Chapter twenty Scottie #3
“Come here,” he says, motioning for me to come closer, his voice thick with emotion. As I nestle into his side, he cups my chin and guides my gaze to meet his. “If I didn’t love you before, this would have sealed the deal for me.”
“That’s how I felt when you pulled those papers from your truck tonight.
” The corner of his mouth lifts, but I continue.
“I was always watching, Grady—every game, every milestone, I was invested. We may have lost touch through no one’s fault but my own, but you were still very much a part of my life. ”
He leans his forehead on mine. “I don’t want to question what if, but…”
I press a finger to his lips. “Don’t. We’re right where we’re supposed to be. You and me, and our baby.” He moves his hand to my stomach. “But I was always proud of you, and now even more so because you are the man I’ve always known you were supposed to be. And I love you so fucking much.”
Grady slides us down to the bed, and I rest my head on his chest. He strokes my back, drawing circles with his fingers. “So, are you ready to agree to move in with me now?”
I chuckle. “I guess I don’t have a valid argument against that anymore, do I?”
“Not at all.”
I twist my face so I can look at him. “Yes, we can live together.”
“I already have a room ready for the baby.”
Rolling my eyes, I say, “Doesn’t surprise me.”
“Did you think I wasn’t going to at least have something in the works?” he says, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “You might have been on the fence about that, but I was serious.”
“Did you paint the walls pink?”
“All I have is furniture. I was hoping we could finish the rest together when you pulled your head out of your ass.”
“Hey!” I reach up to twist his nipple, but he grasps my hand before I can, twisting his body so he’s hovering over me now.
“You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met, Scottie. Knowing my luck, our daughter is going to get that from you too.”
“You’re going to be outnumbered, Grady.”
“I have Chase on my side still, at least for the next few years.”
“Then what happens after he’s gone off to school or moves out?”
He cups the side of my face. “Then it will just be me and my girls, and Chase—the way it should be—the way it always was supposed to be, babe. And I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
***
“So what does this mean?”
I’m sitting across from my son in our living room.
It’s Sunday morning after the night that made me realize all my sacrifices to get to this moment were worth it.
Before Chase came home from his friend’s house, Grady left to grab donuts—and apple fritters, of course—to give me a chance to talk to Chase alone.
I wanted him to be able to voice any concerns freely without Grady around.
“This means that Grady and I are going to be together, and before your sister comes, we’re moving in with him.” As Grady and I lay down to sleep last night, I realized my life was about to change quicker than I had anticipated. But it feels right. I just hope my son supports this development.
Chase scoffs, but I can hear the teasing tone in his reply. “Seems kind of backwards seeing as how you’re already pregnant.”
“Watch it,” I chastise him, but can’t deny that he’s right.
“I know it seems out of order, but the truth is, Grady and I have a past and our feelings from back when we were younger only seem to have grown. Yes, we’re having a child and that wasn’t planned, but what we do have the ability to choose is the chance at being a family, and we both really want that. ”
Chase studies me for a moment. “What about Dad?”
“Grady knows your father isn’t involved in our lives anymore.
He knows that we left and have no intention of going back.
But there’s something important you should know as well.
” I take a deep breath and prepare to tell my son the truth about his dad.
“Your father relinquished his parental rights, Chase.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means that legally, you no longer have to see him.”
I see my son’s jaw clench as he processes this information. “Mom…I really hate him.”
His words slash right through my heart. I stand from my chair and move to my son where he sits on the couch. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I lean into him. “Don’t hate him, Chase. He doesn’t deserve that energy from you, and hating someone takes a lot of energy, believe me.”
“He’s the worst dad. Honestly, I feel relieved that he’s not in our lives anymore.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Me too. But the best thing you can do is learn from him, Chase—learn what kind of man not to be. I hope that one day when you find the person you want to be with, you devote time and energy to your relationship, and you cherish that person and show them how much they mean to you every day. Because if your father taught us anything, it’s exactly what not to do.
And when you have kids of your own, be there for them. Stick to your word. Be like…”
“Grady,” he finishes for me, glancing over at me now. A tear falls as I nod, so grateful that my son has that man as an example to look up to now—and that he chose us.
Chase nods, silent for a few moments. When he speaks again, though, his words tell me that I’m taking the right step forward. “I like Grady, Mom. He’s a good man.”
Speaking around the lump in my throat, I say, “He is.”
“He’s taught me a lot.”
“Me too, Chase.”
“This kid is lucky to have him as a dad,” he continues, reaching down to touch my stomach.
“Yeah, she is.” I look my son in the eyes. “But she’s just as lucky to have you as her big brother, Chase.”
***
Two Weeks Later
“Hold that right there.” Grady bends over the fender of the Nova while Chase holds something in place. With a wrench in his hand, Grady reaches down into the engine compartment, flicks his wrist a few times, and then stands tall again. “Perfect.”
“It’s gonna run, right?” Chase asks, wiping sweat from his brow. I watch the two of them from the doorway separating the reception area of Grady’s Garage from the garage itself.
It’s Saturday evening and Chase has been here since eight.
When my son practically launched himself out of bed this morning, I thought something had to be wrong.
Turns out, this was the day they planned to put the motor back in the car, and he was desperate to see if his newfound knowledge was worthwhile.
