Her Valentine Family

by Renee Andrews

  The group had played ball together and hung out together since elementary school. They were friends and close enough that all of them knew that Chad hadn’t been in any kind of real relationship since the downfall with Kate. Even if they didn’t know exactly what had happened to end his marriage, they knew enough to know that he’d been burned and wasn’t getting back into another serious relationship until he was certain that wouldn’t happen again.

  They didn’t know the details about Lainey’s paternity, and Chad certainly never planned to tell them. She was his, and that was all that mattered. But he also knew that these guys wouldn’t mind seeing him happy. All of them had been lucky in love, either marrying their high school sweethearts or meeting someone in college, someone who actually cared about them and stayed with them. A few of their wives had naturally tried to fix Chad up over the last year, but nothing had worked out. He knew it was his problem, not theirs.

  He had trust issues. He simply hadn’t been able to trust his heart with anyone again. No one, that is, except Jessica. He’d told her the truth last night. She was the one who’d never let him down—his best friend and his first love. And, if he had his way, his last love.

  The smile that took over his face didn’t go unnoticed.

  “All right, that does it. Who is she?” Adam asked. “All this time Lisa kept trying to find the right friend for you, and you already had someone in the wings?” Adam’s wife had set Chad up with practically every female she knew, but none of them had set off any sparks, and none of them had even been introduced to Lainey.

  “Actually, they were in the gazebo,” Mitch said, laughing. “But Jana also thought you looked pretty intense, and I’d have to agree.”

  It was Chad’s turn to bat, so he grabbed his favorite Louisville Slugger and headed for the plate. But John Cutter, the pitcher, had been listening to the conversation taking place in the dugout and stood on the pitcher’s mound contently tossing the ball in his hand. “We’re waiting on an answer, Martin,” he called from the mound.

  Chad heard Mitch laugh again. And to think, people thought women were the ones who fed on gossip. They obviously hadn’t met his friends. “I wanted to bring her to the field sometime and let you figure it out on your own,” he said. He’d actually envisioned Jessica, Lainey and her son in the stands cheering him on as he attempted to act like he was still in high school again. Maybe he wouldn’t throw his shoulder out again in front of them.

  “So we know her?” John still tossed the ball.

  “It’s Jessica,” Chad said, and he knew there was no need for a last name. They’d all been together in high school, and when Chad’s world ended during the spring of that senior year, when Jessica left Claremont, these were the guys who helped him pull through, often by bringing him out to the field and letting him work off his stress with a ball and bat. They’d continued playing together that year well after the high school’s baseball season ended—not so much because they loved the game but more because Chad needed it.

  “Jessica? Your Jessica? She’s back?” Mitch asked, his dark brows disappearing beneath the bill of his cap as they shot upward.

  His Jessica. That’s the way it was back then, and that’s the way it was again. He smiled. “Yes, she’s back, and that’s who you saw me with in the gazebo.”

  A whistle sounded from the mound, and John Cutter bobbed his head as though everything made sense now. “Bowman is back. No wonder you’re smiling. Never understood why you two split up or why she left,” he said, not really to Chad but more to himself.

  “Me, either,” Mitch said. “And back then, you didn’t understand it yourself. So, I’m assuming you finally found out what made her go, back then?” Mitch asked. “It’d better have been a good reason, for all the mess we had to go through that spring trying to get you to join the ranks of the living again.”

  Chad smirked. “And to think, I thought we were hanging out because we liked each other.”

  Mitch grinned. “Yeah, that was it. Anyway, I always thought something must’ve happened with her family, maybe they’d upset her somehow, but they always seemed pretty tight. I remember she went to live with her grandmother. Was that it? Was she sick or something?”

  Chad rested the bat on his shoulder because obviously John had no plans of pitching to him in the near future. On the contrary, the entire team had moved in closer to hear all about what had happened to Jess way back then. He didn’t blame them. He was a royal mess that spring and summer, and they really had worked hard to cheer him up. But there was no cheering him because he’d known why she left, and the problem had been…him. He was the one who hadn’t stopped them from going further than they needed to on that one afternoon at his house. She had sensed them getting too close to the edge and had told him she should go home, but Chad had encouraged her to stay. And she’d been right; they hadn’t stopped.

