Chapter Twenty-Five
“Go, Lily May!” I yell from the sidelines as her hit tumbles across the small baseball field.
The rest of my family cheers along with me. No other child on the team has quite the fan club as my princess. Aubrey shed more than a few tears when they all showed up.
Aubrey looks over at me, whispering, “She's doing so well!”
I nod, glancing over at the coach who's struggling to keep the rest of the team in the dugout. “I'll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“Coach looks like he could use some help.”
Jogging over to the gate, I get the Coach's attention. “Could you use an extra hand?”
I recognize him as someone a couple years ahead of me in Wyatt's class. He was a good guy, quiet and a little nerdy like me.
“You're a lifesaver. These ones want to hit.”
With a nod from me he leaves to go help the next kid set the tee up.
“Hi. My name is Cooper.” I say to seven eager faces. “Sometimes we need to wait for our turn and batting is one of those times. Let’s all sit on the bench and cheer for our teammates!”
They all listen, sitting on the small red bench.
“What does it mean, cheer them on?” one asks.
“Well we're going to say come on—” I peek at the clipboard on the fence “—come on Amanda. So she knows that her team wants her to hit the ball.”
A chorus of high pitched voices repeat after me. Two more children hit off the tee and Lily runs from third base to home plate as the other team chases the ball in the field by the pitcher’s mound.
“I did it!” She slams into my legs when she runs into the dugout.
“You did!” I hug her back. “I'm so proud of you!”
"Wiwy, is that your daddy?”
She looks up at me before turning to the little boy. "No, my daddy is gone. Coopa is my best fwend."
If there was ever a better explanation, I've not heard it. “That's right. We're best friends.” I pull her in, hugging her from the side a little tighter.
Everyone accepts the explanation without question and t-ball is back on.
I'm not sure who, if anyone, wins the game. But all the kids had fun and that's what matters to me. I'll be back next week in the dugout. It seems I've volunteered myself to help coach.
Aubrey saunters up to me, “You're really sexy when you coach t-ball.” She grins.
“Oh yeah? T-ball coach is your fantasy?” I chuckle.
“Being amazing with my daughter is sexy. It's all I want for her. I never want her to be the kid without a dad.”
I'm about to tell her what happened in the dugout when we're interrupted.
"Mommy, can I get ice-cweam wif Wibby girl?"
Aubrey looks over at Emma, who shows no remorse about bypassing her and going straight to the four year old. “Well, is it okay with Ms. Emma?”
Screaming across the parking lot, Lily yells, “Is otay Ms. Emma?”
“It's more than okay!” my sister yells back.
“Okay, you can go, but make sure you behave yourself.” Aubrey kisses her on the forehead.
“Yesssss!” Lily doesn't spare us a second glance.
I tug Aubrey over to the car, “Come on, we've got to go.”
“Go where?” she asks, taking her seat in the passenger side of my truck, looking around for any clue of where we’re going.
“I might have been in on the ice-cream date. Emma is going to keep Lily for the day so you and I can go to Hemlock Cove.” I reach behind me, pulling the bag I packed earlier to the front seat.
“This morning I packed each of us a change of clothes.
We're going to Bob’s. It's about time you stopped bugging me to bring you.” I laugh.
“Is Emma sure? She has full hands with Olivia.” I can hear the worry rising in her voice about accepting help from us.
“Emma will be fine. Mom is going over with her. You know she can't help herself. She loves being a Mimi and this is her dream Saturday night.”
A heavy sigh from Aubrey followed by silence. "You're right. They're so good with Lily and you're perfect for planning this surprise day.” She relaxes into her seat.
“If you don't want to go because of last night, I totally understand. I had booked the inn while I was missing you in Boston, but Kane called to cancel for us after I told him I thought you'd want to be home.” I ramble.
“It’s perfect.” She rests her hand on mine.
Giving her a bright smile, I pull the truck onto the road.
A road trip with my girl is just what we need, especially if we get to be home in time to put our princess to bed.
It’s truly a joy to see Aubrey this relaxed. She’s laughing with Nora, the guys’ friend who owns the coffee shop. They’re exchanging horror stories of dating and at this point I’m just grateful to not be included in there.
