“I’ve spoken to her,” Ty says casually. “She definitely has an edge to her.”
“Then she’ll be staying for sure.”
Ty shakes his head as he heads out of the locker room. “Not if I can help it.”
Chapter 3
“Do you ever see Cathy?” Eileen asks jokingly, sipping her water and enjoying dinner with her brother at the golf course he manages.
“She doesn’t complain,” Nick says. “She knows it’s temporary. My assistant quit and I haven’t been able to replace her.”
“And the kids? I haven’t seen them recently,” she says, feeling guilty about not stopping by for her weekly visit.
“You’re busy,” he says, scooping a bite of rice into his mouth. “Max seems to be growing every day. He sure reminds me of Dad.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“The way he talks himself out of punishment. He tries making deals with me,” he says, shaking his head with a small sideways grin. “I’ll wash your car, Dad. Or, I’ll cut the grass. Even though he doesn’t do those things, being five years old, he sure knows how to throw out the charm.”
Eileen laughs. “Always thinking like Dad did.”
He nods. “I caught Max and his friend climbing the neighbor’s fence to get to the apple trees. I told him the fence was there for a reason, and Max’s explanation was he wanted to help pick up the fallen apples. He knew he wasn’t supposed to trespass, but he puts a spin on it so that he won’t get into trouble.”
“Smart kid.”
“It’s hard to get mad at him. He looks so much like Dad. Sometimes when I’m talking to him, I get flashbacks—a certain look he gives. It’s very eerie.”
“At least you get a glimpse of Dad every now and then. I miss them so much, especially now that I’m working with the Warriors. Dad would have been excited,” she says, feeling the tears prick the back of her eyes. “He loved the game.”
“Yes, he did. You know he would be proud.”
She grins, then asks, her voice quiet, “Nick, do you ever think that if Mom and Dad had left the party later that night, they would have been alive today?” They’ve had the same discussion many times over and it doesn’t matter how many what-ifs they ask, it can’t bring their parents back.
“It was black ice, Elle,” Nick says tiredly. “Had they left later, I’m sure the accident would’ve still happened. The car lost control. Flipped over into a ditch. Even if they did survive, they wouldn’t have been the same. You know that.”
“I know.” Eileen pouts. “I just think that if they drove home at a different time, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Nick picks up his ice water. “Dad had an early bedtime, always had. He got up at the crack of dawn. They wouldn’t have stayed past nine o’clock.” He takes a sip and sets down his glass in front of him.
“I don’t know where the five years have gone,” she says, playing with her fork, rolling it between her thumb and finger.
“Wait until you have kids. You’ll miss Mom and Dad even more.”
Eileen swallows a bite. “Is that even possible?”
“Every day is a reminder of what they are missing out on,” he says somberly.
“One day, maybe kids will be in my future.”
“Just don’t go hooking up with another hockey player.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Mario.”
“That was a big lesson, huh?”
Eileen falls quiet. Her brother wouldn’t understand her relationship with Mario.
She loved him. And just like any relationship when one was on the road half the year, they had their difficulties. Mario was exciting to be around and she hasn’t found that spark with anyone else.
“Now that you’re working with jocks, your choices are unlimited.”
She smirks. “I’m not falling for any of them. Not like I have an interest . . .” she says, thinking that some of the guys on the team do have the looks to sway a woman’s mind. But she has better things to do with her time than fall for a guy who she knows would eventually break her heart.
“Did you see your poster I stapled to the bulletin board at the entrance?”
“How could I miss it? You put it front and center,” she says. “Thank you. Every bit of advertising helps.”
“Cathy posted one at the rec center where Max takes his swimming lessons.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Eileen says. “I’ve had inquiries for my co-ed program starting in September. I already have two full classes! Normally that doesn’t happen until weeks before the class starts.”
“That’s good then.”
“My new website seems to be working for me. People can call me direct or email me.”
“Excuse me, Nick,” says a woman employee dressed in a black skirt, with shoulder-length hair. “A guest would like to know if he could reserve a day for a tournament at the end of this month.”
“August is completely booked up,” he says.
“That’s what I told him, but he doesn’t believe me,” she says.
Nick glances at Eileen. “I’ll have to speak to him.” He wipes his face with the cloth napkin and stands up. “I’ll be a few minutes.”
“Take your time,” Eileen says, scooping up a veggie with her fork. “I’m almost done and then I should get going.”
“Don’t worry about the bill. I’ll take care of it,” Nick says as he leaves with the hostess.
She finishes her meal and takes a sip of water.
“Eileen?”
She looks up to meet those glorious blue eyes that have her mystified.
“Caldwell!”
“Alone tonight?”
“Uh, no, no.” She shakes her head, noticing his striped polo shirt and tanned arms. “I was just leaving.” She stands up from her seat and picks up her small purse.
“How’s your shoulder?”
“My shoulder?”
“Hope you didn’t crash into the parking meter too hard.”
“Oh, yeah, no, I’m fine. Not even a scratch!” she says and laughs.
