Page 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Christy

It’s been a week, and I’ve done nothing but stare at the card Evan gave me with Charles’s number on it. I can’t get over the fact that Eddie is—or I guess, was—part owner of the team. I’d had no clue he was even rich when I started dating him. He walked into our salon wearing shorts and a Captain America T-shirt, needing a haircut. I just happened to be open, and things bloomed from there.

It wasn’t until he came at me with the offer of a house and an NDA that I found out who he really was. Until then, I’d felt like I was being swept up in this whirlwind romance with this amazing guy. When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was early since we’d only been dating for a short time, but everything just felt right.

Until it didn’t.

When the shoe fell, it fell hard, and I was left an absolute mess. Not only because of my unborn child, but because I had been tricked that bad into thinking I’d met this good guy, only to be totally tricked by a guy living a double life.

I never thought about his family though. I only knew of him and his wife, who was adamant on not having kids, especially ones who weren’t her own.

Knowing Nolan has grandparents who really want to get to know him hurts my heart for them. It’s not their fault their son is a liar who is married to an absolute soulless monster, but do I want to open that door for Nolan?

Nolan has asked about who his dad is and why he doesn’t have one. I knew the truth would come out eventually, but I thought I would wait until he was older.

But then I think about how a relationship with his grandparents may be best when he’s young.

Before I talk myself out of it, I pick up the phone and call the number on the card.

“This is Charles,” he says as his hello.

“Hi. Um, this is Christy,” I say, not even sure if he’ll know who I am by just my name.

“Christy,” he says breathlessly. “Hold on. Let me get my wife.”

“Dear, it’s Christy on the phone,” I hear him say in the background.

A woman’s squeal of joy comes over the line, and I have to hold back tears.

“Christy?” she says. “Hi. I’m Mary.”

“Hi, Mary,” I say, still feeling like I don’t know what to say.

We sit in silence for a moment until she continues, “Look, I can’t fathom what you’ve gone through over these years, but we just want you to know that if we’d had any clue about the situation, we would have handled it completely different.”

I nod even though they can’t see me.

“We’re so very sorry you’ve had to go through this alone,” she says.

I sigh. “I’ve had my family’s help, so I haven’t been totally alone. And having the house took a lot of worries off my plate.”

“It’s still not okay. If you’ll let us, we’d like to make it right.”

“I don’t want your money,” I blurt out defensively.

“No, sweetheart. I know you don’t. I mean, in terms of family. We’d like to get to know our only grandson. We’ve only seen the pictures you’ve posted online. He’s adorable.”

I grin as I close my eyes and nod, tears flowing down my face. “He’s the best. He brightens my life every day.”

“I can imagine,” she says, and then we both sit in silence again. “We’ll give you all the time you need. We just hope, one day, you’ll allow us to be in his life.”

“I don’t want Eddie around,” I state firmly. “At least not right now. When Nolan is older and can understand things more, then he can decide for himself. Until then, that’s a firm no.”

“We understand,” Charles cuts in. “We want the baseball field to be his safe place with us. Eddie knows he’s not welcome there anymore. We figured that could be our place with Nolan, making you feel secure that he wouldn’t pop in, unannounced.”

“Okay, yeah … that makes sense.”

“So, you let us know. We’ll be here, patiently waiting for your approval.”

Knowing there’s no way Eddie can be around, I inhale a deep breath, then let it out. “Evan comes home tomorrow. How about I bring Nolan to the game on Saturday?”

I hear her choke back tears as Charles responds, “Saturday will be perfect.”

“Okay, I’ll want Evan there, so we’ll come early when he does. I’ll have him let you know when that will be.”

“Sounds good.” There’s a brief pause, and then Charles speaks again. “And, Christy?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of our grandson’s life.”

I take a few breaths. “We’ll take this slow, but I’m excited for him to meet you guys,” I admit. “After this phone call, I feel better about the situation.”

“Us too,” Mary says. “We’ll see you on Saturday.”

“Yep. Saturday.”

I hang up and drop back on my couch, knowing my life is about to change and praying Charles and Mary are nothing like Eddie.

Early Saturday morning, we all get ready to go to Nolan’s game. Thankfully, it starts at eight thirty, so we can go to that, then hightail it out of there to get to the stadium by eleven.

“You ready, little man?” Evan says, holding up his hand to high-five him.

“It’s so cool that you get to watch me play, and then I get to watch you play,” Nolan says, making us both laugh.

“Right?” Evan states while holding up his hand to high-five him again. “High five to us both getting to play today!” Evan unzips the jacket he’s wearing and grabs both sides, swinging it open like he’s Superman. “And look what I got!”

He continues to remove his jacket completely, turning around to show us the back of the Little League shirt he’s wearing, which was made to support Nolan’s team and even has Nolan’s name written on the back, along with the rest of the players.

“Hey, that’s my name!” Nolan says in celebration.

“It sure is.”

“How did you get this?” I ask, knowing you had to order them the same time as the uniforms.

