Head Over Heels

by Crystal B. Bright

  “Yeah, yeah. It will be. Look, I need to take a rain check on that lunch.” Thane held up his phone. “Some business stuff came up that I need to take care of.”

  “Like what? Are they asking you to come back to train now?” Gunnar planted his hands on his hips like he wanted to hit someone.

  Thane missed Gunnar’s protective nature. “No, nothing like that.”

  “Does it have something to do with your agent?” Gideon stared into Thane’s eyes. When Thane didn’t immediately answer, Gideon filled in the blanks. “Most of the stuff about you we read online. I heard your super agent is retiring. You might want to use my guy. He’s good. I can contact him and set up a meeting if you—”

  “No.” Thane went to his car. “Sorry for cutting in. I have to go. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  “Okay. Coming over to the house for dinner at least?” Gunnar asked from over the hood of his truck.

  “Maybe. I’ll call and let you know.” Thane ducked into his ride right when Gunnar and Gideon said they loved him.

  Thane pulled out of the lot and down the street before he could answer any more questions from his brothers. He peered over at the passenger side car seat and spied the envelope with information and keys to his mother’s beach house. He would have to check that out later. He didn’t have the time or energy to make that journey.

  Thane’s mind tripped over Alec’s words. He said Thane should be happy with what he had. Content. Nothing about that defined Thane. He’d always pushed himself, and he expected people around him to do the same thing.

  He pulled into a shopping center parking lot and parked in a space. He picked up his phone and checked for messages first. He saw that Gunnar had called him about twenty times between yesterday and that morning and had left ten messages, both text and voice. Then he found Kari’s number.

  She’d labeled herself as Kari Your Next Agent Meyers. He almost broke into a smile when he saw it, but he remembered her invasion of his privacy. Had it not been for her, though, he would have ended up facedown in the hotel’s lobby or at the bar, hitting on a woman or two or more.

  Thane pushed the option to dial her number. If nothing else, he could apologize to her again. He heard a beeping sound, meaning his call would be interrupting a current call. This would be a test. Would she click over to talk to him, truly show him that he would be at the top of her list?

  He heard a click.

  “Kari Meyers.” Her voice sounded professional if not clipped.

  “Thane Wells.” He kept his tone low and business like. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  A pause lingered before she answered. “May I call you right back?”

  He sighed and made sure to make it audible through the phone.

  Before he could give her an answer, Kari spoke. “I’m dealing with an ongoing issue right now. I don’t want to blow you off.”

  That statement alone got Thane imaging Kari on her knees in front of him. He rubbed his eyes in hopes of bringing back the gentleman Elizabeth Sommerville had raised.

  “Don’t bother calling me back.” Thane put his vehicle in drive. “Meet me tonight at seven. I don’t want to do business over the phone.” Plus, he wanted to see if he still got that fluttery feeling in his belly like he had earlier in his hotel room. “We could meet at the restaurant at my hotel. Would that work for you?”

  Kari cleared her throat. “Would we be able to get a private table? Talking business face-to-face is great, but I would like some privacy.”

  Damn, was she leaving it open that she wanted to go back to his hotel room…so close to his bed?

  Thane swallowed hard. “I’ll make a special request. So I’ll see you later?”

  “Yes. Thank you for the opportunity. You won’t regret it.” She disconnected the call as fast as she’d answered it.

  He tossed his phone into one of the cup holders and thought about his decision to contact a competing agency. In his head, he wanted to get the best person to represent him. The rest of his body wanted to see what she would wear to their dinner meeting.

  He needed to get his head out of the clouds. He had too many things going on, including a career that he needed to get back to eventually. Tonight would only be business…he hoped.

  Chapter 8

  Kari had barely gotten back to her hotel room when Reagan called her about Michael. Kari paced the floor after kicking off her shoes.

  “Put him on the phone.” She didn’t mean for her voice to sound so gruff, but she felt so helpless being away from her child.

