Page 26 of Goalie Interference

He set his food down. “We’ve just started training camp.”

I nodded, but all I knew of training camp was what Ollie told me. It was enough for him to launch into an explanation. He was mostly pleased. Had high hopes for the goalie they’d drafted in June, and less high hopes for the two kids up from the farm team. I’d always thought that was an odd term—when I was a kid I’d pictured promising hockey players hanging around on a literal farm and splitting their time between chores and hockey games. Fortunately I’d figured it out before I said something stupid and Cash would never let me live it down.

I was eager to hear what Ollie had to say about Remy, but didn’t want to ask. If he didn’t know, which I suspected, I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about the man living upstairs from my shop. Ollie wasn’t possessive—hadn’t been when we were together and hadn’t shown any signs of it when we split up. But Remy was different.

“Trying to replace Pahlsson won’t be easy, even though we’re working with Keats and Lappy. But the wrench in the works is that the team brought in Remy to mentor the rookie.”

I didn’t let on I knew anything about this. “They didn’t ask you about a new goalie?” I hadn’t realized that Remy had been brought onto the team without Ollie’s knowledge. Which made him knowing about Remy’s current home less likely. In that case, I wanted to find just the right way to let Ollie know what was going on.

He shook his head. “I get what they wanted. Lappy is hyper, impulsive, and Remy is the opposite. He’s got years of experience, and from what I’ve heard around the league, he works hard. He should be a good model for the kid, but…”

Yes, but.Back when Ollie was drafted and started playing, he and Remy were rivals. Ollie took it very seriously. He’d felt it, the times Remy beat him on the big stage, in large part because of his dad rubbing it in. Over and over. All the wins and accolades Ollie got later weren’t enough to wipe out the sting of those losses. Why his father had to continue to compare his and his son’s sporting successes I didn’t understand, but he harped on it all the time. I’d suggested Ollie ask him to stop, but apparently that would prove to his dad that he couldn’t take it.Stupid testosterone.

“Did you tell them he wasn’t a good fit with you?”

He drew back. “I’m a professional. I can handle players even if I’m not friends with them. I’m not going to whine and say I don’t like the guy and won’t work with him.”

I could hear those words in his dad’s voice. “But shouldn’t they ask for your input?”

“When Pahlsson retired with almost no notice, they panicked. Dad had taken me on that deep-sea fishing trip, so I was out of touch for a couple of days.” He shrugged. “They went ahead and made the decision they thought would help the team.I’m the new guy. I told them I’d prefer to be involved in any goalie decisions, but I have to prove myself before I have enough clout that they’ll wait for me.”

I thought he was entitled to push back on that. But I wasn’t part of the hockey world, and Ollie was chewing on his thumbnail which meant he was stressed. Time for distraction. “How do you think the rest of the team is going to do this year?”

Ollie was hopeful. He saw a lot of promise in the players they had. A young forward who’d been tearing things up at the college level had finally arrived and the team hoped he would be playing this season. A guy named Miller was new, as was someone called Hanny. Returning players were doing well. I let the words flow around me.

I scraped the last of the brisket from the container. I felt better for having had some food. It was thoughtful of Ollie to have brought something by. We weren’t good as a married couple, but we were good as friends.

He helped me gather the garbage and tossed it in the trash. “We’ve got a coaches’ meeting soon. I should get going.”

I slid my hands into my rear pockets. “Thanks for stopping by with lunch.”

“Happy to. I needed to clear my head, and I knew you’d be here.”

He hugged me, warmly but without a hint of passion, and had just turned to leave when we heard a vehicle coming up the drive.

Ollie cocked his head. “Customer?”

I normally didn’t let customers come to the shop because of Cash’s privacy and security needs. Only a few people knew the gate code. The staff, none of whom were working today, me and Dad, Ollie, Cash. And now, Remy.

Damn.I’d hoped this moment could be postponed. For as long as possible. That maybe in a week or two when things weresettled down I could let Ollie know how it happened and he wouldn’t freak.

I braced myself. “Actually, it’s probably our new tenant.”

Ollie frowned. “New tenant?”

He didn’t know.Damn it.

Maybe if Remy went straight up to the apartment, and Ollie didn’t recognize his vehicle, I could still put this off. Just delay Ollie for a bit and let Cash tell him. Reading between the lines, Ollie was pissed that the team had signed Remy without asking him. Finding him here? Was going to piss him off further.

“Yes.” I prepared to distract him by overexplaining. “Dad called a couple of days ago, asking why Cash wasn’t answering his phone. You know what Cash is like when he’s in the studio. Anyways, Dad had promised to help a friend. They needed a place for someone to stay, someone with a dog, so options were limited.”

“Who—” At least Ollie was looking at me. I heard the truck door open.

Just a little longer.

“Cash came up for air long enough to tell me he’d agreed to rent the place out. Neither of them considered that this would mess up my work schedule.” They didn’t take my work seriously. Ollie hadn’t been quite as bad, but he didn’t have any interest in my problem either.

He started toward the doorway.No, no, no!

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