Down the Line (Sports Romance)

by Cheryl Douglas

  He didn’t wait for her response before he disconnected the call. He didn’t need to hear any more of her B.S. The good news? He didn’t have to. He was so done with that woman.

  After a few hours of reflection, Ethan was slowly going out of his mind. He knew he should have been happy he’d dodged a bullet with Issie, but he couldn’t be happy when he didn’t know where the hell his wife was or whether she was coming back.

  He’d received a text from her a few days ago telling him she was fine and she’d be back soon, but when he’d tried to call her, it had gone straight to her voice mail. So she obviously wasn’t ready to talk.

  Since he felt useless at home, he was heading out to the gym to see if Ash could use help packing up the rest of his stuff. But as he was about to walk out the door, she walked in.

  “Gracie.” He dropped the keys and cell phone he’d picked up back on the console table. He wanted to drag her into his arms more than anything, but she looked tired and wary and he didn’t want to spook her. “I’m so glad to see you, baby.”

  She left a small suitcase at the door before she ventured into the living room, leaving him to follow her. “I had to get away for a while, to think.”

  “I’m sorry.” Two little words that meant so much, yet fixed nothing. “I know I should have told you about Issie’s—”

  “Why didn’t you?” She dropped down on the couch. “Why would you keep something like that from me?”

  “I didn’t want to.” He sat on the chair near the sofa, afraid to get too close in case she tried to bolt. “But we’d just gotten married. You were uprooting your entire life to be with me. I didn’t know how to tell you, honestly. Then I figured it might be best to wait ‘til I knew for sure.”

  She stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

  “Um, I just got word from that test I had done in Nashville. I’m not the father.”

  She closed her eyes and let her head fall into her hands. “Thank God.” She lifted her head. “Unless you wanted the baby to be yours?”

  “No! How can you even ask me that?” He lowered to one knee in front of her, hoping she’d at least look him in the eye. “The only woman I want to have my babies is you, sweetheart. You’ve got to know that.”

  She sighed, letting him take her hands. “I guess I do. But I still can’t wrap my head around the fact you lied to me about where you were going and didn’t tell me—”

  “I’m so sorry.” He took a risk by leaning in to brush his lips across her cheek. “I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I thought I was doing the right thing, but obviously I wasn’t. I’m an idiot.” He leaned back so he could see her face. “I was just so scared of losing you.”

  She closed her eyes, making his heart race.

  “Tell me it’s not too late. Tell me I haven’t already lost you.” When she didn’t say anything, he whispered, “Please, Gracie. This can’t be the end for us. I love you too much. You’re the only person who’s ever made me feel complete, baby. Like nothing in my life is missing.”

  She curled her hands together, resting her elbows on her knees, and he was relieved to see she hadn’t taken off her wedding rings. “You and I made a choice that will bind us together forever.”

  He wanted to believe marriage was forever, but not everyone viewed it that way—and he didn’t want her to feel stuck if she couldn’t trust him anymore. “I know I’ll have to work to earn back your trust, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I just want to hear you tell me you’re still in love with me.”

  “That goes without saying,” she said softly. “You can’t just stop loving someone. We’ve tried that before, remember?”

  It was a small consolation, hearing her tell him she loved him when he wasn’t even sure she wanted to anymore. “I know I’ll never stop loving you. Even if you choose to divorce me—”

  “I’m not going to divorce you.”

  “You’re not?” Those few words kick-started his heart. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She reached for his hands. “I’d planned to come back a few days ago, but I had a good reason for taking a little more time.”

  “I get that you needed time away from me.” He kissed her hands. “I would have reacted the same way in your position.”

  “I needed a little more time because I wanted to know whether I was pregnant when I came home. If you and Issie shared a baby—”

  “Which we don’t.”

  She smiled. “I know that now, but I wanted to know whether we were going to have to figure out how to make this blended family thing work before I talked to you again.”

  “Blended family?” he whispered, his eyes traveling to her flat stomach. “Are you saying you’re… we’re pregnant?”

  “I took the test this morning.” She tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t when he lunged at her, wrapping her in his arms. “Does this mean you’re happy?”

  “I can’t believe this.” His body was partially covering hers as his hand drifted to her tummy. “You’re actually going to have my baby.”

  “It would seem so. I still have to see the doctor, but I took two tests and both were positive.”

  “I love you so much.” He looked into her eyes before claiming her mouth. “And I love that we’re going to be starting a family, but I need to know, do you still trust me or did one stupid mistake change everything?”

  “I did a lot of thinking while I was away,” she said, toying with the buttons on his shirt as she avoided his eyes. “I hate that you lied to me, but I guess I understand why you did it. There was a lot going on and we’d just gotten married…” She looked up at him. “When would you have told me? If you found out the baby was yours?”