  Then she’d left town, unable to stay and live with what they’d done.

  “We’re still working through what all happened then,” he said. Chad would give anything if he could go back and change the things that happened and caused her to leave, but he couldn’t. However, he could make certain that now that she’d returned to Claremont—now that she’d returned to him—he’d never do anything to lose her again. And this time, he planned to follow through on those promises he made to her back in high school. He would marry Jessica Bowman, and he would marry her for life. “But she’s back, and I’m planning on getting it right this time,” he told them.

  “Back in Claremont, you mean? For good? Are you sure?” Adam asked. Chad knew why he asked. His friends may try to act like they were tough guys, but every one of them knew how much he’d hurt when she left, and he knew Adam’s questions were an attempt to make sure that didn’t happen again. They were protecting their friend, and he appreciated them for it.

  Chad nodded. “She’s working on getting her teaching degree at Stockville. That’s where we ran into each other. And until she gets her teaching degree, she’s working as a teaching assistant at Lainey’s day care. And her son is in kindergarten at Claremont.” And she’s back with me. He thought of the kisses they’d shared, and his heart warmed. He wanted many more kisses like that, many more moments like that, where he opened his soul and knew that everything he told her would be accepted with kindness, understanding and love. “I’d say she’s intent on staying in town.”

  Chad had felt an inner peace last night after telling her about everything that happened with Kate. The sharing of that time in his life, letting her in on what he’d been through and on how much he’d been disappointed in his marriage—and in his wife—had brought him even closer to Jess. And he’d understood why she didn’t feel comfortable talking about what had happened to her during their years apart and why Nathan’s father hadn’t married her. He assumed those years and the pain that guy inflicted hurt her as much as Kate’s deception hurt him. And, as she’d said after he’d told her about Kate, they had been through enough pain for one night.

  Chad did want to know what had happened, and he definitely wanted to know about Nathan’s father. If Chad was going to assume a role in Jessica’s son’s life, then he wanted to know whether Nathan’s biological dad still had any involvement with his child and to what extent. Jessica had said she would always love him, but she hadn’t mentioned whether the guy was still around.

  He sighed and wished that they could have discussed her past, too, last night. Like his, they would need to address her past in order to deal with their future. And he wanted to get to that future together…soon.

  Chad had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed the multitude of confused glances passing between the guys in the dugout and on the field. But John Cutter, always the most outspoken of the pack, wasn’t going to let Chad’s informative comment go without mention.

  “She has a son?”

  “His name is Nathan,” Chad said. “I’m actually meeting him today. We’re taking the kids to the park.”<
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  “She was married?” Adam asked, his bewilderment with this bit of news evident from his tone.

  “No, she never married,” Chad said, and before they pounded him with more questions he couldn’t answer, he added, “And for now, that’s all I know.”

  Mitch, now leaning against the chain link fence composing the dugout, brought his hand to his chin and rubbed it the way he always did when something stumped him. “That doesn’t seem right.” He shook his head.

  Mitch was a year younger than Chad and had been in Jessica’s grade in school. Therefore, he had been closer to Jess than Chad’s other friends. In fact, Mitch had been a friend to both Chad and Jess before they’d even acknowledged their feelings for each other. He’d also been the one who, in ninth grade, informed Jess that Becky’s brother wanted to know what she thought of him. Bottom line, Mitch knew Jessica pretty well, and the thought of her having a baby with a guy she wasn’t married to apparently shocked him as much as it shocked Chad.

  “That’s all you know?” Mitch questioned. “She hasn’t told you about his father? Or why she didn’t marry him?”

