Chapter 8
LANEY
Afew hours later, I’m on the plane with the hockey team for a two-game road trip. We’ll be playing against a team in Florida for the second round of the playoffs, which means four days away from Utah.
I still haven’t moved everything out of the “dead” apartment, but I’ll have time later. I sent a message to Chandie and paid for this month, so I should be good there.
“Are you ready for this?” Daphne asks. She’s the feature producer for the SMG group, which means she does all the research on player stories and background, community vignettes, and a lot of other heartwarming bits and pieces.
The feature with the goalie at the practice rink two days ago was something she directed.
The woman is incredibly organized and has a four-month-old baby as well as her nanny with us on the plane.
“I think so. It’ll be nice to be in the warmer weather,” I say, thinking of the Florida forecast I looked up earlier when packing.
“Yeah, that will be perfect. How are you settling into life in Utah?” she asks.
I nod. “I grew up there, so I’m used to it. But it’s nice to be back. And I love the team so far.”
“They’re all really great,” Daphne says, rocking her baby back to sleep. “Where did you grow up?”
“On a farm out west of Salt Lake,” I say.
“What kind of farm?” Daphne asks.
“A little of everything to be honest. My grandparents made it a kind of homestead. We had gardens and a bunch of animals. Goats were the specialty, though. We made a lot of soap and lotion from the milk to sell. They even teach classes a few times a year to homeschoolers.”
I rarely tell people that, but I figure I have little to hide. I’m not just a sports reporter, but everything that’s shaped me into the person I am today, including growing up on a hobby farm with my grandparents as my guardians.
“I always loved goats. It would be so fun to see them. Do you have a favorite?”
I might not know much about Daphne yet, but I can see why she’s so good at her job. She’s been able to get me to open up about a lot of things in less than a few minutes.
“Pearl is new. We got her a few months ago. She’s my favorite.” I pause for a moment and say, “How long have you been in Utah?”
“Ever since the team moved here. My husband found a job locally, which makes it so much easier.”
“Have you had to move a lot because of your job?”
“Just twice. We’re hoping to stick around here for as long as possible.”
“How is it being a working mom?” Have I thought about what my life would look like in ten years? A few times, but I can never get a clear picture. I love what I do and hope to be able to do it for a long time. With the chunks of travel, though, it would be a juggle to have a family.
She grins at me. “I’ve done several interviews at home and had to work around naps and all of that. As tiring as it is, this is what I always wanted.”
I could see how having a schedule like that would be an advantage. Sitting still isn’t something I’m great at, so having things to do, and a plan, would be a good thing for me. Again, in the theoretical future.
“Are you dating someone?” Daphne asks, leaning in closer and grinning at me. That’s just like a married woman, wanting to get all the tea.
I laugh and shake my head. “No. I work all the time, read books, and I found this animal adoption website that’s kind of like Reddit, but for pets.
I get sucked into the different threads.
Maybe I love it because I grew up on a farm and I can picture a lot of the problems these people are going through.
Fun for me, but not the résumé for pulling in suitable candidates in the dating world. ”
“The best ones are the ones with quirks. They’re the most loyal.
” She pulls out her phone and shows me a photo of her and her husband.
They don’t look like a typical match in a normal book, but they look happy.
She’s the stylish one, while he’s grinning through thick glasses, their cheeks mashed together for the photo.
“Donald is a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons. He teaches me that, and I teach him sports lingo so he can understand some of what they talk about at the office.”
Chuckling, I say, “You sound like a match made in heaven.”
She winks. “I think so. What’s so great about the adoption website? I would imagine it to be sad.”
“There are some heart-wrenching posts, but there are some hilarious ones. I probably shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s good clean entertainment.”
I pull up the app, swiping through some of the new posts to find some that I can show her.
“They have funny things like, ‘Show us your pet’s best side-eye,’ and ‘Does your pet have a dramatic personality?’ Then there are the ‘what’s wrong with my pet?’ posts. I might be weird, but those are my favorites to read. The number of comments and the insanity of the responses are funny.”
Daphne takes the phone and reads for a bit, laughing as she goes down the screen. “Oh, man. These are great. Some of them are clueless about animals.”
