Twenty-Two

Jeremy

Hey. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I don’t exactly have a job to go to anymore, so I thought I’d come in and get that application you mentioned.”

“Right.” I cough as I wheel up to meet her at the front desk.

I want to smack myself in the back of the head. What a stupid thing to say. Her brother is also here, so why is it so weird that she is?

No one is at the front desk, which is precisely our current problem. I wheel around the back of the counter and open the filing cabinet to find the application. I wheel back around and see Max standing next to Tristyn.

“Hey, dude. What’s going on?”

“Didn’t realize when we hired a new coach that we also promoted you to front desk secretary.” He chuckles, dropping his bag at his feet.

“Sorry, man. The kids are working on their puck skills with Tucker, and I saw Tristyn up here and thought I’d get her a resume.”

“You want to work here?”

“If you guys will have me.”

“Her brother, Henry, is one of the kids down there right now. I thought it might be the perfect fit for their family.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” He snatches the application out of my hands and places it in Tristyn’s. “Just fill this out,” he points at a few spots on the application, “and then this part right here. Let me or Jeremy know when you’re done, and I’ll look over it.”

“That’s it?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Jeremy may or may not have reached out about a friend looking for a job.”

Tristyn’s gaze shifts to me, and I can read all I need to in her eyes. Friend?

Tristyn looks over the application and then pauses, “What’s this?”

“That’s your salary. We don’t do hourly here, which I know a lot of people aren’t fans of, but at least this way, you know going into it that your biweekly paychecks will be consistent. Our hours are also consistent, so you don’t need to worry about last-minute changes to your schedule. I’m a dad, so trust me, I know how those changes can cause a disruption in your day-to-day.”

“Holy shit.” She stares at the paper and then looks up at us. “Oh, fuck, did I say that out loud?”

“Maybe.” I chuckle.

“I know it’s not a whole lot, honestly, if we could offer more, we could, but—”

“No, this is, this is more than I could’ve asked for. This will make a huge difference in my life. Thank you, both, I mean, if I’m to get the job, anyway.”

“Your chances are pretty high,” Jeremy whispers.

“You’ll learn more about the health care and benefits once you get your official employment package.”

“Thank you for telling me about this place. This is a dream come true. Especially, with classes being free for Henry since my family gets class discounts. This is—” She leans forward and hugs me. “Sorry, was that weird? I just, I really appreciate it.”

“Um, we—”

“Can’t wait for you to start.” I cut off Max. There’s a room down the hall that you could fill this out in peace.”

She smiles at me before heading down the hall. Max leans up against the counter and crosses his arms.

“We don’t give free classes to family members of employees.”

“Hmm, interesting.”

“Jeremy.”

“Look, I knew she wouldn’t accept it if I offered to help, but it seems like her family is in a tough spot financially, and a lot of it falls on her,” I argue. “Henry is talented. Hell, he’s more talented than I was at that age. I don’t think he should have to stop playing hockey because his family can’t afford it.”

“What’s your game plan then?”

“I already talked to Jillian about taking the remaining class funds, after his scholarship, out of my paycheck. I’m fortunate to be where I am right now and have the kind of support from my family that I have, so it’s the least I could do.”

“You’re a good kid, Jeremy.” He pats me on the back. “Now get back to work.”