I knock on Adam’s apartment door, annoyed, like I always seem to be when he is involved. He was supposed to meet me at my office at 9 a.m. to go over the terms of his first fight deal, but he never showed. Which meant I had to cross town on a Saturday morning and share the L train with a bunch of hungover partiers, walk-of-shamers, and cranky weekend workers as I made my way to his place. Now no one is answering his door, but I can hear him and Hazel yelling at each other inside.

I knock again, a lot harder this time, and finally Adam’s distinctive heavy stomp is making its way toward me. The door flies open, and he looks exasperated.

“What? Why are you…” then he looks inside at the clock on the wall. “Oh, goddammit.”

“LANGUAGE,” Hazel shouts from her room.

I step inside, ducking underneath his arm. “What is going on in here? I could hear you two from the hall.”

Adam grumbles and runs his hands through his hair with frustration. “She is so much like her… She has a kitten now. I was supposed to meet you and spend the rest of the day at the gym. Bree, my friend who watches her, is allergic and can’t have a cat in the house. Hazel won’t leave the kitten. Which is what the screaming was about, and I have no idea what to do.”

I can’t help but laugh. “That’s it? That’s what all the yelling was about? Jeez. Does the kitten have a carrier?”

Hazel pokes her head around the door frame of her bedroom. “Yes!” she shouts.

“It’s no problem, then. She can spend the day with me. We’ll all go to my office, then you go to the gym, we’ll get some supplies for…”

“Ringo!” Hazel yells.

“Ringo… and you can just pick them both up at my place when you’re done.”

Adam clears his throat and tugs on his shirt collar. “She was going to stay the night with Bree and Jake. Which is… part of the problem.”

What the hell am I doing… I’m an agent, not a babysitter. Why am I…

“Then why don’t I just stay here?”

Hazel comes running out of her room, a three-legged, bandaged-up tabby kitten in her arms and I have to hide my surprise. I turn to Adam.

“Your timing is impeccable, sir,” I say, shaking my head.

“Tell me about it.”

Hazel stands next to me, her eyes sparkling from a smile that looks just like her father’s. “Can she, Dad? Please let Kylie stay here! I promise I’ll be so good.”

Adam sighs and leans back against the kitchen bar. “Fine, but this isn’t a party. Same rules apply for Kylie that would have for Aunt Bree and Uncle Jake.”

Hazel dances around the living room, the little kitten bouncing gently and meowing in her arms. I raise a hand to draw Adam’s attention back to me.

“Just to clarify, I do need you to come to the office with me to take care of the paperwork. I didn’t bring anything here. Hazel and Ringo are welcome to come with us, of course.”

Adam looks resigned. “Fine. But then right back here. I need to get to the gym before Lou loses his mind, and he’s already close.”

And just like that, the three of us are on the train headed for my office. When I left earlier the place was mostly empty, which is unusual for a Saturday. But it’s also baseball playoffs season, so half the agents are off with their clients. I figured I’d be able to get Adam and Hazel in and out of the building in relatively short order, but the second we step off the elevator onto the NDB floor, I hear Lisa’s voice echoing from her office.

“Shit,” I mutter under my breath. Hazel raises an eyebrow at me and I know she wants to admonish me for my language, but also doesn’t want to press her luck. I turn to Adam, trying to maintain a smile.

“Adam, can you hustle to that office right over there? Double-time preferably?”

He gives me a confused look, but nods and takes Hazel’s hand and hurries her in the direction of my office. I’m able to shut the door behind them right as Lisa comes out of her office.

“Kylie! What a pleasure to see you on a Saturday! Especially considering you don’t have any Major League clients!”

I force a smile and nod happily. I don’t know why I am so unnerved about Lisa officially meeting Adam, but I know I want to keep them apart for as long as possible.

“Do you always work on weekends, Lisa?” I ask, as I try to usher her back toward her office. But she seems to anticipate that I have ulterior motives, and she eyes me suspiciously.

“I’m always in this office. Seven days a week. Sometimes eighteen hours a day… Do you hear meowing?” Lisa asks as she looks over my shoulder.

I laugh awkwardly. “Meowing? I think you might actually need a break, Lisa. Maybe go get some breakfast? Coffee? I hear there is a really cute place in Irving Park…”

Lisa scrunches her face up like I’m insane. “Irving Park? That’s like forty-five minutes away if I take the train. What’s going on with you, Kylie? You’re acting strange.”

“I just have a million things to do. I don’t want to distract you with my running around, you know?” In the distance, I hear Hazel’s distinct giggle, and I laugh loudly to cover it up. Lisa waves a dismissive hand at me.

“I think maybe you’re the one who needs a break, but fine. I need to get over to Wrigley anyway. A few players are freaking out about getting traded and I need to inform them that they are definitely getting traded, which won’t go over well. Might as well drop all the bad news at the same time. Don’t work too hard, Kylie. I mean, work hard. But not too hard.”

Lisa shakes her head at me as she walks out, and I keep an eye on her until she’s in the elevator and definitely no longer in the office, then I breathe a sigh of relief. I hustle back to my office, where I find Adam lying on his back on the floor with Hazel sitting on top of him, and Ringo crawling all over his legs like he’s a jungle gym. I can’t help but chuckle.

“All clear, kids,” I say with a smile. Adam looks up at me, his cheeks pink from a head rush.

“What was that all about?”

“Long story,” I say, waving him off. “Let’s get those papers signed and get the he… heck out of here, huh?”

* * *

“You’re not from Chicago, are you?” Hazel asks as we walk down North State Street toward Block 37. Adam was pretty explicit about the fact that we should go straight back to his apartment, but I don’t see any danger in stopping by Magnolia Bakery for some cupcakes on our way home. I’m holding Hazel’s hand as we cross the street, and trying to be conscious of the fact that Ringo’s carrier is now strapped to my back, so every step jostles him a little bit.

“Is it that obvious?”

Hazel shrugs. “Kind of. You dress like you lived somewhere sunny.”

I burst out laughing, and a man walking by us stops to scowl at me. “I grew up in Florida and moved here from Los Angeles.”

“California? Why would you move here from California? It’s so cold here.”

I stop to adjust the cat carrier before we walk into the bakery, hoping no one notices Ringo, since I’m pretty sure bringing cats into restaurants is frowned upon. “Because I got a cool job, and now I get to help your dad with his job too.”

Hazel looks down at her feet as we approach the counter. “I don’t really like my dad’s job.”

“Why is that?” I ask, the girl behind the counter now watching both of us intently, having overheard the start of the conversation.

Hazel kicks the ground sadly. “Because. He gets hurt a lot and… he’s all I have. What if something happens to him? Then I’ll be all alone.”

A sob gets lodged deep in my throat, and I have to swallow hard to stop it from exploding out of me. I turn to the girl at the register, and her eyes are filled with tears.

“I’ll take the biggest cupcake you have. Literally, the biggest one.”

The girl nods. “You can have two. The second one is on me.”