I shake my head put it back in the box and leave it right where I found it, skip coffee because I'm jittery enough now, and head out the door. Fisher greets me at the studio in the editing room with a big grin I immediately want to punch off his face. He went from being a friend to a foe so quick. I hate it, but it is what it is.
He makes small talk like nothing is wrong as I settle into a seat next to him and he queues up some raw footage. He sighs. “Your aunt and uncle are amazing, by the way. She has no filter and is a total MILF and he’s still eye candy, according to the girls on the crew, and charming as fuck.”
“Do not call my aunt a mother you want to…” I shudder. “And yeah, she’s blunt and brilliant. He’s great too. Now let’s get to work.”
The first clip is Aunt Callie and Uncle Devin at home in Silver Bay. They’re in their kitchen. She’s cooking. Conner is home sitting at the kitchen island talking about the playoffs with Devin, which makes sense. He visits a lot more now during the season since he plays for Portland and it’s only a couple hours away. It’s entertaining and informative to hear the two talk hockey. Then Conner changes the subject and starts talking about his live-in girlfriend Mac. She’s also his coach’s daughter, which is hilarious to me but complicated for him.
“Mac thinks it’s time to get qualified as foster parents,” Conner announces.
Fisher stops the tape and turns to me. “This is where I’ll insert the footage of Conner’s one-on-one interview where he gushes about Mac and her social work and how they both want to foster and adopt.”
I nod, knowing my cousin and his soulmate’s plans. I’m proud of them.
He presses play on the footage again. Uncle Devin assures his first born that he’s ready and it’s a good thing to be intimidated by the responsibility. Callie asks him why he’s holding back. And Conner goes sheepish. He pulls a box from the pocket of his joggers. Callie squeals before he even opens it to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring.
A little spike of panic stabs me in the heart as my mind flashes to the ring on the coffeemaker in Nash’s loft. Fisher has started watching me and not the footage. “Are you hot? You’re turning red.”
“Yeah,” I peel out of my sweater but keep my eyes glued to the screen where my aunt is squealing and hugging Conner.
Conner admits he’s nervous to ask his coach and Mac’s dad, Alex Larue, for permission. Callie waves her hand, dismissing the worry. “Ask Brie. The whole dad thing is antiquated.” She leans in across the island as she slides a plate of food toward him. “Baby, you are going to be the best foster dad, just like you’ll be the best husband Mac could want and everyone knows it. Even Alex. If he doesn’t, I’ll knock some sense into him.”
I laugh because my aunt has a reputation for actually knocking sense into people. There's family lore she's whacked my father and my Uncle Luc with towels, yoga mats, and more when they were dating my mom and my aunt Rose. Conner thanks her for her support and she grabs his face in her hands, the camera zooms in… she kisses his forehead. But I don't focus on that. I focus on the calendar on the fridge. It's one of those wipe-board calendars. Callie and Devin have had it up since as far back as I can remember. It's where they track family events, work obligations, birthdays, everything. And on it… I see a word I don't like. At all.
“Rewind it please,” I demand, but Fisher doesn’t move fast enough so I do it.
I pause the footage, lean in, and squint at the screen. I want to ask Fisher if he sees the word I see but I don’t because I don’t trust him anymore. I swallow down the sick feeling bubbling in my chest. “What?”
I shake my head at Fisher. “This is fine. Good.”
“That’s it?” He lifts a brown eyebrow. “Your cousin is going to get engaged.”
“Yeah. I knew that would happen eventually.” I nod. “What’s next. I need to get home.”
And call my aunt, I think but don’t say.
“I was trying to butter you up with that footage because I know this isn’t going to make you happy…” Fisher mutters as he flips to different footage and Anne-Marie fills the screen. I groan.
Anne-Marie is Crew Westwood’s ex-wife. And it was a very messy breakup, to put it lightly. I turn to Fisher and glare. “We shouldn’t be including her at all.”
“Drama factor.”
He hits play and her nasal voice fills the room. It's a one-on-one clip. She's sitting in a room by herself. It starts innocuous enough as she yammers on about her long-distance relationship with Emmett Echolls. She talks about the hardships of not 'snuggling up together every night' and I roll my eyes. "But you know, even when they're here with you hockey players aren't always here, you know? It's a full-time job with no days off from the start of the season to the end."
Well, she isn't wrong there, but that revelation isn't drama and we could get it from any other wife or girlfriend. I'm about to tell Fisher that when he pauses the footage and switches to footage of Emmett and Anne-Marie together. In Quebec, according to the subtitle he's put in already. Emmett plays for the Quebec Nationals. Anne-Marie is Canadian but yet won't move to Quebec to live with Emmett, and in this clip, they're fighting about it. "I have a career too you know. And you'll need that money when yours ends. Plus I enjoy it. I'm a model and my time is limited on that too, so I can't give it up now and go back to it later."
I roll my eyes. The girl does low-end clothing websites, she’s not exactly Chrissy Teigen. It’s a career switch she got into after her divorce. Fisher pauses the footage. I wait for him to play something else, but when he doesn’t I turn to lock eyes with him. “This is where you lose your mind.”
He hits a button and we’re back to the one-on-one footage with Anne-Marie. She frowns… or tries to. I think she’s had Botox because the corners of her mouth kind of turn down but the rest of her face remains motionless, which looks so freaking weird. “I need my independence. I know how hockey romances can blow up. I was married to a player before Emmett. And… it didn’t work out. We… we made some bad choices in our marriage… I hold responsibility too. I mean, I think deep down I knew he was gay and that’s why I left.”
I’m out of my chair and screaming the second the word gay leaves her lying little mouth. “He’s not gay. She has zero evidence and this is called defamation, on top of which Crew has not signed on to be a profiled person in this series and we have absolutely no right to?—”
"I know your argument," Fisher says sternly like he's bored. Fucking douche. "But the fact is, she's never going to stop making the accusation."
“She’s a lying bitch.” I reply, growling. “He’s in a very happy, exclusive relationship with my cousin for fuck’s sake. My female cousin!”
“So then what’s the harm in airing this bullshit and letting him address it?” Fisher asks, his eyes so innocent I want to punch him again. I ball my fists and press them into my sides. “Like I said she keeps saying it. Every chance she gets. So if we don’t let that footage out, she’ll eventually say it to some other media outlet.”
“If we do let it out, this becomes trash tv,” I argue. “It will eclipse the purpose of the show.”
