Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 52100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52100 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
“So, if you don’t mind my asking, is your ex-wife nearby?” Grady asked.
I knew when I chose to move back to my small hometown that my life would be subject to greater scrutiny than it had in Minneapolis. Everyone knew everyone here, and they also thought they should know everything. I considered Grady and Keller friends, so I didn’t mind them asking. The rumor mill would churn no matter what.
“She’s in California,” I said. “She met someone else about a year ago and decided to tell me about it after he got her pregnant.”
“No shit?” Keller’s eyes widened.
“No shit. She filed for divorce and took me to court, trying to get full custody so she could move the kids to California, where her baby daddy lives, but the judge wouldn’t give her permission to move, so she gave me full custody and went by herself.”
My friends just stared at me for a few seconds.
“Jesus,” Grady finally said. “I’m so sorry, man.”
I shrugged. “It hit me hard when it went down, but I’m in a better place with it now. So are the kids. I retired so we could all get a fresh start.”
“Do you still have to pay her alimony?” Keller asked.
I chuckled, though I wasn’t amused. “Hell yeah, I do. And she got half of everything. But I’ve been smart with money, so I just paid her and moved on. Honestly, it just felt great to be rid of her.”
“Had to be hard on the kids, though,” Grady said.
That was an understatement. Marley had cried herself to sleep in my arms for nearly two weeks after her mom left. Spencer was quieter about his feelings, but I’d taken both of them to counseling for six months after Andrea split, and Spencer’s counselor had told me he had a lot of big feelings to work through.
“Yeah, it was. But if I’m being honest, Andrea carried most of the parenting load when we were married. It took two weeks of solo parenting for me to see that I had to retire.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over that,” Keller said. “You were a pro athlete and that takes total dedication. Her only responsibility was the kids.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess what I mean is that I’d never have known my kids as well as I do now if the divorce hadn’t happened.”
Grady grinned. “Look at you, all wise and shit. Now we just need to find a nice Beard girl for you.”
“No way. After what Andrea did to our kids, I don’t want them worrying I’m going to shack up with someone and leave them, too. My kids and the new arena are my entire focus.”
“Speaking of the arena,” Keller said, “I had my CFO run some numbers based on the sign-ups we have so far, and it looks like we’re actually going to make money off of this thing.”
Keller and I were fifty-fifty partners in the new youth hockey complex. It was a multimillion-dollar project, and we’d both invested because we were passionate about it, not because we expected to make money on it. I was surprised to hear him say there was even a possibility.
“That’s unexpected,” I said.
“It’ll take a while, of course. But we already have hundreds of players signed up and the place isn’t going to be done for another six months.”
I nearly choked on my beer.
“Hundreds?”
Keller nodded. “People who have already paid in full for a year just to hold their kids’ spots.”
“Our current facility is way over capacity,” Grady said. “We have people signing up their newborn babies to start peewee hockey when they turn four. We’re the only town in a two-hour radius that has a decent program.”
Grady and I would be coaching at the new facility, and I couldn’t wait to get started. I’d have plenty of time to finish my house and settle in before the arena was done. But I was far from ready to stop working altogether. Since I couldn’t fulfill the demanding travel schedule of being a player, I’d be doing the next best thing with coaching.
“Your fiancée doesn’t mind you being gone a couple evenings a week?” I asked Grady.
“Not at all. She has to cover city council and school board meetings some evenings, so I’m planning to coach on those nights. And she likes watching the games.”
When Grady and I had played football together, he’d been pretty intense. He took his sports very seriously. I was sure he was the same way as a coach.
“Now that you’re here, I need you to take over as project manager on the complex,” Keller said. “I’ve had one of my employees doing it, but she’s eager to get back home to New York.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“You’ll also need to join the business bureau as soon as possible,” Grady said, his expression serious. “Join at the gold level, I don’t want to hear any bitching about how much it costs.”