  “Did you not hear me? He’s locked himself in the bathroom and he won’t come out.”

  Kari heard a knocking sound through the phone.

  “Come on, Michael. Open the door. I have your mom on the phone right now,” Reagan said.

  After a beat, Kari heard, “No!”

  She rubbed her forehead. She wanted to sit. She needed to sit, especially after her quick but surprising call from Thane. She couldn’t believe he wanted to talk business, at least, she hoped he wanted that and not some sober repeat performance from last night.

  She couldn’t think about him right now. She had a child in crisis. “Reagan, slide your phone under the door.”

  “What?” Reagan pounded on the door. “Open up that door right now.”

  “Please don’t raise your voice to him.” Kari knew what had set off her son. “I know the gap under the door is big enough to fit your phone.”

  “Yeah, but what if he breaks it or flushes it? Are you going to buy me—”

  “Yes. Put it on speaker. Please do it.” Kari chewed on her lower lip as she waited. She heard a click and then a sliding sound.

  Silence.

  “Michael? Come on, little slugger. Talk to me.” She sat at the edge of her bed and closed her eyes. She remembered when she brought her precious son into the world. What a wonderful gift.

  She sang the John Fogerty song about baseball softly at first. She didn’t care if the guests in the other rooms heard her. She raised her voice after the next verse and stopped after singing the chorus. Her throat tightened a little until she could hear confirmation that she’d gotten through to him.

  “Mom?”

  His tiny voice jumpstarted her heart again. “Yeah, sweetie?”

  “Why did you stop singing?”

  She smiled and slipped down the bed to sit on the floor. “I was waiting for you. Will you sing it with me?”

  He sang the song from the beginning. When he got to the chorus, Kari joined him.

  “What’s going on there?” Kari spoke calmly and slowly.

  “I tried calling Dad. He didn’t answer me. I left him messages and he hasn’t called me back.”

  Kari cursed under her breath and bounced the back of her head on the bed. “For one thing, you know you’re not supposed to use the phone. What did I tell you about that?”

  “I didn’t use the phone…at home. I went to Kyle’s house and used it there. You never said I couldn’t use it at the Monte house.”

  Her clever child.

  “Don’t get smart with me, Michael. You know better. No calls from any phone, understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He released a big sigh.

  “That would explain why he didn’t answer you. He probably didn’t recognize the number.” That sounded plausible. “And you know how busy he is. I’ll contact him and make sure that he reaches out to you, okay?” She really couldn’t make that promise.

  Nowadays, Jarrod handled almost all dealings with her through his attorney. Jarrod took great pains not to see her or Michael by having his child-support payments directly deposited into Kari’s account. Whenever she called him, he would speak to Michael for one minute. She could almost recite his questions to their child by heart. “What have you been up to now? How tall are you? You have a girlfriend yet?” Then he would end the conversation with a lie, always telling him he couldn’t wait to see him again.
r />   “I need you to open the door and let Reagan in.”

  She heard a clicking sound before she heard a whooshing noise like a door opening.

  “That’s it. From now on you use the bathroom with the door open,” Reagan said.

  “You owe Reagan an apology,” Kari said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” A rustling noise sounded through the phone. “Sorry, Miss Reagan. I told her, Mom.”

  “Very good. Thank you. When Reagan can’t get to you, it scares her and it scares me. She’s an extension of me. She does what I would do if I was home.” She didn’t hear anything for a while. “Michael? Reagan? Hello.”

  Kari heard a brushing sound.

  “I gave Reagan a hug. The hug was for her and you.” Michael’s voice sounded sorrowful yet sincere.

  How could Kari be mad at her baby? “I love you, buddy.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

  He was such a boy.

  “What you did was wrong. No video games at all until I get back.” She would have said no computer, but she wanted to keep some sort of contact with him.

  “Ah, Mom.”