  “I would have told you right away, I swear.” He stroked her face, thinking how lucky he was to be getting another chance with the love of his life. And he was blessed to be having a baby with the only woman he’d ever wanted one with.

  “Would you have told me the whole truth then?” she asked, still looking wary. “About Nashville and the blood test, how long you’d known, everything?”

  “Without a doubt.” He would have told her the second he found out. “Keeping that secret from you was eating away at me, you’ve got to believe that.”

  “I do.” She curled her arms around his neck. “Is that the reason you didn’t want to try to get pregnant anymore?”

  He winced, thinking how poorly he’d handled it all. Yet he was still getting exactly what he wanted—his wife, not his ex, pregnant with his baby. “I didn’t want to put you through that. Having a baby with me at the same time Issie was… that wouldn’t have been fair to you.”

  She nodded. “I guess fate took that out of our hands though, didn’t it?”

  “Fate.” He smiled. “It’s played one hell of a role in our lives. Brought us back together when we were both single and able to act on our feelings for each other. And gave us a baby when we needed it most.”

  “Are you scared?” she asked, burying her face in his neck. “About becoming a daddy?”

  “Hell no. Bring it on.”

  Epilogue

  Fourteen Months Later

  Ethan sneaked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her. There was chaos all around them as everyone helped their beautiful baby girl tear open her Christmas presents, but he always felt grounded and at peace with his arms around Gracie.

  Grace giggled. “Look at her. She doesn’t know what to think of all this.”

  Their daughter, Emma, was sitting in her bouncy seat, wide-eyed as her aunt Bella, Uncle Jason, and both sets of grandparents tore into her gifts and oohed and aahed while holding them up for her to see.

  Ethan smiled, kissing Grace’s cheek. “What do you think she’ll think of being a big sister?”

  “Sssh,” Grace admonished, turning her lips to Ethan’s ear. “We agreed we weren’t going to tell everyone until dinner.”

  Ethan couldn’t have been happier when he opened his very last Christmas pre
sent this morning to find a tiny box with Our Baby stamped on the lid, along with a card that read Eight Weeks and had a bronze pea pod that represented how big their little bean was. It was the best gift he’d ever received, and he couldn’t wait to share the news with everyone they loved.

  “You think I’ll be able to wait that long?” he teased. “I’m dying to tell everyone.”

  She smiled as she snuggled deeper into his arms. “I’m afraid you’ll have to. Emma will be down for her nap by then, and you know the only way we’ll get their undivided attention is with our little princess out of the room.”

  Ethan laughed. True fact. Everyone loved to spoil their little girl and she ate it up, giggling and kicking her chubby legs at all the attention. “You sure you’re happy about this, baby? I know we didn’t plan it.”

  Ethan would have been thrilled to have a houseful of kids, but since he was on the road a lot, the burden fell on Gracie since she refused to get a nanny. She was a hands-on mom and he loved that, but he also worried she’d be stretching herself too thin with two babies under two. She’d been so happy since Emma was born, and he wanted her to stay that way.

  “Are you kidding?” she asked over her shoulder. “We’ve talked about having our kids close together so they can grow up together. Why wouldn’t I be happy about that? Besides, I won’t be the only one pregnant this time. Tenley and Dani are both expecting now too. And Jayda told me that she and Chase have been talking about having another baby. Isn’t that awesome? All of our kids can grow up together.”

  Ethan wasn’t about to remind her that baseball was a transient lifestyle and any one of them could get traded before the start of the next season. He’d be fortunate to have another eight years with his team, but he intended to make the most of it. He’d give everything he had and look back on his time as a pro ball player with no regrets.

  “I love that you’ve gotten so close with my teammates’ wives, but I know you miss my sister. We should invite her out to stay with us for a couple of weeks this season. Maybe when you have the baby?”

  “You know I’d love that, but I’ve already invited her half a dozen times. She always makes some lame excuse. I think she’s afraid of seeing Loran again.”

  Ethan knew that relationship, however brief, had really done a number on Bella. She refused to talk about Loran, even though he asked about her all the time. “It sucks that she’s not willing to take a chance on him. He’s changed, like really slowed down since he met Bella. I think he’s still holding out hope she’ll come around.”

  Grace sighed. “Wouldn’t it be great if she did? Imagine how amazing it would be if Bella hooked up with one of your teammates. Maybe even married him. It would mean I’d have my best friend back full-time.”

  While Ethan didn’t really like to think about his baby sister hooking up with one of his teammates, if he had to handpick one of them for her, it would be Loran. Not the skirt-chasing douchebag he’d been last season, but the one who got all soft and started talking baby talk every time he saw Emma, no matter who was around to witness his display of idiocy.

  “I guess we just have to let them work it out. Lord knows Bella has a mind of her own.”

  Bella chose that moment to look up from her duties as wrapping paper collector and narrowed her eyes at them. She jumped up, heading in their direction.