“I might have made a slight donation to the league with the only stipulation being that I got a T-shirt,” Evan says with a grin.

I lean in to kiss him. “You’re too sweet.”

Nolan grabs his bag, which is twice his size. “Let’s go!”

We drive to the field and during the entire game, I sit there, picking at my fingers nervously. Nolan has no clue what’s going to happen today. He just thinks we’re going to watch Evan play.

Evan wraps his hand around mine. “Relax.”

I inhale, then exhale it all out. “I’m trying.”

“It’s going to be fine. I had a talk with Charles again yesterday. It’s going to be all right.”

I press my lips together and nod, looking into Evan’s eyes. When he leans over to kiss my lips, a sense of calmness washes over me. I place my head on his shoulder and focus on my breathing while he continues to hold my hand and we watch Nolan’s game.

When we arrive at the ballpark, I have to really focus on my breathing so I don’t throw up.

Evan was able to get us a private suite so my sister and her family could come to the game as well, just in case I needed the support while he was playing. I agreed that I wanted her there, but thought it would be too much to have them all come meet Eddie’s parents for the first time, so I told them we’d meet them in the suite after we finished up.

Evan puts the truck in park and looks my way. “You okay?”

I open my eyes wide and let out a long, slow breath. He gives my hand a squeeze, then opens his door and hops out. Nolan and I do the same. When Evan places his hand out to Nolan, I fall back a few steps, needing to compose myself. Seeing the two of them hold hands—with Nolan in his uniform and Evan sporting the Little League T-shirt—the tears I’ve been holding in all day finally fall.

Nolan is my entire world, and knowing that our little bubble is expanding to include Evan and Nolan’s grandparents now is both nerve-racking and exciting.

When they get to the door, Evan waits for me to catch up before opening it up. Then he leans in to whisper, “We’ll just head straight to his office, if that’s okay with you.”

I nod and face forward, taking one step in front of the other, trying not to overthink what is about to happen.

“We’re going up here first.” Evan guides Nolan. “I have some people I want you to meet.”

Nolan follows with ease, not having a clue what is about to happen.

We get to the office door, which is open, and Evan knocks before entering. Across the room, a tall man has his arm wrapped around a woman, who is holding her hands over her mouth.

They stand there, patiently waiting for us to introduce their grandson to them. Evan looks at me, wondering what I’m doing because I guess we both just assumed I would do the introductions, but at this very moment, I’m a statue, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Evan leans over, kisses my forehead, then squats down to be at Nolan’s level. “Hey, bud. Remember I said I wanted you to meet someone?”

Nolan looks at me, then at them, and back at Evan. “Okay, who are they?”

Evan places his hands on either side of Nolan’s arms. “Bud, these are some of the owners of the team.”

“Really?” He turns to them. “You guys own the team?” he asks, excited to meet them.

They both nod as tears fall down their faces.

Evan continues, “They are. But guess who else they are.”

“Who?” Nolan asks so innocently that it breaks my damn heart and tears flow without me being able to stop them.

“They are your grandparents,” Evan states, then gives Nolan time to process what he just said.

Nolan looks at me. “Like Grandpa David and Grandma Bobbi?”

I nod. “Yep. Just like Grandpa David and Grandma Bobbi.” I lean down and decide to just tell the truth. “Grandpa David and Grandma Bobbi are my parents. These”—I point to them standing there—“are your dad’s parents.”

“So, if you’re going to be my new dad”—Nolan points at Evan as his little brain tries to connect the dots—“that means I get the owners of the team as my grandma and grandpa?” Nolan celebrates. “That is, like, the coolest thing ever!” He hops into Evan’s arms, giving us a much-needed laugh in this unique situation.

“Actually,” Evan begins to say wanting to correct his thoughts, but I stop him.

This is a lot to take in, and if right now, that’s what he wants to think, I’m okay with it. After all, we’re only here because of Evan being the baseball player that he is.

Evan nods at me in understanding and turns to face Mary and Charles. “So, Nolan, this is your grandpa Charles and your grandma Mary.”

Nolan runs to them both and jumps into Charles’s arms, just like he does with my dad, Jamie, and now Evan.

Mary wraps her arms around them both as sobs escape her lips.

When they pull back, Nolan looks at them both. “Why are you guys crying? ‘There’s no crying in baseball,’” he says, trying to mimic the line from A League of Their Own the same way Evan did before we all watched the movie together.

We all laugh as Mary places her hand on Nolan’s back. “We’re just so happy to meet you.”

Nolan nods his head with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you too. Are you going to watch the game with us?”

“If you’ll allow us to.”

“Is it okay, Mommy? Can they join us in the suite?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I reply.

“Well, if it’s okay with your mom,” Mary says, looking at me for confirmation, “we can sit in the owners’ suite together. Want me to show you?” She holds out her hand to Nolan, who instantly wiggles out of Charles’s arms.

Thank you , she mouths to me as she leads Nolan to where they can watch the game.

Evan wraps his arms around me as I nod with a grin on my face.

Looks like I need to go get my sister, as our family just grew by two.