Nanny for the Athletes Novel – “Maybe we shouldn’t be together,” I said, my certainty growing with every word. “You aren’t supportive of me. You’re throwing a temper tantrum about a freaking hockey game.” “The tickets were expensive.” “I told you I didn’t care where we sat,” I said through gritted teeth. “I wouldn’t have taken you at all if I’d known you would spend the whole game ignoring me.” I let out an annoyed groan. “I chatted with them for maybe five minutes total. And most of that was in between periods! I don’t want to be with someone who treats me like a child, and doesn’t support me, and shows up in the middle of the day to give ultimatums. So yeah, maybe we aren’t right for each other.” “If I walk away, we’re done,” he said, doubling-down on his ultimatum. “You can’t come crawling back to me when you need help.” I stood my ground and said nothing. “Suit yourself,” he said, and then got in his truck and drove away. After this break up, I didn’t expect there were three chiseled professional athletes waiting for me.
Beth Sitting in the front row of a hockey game was one heck of an experience. The thunderous clash of sticks, the crisp slice of skates on ice, and the deafening roar of the crowd enveloped me as I followed the dark puck across the playing surface. And when one opposing player checked a member of the St. Louis Blues into the glass two feet next to me, I could practically feel my own bones rattle from the hit. “Oh yeah!” my boyfriend Trip exclaimed next to me. “These seats are amazing, aren’t they, Beth?” “They are,” I agreed. It was the third time he had brought up how nice the seats were. I wasn’t a hockey fan, but I had to admit it was a fun sport to watch live. There was lots of action, especially when the players threw down their gloves and got into an impromptu boxing match on the ice. It was only the first period, and we had already seen two such fights. The woman to my right leaned over and asked, “First time sitting so close to the action?” “Was it that obvious?” “You’ve been wide-eyed all period!” she replied. “I thought you were going to scream when Logan got checked into the glass.”
“It’s my first time going to a hockey game at all, actually.” The woman on the other side of her leaned over to look at me. “Seriously? You’re a hockey virgin?” “Sitting on the ice is an inferno of a way to experience your first game!” the first woman said. Trip cleared his throat. “The tickets were expensive, but totally worth it.” “We’re lucky enough to know one of the players. So our tickets were free.” She pointed to one of the Blues players, a grizzled looking man who was casually skating across the ice. “That left wing is my brother, Logan.” “Your brother is Logan Landry? The Toronto Terror?” Trip asked. “Woah.” Right about that time, Logan raised his stick in both hands and used it to hit an opposing player in the chest. He fell to the ground, and Logan loomed over him like he wanted to start a fight. One of the other players came flying into view, shoving Logan and then tossing off his gloves. Logan threw his equipment down and raised his fists to fight, which drew an excited roar from the crowd.
“He learned that right hook from me,” the first woman said proudly. “It must be so cool being the sister of a professional hockey player,” Trip said. “Mostly, he’s a pain in my hip,” she said with a laugh. “But yeah, it has its perks. I’m Emily, and this is Leslie. What do you two do?” “We’re business analysts for Anheuser-Busch,” Trip replied. “I bet that has nice perks,” the second woman, Leslie, said. “Plenty of free beer,” Trip said with a grin. I cleared my throat. “I used to be a business analyst for them. I actually just quit my job to start my own business.” Even though I was looking at Emily, I could feel Trip rolling his eyes behind me. “Exciting!” said Leslie. “What kind of business?” “My grandmother left me her house in her will. It’s on a sizable piece of land, several acres actually, so I turned it into a dog boarding service.
There’s a big fenced-in field where the dogs get to run and play all day.” “It’s a big risk,” Trip said casually. “I’ve always wanted to take care of animals,” I explained, giving Trip a sideways glare. “And my desk job was soul-sucking.” Emily and Leslie exchanged an excited look. “I don’t believe in fate, but that’s hard to deny,” Emily said. “We were just talking about this!” Leslie agreed. I frowned at them. “What am I missing?” “My brother is always looking for someone to watch his dogs,” Emily said. “He has four of them.” “And my brother,” Leslie added, “plays for the Colts. The NFL team. They had a dog-nanny in Indianapolis who would watch all the players’ dogs whenever they were out of town. Someone with a huge farm and lots of open land. But since the Colts moved to St. Louis a few months ago, they’ve been struggling to find a replacement.” “Oh! Let me give you my card.” I reached around in my purse and came out with the flimsy rectangle.
“Here you go.” Leslie took the card. “Lizzy’s Dog Boarding. Do you mind if I have a few cards? I can pass them around to the team.” “That’s actually the only copy I have. It’s the sample the printing company gave me. But I’ll have more soon! They’re supposed to arrive next week.” “Beth paid extra for priority shipping,” Trip muttered. “Even though business cards are pretty much useless these days.” “Clearly they’re more useful than you think.” I pointed to the card. “That’s my personal number. Tell them to reach out any time. Or swing by! I’m there most days.” “Except for when you’re sitting in the front row of a hockey game,” Emily smiled. I chuckled nervously. “Oh, don’t worry. The dogs back home are in good hands.” I turned and gave Trip a look, warning him to stay quiet. He must not have gotten the message, because he said, “Beth hasn’t had much business yet. I told her it can take months, or years, for a small business to become profitable…” I elbowed him in the ribs, which shut him up.
