16. Chase
Chase
Once Gem gets an idea in her head, there’s no stopping her until she achieves her goal.
In the two weeks since we made the decision to move to Baton Rouge, the girls and I have barely had to lift a finger.
First a group of women who specialize in moving families with young children turned up at our house in St. Paul and walked the three of us from one room to the next determining what to pack and ship to Gem’s house, what to pack for storage for us to go through later, and what to donate.
Another group arrived to pack everything up and as each room was wrapped and boxed, I breathed a little easier—felt more in control of our lives.
The only day that caused distress was the day we packed up Mom and Dad’s room. Other than a few tears shed as each piece of our parents was packed away, the move to Baton Rouge has been worry free.
And when the same women showed up at Gem’s house to help us unpack and place everything in our new home as the movers unloaded the truck, I could have kissed Gem.
In less than a week, our move was complete, and I don’t know about the girls, but I haven’t felt one bit of homesickness. It helps to have most of our furniture and household goods, like cutlery and linen, surrounding us.
When we first arrived and I questioned Gem about the empty rooms, she told me she had no attachment to any of her furniture and didn’t see the point in keeping it.
I’m not sure I believe her, although she did have a few pieces moved to the in-law suite on our arrival.
After our somewhat dramatic exit from St. Paul, our arrival in Baton Rouge has been smooth sailing. There were no tears, only happy smiles, the afternoon we closed the door on the only home we’ve ever known for the last time.
I think each of us, in our own way, was ready to leave that chapter of our life behind.
We have so much to look forward to. The first, our new home. And Gem was right about her house. It is far too big for one woman. Even with five of us living here it seems too big.
There are seven bedrooms including the one in the in-law suite. Two living rooms, two dining rooms, and a huge kitchen with a butler’s pantry you could easily mistake for the actual kitchen with its extra dishwasher, oven, and cooktop.
The girls have settled into their new rooms without a blip too.
Candace has proven the easiest of us to relocate though. Her routine remains unchanged, she’s still a night owl, but we’re seeing more and more of her during the day which means our nights aren’t as sleep deprived, and fingers crossed, that trend continues.
Cass and Stell have thrived since we arrived. They’re like their old selves again, the ones I remember from before Mom’s diagnosis, from before Dad died. Their smiling and joking around increases with each day.
Their biggest smiles were when Gem pointed them up the stairs and told them to pick any room. They chose two bedrooms connected by a large bathroom.
Although they’re still sharing one room. They plan to eventually have their own space but for now their beds are in one room and their desks in the other.
I have to admit, it’s a cool set up, and their excitement over Gem’s promise to go shopping for new furniture when they’re ready made my heart ache—in a good way.
Seeing them how they were before Mom got sick is a balm to not only my heart, but it also boosts my confidence.
Moving was the right decision.
Signing with the Rogues was the right choice.
There’s no doubt we would have made it if we’d stayed in St. Paul, but it would have been a struggle. One I’m glad we no longer need to go through.
Not that being here will be free and easy.
I know there’s bound to be issues. But the different surroundings—even with a lot of our own furniture in Gem’s house—has lifted all our spirits.
“Hello.”
Looking up from my seat beside the pool where the twins are finally getting their wish to go swimming, I find Gem in her usual business attire towering over me.
She’s still in her ever-present heels which I know are one of the first things she takes off when she gets home so she must have just come through the door.
“Hey.” I lean back and shield my eyes from the sun. “I didn’t think you were coming home this early.”
“I wasn’t, but my last meeting was canceled and there isn’t anything I need to do I can’t do from here later.”
“Oh?”
She drops into the chair next to me with a heavy sigh. “I thought it would be good to spend time with the girls. And you. Maybe take everyone out to one of my favorite restaurants. Show you more of what Baton Rouge has to offer.”
“We cooked, but I can put it in the fridge for tomorrow night.”
“What did you make?”
“Lasagna.” I eye her, and with a grin say, “Good thing you weren’t here an hour ago. The kitchen was a disaster zone.”
“It looked spotless when I walked through.”
