Chapter 3
Schmidt
Winnie’s gorgeous. Not just the normal pretty you see all over the place, she’s stop you in your tracks gorgeous. Her long brown hair is so dark it’s almost black and she has striking light blue eyes. She looks so much like Ellie, yet so vastly different.
Ellie was sweet and innocent, where Winnie comes off as someone who will get in trouble for what comes out of their mouth and she has a rebellious streak in her, I can see it in her eyes. Yet, I know I can trust her with Tali.
I can't explain it and it doesn’t make sense, but I feel comfortable with her in my home and with my daughter. I'm hoping to get some time with the two of them before I have to leave Tali though. Anything to make me feel a little more at ease with this transition.
“I can start today, tomorrow, next week, whatever works for you. My lease on my apartment is up at the end of the week. I was planning on moving in with Wheeler until I figured out my next move. I know you’re busy with spring training, do you want me to move in with Wheeler for a few weeks or move in here? ”
“I think you should move in soon. I want to make sure Tali’s comfortable with you before I start traveling for the season.”
“Ok, no problem… My only issue is, I’d normally have Smithy and Wheeler help me move my stuff.” She nibbles on her bottom lip.
“I can hire movers.”
“I really think you should just tell them, Jamie.” Winnie moves a little closer to me so she can peek at Tali, still asleep on my shoulder.
“Why?”
“Because I’ll have a hard time keeping this to myself.
Because I think it would be better for you and her to have a bigger group of people to rely on…
Because I’d love to be able to bring her to your games and let her see her daddy do something he’s amazing at.
As she gets older, she’ll want to watch you play.
She’ll want to be included. You can’t keep her in the dark forever. What kind of life is that?”
I frown straight ahead at the blank wall as I let her words wash over me. She’s right. I can’t hide Tali forever. Eventually, she’ll feel like I’m doing it because I’m ashamed of her and I don’t want her ever feeling like she isn’t the most important thing in the world to me.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped. I shouldn’t be telling you what to do, it’s not my place.
” She ducks her head as her cheeks pinken the smallest amount.
“I don’t have children and I have no idea what I would do in your situation.
I’ll just go. Have a good night.” She stands, but before she can move, my voice stops her.
“You’re right,” I say softly.
“What?” She peers down at me with a furrowed brow.
“You’re right. About it all.”
Winnie slowly lowers herself back onto the couch and watches me carefully. She’s not relaxing back into the cushion, but sitting on the edge like she isn’t quite sure if she wants to stay or go.
“It’s not fair to ask you to keep your life and job a secret.
I can’t stop you from inviting Liliana over to hang out or from letting your friends help you move.
I can’t control every aspect of your life.
But also, I don’t want Tali thinking she isn’t important or that I'm embarrassed of her. She’s the only thing I care about and she’s shown interest in my games according to Martha.
I think she’d love to go to the games… but maybe sitting in a box and not in the crowds.
” I rub the back of my neck, more than a little uncomfortable with the thought of Tali sitting among the fans.
“I think she’d love that and personally, I’d rather sit in a box too.” Winnie flashes me one of her bright smiles before glancing at her watch.
“If you need to go, you can. I don’t want to keep you from any plans you might have.”
“Oh, no! Nothing like that. I’m just getting hungry. I’m trying to fast and it might kill me.” She chuckles, her sweet laughter filling the living room.
It’s so weird to see a woman in my home. This isn’t the home I owned when Ellie was alive. That one is three thousand miles away and it feels like a lifetime ago.
In fact, I think the only females to ever enter this house are Martha and Tali. Given the fact Martha’s old enough to be my mother, I never really thought about her being here.
“When can you eat? I used to do eighteen hours of fasting, so I understand the struggle.”
“I have fifteen more minutes,” she groans, letting her head fall back against the couch.
“How about you take Tali and I’ll make us some dinner? Unless you have plans…”
“No plans. I'm a pretty boring person. I'm a homebody most of the time, unless Wheeler makes me go out with him to Kennedy’s Pub.”
“Then it sounds like we’ll get along great.”
I carefully transfer Tali into Winnie’s waiting arms and watch them for a few seconds, making sure Tali isn’t going to wake up. She’s fairly good at staying asleep, but you never know.
As soon as I'm sure she’ll stay asleep, I head into the kitchen and start pulling things out of the fridge for bowls. I started eating these when Tali was an infant. It was easier to meal prep and quickly make myself a healthy dinner or lunch when I needed it.
Now, I have a chef who makes all of my food. I don’t have the time to spend in the kitchen like I used to and any spare time I have, I want to spend with Tali.
Heating up a pan, I scoop a little bit of butter into it, then toss in the onions, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, black beans, and white potatoes. After sprinkling some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes on them, I cover the pan and let the vegetables soften.
In another pan, I cook up some pulled pork and beef brisket. I cooked the meats in my smoker yesterday and have been waiting to make a bowl with them.
“You don’t have any allergies, right?” I call from the kitchen.
“Not unless you plan on letting a bee sting me. Foods haven’t tried to kill me yet.”
“Ok, good.” I chuckle and shake my head, enjoying having someone else to talk to a little too much.
Once the meat is finished cooking, I separate it into two large bowls and make a few sunny side up eggs for both of us. I top the meat with the veggies and then place the eggs over them.