  “She’s going to tell me,” Chad said. “We were going to talk about it last night, but it didn’t work out.” He didn’t feel the need to say anything more about their emotional discussion because he didn’t want to get into his past with Kate again. It’d been enough to go through it last night with Jess. “But we’re being honest with each other about our pasts, and she will tell me when the time is right,” he said, for some reason feeling the need to explain why he didn’t know more about the guy Jessica would always care for because he was the father of her son.

  None of the guys said anything to that, and Chad suddenly wished that they would have continued talking last night and moved on to what happened to Jessica when they were apart. The fact was, she had a son, and therefore, she had a man who played a significant role in her life and would always play a significant role in her life because of the bond they shared. And Chad had no idea who the guy was or how large a role he’d play in his future with Jessica. Unlike Kate, Nathan’s father could desire a strong presence in his son’s life. And Chad would need to deal with that.

  But Jessica had hardly mentioned him. Maybe he was like Kate after all. And if that was the case, then Chad would happily fill that void in little Nathan’s life. He adored being a father to Lainey. He would adore being a father to Nathan, too, if everything worked out the way he wanted.

  The silence from the guys on the field now was almost eerie, and Chad lifted the bat from his shoulder and tilted his head toward Cutter. “You going to throw the ball, or you just going to stand there all day?”

  John grinned, tossed the ball in the air once more then assumed his pitching stance. “Guess you’ll have a boy to bring to the park with you soon, huh?” he said.

  Chad smiled. “Guess I will.” Then he watched John wind up and throw his best fastball. Chad swung and knocked it to the fence. Rounding the bases wasn’t all that necessary, since there wasn’t a soul in the outfield where he’d hit the thing, but it felt good to run, and Chad enjoyed heckling the other guys as he passed each base. He made quite a production of crossing home plate, then cracked up laughing when Mitch slapped him on the back, way too hard to be considered congratulatory.

  He entered the dugout on cloud nine. He would have a boy to bring with him to the field soon, Nathan. And he couldn’t wait to meet Jessica’s little guy, to introduce him to Lainey and then maybe tonight to spend more time with Jess and learn what had happened to her that had left her raising Nathan alone.

  A little winded from base running, Chad grabbed his Gatorade from his bag and gulped down a nice portion of the bottle, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He and Jess would spend time with the kids today, and then more time by themselves tonight. They’d talk, this time about her, and in the process they’d grow closer. And they’d continue to grow closer, the same way they always had every time they were together, and in the not-too-distant future, if everything went the way Chad hoped, he would marry the girl of his dreams and be a father of two. Lainey and Nathan.

  He couldn’t wait.

  A buzzing noise caught his attention, and he saw that his baseball bag vibrated on the bench. He unzipped the bag, withdrew his cell phone and noted the new voice mail message displayed on the front. He quickly thumbed the keys to bring up the message and hoped that everything was okay with Lainey. She’d still been sleeping when he left for practice, and his mother already had her juice and pappy ready. Everything should have been fine.

  Because Mitch was now batting, and the guys were consequently yelling and heckling, he had to cover his other ear in order to hear the frantic voice on the line. But he did hear. And his heart clenched at the sound of Jessica so terrified.

  “I’ve gotta go! Jessica’s mother and Nathan were in an accident, and they’re at the hospital,” he yelled toward the field as he grabbed the bag and hurried from the dugout. “He’s unconscious, and she wants me there.”

  “Go!” they yelled back as he sprinted for the car. He tossed his bag in, jumped in the driver’s seat and then heard someone panting as they ran to catch up.

  Mitch, his hand on his chest, stood beside the car. “Hey, man, Jana and I will get there as soon as we can and be with y’all. Tell Jessica that I’ll pray for them.”

  Chad’s gratitude was instant. Mitch hadn’t talked to Jessica after she’d left six years ago. Chad knew that, but he obviously still cared about his old friend. And not only that but he cared about Chad. “Thanks.” Chad slammed the car door and started the drive for the hospital, and he decided that even though he hadn’t done it a lot lately, now was a good time to follow Mitch’s lead…and he prayed.