  She imagined him with his cute little bottom lip pushed out. “I know. Your life is so hard. Will you give the phone back to Reagan? I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Here you go.”

  After a pause, Reagan said, “I was cleaning up from lunch and I heard him scream and slam the door. I didn’t know what was going on.”

  “Daddy issues. He called Jarrod and Jarrod didn’t answer or call him back.”

  This time Reagan cursed. “I swear I never let him use my phone until now.” Worry rose in Reagan’s voice.

  “No, I know. He used a phone at a friend’s house.” Kari wiped the sweat from her forehead. “I told him no video games until I get back. He’s fine using the computer.”

  “You got it, boss. So how’s it going over there?” Reagan asked.

  “Not bad. As a matter of fact, the call that interrupted us was from Thane. He wants to meet tonight to talk business.” She smiled.

  “Way to hit it out of the park. That’s great. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Good luck.”

  Kari would need more than luck to impress a player baseball analysts compared to some of the greats. If she wanted to be on better footing than earlier, she would need to get some good sleep in, and she would need to do some research. Did Thane need to stay with the Carolina Wrens? He would probably do better in New York or even Chicago.

  Before she could think about any of that, she had something crucial to take care of right now. She punched in the speed dial to Jarrod, knowing, as usual, he wouldn’t answer. He never did when she called him. He would return her call a day or more later.

  On the fourth ring, the line clicked.

  “Speak.”

  Kari closed her eyes and had to count in her head before she spoke. She didn’t want to start a conversation with the father of her child with an argument. “You know it’s me. Why would you answer the phone like that to the woman who had your first child?” Unfortunately, Kari couldn’t help herself with confronting Jarrod.

  “On the treadmill.”

  Lie. She didn’t hear any fluctuations in his voice or the sound of a whirring tread. She’d spoken to plenty of athletes who worked out while they talked to her. She knew the difference.

  “No, you’re not, but it’s better than the truth.”

  Jarrod sniggered. “Your spitfire edge hasn’t softened at all with age. Maybe that’s why you’re still single.”

  “And your ability to lie will continue to help you bed as many women as possible. The last time I heard about you, you were up to five kids now. Or is it seven? I heard the last birth was twins.” She reached behind herself to unzip her dress.

  “Are you calling to remind me again that you have my number-one seed?” Jarrod’s naturally deep voice dipped down lower.

  Back in high school, she found that trait drop-dead sexy. Now the tone and the man producing it turned her stomach. How could she have been that stupid to have sex with him at such a young age and get pregnant? She would definitely instill in Michael the importance of waiting until marriage to even have sex.

  “Enough about me. You’re calling for a reason. You normally do.” Jarrod chuckled.

  “Yes, we are beyond the stage of having pleasant conversations anymore.” She took off her dress and draped it on the back of a chair. “I’m calling about Michael.”

  “The greatest basketball player ever,” Jarrod said with enthusiasm.

  “The child we named him after.” Kari had wanted to name him after her grandfather, the man who’d raised her for most of her life. She yielded to her man. Mistake.

  “What’s up?”

  Kari heard some beeping sounds through the phone. Maybe Jarrod had been on the treadmill. “He said he tried calling you. He’s ten, Jarrod.”

  “I know how old our son is. My fiancée thinks it’s hot that I have a ten-year-old and I’m only twenty-eight.” He released a grunt that sounded pornographic.

  Kari shook her head. “Fascinating. Listen, Michael is getting to that age where he needs a male figure in his life. He wants to talk to you more. He wants to see you more. He had to look on your Web site to see that you’re going to be on the East Coast in a couple of weeks. Are you going to be able to come by and see him?”

  A pause lingered before he released a long, arduous sigh like she’d asked him for a kidney. “I don’t know. I have an important game.”

  “Exhibition.” She knew better than anyone that those types of games meant the players could phone in their performances.

  “And I’m doing tons of press. Doing a couple of morning shows and all the New York late-night gigs. I’m only in town for a couple of days before I’m back out on the West Coast.”

