“The way I see it, you have a few choices.”
“And each one has consequences?” I look at her for confirmation even though I know the answer.
“If you don’t say something now and this comes to light years from now, Matty may have some animosity toward you. Or maybe want nothing to do with you at all . . . ”
“And if I say something and I’m wrong, I start World War five.”
“What happened to three and four?” she asks.
I chuckle even though this situation is nothing to laugh about. “Three happened in high school and four is currently going on.”
“Eh, mere conflicts,” she says. We both laugh and fall into a comfortable silence, although the voices in my head are screaming. I pull Bellamy into my arms and press my cheek to the top of her head. I’m comfortable like this, with her, showing affection, and want to figure out a way to make things last, even though everything is so new with us. One night together shouldn’t have me jumping into the puddle with both feet.
“I think he hits Annie.”
Bellamy pulls herself away and looks at me. “If he does, that means Matty isn’t safe.”
I nod. “She wants to play ball for me, and I keep asking why. Is it because Brett’s mean to her? Is he hitting her too? It can’t be about who I am because right now I’m a broken pitcher who spends three days a week in rehab and the rest of my free time courting the local real estate agent. Other than a team, I really have nothing to offer her.”
“You have you.” She places her hand on my heart. “People see the goodness you’re doing.”
“They also see me as an enemy.”
“Only Brett’s cronies. They’re used to kissing his ass and being told their kid is the best — or at least thinking it — when in actuality, their child is mediocre but because of their friendship with him, they’re treated differently. It’s the same mentality my ex has. He thought if I were more accommodating to Brett, Chase would be on his team.”
“I want to go back and punch him again for what he said to you.” He needs his ass kicked for being a slime ball. “I still have to contend with that situation too.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know if I’m coming or going right now.”
She clasps her hand with mine. “Well no matter which way you’re going, Chase and I will be by your side.”
“Promise?”
“Of course.” Bellamy grins. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support you. If you want to talk to Annie, you can invite her over to my house if you’re not comfortable taking her to your parents’. My door is always open, and if you want to have Matty there, so be it. Whatever you want, Hawk. It’s yours.”
The woman next to me is amazing. For almost a month I fought my attraction to her because I didn’t think it would be fair to put her through the heartache of saying goodbye. Of course, that was all dependent on her actually liking me, which she does. Still, what we have going on here is going to be worth it. I’ll find a way to make things work, even if that means flying her back and forth to Boston and spending my off-season in Montana.
“Would you like to meet my parents?”
Her eyes go wide at my question.
“I know it’s early in this . . .” I motion back and forth between us. “But I’d really like to introduce you to my mom and dad before tomorrow at the game. They’ll be there to cheer on the team.”
“I’d love to, Hawk.”
“Perfect.”
We leave the mountain turn-off and head back to town and toward my parents’ house. I still don’t know what I’m going to do about Matty. Ignoring my feelings on the matter seems like the right thing to do, but for who? Matty? Me? I don’t know. If I’m her father, I want to know. I want to give her the opportunity to have a relationship with me, if that’s what she wants. I’d leave it all up to her. Even if she only wants to be friends, I’d do it. Still, the thought lingering in the back of my mind is that if I say something, am I opening pandora’s box? What if she’s not mine and I cause a ripple in their family infrastructure?
I don’t know what to do.
Twenty-Four
Bellamy
When I met Greg’s parents, I wasn’t nervous, not like I am now. It was after about two or maybe three months of dating when he forced me to talk to his mom on the phone. She called every Sunday at seven p.m. like clockwork. If we were studying, we had to be back in his dorm and near the phone so he wouldn’t miss her call. One time, we went to Canada to go skiing. He insisted on driving his own car because there was no way he could miss the weekly call from mom. When parents’ weekend finally came in the spring, it was like I already knew Greg’s mother. Meeting her officially was easy.
I try to imagine what Hawk’s family is like as we drive to the ranch. I went to school with his sister, Elizabeth, but we weren’t in the same friend group, which is odd for such a small town. She was part of 4H and those kids normally stuck together, often spending weekends traveling to different shows. I don’t know what group I was part of in school. All I know is I was trying to survive, get good grades, and get the hell out of dodge . . . only to return with my own child years later.
Hawk turns onto the long, somewhat windy driveway. On either side, we’re surrounded by fields blocked off by white rail fencing and on my side, there are also a half dozen horses or so. “How many horses does the ranch have?”