Burgess Abraham: The Burly Hockey Dad Who Finds Love

Overview

Burgess Abraham is the male protagonist of Tessa Bailey’s The Au Pair Affair (2024), a thirty-seven-year-old NHL defenseman for the Boston Bearcats and a single father to twelve-year-old Lissa. Physically imposing—described as having “God of Thunder thighs” and a burly, battle‑scarred frame—Burgess outwardly projects the toughness of a veteran enforcer. Beneath the surface, he is wracked by a worsening back injury, a gnawing fear that his hockey career is ending, and a deep‑seated belief that he has failed as a husband and father. His journey centers on learning to accept vulnerability, trust a partner, and build a real family with his daughter and the woman who enters their lives.

Plot Role

Burgess serves as the story’s emotional anchor and romantic lead. His arc drives the central conflict: a guarded, self‑reliant athlete who must lower his defenses to let in Tallulah Aydin, the live‑in au pair his daughter desperately needs. Early on, his hidden injury and terror of retirement lead him to push people away—especially Tallulah, whose own trust issues mirror his. Through their romance, Burgess becomes the man who finally risks being seen as weak in order to gain something stronger: love, belonging, and a future beyond hockey.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Burgess’s primary motivation is protecting his identity as a hockey player. He fears that admitting his back pain will get him benched or traded, erasing the only role in which he feels competent. This fear drives him to hide the injury, medicate with excessive painkillers, and refuse medical help (evidence from chapter 6: “Advil isn’t going to cut it for long” – “It’s not cutting it now.”). He also protects others by shouldering blame for his failed marriage (“I was always occupied with hockey … the split was my fault.”) and by keeping emotional distance from Lissa, believing he is “bad at family.”

His protective nature shows repeatedly: he threatens teammates who joke about Tallulah (“Call her hot again and I’ll put your head through the wall.”), installs locks at her apartment offer, and demands that a zip‑line instructor ensure her safety before his own. Yet this protection is also a shield against his own fears. When Tallulah rejects him after he fires her, he spirals, nearly choking on regret during a zip‑line leap.

Loyalty emerges through his friendships—especially with Sig Gauthier, who confronts him about misplaced guilt. Burgess’s willingness to listen to Tallulah’s advice about being more open with teammates (chapter 13) shows a man capable of change.

Chronological Arc

Denial and Hiding (Chapters 1–6): Burgess meets Tallulah, wants to hire her despite her alarm at his violent highlight reel. He hides his back pain and avoids dating, telling himself he “stays in on his nights off.” He compensates by being gruff with teammates and controlling in his home.
Crack in the Armor (Chapters 11–13): Increasing attraction to Tallulah forces him to confront his loneliness. He admits to Sig that he promised skinny‑dipping, and after Tallulah massages his back, he reluctantly agrees to see a private doctor. The diagnosis (just a muscle strain) lifts a huge weight, and he begins to open up.
Taking Risks (Chapters 14–20): Burgess attends a singles mixer at Tallulah’s urging, then dramatically rips up the business cards he receives, declaring, “The only woman I’m calling is you.” He and Tallulah become intimate, and he begins seeing a future with her, even telling himself “Tallulah was endgame.”
Catastrophe and Separation (Chapter 21): Lissa accuses Tallulah of stealing her dad, and Tallulah leaves the apartment. Burgess is frozen, unable to prevent her departure, and the relationship fractures. He later fires her out of anger, a decision he immediately regrets.
Humility and Growth (Chapters 28–31): At a wedding in Costa Rica (his best friend Wells’s wedding), Burgess and Tallulah reunite as best man and maid of honor. He faces his fear of heights by zip‑lining, saying, “If it’s the only piece of you I’m allowed, I’m keeping it.” He proposes after Tallulah finishes grad school, committing to retirement and a future of adventure together.

Relationships

With Tallulah Aydin: The romantic core. Burgess begins as her employer, then suitor, then enemy, then partner. He is initially baffled by his attraction to her (“I’d rather lust after my beautiful new au pair”). Their connection deepens when she coaxes out his fear of weakness and he reassures her of his trustworthiness. At the wedding, he walks her down the aisle as a rehearsal, and later proposes on the front page of the Boston Globe (evidence from epilogue).

With Lissa Abraham: Burgess feels he has been an absent father due to hockey. He tries to connect by attending rehearsals for her Shakespeare play (“He offers a genuine compliment, showing growth.”) and defends her even when she lashes out at Tallulah. His arc includes learning to be present; by the end, he plans to take Lissa and Tallulah to Istanbul and get scuba certified—a family adventure.