  God, be with Jessica’s mom, and please be with her little boy. And help me to be there for her now and to say the right thing, do the right thing, to help Jess through this. Be with her son, Lord. And be with Jess.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jessica hadn’t been able to reach Chad, so she’d left a message that didn’t say a thing about him being Nathan’s father. That just didn’t seem like the type of thing you blurted into someone’s phone. Plus, she knew Chad. She’d asked him to come, and he would come. When he got to the hospital, she’d let him know about Nathan. And she’d worry about how she’d handle that then. Right now, she simply needed to get to her son.

  She and her father ran into the emergency room and were immediately met by a nurse who appeared to be waiting for their arrival. It took Jess a moment to place the lady. Typically, she only saw Maddie Farmer wearing dress clothes at church, but she now recalled that she worked as a nurse in the E.R. Jessica was instantly grateful to have a friendly face, and someone who would more quickly tell them what was going on at the hospital.

  Maddie had definitely been watching for them and wasted no time steering them past the waiting area and through the large silver double doors leading to the back, where curtained rooms lined each wall.

  “Your mom is in room three,” she said. Then, directly to Jessica’s father, she said, “Anna is going to be okay, Bryant. Physically, she’s only suffered a few scrapes and bruises. But she was in shock when she got here.” She paused. “She’s worried about her grandson.”

  “Where is he?” Jess asked, unable to control the volume of her tone or the panic in her voice. “Tell me, now, please!”

  “He’s still unconscious,” the nurse said. “And they’ve taken him for some tests. We’ll know more shortly, when the doctor returns. I promise I’ll let you know as much as I can, as soon as I can.” She slid back the curtain of room three, and Jess saw her mother, her head wrapped in a thick white bandage and a jagged cut down her right cheek. Tears streamed fluidly along the cut and down her throat, and her sobs became stronger when she saw them.

  “Na-than,” she whimpered. “How’s Nathan?” Her teeth chattered nonstop, but she pushed the words through. “Is he—is he okay?”

  Ms. Farm
er moved to the IV beside the bed and adjusted the drip. “The doctors are taking care of him,” she soothed, gently patting Anna’s arm as she spoke, but her reassurance did nothing to help her spirits.

  “Bryant, Jess,” she said, still shaking in spite of the bounty of blankets Maddie piled on top of her quivering body. “Th-there was nothing we could do. The truck hit that car, and then the car, it j-just started spinning. Right at us.” Her tears fell harder. “Like something out of a b-bad dream. Nothing to do but s-sit there and watch it happen. And Nathan,” she said. “H-he screamed—” she looked at Jess “—for you.” A sucking cry escaped her mother’s lips, seeming to pull from her very soul, and Jessica’s heart split.

  Nathan had cried out for her when he was scared, when he was hurting. And now, he was unconscious, unable to cry out or scream or laugh…or look at her with those beautiful green-gold eyes.

  Amazingly, until this point, Jessica had semi-held it together, but suddenly the reality of what had happened and what was happening now set in. She visualized her little boy on a flat table, with some kind of machine testing…what? His brain? Was that it? That had to be it, didn’t it? He was unconscious, which obviously had something to do with his brain.

  What if he woke up and he no longer remembered her? Or what if—what if he didn’t wake up at all?

  Her wail pierced through the rumble of nurses, doctors, patients and machines. It shrieked through the halls, echoed off the ceiling and at once, her legs gave way, the room blurred and everything disappeared.

  Visions of Nathan, grinning with his cute little snaggletoothed smile and laughing at something she’d said, combined with visions of Chad, looking at her with those green-gold eyes and telling her he wanted a relationship with her, that he trusted her, that he loved her.

  “I’m going to get lots of bread to feed the ducks,” Nathan said, his hair standing on end from just waking up. His precious little face was a little fuzzy around the edges. Jessica tried to make it clear, but voices were getting in the way of her thought process. And then she thought she heard Chad’s voice amid the flurry of sound. She focused on Chad, and suddenly she saw him, sitting beside her in the glowing gazebo.