  “Uh oh,” Gracie whispered, “I think we’re busted.”

  “Were you two talking about me?” she asked, planting her hands on her hips.

  “Yeah,” Ethan piped up, ignoring the silencing death grip his wife had on his arm. “We were just talking about how stupid you are for not giving Loran a chance. He’s really into you, Bell.”

  “No,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. “He’s been in to me. That’s why he can’t forget me.”

  Ethan fake-gagged. “Thank God you didn’t say that after dinner. I would have lost it.”

  Bella rolled her eyes. “You do realize that I’m a big girl now, right, E? I do have sex.”

  “I don’t want to talk or think about that shit, thank you very much.”

  Gracie laughed. “You guys are too funny. Exactly like me and my brother.”

  “What do you think would happen if I did give Loran another chance?” Bella asked Ethan. “Hand-holding and a chaste peck on the cheek at the end of the date?”

  “With any luck,” Ethan muttered.

  Bella wiggled her eyebrows. “I can assure that’s not the reason he wants another shot with me. I rocked his world in Vegas.”

  “Yeah. Then you went down to the bar and had drinks with another dude. What the hell were you thinking?” Ethan couldn’t blame his friend for being pissed about that. He would have been too.

  “Oh my God,” Bella said, throwing her hands in the air. “I went to the bar to have one drink on my way back to my room. I was watching sports highlights and the guy next to me started chatting me up. It’s not like I was interested in him. But then Loran comes down and goes all caveman on me, making a huge scene!”

  “I think it’s kind of hot that he was jealous,” Gracie admitted, giggling when her friend glared daggers at her. “What? I do.”

  “It wasn’t hot. It was ridiculous. We live in different states, for crying out loud. If he couldn’t trust me when we were in the very same building, how the hell could we trust each other when we’re in different parts of the country?”

  “You sure you weren’t worried about whether you could trust him?” Ethan asked, eyeing his sister carefully. He knew that was the root of her problems. She didn’t think she could trust a guy like Loran, with money, talent, fame, and a reputation as a man-whore, to be faithful to her. But she could. Because if he wasn’t, Ethan would personally kick his ass.

  “Would you stop?” Bella asked, sounding frustrated. “I’m tired of your dime-store psychology. I just don’t want to do the whole long-distance thing. It’s as simple as that.”

  Emma started fussing, and Gracie gave Ethan a quick kiss before she excused herself to tend to their daughter.

  Bella volunteered to help, but before she could get away, Ethan grabbed her wrist. “Look, I know deep down you want what Gracie and I have. I’ve seen the way you are with Emma. You love that baby. And you want one of your own eventually, right?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe someday.”

  “If you want to get married and have a family, why the hell do you keep shutting down the one guy who’s really interested you in years? And don’t tell me you’re not still shutting Loran down because I know he’s reached out to you dozens of times and you keep giving him the same excuses you’re giving me about why it won’t work.”

  “They’re not excuses,” she said, folding her arms. “They’re legitimate reasons.”

  “If you keep it casual, you can’t get hurt, right?” Ethan shook his head. “You’ve gone your whole life with that attitude, Bell. But you’ve got to know that if you keep it casual, you’ll never experience anything meaningful either. You’ll never fall in love or give anyone else the chance to love you.”

  He wanted his sister to find what he and Gracie had and he really believed Loran could be the right guy for her if she gave him half a chance. He told his buddy he’d put in a good word for him, but he wasn’t doing it for Loran. He was doing it for Bella. She deserved to be happy, even if she couldn’t see that.

  “Do you know how hard I’ve had to work to build my business?” Bella demanded. “I’m damn good at what I do. I love it. Why would I pick up and leave all that behind for a guy who might disappoint me a couple of years down the road?”

  “So you’re afraid to take a chance?” Ethan knew they would circle back to that because fear was the root cause of her issue. “Hey, I was scared too. So was Gracie. She was terrified to give up everything to be with me. But she realized she couldn’t go on living half a life, apart from the man she loved. When are you going to come to the same realization?”

  “I don’t love Loran,” she said, looki
ng horrified. “I barely know the man. We had one night together. That’s it.”

  “Yeah, and you spent more time getting to know him before that one night than just about any other guy you’ve ever dated. He told me about all those late-night phone calls that stretched into the morning.”

  She dipped her head. “Sure, he was easy to talk to. I liked him. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to give up my whole life for him.”

  “No one’s asking you to do that, hon.” He kissed her forehead. “Just give love a chance.” He glanced at his beautiful wife and daughter while Bella did the same. “Trust me, you won’t regret it.”

  About the Author

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  Other Books by Cheryl Douglas

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  Trade Off

  Holiday Homecoming

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  Burn Out

  Fast Track

  Time Out

  Face Value

  Blown Away

  Breathless

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  Music City Moguls

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