My stomach growls as my body reminds me that dinnertime is upon us, but I just don’t have the heart to interrupt the two of them yet.
This is how our life is supposed to be.
Taking a deep breath so I don’t overwhelm myself with that train of thought, I lean against the doorjamb and continue to watch my son learn from the man that has taught him more in the past few months than his father did in his entire life.
Grady pats Chase on the shoulder before wiping his hands on the rag he pulled from the back pocket of his jeans. “It better. Otherwise, we have to take the whole engine apart again.”
“Really?” Chase asks in disbelief.
Grady laughs. “Maybe. Let’s just hope we put it back together correctly the first time around.”
“I wonder what it’s like to drive a car like this.
” My son steps around the front end, running his hand down the lines of the body, tracing the door handle and back fender.
Grady hired someone to give the car a new coat of paint while they rebuilt the engine, so the body is now sparkling in a beautiful midnight blue, a tad lighter than it was the night I laid my body on this car.
“Wanna find out?”
Chase’s eyes pop up and lock with Grady’s. “Really?”
“Yeah. Once she’s street legal, I can teach you how to drive it. Keep in mind, this classic doesn’t have all the bells and whistles new cars have.”
Chase shakes his head. “I don’t care. I’m in.” He takes a few steps closer to Grady as they both stare down at the engine compartment. “I can’t believe we took that whole thing apart and put it back together.”
Grady places his hand on my son’s shoulder. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Chase. Thanks for your help.”
My son simply nods, and before I start bawling for the second time today—the first was when I dropped my apple fritter in the grocery store parking lot—I clear my throat, gaining their attention. “How’s it going?”
They both spin to face me simultaneously. Chase flashes me a proud grin, but Grady’s grin speaks of dirty promises as his eyes dip up and down my body, the kind of promises that I know he’s good at fulfilling.
“We got the engine in,” Chase says. “Now, we just hope it starts.”
“Can you check now?”
Chase looks back to Grady as he pulls the keys from the pocket of his jeans. “No better time than the present.” Dangling the keys in front of my son’s face, he says, “You wanna do the honors?”
“Shit. Really?”
“Chase!” I exclaim.
“Sorry.” He swipes the keys from Grady’s hands and practically jumps into the driver’s seat as Grady walks over to me, pulling me into his chest.
“Hey there.” He leans down and presses a kiss to my lips.
“Hey, yourself.”
“How was your day?” He reaches down and places his hand on my bump. “Both of you.”
“We’re doing okay. Getting hungry though.”
“Me too. As soon as we know if all our work was for nothing, we’ll go grab some food, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
Leaning down to line his mouth up to my ear, he whispers, “And then I’ll eat you for dessert.”
“I missed you,” I whisper back to him.
“Missed you too, Scottie.” He presses a kiss on my neck. “I love you.”
“Love you too, babe.”
A shiver races down my spine, but part of that may be from the roar of the engine as the car comes to life, echoing throughout the garage and pulling our attention back to my son.
“It works!” Chase yells over the noise, pushing his hand up into the air through the driver’s side window.
“Fuck yeah!” Grady beams with pride, pulling me into his side as Chase revs the gas and the engine continues to growl.
“Sounds good!” I shout loud enough so Chase can hear me.
“It does.” Grady turns to me and says, “He did good, Scottie.”
“He needed this,” I tell him.
He tucks one of my curls behind my ear. “Yeah, I needed it too.”
The baseball season is about to end, and as of today, my son has officially worked off his punishment for breaking into Grady’s Garage all those months ago.
Seems like “punishment” is too strong of a word to use now since that incident ended up being a blessing in disguise.
And God, I’m so thankful for that—for this man and his patience, his heart, and the way he’s shown up for me and my son in ways I never thought we’d have.
Chase kills the engine and steps out of the car. “God, it sounded good!”
Grady releases me and moves toward my son. “See? That sound right there was worth all the grease under your fingernails.”
Chase laughs. “I don’t know what feels better—striking out a batter at the plate, or hearing the engine I built come to life.”
“I used to feel that way too.” Grady shuts the driver’s side door. “We still have a few things to finish up on the inside, but your mom is starving, so we’d better feed her.”
“Yeah, this baby girl needs to eat,” I say, rubbing my belly.
“I’m starving too.” Chase moves to the sink to wash the grease off his hands.
“Better start upping your protein. We have three of our biggest games coming up,” Grady says, eyeing me over his shoulder as he scrubs his hands beside my son.
“I don’t see how we could lose. We’ve been on a winning streak pretty much all season.”
Grady shakes his head. “Never go into a game cocky, Chase. Just because you won the last one doesn’t mean shit. Each game is a new battle, and you should always play as if it’s your last.”
Something in his words strikes a chord with me.
My entire adult life has felt like a battle up until this point—fighting for my son, my freedom, and my worth.
But it turns out that the man that was made for me came into my life when I was fourteen. I just had to go through a lot of lessons and hurt to get back to him.
I don’t regret our time apart, though. In fact, without those years, I wouldn’t have Chase.
But now, I have the promise of a future I never knew was possible, and it’s all because of Grady—the boy who shared a passion for the same sport I loved, my friend that chased his dreams, even when mine shifted, and the man who loves me now, showing me that sometimes, when you fall, the right person will be there to pick you up and guide you to your next adventure—the one you were meant to take all along.