Chapter 24 Weston
Weston
I woke to a text from Malik, thanking me for helping him break the news to his father. They’d spoken for most of the evening, and while this was not the path they’d mapped out, they were on board to try and make it work.
Rereading Malik’s text brought me back to the conversation I’d had with Antonia about Miriam and how her parents had kicked her out of the house when she told them she was pregnant.
I didn’t know if times were changing or if it was the difference in parenting.
One never knew how a parent was going to react to news like that, and I was thankful Gordon had done so with Malik’s best interest in mind.
I dressed in running gear, leashed Scout, and set off down the road. For some reason, I’d had a lot of pent-up energy these past few days, and while I wanted to think it was because of the playoffs and the expectations of the players and parents, I didn’t know if that was it.
Some of it was my lackluster love life, which was solely my fault. Samira had often wanted to set me up with someone, or a mom would flirt heavily during the summer while we were away at a tournament. Neither situation interested me. Dating hadn’t interested me until I’d laid eyes on Antonia.
I laughed at the thought. Of course I’d want to spend time with someone who had a boyfriend.
If that wasn’t bad luck, I didn’t know what was.
I supposed it was a good thing I hadn’t gotten too deep with my feelings for Antonia, especially since her boyfriend would be around town.
Not to mention, he’d likely be at the tournaments over the summer.
Jerome’s voice echoed in my mind: Not anymore, according to Samira, and she knows everything.
Every fiber in my being hoped Jerome was right. Not that I wanted Antonia hurting any more than she was, but I didn’t like the idea of this man sending Miriam’s kids away.
At least that’s what I told myself, because the truth was, I liked Antonia, a lot. And I didn’t know how I’d spend all summer seeing her with someone else.
“Great,” I muttered when Cutter’s house came into view as I recalled the unfamiliar cars in the driveway from the night before.
I thought about picking up the pace to speed by the house without anyone noticing.
I didn’t expect anyone to be outside at this hour, but in my mind, I liked to believe Antonia might’ve been thinking about me.
I laughed out loud at my thoughts and shook my head. “Get over yourself.”
I kept my pace steady for Scout’s benefit. Being a Lab, he’d tire out quickly, and there was no way I’d be able to carry the big baby home.
I slowed when I reached the Vaughns’ driveway, because I couldn’t help but look again to see which cars were parked there. Unlike last night, Antonia’s car was there.
A female voice rang out, and a door slammed. Gravel crunched, and my mind screamed at me to start running again, but I stood there, stock still, needing to see if it was Antonia.
When she stepped out onto the porch, dressed like she had been last Saturday morning, I wondered if this would become routine for us—meeting at the end of the driveway—to go get breakfast.
“You could only hope,” I muttered.
“Good morning,” she said as soon as I’d finished speaking to myself. “Who were you talking to?”
Great.
“Uh . . . Scout.”
She smiled at me and crouched to give my dog the attention I sought from her. Maybe if I was as cute as my dog . . . nope, that was just desperation at this point.
“Good morning,” I finally said when she stood. She was dressed for winter, with a knit hat on, a parka, and, if I had to guess, thermal pants. “Are you heading to the Cozy Cup Café?”
Her smile beamed, and my heart did this double flip and sank.
“I am.” She nodded toward the house. “Miri’s determined to make Cutter his game day breakfast, but Nova and I want doughnuts.” Antonia turned toward the house briefly. “I also want to give her some private time with her babies. They need it.”
Antonia stepped toward the road, forcing me to move back to give her space. She started walking and then looked over her shoulder at me. “Are you coming?”
“Yep.” We were now. I tugged Scout’s leash, and we fell in step with Antonia. “How’s Miriam doing?”
Antonia looked at the ground, her shoulders visibly lifting with her heavy sigh.
“It’s not good. Her doctor talked to her about her quality of life yesterday.
She has to spend most of her time in the hospital.
She’s home today for the game. The doctor doesn’t recommend her even going because of germs, but she insists.
I won’t tell her otherwise.” Antonia shrugged.
“I wish there was something I could do about the game and the germ thing, but there isn’t.”
“Oh, I know. I offered to have her on video chat, but Miri says it’s not the same. She wants to be there, among the fans, immersed in the atmosphere of watching the game and cheering along with everyone else.”
“How are you doing?”
