Chapter 47
CHAPTER 47
M issing Him
Maribel
Eight years and ten months later …
“Cade, Chance, if you two don’t clean this room I’m going to take the front wheels off your bikes and hide all your game controllers. Stop playing with me,” I call through the house.
I’m four months pregnant and tired. I’m going to start whipping their little butts if they don’t start listening to me. My mother stands in the doorway laughing at me.
She would think this is funny. I’m getting payback for being hardheaded. I’ve been lenient with the two of them because they’ve been through a lot.
My marriage to Cam hasn’t been an easy one, not because of us but because of my crazy ass mother-in-law. That woman has done everything she could to be in our business.
We almost got a divorce because of her. It wasn’t until Kay put her in her place that she got the damn point. She told her to leave her and her family alone. However, by then I had been fed up and moved to my father’s house in Jersey.
I couldn’t take that woman showing up in our home to start shit while telling me how great a mother Kay is to her daughter Chanel. Kay is a great mother and she’s a loving wife to her husband. When his mother wasn’t fucking with my head, she was fucking with Cam’s.
I had had enough of her shit. Cam had to choose us. Raising two boys of my own is overwhelming enough when married to a baseball player who’s never home and travels the country most of the year.
Cam no longer bats for his team. He stopped batting two years ago. However, the team wanted to keep him on because of Cal, so Cam took the batting coach job they offered him.
However, he was released after Cal’s injury. Not to our surprise. I saw it coming before Cal fucked up his shoulder.
“They are taking advantage because their father is away,” my mother laughs.
“Who are you telling? He needs to come home before I hurt one of them,” I grumble as I shake my head.
My phone rings as my mother continues to laugh at me and the boys ignore me. I need a break from everything, so I pick it up happily. A smile comes to my face when I see it’s Sim.
She’s been here in New York for a few years now. She sounds happier these days. I’ve met her husband once.
He’s handsome and interesting as well. The man is observant and gives off a dangerous vibe. Some of the things Symphony said about them and their relationship makes more sense to me after meeting him.
“Hello,” I sing into the phone.
“Hey, Maribel. How are you doing?”
“Hey, Sim. I’m well. How are you?”
“I am well. I would like to share some news with you. You were on the top of my list to tell after my husband and family.”
“Sounds important.”
“Yes, it is. I have had the honor of being there for you and your twins and my brother’s as well. Now I am expecting a child of my own,” she says.
“ Aw , I’m so happy for you. This is awesome, how do you feel?”
“I am very nervous and excited. Val has been helping me and allowing me to babysit. I am thirty-seven so I worry about the baby’s health.”
I smile as she rambles on the other end. I’ve heard so much about this Val woman. She seems to be important to Sim.
“My husband says I shouldn’t be worried. We will love our child either way. Oh, wait. Those are not the things I want to talk to you about.
“I’ve called for your friendship and to make an appointment to spend time with you. Will the baseball player allow you to have lunch with me?”
I laugh to myself. I love Symphony. Hearing her think out loud is always amusing.
“Cam isn’t here,” I say sadly. “He’s in the Dominican Republic. He’s been working there for the last few months as a batting coach and trainer.”
“This has you sad?”
“Yeah, this is the second pregnancy I’ve been through without him. It was a great opportunity. I couldn’t allow him to not take it.
“Cam loves to work in the industry. I don’t want to take that from him, but I miss him. Especially after the two years we were separated.”
“I still don’t like your mother-in-law. She made me feel very uncomfortable. You should have allowed me to make her disappear.”
“Symphony.” I bark out a laugh.
“Don’t worry. Neither Uri nor Val would approve it. They don’t believe she has done enough to earn it.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Good. I probably shouldn’t have. Would it make you happy if Cam worked for a sports company here in New York?”
“That would be a dream come true, but that ain’t happening. Cam comes with a price tag. None of the New York teams are interested or they were trying to low ball him.”
“Nothing is impossible to my friends. He will be home for this baby. I have to go, Maribel. I will text about our lunch date. It was good to speak to you.”
“Congratulations, hon. I look forward to our lunch. Later.”
“Later. Be well.”
Val
I smile and roll my eyes as Sim sits across from me, popping her band on her wrist. She wants to ask me for something, but she’s going to sit like this until I ask her what she wants. I’ve grown used to her and her quirks.
Sometimes I forget that she’s two years older than me. She’s brilliant and has more knowledge than an encyclopedia but there are times when it’s clearer than others that she struggles with social settings. The woman is a born killer, so I dare anyone to tell her to her face she’s not normal.
“Spit it out, Sim. What is it you need?” I say as I look up from the reports I’ve been reading.
My business has grown exponentially since I started the bag and shoe company, and the Alliance has settled into place. So much has changed around us and continues to change.
“I have a request. It is important to me. I would ask Uri, but I find when you ask for things, he never says no.”
I purse my lips to keep from laughing. I can imagine Uri’s face if he heard this. I’m sure he would be amused.
Although there isn’t a Donati man who would deny Sim. She has them all wrapped around her finger and doesn’t know it. She’s like a baby sister in the family and they would hush you in a heartbeat over her.
She makes a face and continues. “I would ask Nico, but he teases me all the time. This is something I want taken seriously. I cannot ask Michael because he will be upset with me for going against?—”
She cuts off and waves her hand in front of her face in frustration. “I need your help. I feel most comfortable asking you. You understand women.”
“Sim, just tell me what it is you need. I don’t need you to explain yourself. If it’s important to you, I will handle the request,” I say before she can make herself any more flustered.
“I have a friend whose husband used to play baseball professionally. His name is Cameron Perry, number thirty-three. She is sad because he had to go away to the Dominican Republic for a coaching position.
“I believe he would be an asset to the sports agency. I would like Nico to offer him a job so he can be here in New York with her and the children and not miss this pregnancy as he did her other. He also has ties to Texas if they should need him there.
“He is originally from Texas. They have a home there. He would relate to Bradley. I would like if you could make this request on my behalf.”
“Is that all you need?”
“He is very proud. I would like them to make the offer without mentioning me or his wife.”
“That it?” I ask with a smile.
“Yes, that is all I needed to ask,” she says and nods, her eyes landing everywhere but on mine.
“I will take care of this for you.”
She falls back in her seat, looking relieved. I’m curious. Sim doesn’t have many friends outside our circle and even within the circle, she’s not super close to many. Not that she doesn’t want to be.
I think she gets overwhelmed by all the different personalities. Everyone loves her, but we give her her space to be her. I want to meet this friend.