  Kari sighed loud enough to show her displeasure to the man who’d helped create Michael. “He asks for very little. A call. A visit.”

  “What? The money isn’t enough?”

  Kari’s temperature rose the more she had to explain to Michael’s father about the role he needed to play in their child’s life. “No, it isn’t. He wants to see you.”

  “I sent him a poster. I even signed it. If I see it up on eBay, I’m not sending him anything else.”

  Kari could no longer bite her tongue. “Asshole. Pure and simple. I don’t ask you for much. I really don’t. I know ex-wife number one took half your money. And ex-wife number two took a couple of homes. I haven’t done interviews about you. I don’t talk about you. I don’t ask you for money. I just want you to be a part of our son’s life. Is that so hard?”

  Again, he laughed. “Hard? You don’t know anything about having it hard. You like that career you have? Thank me for it.”

  Kari bolted to her feet. “I earned my spot as a sports agent. I have the education, the background, and the passion for what I do.”

  “Yeah, having a kid by Jarrod Townsend didn’t help you secure it at all, huh?”

  The comment hurt her more than she wanted. It had been a niggling voice of doubt in her head for years. She’d never mentioned Jarrod in her interview and barely talked about the man at work.

  Before she answered, before she ruined the fragile relationship she had with her son’s father, Kari took a breath. “Jarrod, we have a son to raise. We have to work together to give him a fully united family unit. He loves you.” Saying that took a lot of strength, but she managed to choke the words out. “Even though we’re no longer together, we have to work as a team for our child. A phone call to your son would go a long way.”

  It sounded like Jarrod spoke to someone who must have been in the same room with him before he addressed her. “I give you plenty of child support. Use the money to bring him up to see me.” He disconnected the call.

  Kari threw her phone into her open purse that sat on a desk. Jarrod did provide a substantial amount of money to suppo
rt Michael. That money shouldn’t have to go to travel tickets to see his own father.

  She would have to figure out something for Michael. Jarrod might feel comfortable disappointing their child. She didn’t and wouldn’t. For now, though, she needed a nap. She had a big night. Maybe if she could get Thane to sign a contract with her to represent him, she could be on the road and back home tomorrow. She could only hope.

  * * * *

  Thane didn’t want to go to Sharp, his mother’s clothing boutique. His clothing boutique now. After talking to Kari, he had planned on heading back to his hotel to get some more sleep before his date, well, meeting. Yes, meeting.

  As he drove, he kept heading toward the Oceanfront area until he reached the boutique. The quaint spot reminded him of a typical beach cottage. It had probably been a vacation rental before his mother bought it and made it into a clothing store.

  What attracted Thane to this place more than her other two businesses had to be the beach. Although the storefront sat on the other side of the street from the boardwalk, he could look out the front door and see the ocean in between the buildings. When Queen felt generous on the days she dragged him to work with her, she would allow him to go to the beach. She only asked that he return on time, and for him to not drag a bunch of sand back with him. Remembering that caveat brought a smile to his face.

  He pulled his rental beside the small light blue building and sat in the car for a moment. With the chilly weather, the streets remained bare with the exception of some construction workers repairing the road for the upcoming season.

  Thane couldn’t stay in the car forever. It felt like it’d taken him years to get to this point. As he thought about it, using years as a timeframe could be classified as accurate. Once he went away to college, Thane rarely came home. When he did, he didn’t visit Sharp.

  He got out of the rental. The crisp sea air hit him first. The familiar fishy aroma wafted to his nose. The sounds of jackhammers and dump trucks replaced the usual beach noises. To escape the intrusive sounds, Thane unlocked the door and stepped into the place, then locked the door behind him.

  Thankfully, his mother left the electricity on so the pipes wouldn’t freeze in the winter. He flipped a switch on the wall. The fan started spinning, but the light didn’t come on like he hoped. Great. He would have to replace the bulb.