“Good thing the meter was there. You came pretty close to falling to the ground.”
But you saved me.
“I had my balance,” she says.
“Just finished a round of golf. Some friends of mine are in the dining room. Did you want to join us for a drink?”
“Thanks. I’m going to head home.”
“Are you sure? It’s just a few of the guys from the team. Come on,” he urges. “You’re one of the guys now.” He laughs. “Come have a beer!”
“I guess I could stay for a few minutes.”
She follows Ty to the dining room and spots the table with familiar faces, all of whom have a drink in their hands.
“Look who I found!” Ty announces as he pulls up a chair beside his spot. The guys say hi and a server approaches the table.
“Rum and Diet Coke, please,” Eileen orders.
“We have a hard ball!” one player says.
“I know what I like,” she says, flashing him a raised eyebrow. “Why change?”
“I’ll drink to that,” he says and swigs his frothy dark ale.
“What are you doing here by your lonesome?” Ty asks, throwing his leg over his opposite knee, half covered by his long shorts. He sits back, relaxed in his chair.
“I came by to see my brother. He runs this place.”
“Your brother?” Ty asks, leaning forward.
“Yeah, you seem shocked.”
Ty lifts a shoulder. “I guess I am.”
The server sets down her drink and takes the guys’ dinner orders.
“So, it’s been two practices. How do you think we’re doing so far?” Ty asks, bringing his lips to his glass. She tries to look away, but can’t. She has to answer his question. He pulls his glass away from his mouth, his top lip plump, and she can only imagine what it would be like to have those planted on hers. She has to stop thinking about him this way. It will only ge
t her into trouble.
“I think it will take a good month for us to gel as a team, with new players . . .” Her voice trails off. “Give it time. We just need to get our goalies comfortable with the D and vice versa.”
“Funny, that’s what Steve was saying.”
“Is that right?” she asks, her eyes wide, for she hadn’t spoken to Steve or Joe about the team’s positioning yet. “It’s a good thing we’re on the same page, then.”
“So tell us. How did you get the job?” Ty asks.
“I’m qualified,” she answers.
“I gather that, but how did you get the job? It’s not known for the league to hire a random person.”
“Wait a minute! I have a pretty solid resume to be teaching this caliber of hockey. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be questioned.”
“No, it’s not that—”
“Sure, it is!”
“You have to admit, it’s unheard of.”
“Times are changing,” she says. “I just happen to love what I do and it shows.”
The guys exchange glances. Eileen doesn’t let it bother her though. For the next couple of months or how long she will be their skating coach for, they’ll see she’s an asset to the team and forget that she is female.
“How did you find out about it?” Ty asks, shaking his elevated foot.
Eileen holds the straw to her mouth. She didn’t think about this question after the interview. Of course guys would pry.
“It wasn’t like the job was posted. You must have known about it through the organization,” he says.
“I know someone,” she says modestly, keeping a hand around her glass.
“Who?” Ty asks.
The men at the table stop their conversations among themselves and listen in.
She is tempted to lie, but then if the truth comes out, she’ll lose respect and respect is what will allow her to keep her job.
“Gary Williams,” she answers.
“Oh, you know Gary?”
She nods her head. “He’s my uncle.”
“I knew it!” Ty says, smiling and throwing a weak punch in the air. “I knew you couldn’t be just anybody.”
She shrugs. “What does it matter how I got the job? I still had to be interviewed.”
“We’re all just surprised. Some guys would kill for your job and I wonder how easy it came for you.”
“I’m sure they interviewed other candidates. I have nothing holding me back. I could start right away, something they needed.”
“I’m sure we would have been fine until Ritchie came back.”
“It was obviously a concern—otherwise they would have made do until he came back. You guys are professionals. You take your job seriously, so why would you want to jeopardize your practice time when you want to start off the season strong?”
“If I were in your position, I’d take all the advice and ice time possible to improve.”
Ty laughs. “You think I need improvement?”
“Just saying. Last season you ended with only forty-five points, down from the season before.”
The guys sit numbly.
“You can do better, Caldwell,” she says, grabbing her glass. Thankfully, she read the team’s stats the first night she got the job.
“I . . . uh . . .”
Eileen takes a drink from her straw, finishing it by the time the food arrives. She slaps down money for her drink and stands up. “I’ll see you at practice,” she says and turns on her heel.
She leaves the room and walks through the hall to the main doors. Her phone rings. Unknown number. Reluctantly, she picks up.
With a swing of her neck to wave away her long hair, she taps her phone and answers, “Eileen Francis.”
The voice is smoky and deep. “If you’re smart, you’ll decline the opportunity with the Warriors.”
“Who is this?”
“Think again about your career. You’ll regret it later.”
The line goes dead and Eileen’s stomach sinks. Who would call to threaten her? Has word gotten out that she’s the new coach?
Eileen can’t move. For a second, she feels scared, and then she feels powerful and confident. Nobody is going to stand in her way of getting this job.