Antonia stopped and looked at me for a second and then started walking again. “I have my mom here. She takes the brunt of my anger, tears, and grumpiness. Other than that, I try to remain positive for the kids and just bottle everything up.”
“Your boyfriend isn’t a sounding board for you?” I blurted out before I could stop the word vomit.
What in the hell is wrong with you? I needed my ass kicked for asking such an asinine question.
Antonia scoffed. “Brendan? No, never. And we broke up.”
I wanted to ask her to repeat herself because certainly, I’d heard her incorrectly. Jerome had been right. “Oh?”
She shrugged. “It was a long time coming. We were sort of in this limbo situation. Our relationship wasn’t moving forward, and when this shit with Miri started, he thought ultimatums were the best course of action.”
We came to the corner and waited for traffic to stop. Once it was clear, we crossed the street.
“Is this where the whole boarding school fiasco came into play?”
She nodded and beat me to the door of the Cozy Cup Café and opened it for Scout and me to go in.
We got in line, standing next to each other. “I’m buying today,” she said.
As much as I wanted to be a child and roll my eyes, I didn’t. “Fine, but I’m not happy about it.”
She laughed a little, and it was nice to hear.
“Anyway, yes. Brendan said the kids would go to boarding school so that they wouldn’t interrupt our lives. I said no. That was that.”
That was that, and now she was single.
And probably nowhere near ready to date.
We placed our orders, and I reluctantly let her pay. It wasn’t in my nature, and when I’d agreed, I didn’t think it would be the next weekend. Honestly, I thought last weekend was a one-and-done.
Antonia carried our coffees to the same table we’d sat at on our first visit. We even sat in the same seats, with Scout lying next to my chair.
“Samira, Edith, and Vera came to the hospital to see Miri this week,” Antonia said.
“I’d forgotten I told Samira that Miri would host their book club meeting, so they brought it to her.
They never made her feel like she was dying.
They were so gracious. And a bit morbid because Miri said she was going to plan her own funeral, and Vera was on board. ” She took a sip of her coffee.
“That must’ve been hard.”
“It’s all hard. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going right now.”
“How long until you have to go back to work?” I asked, taking a drink of my coffee.
Antonia pulled a sugar packet from the small ceramic holder. “I haven’t stopped working. The nurses set me up in a conference room for when I have virtual meetings, but other than that, I can do most of my work via email.”
“That must be nice.”
She lifted one shoulder. “I’m not going to be able to continue this way, but I’m not sure I have it in me to move the kids. Miri loves that money pit of hers. It’s their home. I don’t know if I can be the one to rip it away from them.”
I couldn’t even imagine the pressure she must have been under. She put the packet back and smiled at Samira as she approached with our food. “I’ll have the doughnuts ready for when you leave.”
“Thank you,” we said at the same time.
After a few bites, she looked at me and said, “So, I googled you while I was on the phone with my dad the other day.”
I hung my head in mock horror. As far as professional athletes went, I was pretty tame. I was never in trouble, not with my career or personal life.
“Let me guess: I’m your dad’s favorite player, and he’s coming to town to take a photo with me?” I leaned back in the chair and grinned widely.
Antonia laughed, and this time the sound went right to my heart. Why was everything so easy with her?
“Actually, he said you had a great career until you had to have surgery, and he wanted me to ask why you didn’t return to the game.”
I ran my fingers along my cup of coffee. My manager had asked the same question. At the time, the answer had been simple: Brianna.
“If it’s too personal, you don’t have to answer.”
“No, it’s not that.” I sat up straight and picked at my food.
“I thought about returning, but there were things I wanted out of life that I thought my wife wanted. Turns out I was wrong. When I said I wanted to retire, she asked for a divorce. She wanted the glamorous life—the big city, the spotlight, traveling to away games. When I got injured, I realized there was more to life than baseball. I wanted to settle down in a small town, maybe start a family; she realized we wanted completely different things. She didn’t want kids or the quiet life I was craving.
She wanted a husband who could give her the lifestyle she thought she deserved.
” I paused, meeting Antonia’s eyes. “The ironic thing is, she’s now married to a basketball player, living exactly the life she wanted.
We just weren’t compatible when it came to what really mattered. ”
“Brianna was your wife’s name?”
This time, I laughed. “Thank you, Wiki.”
“She’s very pretty.”