With Sig Gauthier: A teammate who acts as Burgess’s conscience. Sig calls out his misplaced guilt over the divorce and pushes him to pursue Tallulah. Their banter (e.g., burning Orgasm Donor sweatshirts) shows Burgess’s ability to trust and be vulnerable with a friend.

With Ashleigh (ex‑wife): Amicable but strained. Burgess still blames himself for the marriage’s failure. Ashleigh’s engagement to a dentist forces him to accept that he can move on, too.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision: Hide his back injury and refuse treatment. Consequence: Nearly ends his career, strains his body, and causes him to lash out at Tallulah when she discovers the truth. Only after seeing a private doctor does he find relief and the courage to be honest.
Decision: Fire Tallulah after Lissa’s outburst. Consequence: Immediate regret and months of separation. It forces him to confront that his fear of being a bad father is self‑fulfilling. He later admits, “I threw away my chance.”
Decision: Zip‑line despite his terror. Consequence: Symbolically overcomes his fear of adventure and loss. It also reopens the door to reconciliation with Tallulah.
Decision: Propose to Tallulah after she finishes grad school. Consequence: He fully embraces retirement and a life beyond hockey, transforming from a man who “didn’t know how to be useful” outside sport into a loving partner and father.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Trust and Vulnerability (/books/the-au-pair-affair/themes/trust-and-vulnerability/): Burgess’s greatest obstacle is letting others see his pain—physical and emotional. Tallulah’s choice to trust him forces him to risk being seen as weak.
Healing from Trauma (/books/the-au-pair-affair/themes/healing-from-trauma/): Both Burgess and Tallulah carry trauma (his divorce, her past abusive relationship). Their healing happens together; he opens up about his back, she stops running.
Family and Co‑Parenting (/books/the-au-pair-affair/themes/family-and-co-parenting/): Burgess builds a blended family with Lissa and Tallulah. His final scenes include planning trips and playfully arguing about who gets mornings with his daughter.
Commitment and Fear (/books/the-au-pair-affair/themes/commitment-and-fear/): He avoids dating because “a relationship with a new woman meant eventually introducing her to Lissa.” By choosing Tallulah, he confronts that fear head‑on.
Transformation and Second Chances (/books/the-au-pair-affair/themes/transformation-and-second-chances/): The zip‑line scene epitomizes his transformation: he leaps into the unknown, symbolizing his willingness to change for love. At the epilogue, he tells a reporter, “Something tells me this next chapter is going to be better than the first one.”

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Burgess hide his back injury from the team and Tallulah? Burgess fears that admitting the injury will end his hockey career. In Chapter 6 he thinks, “Tell the trainer, and then he’d be traded or benched or forced into retirement.” He also sees hockey as the only thing he is good at, and he cannot imagine a useful life without it. His decision to hide the pain is driven by a desperate need for control and identity.

2. How does Burgess’s relationship with his daughter Lissa change over the course of the book? Initially, Burgess feels distant from Lissa, confessing that he “wasn’t even solid with his daughter.” He attempts connection by supporting her interest in theater (practicing Shakespeare lines) and praising her as “good luck” before a game. By the epilogue, he is actively planning a family trip to Istanbul and including Lissa in his retirement announcement, showing he has become a present, engaged father.

3. What role does the singles mixer scene play in Burgess’s development? At Tallulah’s urging, Burgess attends a “Young Professionals Meetup” as practice for dating. He is uncomfortable but obedient. When women give him their business cards, he dramatically rips them in half and tells Tallulah, “The only woman I’m calling is you.” This scene marks his conscious decision to commit to her—even before she is ready—and proves he is willing to forgo other options.

4. Does Burgess propose to Tallulah in the epilogue? Yes. In Chapter 31 (Epilogue), Burgess is interviewed about his retirement and reveals that he and Lissa will move to Istanbul and he will get scuba certified to be with Tallulah, who is a marine biologist. The chapter ends with him down on one knee in front of the Boston Globe building, under the headline “Sir Taken.” The proposal occurs after Tallulah finishes grad school, respecting her stated wish to wait.

5. How does the zip‑line scene symbolize Burgess’s internal transformation? The zip‑line in Costa Rica (Chapter 28) forces Burgess to confront his fear of heights—and by extension, his fear of the unknown. He tells Tallulah, “I might not have you anymore … but I’m not going to throw away the lesson you tried to teach me.” By jumping, he literally lets go of control and proves he can embrace risk for love. The scene directly precedes their reconciliation and foreshadows his decision to retire and travel.