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Will got home in time for Graham and Jason to arrive. Graham had been Jason’s agent, negotiating his first few contracts before the booze and pain pills took hold. Graham had tried to get Jason back on track to no avail. He was an excellent agent with a shitty client. When Will made the big leagues, the choice to have Graham represent him was a no-brainer.
“You’re looking good,” Graham said, patting Will on the back.
“Well, even though I know I’ll make the team, there’s always that chance . . . So I made sure I was in excellent shape for training camp.”
The Cavallo family was big on giving people a chance when no one else would. Graham Stafford was green when he approached Sal and Ruth Cavallo, asking, well, begging them to represent Jason. He had no clients. He’d just started out at one of the agencies they were looking at. Only twenty-four, with little experience, he spouted off facts and his love for the game. He promised the Cavallos a lifetime of loyalty. So far, he’d kept that promise even though he’d brought Jason to St. Paul and dumped him on Will. Will surmised that Graham was just a little more loyal to his parents than he was to him.
“How are you?” Will asked his brother. Jason looked gaunter than the last time he’d seen him and that was only six weeks ago.
“Not bad.”
Will had made a deal with his parents, one he hoped he wouldn’t regret. He’d take Jason in for a few months, give his parents a break. It wasn’t the best plan they’d ever come up with, but at least no one knew Jason around town. And if he wanted to get into trouble, he’d have to start from scratch. But Will had to wonder how long that would take. Jason seemed to find the wrong crowd pretty fast.
“I thought tonight we could go out for dinner. Celebrate a new season,” Graham said, keeping a cheerful tone and trying to cut through the obvious tension between brothers.
“I’m game for that,” Jason said.
“Great. I have a potential client I want to meet with and then we can hit the town.” Graham glanced at his watch. “Yup, I better getting moving. I’ll see you guys in a couple of hours.”
The Cavallo brothers watched him leave, and Will couldn’t help but wonder how long this arrangement would last until Jason went on a bender. It wasn’t like Will could keep his eye on his brother 24/7. Hell, he’d be out of town half the time, leaving Jason to his own devices. He’d explained this to his parents more than once, but they were adamant that Jason just needed a change of scenery. A fresh start. Wishful thinking. Jason was on his fiftieth fresh start.
“Can I get you anything?” Will asked.
“You got any beer?” Jason asked, pulling up his baggy jeans.
Will remembered a time when his brother was an elite athlete, better than Will could ever dream of being. Disciplined, in control, the world at his feet, and then the back injury. Most people thought it ended Jason’s career, but only a few people knew the truth. What ended Jason’s promising and lucrative career was what happened after the injury. Prescription after prescription of painkillers, then the alcohol, then mixing them together, followed by a few DUIs, the end of his marriage and finally, running out of money—at least, the money he could get his hands on. The final nail in the coffin of his hockey career were the failed drug tests. The league quietly kicked him out.
Graham had seen the signs first. He’d told Will and his parents, but they were all in denial. So Graham took Jason’s future ex-wife, Penny, aside and somehow they convinced Jason to put a large portion of his money in a few investments and a trust for the kids. Or, as Will liked to think, they locked it up. Perhaps it was the fog of painkillers and alcohol, but Jason signed his fortune away into a trust controlled by Penny and the Cavallos. He got small chunks of money here and there, but it never lasted long. Will had to admit it was the best thing Graham had ever done. Once again proving his loyalty to the family.
“You can’t drink in my home,” Will said. “Those are my rules. You know that.”
Jason’s dark brown eyes shot imaginary laser beams in Will’s direction. “You’re always so much fun,” he said sarcastically.
“The point of you being here is to get you back on your feet. Maybe find you a job. I said I’d help you do that, but you can’t show up places reeking of booze.”
“You make it sound like I’m going to drink the place dry.”
Will fought hard not to roll his eyes. “Why don’t you get settled in your room? You can shower and change.”
“Living here is going to be worse than living with Mom and Dad,” he muttered.
“Look, I’m not going to chase after you. If you don’t follow my rules, you’re out. It’s that simple. You’re where you are now because of things you did and choices you made. You’ll get no sympathy from me.”
“I know you don’t want me here. You think I want to be stuck with you?”
“You can leave, but let me remind you that you’re running out of chances.”
Jason crossed his arms over his bony chest. “What happened to the little brother I used to remember?”
“What happened to the big brother I used to look up to?”
“You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you. A fucking doctor prescribed painkillers because he was too lazy to really help me. I also had a coach who wanted me back on the ice as soon as possible. He didn’t care that I wasn’t ready. That I was in excruciating pain. So that’s what happened, asshole. Are you happy now?”
Jason’s face was blotchy and red and he was shaking a little. He grabbed his carry-on bag and pulled out a pill bottle.
“And before you get on my case, it’s anxiety meds. Prescribed by a real doctor.”
“I just see what you’ve become and it makes me sad,” Will said quietly.
“You don’t think it made me sad too? I fucking have nothing.”
“My offer still stands to get you into a rehab facility. It’s not too late to get your career back. You could get in shape, try out next year. Even if it’s a minor league team.”
Jason chuckled. “You’re delusional. I’m almost thirty-four. I’ve been out of hockey for ages. I’ll never get my career back. I’m washed up, Will. A has-been. No one is going to give me a chance.”
“You don’t know that. I’m just saying that it’s an option. At least give it some thought.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever. So that was a no to the beer?”
Will slowly shook his head. “No beer.”
Jason stomped towards his room and Will slumped onto his sofa. Every once in a while, he thought back to the brother he remembered playing pickup hockey with, who could skate circles around him. The brother who challenged him to skate and shoot better. The brother he’d stay up with late at night and talk hockey until they could barely keep their eyes open. He didn’t want to give up on Jason, but he worried if one day he’d get the call that his brother was dead somewhere.
That would kill his parents, and he would feel one hundred percent responsible.