Hayley
“ T his is an absolute outrage,” my father yells in a deep, stern voice as he paces my foyer.
He’s been pacing the room as if it will do any good for the last hour, the same time my phone first lit up like a Christmas tree with articles from the Arizona Tribune and other news outlets, stating that I’ve been withholding my son from Boyce for over ten years.
That I neglected to tell him about Camden.
It’s a bunch of bullshit. Boyce denied Camden when I told him I was pregnant.
Lied to all our friends about what really went down.
Almost turned my parents completely against me.
All I’ve done is protect Camden. Protect him from being let down time and time again.
For having to explain to him that his father doesn’t want him.
Believed he was the product of someone else.
Boyce was selfish and still very much is.
“Dad, will you please settle down?”
“Settle down? Hayley Richards. That boy has messed with you one too many times, and I have just about had it now. Just like his father, he’s a cheat and a liar.”
“Jess, what can we do to get this under control?” I say to Jess Strome, Cassidy’s cousin Kyle’s girl crush. She called as soon as she read the article and hadagreed to be my lawyer on the case when Boyce first threatened the lawsuit. I’ll have to thank Kyle for that one later.
“Well, for starters, what does Camden know? I know the last time we talked, you haven’t told him about Boyce just yet.”
Shit. I forgot about that.
“That’s still the case.” I mumble a series of curses under my breath.
“I still haven’t told him.” It’s something I was going to do after Boyce got that stupid paternity test his lawyer is requiring.
I didn’t want anyone putting seeds of doubt into Cam’s head before it’s on paper proving once and for all, Camden is Boyce’s son.
“Okay, well, let’s talk this out then. Are there reporters outside your home yet?”
I look outside my living room window and see a few reporters waiting on the sidewalk in front of my stoop. Looking like vultures waiting for their next victim to fall at their feet so they can feast upon their remains.
“About a handful or so. Camden gets out of school in thirty. There’s no way they’ll be gone by then.”
“Is there someone you can have pick Camden up from school and take him to someplace out of the public eye?” she asks as if she’s trying to come up with solutions right on the spot.
I place Jess on speakerphone as I pull it away from my ear, flicking to the home screen of my iPhone. Brooks has called me three times. He must have seen the news. I open our text thread just as a message comes through.
Brooks: I’m on my way to your place.
I look around my house and internally freak out.
I haven’t told Camden about Boyce, and these articles have come to light.
I haven’t told Brooks my real last name either.
The man I love so much wants to be here to support me, yet my parents stand pacing my living room. My parents. His boss. My boss.
Yeah, I’ve made a mess of this whole thing.
Hayley: Don’t. Reporters are everywhere. I’m on the phone with Jess right now, trying to find out how to shield Camden from this. I still haven’t told him.
Brooks: What can I do to help?
I look to my father and mother. My dad is yelling in hushed tones to his PR team for the Skipjacks. It’s a scandal he wasn’t prepared for. And with my last name being a well-kept secret, except to a few employees who have been with my father since he started the team, it’s even worse.
Hayley: Pick Camden up from school and take him to your apartment. I’ll call and let them know you’re authorized to get him. I’ll meet you there.
“Jess, I’m sending Camden to Brooks’ apartment. Let me know what you find out. That’s where we’ll be till this dies down,” I say as I move toward my bedroom.
My father is hot on my heels. “Hayley, do you really think that’s smart? Brooks needs to remain focused. Not dealing with some scandal that he has no involvement in.”
“Wade,” my mother warns as his face heats with anger.
“Dad, this isn’t up for discussions. I trust Brooks with Camden. He knows the entire situation. Camden will be safe there.”
“It has nothing to do with trust, Hayley,” he yells at me, stopping me in my tracks from throwing stuff into bags.
“He’s my best goddamn player, and you’re involving him in a scandal that could distract him from what really matters.
You’re going to throw his career in the damn shitter because of some mistake that happened ten years ago.
Again, you just couldn’t listen to me when I told you to leave the boy alone.
I knew something like this would happen. ”
“Wade!” my mother yells as I collapse to my knees in front of my bed, her arms wrapping protectively around me as they’ve done so many times before. “Wade Richards. You stop this, this instant.”
