I see my brother approaching the dock from where I’m sitting on my upstairs balcony, stewing in my thoughts and nursing a neat whiskey.

He’s in his typical attire when he doesn’t have to be in court—ratty jeans with holes in both knees, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. He’s been out of school for almost four years, but you’d think Hunter was a permanent student if you judged him on his fashion sense, or lack thereof.

“Hey!” he calls, pulling his aviators up to rest on top of his head. “Thought I’d swing by and see my favorite girl.”

“She’s not here,” I call back, and his expression gets hard fast. “She’s at her friend Jennica’s at a play date. I’m picking her up in a couple hours.”

Hunter looks instantly relieved. “Oh, okay. I thought that maybe Lauren was screwing with the custody before the hearing.”

“Nah. I haven’t heard a thing from her,” I say as I watch him step onto the boat. “She didn’t even hand Charlie off to me when I picked her up. She had that asswipe she’s dating meet me at the door, and he had a written note with instructions.”

Hunter halts on the deck below, shielding his eyes as he looks up at me, his face twisted with fury. “Are you kidding me? What did the note say?”

“It was a list of things I needed to remember,” I explain. “Bedtime, when to feed her, and what food she likes and doesn’t. It’s like I was some new nanny or deadbeat dad who hadn’t spent any time with their kid. I haven’t gone more than three days without seeing my daughter since the divorce.”

Hunter shakes his head but says nothing as he uses his key to open the main door to the houseboat. A few seconds later he’s walking through my bedroom to the deck I’m on. “The note was handwritten or typed?”

“Typed. Why?”

“She’s creating documentation, that smart bi—”

I glare at Hunter before he can finish his expletive. He knows I don’t tolerate calling Lauren names. Out loud. She still gave me Charlie, and I worry if we get used to calling her names when Charlie’s not around, we might slip and do it when she is. I don’t want her to hear her mother called a bitch…even if she is one. Hunter stops mid-word. “She’s doing this so that when she lies and says you take bad care of Charlie, she will have ‘proof.’”

He makes air quotes as he says “proof,” and my jaw drops along with my stomach. “A written list she claims you need in order to take care of your child, because you are too inept or distracted to remember Charlie’s schedule. It’s fake and I’ll argue that, but it’s her word against ours, and the list, typed up, seems hard to disprove.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. But the good news is most family court judges know all the tricks,” Hunter explains as he walks over to the bar on the deck and grabs the whiskey bottle off the top. I hand him my glass.

“Take mine. I’m not thirsty anymore,” I tell him and Hunter grabs my tumbler and takes a sip before dropping down in the chair I was in before he arrived. I sigh and sit in the other one and try to relax, but I can’t.

“Please don’t worry,” Hunter says, tilting his head up toward the dipping sun.

“You’ve said that a million times.”

“And I’ll say it a million more…until you stop stressing,” my brother replies. “Lauren is not taking Charlie away. Not even for a second. In fact, by the time this is done, I’m hoping to get you more time.”

“I don’t want to take Lauren’s time from Charlie either,” I reply, and I mean it. Lauren isn’t a bad mother. Charlie needs her and loves her. “But this bullshit has got to stop. I don’t know why, after years of things being fine, she suddenly wants a change and is implying I’m unfit.”

“I bet it’s the boyfriend,” Hunter suggests and sips the whiskey again. “He’s the only thing that’s changed since the divorce.”

“That makes no sense. We’ve been divorced for two years. I’m sure she’s been involved with other people,” I argue back.

“You haven’t,” he remarks.

“Touché,” I reply. “But it’s not like this Cale guy is demanding my kid be around even more. Hell, he barely bothered to learn Charlie’s name, and I’m guessing if anything he would rather she spent more time with me so Lauren would be free to follow him around all the shitty gigs he does. She can’t spend all her nights in a dive bar when she’s got a child at home.”

Hunter sighs. “Let’s talk about something better. What’s happening with the hot nurse? Have you gotten to the sponge bath portion of the relationship?”