It was one thing to be overwhelmingly negative about my new business in private, but when we were in front of others… “I’m sure the business will do great,” Leslie said, shoving the card in her pocket. Then she screamed, “Come on, ref! That was high-sticking! Open your eyes!” “Sorry,” Emily said. “My fiancée can be a little intense. Especially when her future brother-in-law is on the ice.” Leslie squeezed Emily’s thigh. “Just being supportive.” “I know, and I love you for it.” We watched the remaining eight minutes of the first period. When it ended, and the players skated off the ice, Trip stood up and asked, “I’m getting a beer, do you want something?” “A white wine, please. Thanks!” When he was gone, I turned to Leslie and said, “It must be exciting, your brother playing for an NFL team that just moved into the city.” “We were excited to get the team, and even more excited that my brother would be playing close to home.
But most fans seem to hate the Colts for switching cities again. They got blown out earlier today, and there were a ton of boos raining down from the crowd.” She shook her head. “Lots of players on the Colts have dogs, though. Especially the bachelors that don’t have family to watch them.” “Your brother Braden treats his dog like his baby,” Emily said. “Like, he legitimately uses a baby voice with the dog.” “Logan is worse!” Leslie said with a laugh. “He adopts a new stray practically every month.” “He has a soft spot for runaways,” Emily said in a strange tone. Leslie put her arm around her fiancée. “He does.” “Well, no matter how many dogs he has, we should be able to accommodate them,” I said. “All of my equipment arrived last week. I have twenty extra large kennels, and room for sixty if I ever want to expand.
But as long as the weather is nice, they can play outside all day. They’re only kenneled at night when it’s time to sleep.” “And you don’t have any customers yet?” Emily asked. “We’ve had customers! Just none that are overnight.” It was only slightly a lie, since I’d had one customer, rather than customers plural. Before I could explain more, I got a text from Trip: Trip: Can you come get in line with me? I’m at the beer stand outside our section. Me: Do I need to? I’m doing some good networking for my business. Trip: The line is really long, so I want to go ahead and buy two beers for myself now. And there’s a limit of two beers per customer. Me: Don’t worry about my drink then. Buy two for yourself. I’ll get more beers for us next period 🙂 “Do you two have dogs?” I asked. “We actually met at a dog park,” Leslie explained.
“Her Husky was humping my Belgian Malinois.” “Best wingman I’ve ever had,” Emily said. “Huskies are great… as long as they get enough exercise,” I said. “Tell me about it,” Emily said. “Yukon—that’s his name—becomes a drama queen if I don’t take him for his morning run at precisely six in the morning. Starts howling and tugging on my sweatpants.” “Yukon takes after his owner,” Leslie chimed in. “Emily gets cranky when she doesn’t exercise, too.” “I do not!” “Shh, have a treat,” Leslie said, shoving a beer at Emily’s face. The two of them giggled together, and I joined. “What’s so funny?” Trip asked, sitting down with a beer and a white wine. “Nothing. I thought you were getting two beers?” “I didn’t want to not get you something.” Then, under his breath, he added, “I’d never hear the end of it.” I shot him a confused look.
Why is he acting like a toddler tonight? The second period began, and we settled in to watch the game. Halfway through the period, when Trip was done with his beer, I said, “Here, I’ll go get you another one so you don’t miss any of the game.” “No, you can stay,” he said. “I don’t want you to miss any of the game, either.” “Are you sure?” “These are great seats, Beth,” he said with a tinge of condescension. “Just wait until the period is over.” A few minutes later, when there was a timeout, I turned to Emily and said, “If you don’t mind me asking, how much did the dog-nanny in Indianapolis charge?” She turned to Leslie, who answered for her. “The normal fee was something like fifty dollars per day. But these NFL players spoil their dogs. Most of them spring for all the extras: nail clipping, baths, extra play time, special rawhide treats.” I turned to Trip.
“I told you the extras are where the money is!” “You can definitely overcharge on some of those,” Emily said. “These players make so much money. They’re happy to spend some of it on their dogs. Especially the single guys.” “Can we talk about your business later?” Trip snapped. “I’m trying to watch the game.” I gestured at the ice. “It’s a timeout. They’re just standing around.” “Actually, it’s about time we got home to our dogs,” Emily said. “It was nice meeting you!” Leslie added. “I’ll definitely pass your card along to my brother and his teammates. They’ll be thrilled to find a proper dog-nanny.” After they left, I let out an excited little shiver. “This is going to be huge for my business. Thank you for buying these seats, sweetie.” He crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t look at me. “They were just being nice to you. They aren’t really going to give your card to NFL players.” “They seemed genuine.” Trip snorted. “Sure.” “What’s the matter with you?” I demanded. “You’ve been in a pissy mood all night.”