“I bribed them with a dip.” I nod at the twins. “They’ve been nagging all day to get in the pool and I know they don’t need supervision, but I can’t leave them out here alone.”
“What were you doing that stopped them from swimming earlier?”
“Ah, well…” I’m not sure how she’s going to take what I organized. I know she told us to make ourselves at home but it’s still her house.
“Out with it. What have you been up to?”
“I had a fully equipped gym set up in the basement.” The words rush out of me, and I wait, breath held, for her to say something.
“Hmm…”
She’s got her thinking face on. She’d probably hate to know I’ve been studying her so closely I can tell what’s going on in her head most of the time.
The silence drags so long I fidget. I’m not normally nervous around her, but for some reason this has me holding my breath and bracing.
“You look like I’m going to kick you out for doing exactly what I told you to do,” she murmurs, her gaze on the girls as they crawl out at the deep end of the pool and grab hands, ready to cannonball back in.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d overstepped. When I first had the guy out to show him the space and tell him what I wanted, I didn’t think it would look like it does,” I explain.
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, no, I do. It’s just…” I swallow. “I didn’t realize how much space it would take up.”
“The basement isn’t big enough to put in a practice rink so a gym with all the bells and whistles seems a good use of the space there is down there.”
“Maybe you should take a look before you decide it’s okay. If it’s too much I can have it ripped out.”
“Chase.” She turns toward me, her gaze locking with mine. “This is your home now. And if we do what I suggested to give the girls the extra security you want them to have, it will be their home until they go to college, or we decide otherwise. And where they are, you are.”
“About that. You got a delivery today. It’s from a lawyer’s office.”
“Finally!” Gem shoots to her feet and takes off for the house.
How she manages to move that fast and stay upright on those heels is a miracle. I know I move around on slippery ice on razor sharp blades, but I doubt I could pull off the speed she does in those shoes if I tried.
“All right, girls,” I call. “Time to get out and shower off before dinner.”
“Aw, come on,” Cass whines. “We’re not hungry.”
The fact Stell’s head whips in her twin’s direction, a look of surprise on her face, tells me they are not in accord with Cass’s words.
“Gem’s home early. She wants to take us out for dinner.”
I’m playing dirty, I know the second I mention Gem the girls will do whatever I ask. The bond they formed with her in the first few days back at home has only strengthened since moving here.
Gem has breakfast or dinner, sometimes both, with us every day, even though she’s been back at work full-time since we arrived. Most days, it’s me and the girls in the house sorting through our things, because school hasn’t started, and I haven’t had any team commitments yet.
That changes next week.
The first of which is a meet and greet for all the Rogues players and staff.
I worried about taking the girls, but Gem assured me they’ll be fine. She’s organized activities and care for anyone who wants or needs it because the meet and greet is not only for players and coaches, it’s for everyone working for the Rogues.
Partners and children are encouraged—expected—to attend as well, to help build a support network for those who have relocated to Baton Rouge.
Which pretty much means everyone.
I’m looking forward to meeting my teammates. Speaking with my coaches. I haven’t had any kind of exercise routine since Dad died and I know I’ve lost physical strength. It remains to be seen how much.
With the new gym I can start training sooner than later. I hadn’t planned on it taking as long as it has to set up, but now that it is, I’ll be taking advantage of any free time I have around caring for the girls.
“He signed it!”
The shout from behind makes me jolt upright and I spin around. Gem is standing in the doorway waving a big wad of papers. It doesn’t take a genius to know what they are.
“You’re divorced?” I say as I push to my feet.
“Yes. Finally.” She lowers the bundle and fans through the pages. “I think the threat of taking away all the money did it.”
I haven’t been privy to the negotiations with her ex, but I have overheard enough to know she drew a line and forced him to it. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
She stops moving, her eyes zipping up to meet mine. “Why would you ask that?”
“It cost you a lot of money and property to get his signature.”
“Not as much as it would have if he hadn’t been a prick and tried to squeeze me for more. It took a while, but he finally worked out I wasn’t fucking around when it came to reducing his payout by five million every day he didn’t sign.”