I will not be defeated! If this job weren’t so important, no one would bother to make that kind of phone call. I will prove I am capable. I will prove that not only can I do the job, but I can do the job better.
Chapter 4
Eileen skates around the rink, stretching out her legs before leaving the ice. It has already been a week and a half since she became a member of the Vancouver Warriors coaching staff. She even has her own blue and white skating uniform to match the other coaches’. Although it’s a temporary position, and she’s working without a contract, she is taking the new job seriously and working tirelessly to prove herself. The team isn’t big on change, and she’s asked daily how long she is there for and when Ritchie will be coming back. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t been presented with a contract—because it’s pointless to draft one up if Ritchie is due to return back to work any day.
It will take some time for the team to get used to the idea of a female on the ice and so far, she hasn’t had any other phone threats. Eileen remembers the voice and it’s not one she recognizes. Even now she can still hear the words “you’ll regret it” ringing in her head, but can’t seem to place the voice. Who is it and how did they get her work number? Although she’s hung posters in different facilities and placed an ad in a parents’ magazine to attract new business, so it could be anyone.
The cold air tingles her nostrils. The familiar smell of the rink is distinct—cold, sweaty, and stale. Eileen takes her mind away from the thought and skates around the rink, looking around at the empty seats, imagining her father there, wearing his winter jacket and toboggan like he always did, giving her a heartfelt smile as she skated by. She tries to keep the memories of her parents alive, but with every memory she feels an ache in her heart.
Her mother and father would have been proud, especially her father, a man who loved hockey and inspired her to play. She remembers five-in-the-morning practices. Her father would make coffee to go and wake her up to leave, and they would be home by the time her mother woke. It was a bond they shared, every weekend the same routine. Even when she made it on the national women’s team, her father was at all her games, cheering her on; he was always her number-one fan. Her parents may be gone, but her father’s love and devotion to playing the game lives on. What she wouldn’t give to see her parents now.
The sound of skates cutting into the ice, smoothly and carelessly gliding closer and closer, snaps her back to reality. Eileen turns her head to meet Ty’s friendly smile—a change in attitude maybe or he has an idea for a drill. She can’t seem to figure him out and wonders what he wants from her.
“I thought practice was over?” Ty asks as he skates in pace with her, holding his hockey stick loosely to one side.
“Sometimes it feels good to just skate,” she says simply, looking down at her stick and moving it around with one hand as though not sure what to do with it.
Ty looks at her as they skate in unison. “I’ve never met a woman who enjoys the game as much as I do.”
“In this city? I find that hard to believe.” Eileen stares ahead at the rough ice patches, marked from the challenging skating lesson.
“I’m serious.”
She glances his way, only to be met by startling blue eyes. His wet, sweaty hair is sticking to his ears, and his facial hair is rough around his chin. It’s hard to miss his solid upper body. It’s also hard to stop herself from wondering how those muscular arms would feel wrapped around her, but that’s not going to happen. He is too much of a playboy for her even to consider the chances.
Besides, most of the guys on the team aren’t interested in a relationship. She knows that from experience, and never again will she get involved with a professional athlete. They are too unstable in the relationship dep
artment and unpredictable when it came to commitment.
“Are you trying to stay in my good books?” she asks.
“Hoping.”
“I guess that’s more than what your teammates are thinking and probably saying.”
“They’re not saying much.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing either.”
He cocks his head to one side. “Why not?”
“I don’t think you and your team are happy that I’m sharing the ice,” she says, wishing she didn’t bring it up since she isn’t in the mood to play defense. It will take time for the guys to see that being a woman shouldn’t have anything to do with her hockey skills.
“Face it, you’re a woman in a man’s league. It isn’t right.”
She shoots him a dirty look. She knows they are all thinking it, but hasn’t heard it until now. “Oh, really? That’s pretty sexist, isn’t it?”
He shrugs. “It is what it is. Hey, most of the guys feel that way. You can’t be surprised. Can you blame us?”
“So is that the team consensus? They really don’t want me here?”
“Well, you know how it is. Not all the guys like taking instruction from a woman,” he says, looking at her with an honest gaze.
“So, you think I should quit?” She gives him a slight pout, not that she cares what Ty Caldwell thinks or what the other guys think for that matter. It would be interesting to hear what is said in the locker room when she’s not around though.
He exhales a slow puff. “If that’s what you want to do, but yeah, some of the guys are hoping Ritchie will be back in a few weeks.”
Eileen gives him a sharp look. “Just to be clear, I’m not going to let you or the others dictate my career. I’ll be here for as long as I need to be. If the guys don’t like it, that’s too bad. I’m here to do a job and I plan on finishing what I started.”
“Okay, okay, I just thought you’d like to know.” He throws out his hand to stop her.
Her eyes narrow. Why is she drawn to another overconfident male?
“Why are you telling me this?” she asks.
He stops to face her, shrugs, and says, “I thought you might be curious how you are perceived by the guys. Women are always concerned about people liking them, aren’t they?”
His Game, Her Rules Page 3