“Thank you, Rosie.” I say to the quiet waitress as she drops another round of beers on the table.
I turn to Kane. “Is everything okay with her? She looks like she’d rather never set foot out in public and I don’t think I’ve heard her speak at all.”
“Oh, you’re absolutely right. She’s had a tough childhood, made her a little reclusive. But she’s a sweet girl.” He shrugs.
I nod in understanding. “I’m glad you guys were able to take the afternoon off to hang out with us. I wanted her to meet everyone.”
“I’m just glad you guys still came. I can’t imagine what you all have going on. How do you not want to just lock her up and keep both of them safe?” He asks under his breath so the rest of the table doesn’t hear.
“It’s really fucking hard, but I have an idea of who it is, and I won’t fucking let him win.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“Nolan.” My lips press into a tight line. Fuck Nolan.
“Shit. Why would he do this?”
I suck in a deep breath, trying to not let myself get riled up.
“He’s pissed I won’t give up my blog. He’s pissed that he never made me sign a non-compete and I went off on my own.
And he’s pissed I keep getting the contracts that I’m pretty sure he wants to embezzle from. I don’t trust that fucker.”
“You really think he’d go so far as to threaten you?”
“I know he would.” I take a sip of my beer. “But I also don’t think he’d do the dirty work himself. What I don’t like is not knowing who he has following us. Because he doesn’t have the balls to do that on his own.”
He leans back in his chair. “Shit. I hope Wyatt can get information soon. You guys don’t deserve his bullshit.”
“No, she doesn’t. She did nothing to him other than being associated with me.”
I glance over at Aubrey. Her head is thrown back laughing at something Granger said. She’s happy, carefree.
Sliding over to her, I pull her chair toward myself so she’s close enough for me to lean over and whisper. “Wanna get out of here and go get ice-cream to walk along the beach?”
A smile splits her face. “Yes!”
Pulling her chair out, I stand and hold my hand out to her to take.
“We’re going to take off.” I announce to the group.
“Thanks for coming, man. It was nice to see you.”
We wave, and I lead her out of the restaurant. “Was Bob’s everything that you dreamed of?”
She laughs. “Absolutely. It was delicious. But I’m excited for ice-cream and a walk alone with you.”
“What flavor are you going to get?” I ask her as we approach the small stand next door.
“Black raspberry.” She grins. “With rainbow sprinkles.”
“Rainbow sprinkles?” I laugh.
“I like a little bit of fun.” She shrugs, ordering her ice-cream.
Stepping up to the window, I place my order. “I’ll get a small Oreo on a cone.” Looking at her, I continue, “with rainbow sprinkles.”
She winks at me and I’m hit with a huge sense of Deja vu. A vision of her, only an older version is smiling back at me as we eat ice-cream cones on the beach with rainbow sprinkles.
The memory, or the future, I’m not sure which, brings joy washing over me.
Taking our cones, we walk down to the beach with a huge smile on my face.
“Today was perfect.” She bumps me with her shoulder. “Thank you for getting me out of my head for a bit.”
“Anything you need, gorgeous. I’m here for you.” Sitting on the exact bench from my memory, I join her. “Do you really think it’s Jack’s dealers looking for you?”
“Do you really think it’s your boss?”
“I do. My last assignment with him was… not what I was told. He’d been on me for a year to do a political piece.
I didn’t want to. I keep my political feelings separate from my work.
And to be honest, I’m not a journalist nor do I ever want to be one.
I want to share my photos and favorite places from around the world. ”
“But he somehow got his way?” she guesses.
“You got it. It took a month for me to travel with a couple of families through safer countries to get on a flight home. When I got back he had no remorse. Just wanted my piece in a week. I quit right then and there. I was out in a dangerous area for Nolan’s own agenda and he couldn’t care less.”
She places her hand softly on my knee. “Cooper, I’m so sorry that happened. But it doesn’t explain how whoever this is has my number and knows where I live. You’re not getting photos or texts, just fake cease and desists.”
Sighing, I lean down to rest my head on the top of hers. “That’s the part of the puzzle I haven’t put together yet. But I’ll get it. I promise.”
But at the same time, I wonder. Is this a promise I can keep?