My rating: 3 of 5 stars
3 ⭐⭐⭐ - OK decent reads.
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The first time I met professional hockey player Axl Hammerquist, the maître d’ busted him banging our waitress in the coat check room.
He finally asked me a question: could I order him a huge steak dinner and find out if the waitress was single?
Axl. Who apparently had a reputation as a ladies’ man, a bad-boy brawler and a party animal.
“Is Jaxson’s baby mama and Mimi’s mother?” I snapped at Lennox. Then to Lucy I said, “I am not surprised you pulled something like this—”
“The Lunds are big on the importance of family. The reason Lucille applied here is the day-care program that Edie enrolled Mimi in over the summer. Mimi loved it—as you know. So I ask you. When was the last time you even had a conversation with Lucille?”
“You must really enjoy working. Because I know Jaxson pays child support.”
“Yes, Jaxson pays child support, which I’m sure he complains about at every opportunity to his family, because he complains about it to me and my attorney. And yes, every year after our breakup, I had to take him to court to force him to support his own child.”
“I didn’t ask Jaxson to support me. Just Mimi. Not in any lavish fashion either. I wanted him to pay for her health insurance, her food, her clothing and our housing. Since I wasn’t working, he didn’t have to ‘shell out’ for day care. He fought me over every dime. We spent more money on lawyers that second year than he did on all the support payments. It was such a waste, but he had it in his head that I was somehow trying to screw him over. Yeah. I was living it up on the five thousand dollars a month that he grudgingly paid me.”
She closed her eyes. “It was an ugly situation. Jaxson never wanted to see Mimi during the hockey season. But as soon as it ended, he expected unrestricted rights to her. She was only a baby—she didn’t know him because he wasn’t around and I was just supposed to hand her over to him? Especially when I knew the first month of his off-season consisted of a twenty-four-hour buffet of sex and booze?” “Is that why you left him?”
“The truth? He left me two weeks after Mimi was born. He just dragged out the actual breakup for another eight months.”
I basically walked in on an orgy. A drunken orgy. I came home. Then he showed up in Minneapolis late the next day like everything was great. He didn’t even remember I’d come to Chicago or that we’d had a huge fight the day before. I told him we were done.”
“I hate that he’s made me out to be some kind of evil hag with an agenda. I know he calls me Lucifer—a name that I had to hear from my daughter.”
“Yes, I’ve denied him contact with Mimi and the court system agreed with me after I walked in to find him banging some chick while his daughter had screamed herself hoarse in the next room.”
“I knew Jaxson’s reputation when we were together. Hockey players are the worst when it comes to screwing around. I never expected fidelity, nor did I believe his promises that he’d be faithful. But when he broke promises about the care he’d give his child when I entrusted her life with him? That’s where I drew the line. If I had to support Mimi one hundred percent by myself to guarantee she’d be safe and happy?
Hockey players are the worst when it comes to screwing around. And I’d agreed to fake a relationship with that kind of man?
Jaxson’s claims that Lucy was a horrible mother and an awful person.
“As far as Jaxson goes? What his ex told you is probably true. His nickname is ‘Action Jaxson’ because his number of hookups is legendary. That said, I’ve also heard he’s toned it down.”
“Since Lucy applied for a job here, Lennox probably filled you in, but I doubt Lucy told her all the ugly truths that she told me.” I paused. “Brady. Be honest. Did you know any of this?”
“Lucy got a raw deal. No one from that branch of the family will admit it, least of all Jaxson, even now when he’s started to pull his head out of his ass and stepped up to his responsibilities.
No way can he take credit for it, because Lucy is raising her. He’s a damn drive-by parent.”
My grandma Minnie left me her pearls, but my stepmother has kept them locked up since I was a kid. The night I met Walker, I learned that my half sister was engaged and my stepmother promised she could have Grandma’s pearls on her wedding day. I demanded them back and she said no.
“He got them back for me. My grandma would’ve been tickled that Walker battled my stepmother for them, because she loved a good story and a happy ending.”
However, I had been shocked by Axl’s reminder we weren’t dating. I’d geared myself up to give him the same speech after having time to think this weekend.
“At the start of the season with Chicago’s farm team, I met a bunny from Stockholm at a party. We started hooking up, but beyond that I really liked her. I was ready to commit to being in a relationship with her. But she . . .” Fuck. I hated to admit this. “She didn’t want anyone to know we were together. She was happy sneaking around. She said it made it more exciting. The fact that she demanded that we fuck in public places, where we could get caught, should’ve been a tip-off.
“This went on for a couple of months. I hated sneaking around. I thought she was embarrassed because I played in the AHL, not the NHL, but I was totally off base with that.”
“She didn’t know I spoke English. So I was surprised when I overheard her talking about her husband. Then I found out she wasn’t a puck bunny but a coach’s wife.
“You hired Lucifer.” “I will tell you exactly once never to use that name when referring to Lucy again, Nolan. It’s disrespectful. Don’t make me bring this up at the board meeting.” He held up his hands. “So noted.”
“I knew what Jaxson was doing. I knew about the women and the partying. I just didn’t know what to do about it.”
The first time I caught him cheating on Lucy, she was six months pregnant. He gave me some sob story about her cutting him off from sex and him having needs . . .” Nolan briefly closed his eyes. “And I bought it.”
“You really think we’d let Mimi live in squalor? We could give her a better environment.”
Now I was getting a clearer picture. My aunt, uncle and cousin tried to get custody of Mimi—no wonder Lucy fought so hard. I would’ve too. But it wasn’t an indictment of her as a parent; it was their guilt for their son’s failings. “Nolan, why wasn’t anyone in the Lund family aware you guys were going through this?”
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