly. Ollie is going to freak when he hears Remy is staying with us.”

“Technically he’s not—but no, you’re right. Ollie’s always been a little weird over Rempel.”

“Warning you right now, I’m putting all the blame on you.”

“What about sibling solidarity?”

“It’s in the same place as your brain. You do remember that you have a cat?” Goober was technically my brother’s, left by a previous woman he’d dated for all of a week.

“Right. Keep her inside or make the hockey player keep his dog on a leash. Is Goober in danger?”

“I’m not completely sure. Remy’s dog is smaller but has BDE.”

“BDE?”

“Big dog energy. He arrived with warning labels all over his crate. He bites and he runs.”

“Fuck. Do I need to kick the guy out?”

I paused. Getting Remy out of here would solve the problem for me. I’d have the carriage house to myself. But there’d been something about the way he worried about his little terror of a dog that tugged at me. The dark circles under his eyes. He’d been traveling from…somewhere in Canada, presumably. He had to deal with Ollie for who knew how long. He had enough on his plate. I didn’t need to add to it. I could always work at Diane’s if I needed to. “No, that wouldn’t be fair.”

“Okay, but if he doesn’t clean up after his dog or keep him under control, then he can go.”

I agreed, but I didn’t think Remy would be a problem that way. “Hey, did you promise dog care?”

“No! I don’t think…no. I wouldn’t have done that.”

“Then maybe it was Dad. Someone seems to have told him his dog would be taken care of when he was traveling, and I’m not doing that.”

“Fuck no. You sure you’re gonna be okay with him around?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

“Hopefully I’m back in a few weeks. This project’s going on a little long, and there’s a big film festival up here that they keep dragging me out to.”

“Poor baby.”

“Maybe I’ll meet up with a film star.”

I rolled my eyes, but honestly it wouldn’t surprise me. My brother was good-looking, charming and insanely talented. “Think a film star might last more than a couple of weeks?”

“Shut up. But seriously, send me a message if this situation with the hockey player is a problem. We don’t have to kick him onto the street, but there must be other places he can stay. With his dog.”

“Thanks.”

I felt better after the call, even though nothing had changed. I was still in the middle of a soap opera, and the promise of more drama to come. But life had been a little dull, and with Diane’s offer and Remy upstairs, it was getting much more interesting.

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