Page 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Evan

I race through the dugout, where I watched her head to the back.

“Christy?” I yell out.

I look down every hallway and open every door until I go outside, thinking she might be sitting at my truck.

When I open the door, the security guard points.

“If you’re looking for the girl who just ran out of here, crying, she went that way. I tried to run after her, but I can’t leave this area.”

I tap his shoulder with the back of my hand. “No worries. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. Thank you!”

I run toward my truck and find her sitting on the ground, crying.

“Christy!” I call out.

She hears me and stands, trying to walk away from me. “Evan, I didn’t know. I had no clue they’d be here,” she tries to plead her case.

I stop her and wrap her in my arms. “Are you okay?” I pull her back. “Let me see your face.”

“Evan, why are they here? What’s going on?”

I look her in the eyes, placing my hands on either side of her head and holding her face in my palms. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“Obviously, it’s not. You don’t know who that was.”

I nod. “I do. He just told me he’s Nolan’s father.”

Her face goes pale as more tears fall down her cheeks. I wipe them away with my thumbs.

“He told you?” she cries out.

I pull her back into me, holding her while she sobs.

She steps back. “But I don’t get it. Why is he here?”

“They are silent owners of the team.”

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then opens them and starts blurting out, “I swear to you, I didn’t know he owned the team. I hadn’t known who he was then either. I had no idea he was this wealthy business guy, and I didn’t know he was married.”

Everything she said—or rather, not said—about Nolan’s father makes more sense now.

I try to stop her from having a full-blown panic attack. “I know. It’s okay.”

“I’m not a gold digger, I promise. I didn’t want anything from him.”

“I know. You don’t have to prove yourself to me. I see you raising Nolan all on your own. It’s okay.”

“But it hasn’t been all on my own. They bought me that house. I didn’t pay a dime for it.”

“As they should have.” I try to calm her down, glad to hear he at least did something for her and didn’t leave her high and dry.

“But it makes me look even more like the gold digger she accused me of. I’m not, I promise. I just couldn’t turn down what they offered. I didn’t know how I would support and raise a child on my own.”

“Christy.” I bring her back into my chest and hold her tighter. “You do not need to explain yourself. The fact that they don’t help you now or that they’re not even a part of Nolan’s life is what they should be ashamed of. You’ve done nothing wrong here.”

“I promise I didn’t know he was married. I would never have started dating him if I had known half of what I know now.”

I kiss the top of her head. “I believe you. I do. You don’t have to keep saying, ‘you promise.’”

“Nolan!” she yells out as if she just remembered he’s still in there.

She races out of my hold, but I grab her.

“It’s okay. I have Zach with him.”

“But what if Eddie tries to talk to him? We need to get him out of here!”

“We will. Let’s walk back, and I’ll call Zach. Figure out what’s going on.”

She agrees, and I hold her hand in one of mine and my phone in the other while I have it on speaker for her to hear.

“What was that all about?” he asks as his greeting.

“Where’s Nolan?” I ask urgently.

“All good, bro. He’s still with me. He and my boys are hitting away without a care in the world.”

The sob of relief that escapes Christy’s lips makes me choke back my own tears.

“Was that Eddie’s wife who slapped her?” he asks.

“Yeah. Are they still there?”

“Oh, they’re still here, and Charles seems to be having a field day with Eddie. They keep on looking over here, so again, what is going on?”

“I’ll explain later. Just, whatever you do, don’t let them get near Nolan.”

“I’ll protect him as if he were my own,” he states without question, like a dad would.

That’s exactly how I feel about Nolan, so knowing that Eddie could just walk away from his son like that blows my mind. That piece of shit is going to hear about it too.

We walk back to the field, and Christy stops before we turn the corner.

“I don’t want to go back out there. Please just get Nolan, and let’s leave.”

I hold her hand against my heart. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

“It’s okay. Just, please, go get my son.”

I give her a kiss and place my forehead on hers. She instantly wraps her hands around mine.

“I’ll be right back.”

She nods, and I head toward the field.

As soon as I enter, Charles calls after me, “Evan, can I speak to you for a moment?”

I hold up my hand to stop him. “No disrespect, Mr. Stone, but I think it’s best we leave.”

He places his hand on my arm. “I won’t say a word to him. I just want to see my grandson for the first time. I …” His eyes well with tears that he blinks away. “Please, I didn’t know he existed until a few minutes ago …”

I stop walking and take a deep breath, but keep my head down.

“I will go pick him up. And I will walk past you. Please, do not say a word to him. For now, that’s all we are asking.”

He nods. I go to move, and he stops me again.

“Please tell his mother, when she’s ready, I would like to get to know him.”

I shake my head. “That’s not my call.”

He nods again. “I respect that. On her time. I will make this right.”

I look behind him for any sign of Eddie or his wife, but they are nowhere to be found. I turn to Christy to make sure they aren’t near her. When we catch eyes, I nod her way and turn back to Charles.

“This is all very new for all of us. I, like you, had no clue who his father was. I just knew he wasn’t in the picture. Please let us digest all of this first.”

He nods, and I leave to get Nolan.

“Hey, bud.” I lean down to his level. “We could only stay for a little bit, so we have to get going, but how about I take you to my favorite ice cream shop and we split the biggest banana split they can make?”

He looks at the friends he’s made, then back at me.

I can tell he’s torn, and I feel awful for making him leave, so I add in, “You can have all the cherries …”

He smiles, then jumps into my arms. “Okay, but only if I get to choose the ice cream flavor too.”

“You got a deal!” I turn toward Zach with Nolan in my arms. “Thanks, man.”

“Anytime,” he says with a grin, then goes back to helping his son hit off the tee.

I keep Nolan in my arms as I head back to where Christy is waiting for us.

As we walk by Charles, I see the tears fill his eyes, but he keeps his promise and doesn’t say a word, so I say to Nolan, “Can you say goodbye to Charles, the team’s owner?”

“Bye!” Nolan waves, and I hear Charles choke back a sob.

“Why is he crying?” Nolan whispers in my ear.

“Because adults are silly sometimes,” I respond, hoping to make light of the situation.

We get to Christy, and she instantly grabs Nolan from me, holding him tightly to her.

“Why is everyone crying?” he asks, confused.

“‘There’s no crying in baseball!’” I mimic Tom Hanks from A League of Their Own .

Christy laughs, but the saying goes right over Nolan’s head, and he looks at me in even more confusion.

I rub my hand over his curly hair. “We’ll have to watch the movie so you’ll get it. Maybe tonight?”

“Yes! Can we have a movie night, Mom?”

She turns to leave the ballpark. “Sure, bud.”

“That’s after we get our banana split,” he points out.

She looks at me.

“Hey, I thought a banana split was in order.” I nod, standing by my idea.

She chuckles. “Yeah, I agree. We deserve a banana split.”

“Yes!” Nolan says in celebration even though he has no clue what all just went down. As long as he gets ice cream, he’s good to go.