I laugh because he is ridiculous, but the fact is the whole situation is far from funny. It’s a damn tragedy, and Hunter’s going to kick my ass when I tell him. “I haven’t rescheduled our date. And I’m not going to anytime soon.”

“Okay, now I’m going to call her,” Hunter replies, leaning toward me. “Maybe she can recommend a doctor, because clearly there’s something wrong with you.”

“Hunter, my life isn’t set up to include a girlfriend right now,” I remind him. “I work a lot, and the times I am home I have Charlie most days. Plus it’s baggage enough to have an ex-wife and kid, but to also be dealing with custody issues…Sadie doesn’t need that.”

“Sadie,” Hunter repeats her name, smiling as he pushes his sunglasses back up on his head again. “We have a name. How about a last name?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

His light eyes glint with mischief. “Okay, Sadie the Naughty Nurse it is.”

“Don’t be a cheap asshole, Hunter.”

“You wouldn’t care what I called her if you weren’t still hoping to see her again,” he replies, pausing to finish the whiskey in his glass.

“What I want and what’s going to happen are two different things.” I rub a hand over my chin as I think about how she turned down my offer of friendship. “Her dad is really sick, and she works twelve-hour shifts. She has a lot on her plate too. It’s not just me that thinks this isn’t the right time.”

“Fuck. That’s hard.”

“Exactly,” I say, feeling like he’s finally getting it and siding with me. I pause and steady myself for his reaction because I know he’s not going to like my last confession. He swirls the whiskey left in his glass for a moment before downing the rest of it.

“You know what I think?” he says, standing up and putting his empty glass on the table beside me. He waits a second for me to respond, but I don’t because he’s going to tell me what he thinks, whether I want him to or not. “I think you’re looking for excuses. I think you’re too much of a pussy to go after…well, pussy.”

I cringe. “Hey, frat boy, rein it in. You kiss your wife with that mouth?”

His grin is almost blinding. “I do a hell of a lot more than just kiss her with it.”

I do not need the visuals he’s putting in my head. I shake them out. “If you think this doesn’t suck for me, trust me, you’re wrong. She’s the first woman I’ve been interested in since Lauren. Hell, I’m more than interested. But seriously, Hunter, I couldn’t even handle an attempt at a first date without it blowing up.”

He seems to seriously consider my words. I had already explained to him how I fucked up with the cell phone and didn’t call her to cancel the date until she was already there. Even he winced at that when I told him. He sighs. “Okay, man. I get it. I’ll stop bugging you for now. But as soon as we settle the Lauren drama once and for all, you’re seeing this Sadie girl again…even if the only way I can get you to do it is break your nose and send you to her hospital.”

I laugh at that. “You should have been a comedian. The career goes better with your wardrobe too.”

“Zing!” Hunter calls as he walks back into the houseboat. “I’m heading home to my amazing woman. You should get one. You’d like it.”

I don’t respond. I just laugh. My kid brother is a jackass, but he’s my jackass. He appears on the first level a few minutes later, and as he heads down the dock he calls out. “Tell Charlie I said hi!”

After watching his car disappear, I head back inside and start to prep dinner. I promised Charlie we could make mini pizzas. It’s her favorite thing, and I don’t mind it because I make a cauliflower crust and she loves to pile veggies on it. She’s the only six-year-old I’ve ever met willing to eat brussels sprouts. I turn on the big screen in the living room to watch the Thunder game and angle it toward the kitchen, then I pull out the ingredients to start the crust. The Thunder are in Seattle playing the Winterhawks, and it’s just starting.

I’m so glad goalie coaches aren’t required to go on most of the road trips. The travel was my least favorite part of playing, especially after Charlie was born. My cell phone buzzes as I’m chopping veggies. It’s Jennica’s mom. “Hi, Anne. Is it time to…”

Anne starts talking fast, and as I absorb what she’s saying, my blood runs cold. “I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t panic. Don’t let Charlie panic.”

I hang up, grab my keys, and rush out of the boat.