Chapter 22
True, I have worked hard at all times and have always played my best. But I consider myself a very lucky man.
– Jake Daubert, professional baseball player
Javier had been awake now close to thirty-six hours, maybe even longer.
He’d lost track of time, but he’d done it.
He’d made a mad dash of complete chaos through multiple time zones to get to Miami, and then flew into Havana, retrieved Lola, and returned back to Miami.
He’d been so relieved when they’d disembarked in Miami. His journey was nearly over.
All he wanted now was to crawl into his hotel bed and hibernate for the next forty-eight hours, or until he needed to meet back up with his team. However, he couldn’t do that. The next two days would be nearly as packed as today, but at least he’d be running on a little sleep.
Tonight he’d be sharing a suite with his mother and Lola. He would have rather slept curled around Cami, but she was bunking in another two-room suite with her grandpa. The same room that she’d shared with him the previous night.
His mother had chosen not to stay at the hotel last night, choosing to stay with friends instead. He was glad she’d had that opportunity, but tonight she’d be staying at the hotel with him and Lola. He hoped his mother and Lola enjoyed it while he slept.
Aunt and niece had been so excited to meet in person for the first time. Juana had been talking the poor girl’s ear off since they’d left the airport. And Javi felt a little bad about abandoning his cousin to her, but he couldn’t hang. He needed sleep.
When they got in the suite, he left them chatting in the living room, and he headed into his own room.
He kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his suit jacket that he’d worn to Havana.
It hadn’t been practical with the weather, but it had been a status symbol for the day.
He had wanted anyone who thought they might keep Lola from him to know that he was wealthy, powerful, and well-connected.
With today having gone successfully, he had two days before he needed to meet back up with the team. He knew Cami had a flight set up for him to leave from here to meet the team in St. Louis, but maybe he could get her to move it.
He’d had an idea when flying back from Havana and it kept growing in his mind.
He had the ESPN interview in the morning, then his father’s family was preparing a large brunch, but maybe after it was over, he could take Lola shopping for a couple things and then they could catch a late flight into Pensacola.
His mother may not be excited about going back to Pensacola a day early, but he liked the idea of sharing his life there with Lola and Cami, too.
He’d have to check the management app, but he was pretty sure there was no one booked in his place this week, and he thought the Wahoos would be having a home game.
He picked up his phone to text Cami.
Do you think we could change our flights? Are there any direct flights to Pensacola leaving out tomorrow evening?
Give me a couple of minutes to look.
By the time he took off his pants and pulled back the covers on his bed, his phone was lighting up with a new message.
Tomorrow there’s a 6:15pm direct flight from Miami to Pensacola. And I could get a direct flight from Pensacola to St. Louis on the day after for 2:00pm.
Book those please. I’d like to show you and Lola around Pensacola. We can stay at me and mom’s house and I can show you where I played ball there. Heck, we might be able to even catch a Wahoos game.
He pulled up their schedule on his phone to check and saw the guys would be at home. He’d call tomorrow to get tickets for the game. Maybe he could arrange some special stuff, too, since it would be Lola’s first game. His phone dinged with another incoming message.
Do you want to discuss it with your mother first?
He groaned. He didn’t want to get back out of bed and put on pajama pants.
He’d planned to sleep in his boxer briefs, but he didn’t want to freak Lola out by walking out in only those, so he dug in his duffle until he found a pair of sweats.
He decided they’d work well enough, pulled them on, then opened his door and walked back out into the suite’s living room area.
Lola stared at him with huge eyes. He probably should have put a shirt on as well.
This was probably the first time she’d ever seen a man’s bare chest. Oh well. He’d remember for next time.
“Mamá,” called Javi. “I’d like for us to fly back to Pensacola tomorrow evening. I want to show Lola our house there, and where I played ball. The Wahoos have a home game we could go to.”
“Oh, but Javi, we haven’t even seen everyone here yet,” she said.
“We can come back to visit sometime,” he replied. “We don’t want to overload, Lola. And we’re already going to be having brunch tomorrow with family.”
“I guess,” replied his mother, and he could tell she was slightly disappointed.
“Are you sure you don’t want to fly back to Arizona with Cami and Lola?” he asked. “Or you can go with me to St. Louis for my game.”
“No, I need to get back to the bakery. I only took a few days off work,” she replied.
“Okay,” he replied, noticing that Lola’s head volleyed between them like she was watching a tennis match.
He turned to go back into his room. “l’ll tell Cami to make all the arrangements. I’m going to bed. I’ll see y’all in the morning.”
The next morning, Javi and Camdyn dropped her grandpa off at the airport so that he could catch his flight back to Albuquerque.
The distance from there to Oasis was about the same as the distance from Phoenix, and he had plans to meet up with some colleagues before Brett would drive over to pick him up.
Then he and Cami had gone to his ESPN interview. The interview had been very straightforward and hadn’t taken long at all to complete.
From there they headed to Javier’s grandfather’s house, where they met back up with Juana and Lola.
This wasn’t his mother’s side of the family—none of these people were a blood relative of Lola—but like the rest of the world, they knew her story, and they were excited that Javier had been able to bring his cousin to the States.
“Javier!” called an elderly man when they walked in.
Javier was holding Camdyn’s hand and pulled her along behind him. “Abuelo, I’ve missed you,” he said, as he hugged the man.
When he released him and stepped back, Javi said, “Abuelo, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Camdyn.”
The man, whose face was weathered, smiled widely and greeted Camdyn with a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to my home, Camdyn. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
They chatted with his many different tías, tíos, and primos. Some he hadn’t seen in years.
Then there was a multitude of authentic Cuban dishes that Javi hadn’t even realized he’d been missing. Some he’d not had in years and his Camdyn fell in love with the pastelitos de guayaba y queso.
“Those may be the best things I’ve ever eaten,” she claimed.
She wasn’t wrong. They were delicious and Lola seemed to enjoy them as well.
After they’d socialized for some time, they said their goodbyes and Javi promised his abuelo that he’d come back to visit before spring training started up.
Their busy day ended up not leaving much time for shopping, but they tried to hit a couple of his mother’s favorite local shops before heading to the airport.
The previous day, Lola had been very nervous on the flight from Havana to Miami.
It had been her first time on an airplane, and it had been just a little puddle jumper at that.
She’d been brave and done so well on that flight.
But even though she had flown the day before, Javier could tell Lola was still nervous to fly again.
“It will get easier with time,” he reassured her, and Lola reached out her hand to take his. She squeezed and he gave her a light squeeze back.
“Do you want me to talk the whole flight again? Or I could let you watch a movie on my phone?” he said.
She chose the movie and Javi couldn’t believe how fast she was adapting to everything.