“Stop coddling her, Celeste. She needs to understand that opening your legs when unwed at a young age has repercussions. It’s what she should have realized when she came home that night and told us she was pregnant with Cam.” He blows out a frustrated sigh.
Tears streak down my face as I register my father’s words. Mistake. My father sees Camden as a mistake. No matter how much he claims to love him, he’ll always see him as a mistake. A repercussion filled with baby daddy drama I so well deserve for getting knocked up at eighteen.
I push away from my mother, pulling myself off the ground.
Wiping the black mascara that’s run down my cheek.
Camden is not a mistake. He’s my world. God knew I needed him because I needed to know the true meaning of love.
A mistake he is not. A mistake was ever thinking my father truly loved Camden and supported us.
I walk over to the nightstand and pull out a black lockbox.
Entering the code, it opens revealing years’ worth of cash I put away.
Every cent I earned on my own or received as some sort of gift went into this lockbox.
Not even bothering to count it, I slam it shut and shove it into my father’s chest.
“I reckon there’s over five hundred thousand in there.
That should cover the medical bills, the childcare costs, the tuition for medical school and undergrad,” I say as more tears spill down my cheeks.
“The house payment I’ll have wired over to you from the bank, from the trust fund Grandpa gave me.
And as you know, Camden’s tuition has been paid from that.
So, with that, there’s nothing more you can hold over me for bringing my son into this world. The mistake you claim he is.”
“Hayley.” My mom sobs as she grips my father’s arm. “He didn’t mean what he said. He just wants…”
“What’s best for Camden and me?” I cut her off. “Yeah, I can see that, but it doesn’t change the fact that he thinks Camden’s a mistake and that I’m a grade A fuck up who is going to take down one of his best players.”
My father’s face is impassive, his lips tightening into a firm line as my mother sobs next to him. I always knew my father wasn’t happy back in the past, I just never knew that deep down, he was harboring all these feelings about everything.
“Please, take the money and get out of my house,” I say, turning back to pack my bags.
“I’ll have my letter of resignation to your office first thing tomorrow morning and my office cleaned out by the end of the day.
” My tone falters as tears burn the back of my eyes again.
“I won’t keep Camden from you, but I won’t allow you, Boyce, or anyone for that matter to hurt my little boy. ”
“Come on, Celeste,” my father mutters as he turns his back to me.
“But… Wade.”
“Let’s go,” he yells, causing both my mother and me to flinch.
I throw my stuff in my bag as I hear the sound of the front door slamming.
I quickly go to Cam’s room and pack a bag for him, not knowing how long we’ll actually be away from our home.
I walk down the stairs, locking the front door before meeting Cassidy in the back alley.
I throw my bags in the trunk and take a seat on the passenger side.
It’s only once I’m settled that I let the tears fall.
◆◆◆
The stadium is swarmed with reporters this morning as Brooks pulls into the underground parking garage.
Stories surfaced late last night that I lied about Cam’s father because I slept around.
Pretty sure that was Boyce who did that.
That’s what he claimed all those years ago when I told him I was pregnant.
I’ve spent hours crying as I repeat what my father had said to me over and over again.
It hurts to know the truth about my father.
How he felt all these years, no matter how much he showed pride in Camden when he participated in youth camp or dominated in youth league.
Brooks has held onto me the entire night as I unravel all that had happened.
His warm embrace soothes me as I quietly sob after Camden went to sleep.
I walk in my office, flipping on the lights. I make my way over the bookshelf and pull books, placing them on my desk in an attempt to pack. My father doesn’t try to stop me from quitting. He just stands there stoic as ever as if the heir to his legacy has just spit on his grave.
“Hayl?” Cassidy says from the doorway as she makes her way into the room. “Holy shit. You weren’t kidding when you told me you were resigning.”
She walks over to me, taking a seat next to me on the floor. My once straight hair is pulled into a messy bun, and my mascara is smudged from the tears. “You didn’t tell Brooks you were quitting, did you?”
“No,” I say through a sniff. “I told him to head back to his place without me after his morning skate. Told him I had game prep to do today and that he should get some sleep.”