Page 30 of Puck the Halls
“I can’t leave you alone for even five minutes.”
“Dude, you were the one that fell asleep in the back of an unmarked van.”
He nods.”Danielle and Michael can never leave us alone again.”
I chuckle and steer him toward the camper. “Best road trip ever.”
Ten minutes later, Rhonda not only has Nathan in a pretty boring sweatshirt that’s just two reindeer humping that says REINDEER GAMES, but she’s given him two cookies—which he ate with a happy moan after the first bite—and he’s actually smiling as she dumps ibuprofen into his hand, gives him a bottle of water, and points him to the bedroom in back, insisting he nap until we get to Des Moines.
He’s asleep in minutes.
I love giving Nathan shit. I think I might only love fucking Dani, hanging out with our kids, and playing hockey more than I love giving Nathan shit.
But he’s a great guy who I’m very happy to have as a part of my family. He’s mellowed a little in the time he’s been with me, Dani, and Michael. He’d have to or he’d never survive the daily headaches. But we’ve all come together to form a really amazingunit that needs each of us to function. And when one of us is having a bad day, the rest of us step up.
I sit up front chatting with Rhonda and Dave. We spent most of the drive talking about their grandkids. Which is fine by me. I’ve talked hockey with Agatha and the girls and most of Daisy’s Diner. Rhonda and Dave aren’t big hockey fans, and that’s fine. They remind me of Michael’s parents. They’re warm and friendly, genuine, so proud of their family they glow with it.
We’re about thirty minutes from Des Moines when I get a call from Nathan’s personal secretary, Val. That’s happened maybe once before. We all have the numbers for all the important people in each other’s lives, and vice versa. But there’s almost never a reason for Val to callme. Nathan works twenty-four-seven, for one thing. For another, it’s way more likely Val would call Dani or Michael if she needed somethingforNathan.
But I love Val. She’s more like family than an employee and she’s been around our family lots of times.
“Hey, Val,” I answer. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Hey, honey. Is Nathan okay?” she asks. “He’s not answering his phone.”
“Oh, yeah. He’s got a headache and is sleeping. I made him leave his phone out here.” I pat my pocket, then pull Nathan’s phone out. There are six missed calls from Val and a few texts.
“If you all are going to start texting and calling me at four fucking a.m., then you’d better be answering when I call you back,” she says, without even a bit of bite to her tone.
“He started at four?” I ask. “Damn, sorry. You know I wouldn’t have let him do that.”
“He sounded panicked about this chartered flight situation.”
“He was,” I confirm. “But even Nathan knows he can’t book a chartered flight at four a.m.”
“Does he?” Val asks. “Really?”
I chuckle. “You’re right, he doesn’t. I guess that’s why he needs us. To keep him tethered to reality.”
“Well, you’ve got to give him a little more reality,” she says. “There are no chartered flights available out of Des Moines. I got you one out of Omaha though. Do you want me to book you a car from Des Moines to Omaha?”
“Wait.” I sit up a little straighter. “There arenochartered flights out of Des Moines? How can they not do chartered flights?”
Okay, so I’m so laid-back off the ice that sometimes Michael jokingly checks my pulse to be sure I’m alive. But, I’m a rich, professional athlete, who is in a relationship with a spoiled billionaire. I’m not used to hearing “no” or “you can’t,” I’ll admit.
“They do chartered flights,” Val says. “They just don’t have any available this morning.”
“But…did you offer them more money?”
Val snorts. “I’m not new here, Crew. But they have bookings and aren’t willing to bump anyone.”
I sit back in my seat. “But…”
“You’ll be okay,” she says. “Omaha is another couple of hours. “I’ll get you a car.”
I glance toward the back of the RV. Dammit. Not only is it going to be another two hours until I can see Dani, but I have to be the one to tell Nathan that it’s going to be another two hours untilhecan see Dani.
I need a diversion. Something to take his mind off of how far away from Aspen we are. Something to distract him from the fact that Dani is there with Michael alone and our good doctor is a really nice guy—easily the nicest of the three of us—but he will absolutelynotthink twice of taking advantage of having our wife all to himself.