In a separate bowl, I set aside a small portion of everything for Tali. She loves to have this for dinner and she’s now to the age I don’t need to make her something separate.
“Dinner’s all ready.” I walk into the living room and a weight hits me in the chest seeing Tali on Winnie’s lap. They look like they could be mother and daughter.
My little girl is staring up at Winnie with wide eyes, but she doesn’t say anything. As soon as she hears my voice, she whips around in my direction and a bright smile spreads across her face, making her pacifier almost fall out of her mouth.
“Da-Da.” She wiggles off of Winnie’s lap and races over to me. Holding her arms up in the air, she waits for me to pick her up and settle her on my hip.
“Are you ready to eat, pretty girl?”
“Always!” Winnie hops off the couch, then winces. “You were talking to Tali, weren’t you?” She scrunches up her nose, looking more than adorable. She seems to do that a lot.
“I was, but the question stands for both of you.”
Winnie follows me into the kitchen and waits for me to strap Tali into her highchair. I motion for her to take a seat at the table, then grab the bowls for the girls. I secure a bib around Tali’s neck, then grab her a drink.
“Would you like water or a seltzer water? I don’t have much else, sorry. Once I start spring training, everything I shouldn’t be consuming gets tossed.”
“A seltzer would be great. I might have a tiny obsession with them. I traded soda for seltzer when I started this whole trying to eat better phase. Something about the carbonation makes me feel like I'm not drinking water.”
“I get it. Is there a reason you changed your diet?”
“I don’t know. I feel like a fat slob every time I eat around Smithy or Wheeler.
They’re so particular about their diets.
Now that Liliana’s living with Smithy, she’s doing the same thing.
I’ve debated on going to the gym, but I don’t know what I'm doing there. I guess I just want to get healthier and stronger. I'm not getting any younger and I don’t want these curves to get out of control.” She motions to her figure and I let my gaze move up and down her body.
I don’t know what she’s concerned about. She has an hourglass figure. Sure, she has a little wider hips than what most people would consider ideal and her thighs are a little thicker, but I think she looks amazing.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, but I’d be happy to help you.”
“Oh, I wasn’t asking for that, I was just saying. I'm sure you’re too busy to worry about me.” She waves me off. “I'm supposed to be helping take things off your plate, not add more to it.”
“Well, the offer stands. I’m happy to give you some pointers or create a workout plan for you. As far as eating healthier, I have a chef who preps these meals for me during the season. I can ask him to double what he makes, then you don’t have to think about it at all.”
“That’s really kind of you, but seriously, I'm not trying to make things more difficult.” She smiles up at me as I set her drink in front of her and take the seat across the table from her.
I tug my phone out of my pocket and shoot off a text to the chef, asking him to start making me meals for two. I want to help her and make her feel more at home here.
I don’t know why, but Winnie makes me feel comfortable having her in my space. I was worried about having a stranger here, but she doesn’t feel like a stranger. She feels like she belongs here and like we’ve known each other forever.
Once I’ve taken a bite of food, Winnie follows my lead. Her eyes widen and she stares down at the bowl.
“This is amazing!” She covers her mouth as she speaks with her mouth full.
“I eat them every day and Tali loves them too. Right, baby girl?”
Brushing Tali’s loose strands of hair away from her face, I press a soft kiss to her cheek. She smiles up at me with sweet potatoes squishing out from between the few teeth she has.
“Holy crap, the two of you are adorable together,” Winnie gushes, placing a hand over her heart.
“Thanks?”
“No, I'm serious! I'm not sure I’ve ever seen a cuter daddy daughter pair. You’re making me want kids and that’s not good.” She waves her hands through the air like she’s trying to erase the thought from existence.
“Why isn’t that good?”
“Because every time I think I want to settle down and have a family, I crawl back to Wheeler and that’s the last thing in the world I should be doing.”
“You said you and Wheeler dated?”
“Throughout all of college,” she sighs.
“What happened?”
“Well, I didn’t want to follow him through the minors and majors.
I was already working for the Marshalls and I didn’t want to give them up.
It was like a unicorn job. So, I broke things off with him, but he was put in the majors so quickly and stayed in Philadelphia. We’ve dated off and on since then.”
“But you don’t want to date him?” My brows crinkle as I try to figure out why she wouldn’t want to be with Wheeler.
He’s a really great guy and he seems like he’d be a good boyfriend, I don’t understand why she wouldn’t want that.
Most women would be jumping at the chance to date a professional athlete.
“Wheeler and I are… We’re great together, until we’re not.
Things are either going better than imaginable, or we’re at each other’s throats.
I know it will never work out long term.
We’re too similar. Too stubborn. Neither one of us are ever willing to break.
And, I don’t think he’ll commit to me. Not really. ”
“He wouldn’t cheat on you.” I scowl, I know Wheeler enough to know cheating isn’t his thing.
“No, I know he wouldn’t cheat, but he doesn’t want a wife and kids.
He doesn’t want that sort of responsibility, at least not yet.
He likes being free and I don’t want to ruin that for him, but that isn’t what I want.
” She pushes her food around on her plate as she thinks.
“I always wanted that picture perfect life, but it’s never going to happen. ”
“Why not?”
“I’d have to find someone I like enough to spend the rest of my life with.”