I nod. “I’m no veterinarian, but some of these are common sense issues.”
“Send me the link. I’ll send it to Donny. It’ll be something fun to talk about in our nightly chats while we’re on the road.”
A small part of me winces, like I wish I had someone to talk with like that. There’s something sweet about the idea of having someone waiting for my call and me waiting for theirs as well. Traveling can be lonely, especially with the hours stretching out in between games and media conferences.
“Have you checked out any of the hockey players for dinner or a date?” Daphne asks, winking.
I shake my head. “They’re all great guys, but I usually stay away from dating athletes.”
She nods. “They’re hot, but trouble. That’s probably a good idea. And if they get traded, it’s a whole long-distance thing. Not worth it, in my opinion.”
My brain wanders back to Burton. There aren’t as many lacrosse teams out there, and I wonder if they get traded as much as in the other major sports.
Not that I’m interested, just curious.
We land in Florida, and I check into my room, ready for a good sleep. We’ll have dinner with the broadcast team in an hour, so I can’t get too comfortable, but then I can relax until tomorrow morning.
I turn on the television to find something relaxing and settle into the pillows. Maybe I should turn on an alarm so I can make sure that I’ll be awake for dinner.
I blink, jerking awake when I hear a banging on the door.
A glance at the clock on my phone tells me I fell asleep for sixteen minutes. That early morning workout must’ve taken it out of me.
Hurrying over to the door, I open it to see Daphne just outside.
“Give me like five minutes, and I’ll be downstairs,” I say.
“Sounds good,” she says, giving me a small smile.
My hair is a mess, so I’ll just have to pull it back into a ponytail to make it through dinner. At least I don’t dread spending time with these people.
Jerry, Fred, Nick, and Daphne are all waiting for me downstairs.
Jerry and Fred are both announcers for the team.
Nick is a new hire for social media. As nice as he is, I wish Jessa were in that spot.
But I get it. She’s in charge of the marketing team, which has several smaller teams underneath it.
She doesn’t need to travel on every trip, especially when the number of teams in the SMG organization keeps growing.
“Where are we headed for dinner?” I ask, trying to put on a big smile. I hope I don’t have any sleep lines left on my cheek.
“We thought we’d try a seafood place. What do you think?” Jerry asks.
“Sounds great. Do we need to take a rideshare?” I ask, digging in my purse for my phone.
Daphne shakes her head. “No, Fred already took care of it. They’re coming to pick us up now.”
We chat a little and then head out to the car when it arrives.
Sitting in the car, I check my emails quickly and then look at my text messages. There wasn’t an icon at the top of my screen, but I have to make sure I didn’t forget to answer someone from a few days ago.
Instead, there’s a random number there. If it’s one of those spam texts I’ve gotten a lot lately, I’ll just swipe and delete it.
There’s only a small part of it that’s showing up in the summary.
I’m going to be so stiff
I’m not sure I want to know the rest of that. I go to delete it, but my thumb fumbles and clicks on it instead.
I’m going to be so stiff tomorrow. Those sprints killed me.
I grin, realizing it’s Burton. Did he ask Clark or Jessa for my number?
The text message came through at least thirty minutes ago, while I was sleeping. I shift in the seat, trying to come up with something to say back.
It’s going to be worse in two days. Good luck with that.
I send it and watch the screen for a few moments, remembering the run several hours before. When he took off at the same time I did, it sent my adrenaline racing to a higher level, reminding me of my days in track and cross-country.
Did I let him win? Possibly. Or maybe I was tired.
“What’s got you smiling like that?” Daphne says. “Did you meet someone between our flight and now?” She gives me a wink, and I laugh. The lady either has an eye twitch or just loves to wink.
“No, I don’t think that’s even remotely a talent I have.
My neighbor texted me. He came out while I was doing a workout this morning and joined me.
Sounds like he’s already sore.” Then again, this guy does a lot of running and working out as a professional athlete.
Is he just exaggerating to have something to talk to me about?
“A neighbor who’s a guy, huh? Is he cute?”
How do I answer that and give nothing away? He’s cute, but not the type of guy I usually fall for.
Then again, Tim shouldn’t be my standard.
“He’s very handsome. He plays for the Salt Lake Lancers.”