I don’t like seeing the effect her ex has on her. It makes me want to hunt him down and remind him how to be a gentleman. I might not get into fights during a game—my position leaves me out of ninety-nine percent of them—but I know how to throw a punch.
To take our minds off the man and put it squarely on the happy part of her relationship with him, I say, “Dinner will be a celebration then.”
“One between you and me, right?”
“Of course. But aren’t you going to tell Oakley, Blake, and Cami?”
I’ve only met Oakley so far, and only because I had a meeting with my agent and the Rogues’ owner when I signed my deal the second day we were in Baton Rouge.
“No. Not yet. I’ll probably mention it next week at our monthly cocktail hour.”
“Cocktail hour?”
“Once a month we get together like we used to before we started Rogue sportswear.”
“A business meeting with alcohol?”
“No. A best friends get together. For a few hours we try not to talk about work at all.” She shrugs. “Sometimes we don’t have a choice, but most of the time we stick to the rule of no shop talk.”
“I assume Oakley and Blake leave their husbands at home.”
“Yes. Their kids too. Although baby Drew came for the first few months of his life.”
“How old is he again?” I think he’s around the same age as Candace but I’m not sure.
“Um…eight months?”
I laugh. “Is that a question.”
“Kind of. He was born at the end of last year…so no, he’s seven months?”
I can’t hold in a second laugh. “Let’s leave it as a couple of months older than Candace for now.”
“Oh. I never even thought. They’re almost the same age.”
“Where are you taking us for dinner?” Cass interrupts us, stopping beside us, dripping water all over the ground.
“Where’s your towel?”
“I’ll get it in a second. So?” She ignores me and looks at Gem.
“How do burgers sound?”
“With fries?”
“Of course. Who eats a burger without fries?”
Stell has joined us, and both the girls look at me. With a sigh, I raise my hand. “Me. It’s me. I eat burgers without fries.”
“Are you even human?” Gem asks, the twitch of her lips telling me she’s struggling to hold back a smile.
“Yes. But only in the off season. And no more than a couple of times.”
“Whoa.” Gem shakes her head. “I’m always surprised by the weird dietary restrictions you players have. They’re never the same.”
“I don’t have many, but I hate weighing my body down with carbs, so I make sure I don’t eat many.”
“Well, you might want to make an exception tonight. Where we’re going has the most amazing duck fries.”
“Duck fries?” Cass takes a hasty step away, shaking her head. “I’m not eating duck!”
Gem laughs. “They’re called duck fries, but they’re not made of duck, only cooked in duck fat,” she explains.
“I’m not sure that’s any better,” Cass pouts. “Do they have normal fries?”
“Yes.” Gem palms Cass’s shoulders and turns her around. “Now go grab a towel, head upstairs, and shower so we can get going.”
Stell follows her sister although, unlike Cass, she’s already dried off and wrapped in a towel. I wait until the girls have gone inside before I ask the question that has been plaguing me since Gem first came home.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to take over the basement with gym equipment?”
“Yes. Stop worrying about it. I won’t change my mind.” She waits for me to acknowledge her words before saying, “I’ll go get changed—how long do you think it will take the girls to get ready? I might do some work before we leave.”
“I have to wake Candace.” Glancing at my watch I see it’s time to do that anyway. If she sleeps any later, getting her to sleep tonight will be a struggle. “Will half an hour work for you?”
“Perfect. But I won’t do anything that can’t be interrupted so come get me if you’re ready before.”
I nod. “I’ll send the girls in.”
One thing I haven’t done is intrude on her personal space. We’ve taken over her house, basically pushed her into a couple of rooms, and I don’t want to infringe on her territory any more than we have.
I might be curious about her space, but that’s because I’m curious about her. She’s such a different person when in work mode.
It will be interesting to see how things go once we’re working together. And I know she said she isn’t in the training facility and only around on game days but she’s still my boss.
And we’re living together.
And as off today, we’re free to follow through on her suggestion to give the girls more security and get married.