Make Up Call (Summer Rush #3)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “What about your dealer? Don’t you still owe him?”

  He shrugged. “I figure I’ll get Dad to sell the car for me. It’s the only thing I have, but I won’t need it where I’m going, will I?”

  She didn’t relish the thought of her baby brother sitting in some jail cell—she wasn’t a monster—but she did want him to get the help he needed, and she’d accepted the fact that she couldn’t be the one to facilitate his recovery anymore. She couldn’t continue footing the bill for it, praying about it, or supporting him emotionally when it cost her so much.

  “I really hope this will be the wake-up call you need, Dillon. ‘Cause you know you can’t go on like this. You can’t go on hurting the people who love you, running away from your problems—”

  “I know.” His eyes filled with tears when he said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t expect you to forgive me for this, just know that I am sorry.”

  ***

  Her father offered to take Cadence across the street for ice cream so Jessie could take Dillon in without her around to ask questions. Jessie had come in an unmarked car and had Dillon sit in the backseat so the tinted windows would conceal him if Cadence returned and asked where her uncle went.

  “Well, I should take him downtown,” Jessie said, giving Jayda a one-armed hug as he walked her back inside. “Don’t worry. He’ll be okay.”

  She wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but this time, she was prepared to let him answer for his mistakes. “Do you think he’ll get out on bail?” In spite of her father’s claim, she was certain he would post bail if he was able.

  “Probably,” he admitted. “The DA might argue he’s a flight risk though. You think he is?”

  She stared at the black car, knowing her brother was inside watching her. “I don’t know. I don’t even know him anymore.” Truth be told, she hadn’t known him in a long, long time. The drugs had stripped him of his real personality and turned him into a deceitful shyster who would do just about anything or take from anyone to get his next fix.

  “So you going home to rest? You must be exhausted.”

  “Chase invited us to New York to watch him play. I think Cadence would love that.” She still hadn’t told her father she intended to take the time off work, but since she hadn’t taken a real vacation in years, she thought she was entitled to a break. “Besides, it’ll allow things to die down around here. All anyone can talk about is Dillon kidnapping Cadence. I don’t want her to hear that. I’ll have to tell her that what her uncle did was wrong, but I want her to hear it from me, not someone else.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the car. “Chase came to see me before he left today. We cleared the air.”

  “Good, I’m glad.” She didn’t understand the animosity between the two men, nor did she think it was any of her business.

  “I guess I was jealous of him.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “You were? Why?”

  “He had you.” He smiled. “He had Cadence. This big major league career, fat paycheck…” He shrugged. “He was moving on to bigger and better things. He didn’t need us anymore, right?”

  Jayda had felt the same way when they divorced, as though there was no place for her in Chase’s new life, but after spending some time alone with him for the first time in years, she wasn’t so sure that was true. “So you told him how you felt?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “And?”

  “He apologized.”

  “Really?” Jayda was surprised. It’s not that Chase never apologized. He had no problem admitting he was wrong. She just didn’t expect him to acknowledge it in this instance, since signing that contract seemed to provide him with everything he wanted: freedom, more money, and fame.

  “You sound surprised.”

  “I guess I am.”

  “It seems he’s had time to think.”

  She wanted to know what Chase had been thinking about, but she’d have to ask the man himself. She didn’t want to hear it from someone else. “He’s not the only one. I have too.”

  “You’re not over him, are you?”

  She was tempted to laugh, wondering if any woman ever “got over” a man like Chase Miller. “We have a daughter together. We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives.”

  “Nice way to dodge the question,” he said, looking amused. “Is that your not-so-subtle way of telling me to mind my own business?”

  She touched his forearm. “You’ve been a great friend to me—”

  “You know I wanted us to be more, right?”

  He’d made no secret of that since he’d asked her out several times in the past couple of months.

  “I need time to sort out my feelings for Chase,” she said, realizing it was time to admit that to Jessie and herself. “We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve hurt each other, said things and done things I’m not sure we can take back.”

  “But you’d like to try?”

  “Maybe.” She knew that she wanted to explore the possibility of reconnecting with her ex, but the idea was still so new to her, she didn’t know what that might look like. “But we have a child to consider. I don’t want her to get her hopes up about us getting back together when that may never happen.”

  She was stunned she considered that even a remote possibility after their nasty divorce. She’d wanted very little in their settlement and he would have happily given her more, but it seemed getting opposing counsel involved had turned what could have been an amicable split into an ugly one.

  “Well, whatever you decide, good luck. I only want you to be happy, honey.” Jessie leaned in and kissed her cheek.

  “Thanks,” she said. Watching him walk away, she wondered what would make her happy?

  Chapter Eight

  “Can I have my surprise now, Mommy?” Cadence asked from her booster seat in the back of Jayda’s car.

  Jayda watched her sleepy angel yawn and wondered if she was making a huge mistake by agreeing to spend time with Chase—as a family—when she still wasn’t sure where they stood. “Well, Daddy invited us to New York to watch him play. Isn’t that exciting?”

  “Yay!” Cadence clapped while revealing a gap-toothed grin. “Does that mean I get to miss more school?”

  Although she loved school, Cadence was like most kids, happy when she had the chance to play hooky and do something more fun.

  “Well, depending how many games they play, we may spend a few days in New York and three or four more in Kansas City.” Of course they didn’t have to go to all the games, but it would be hard to go back home and watch them on TV, knowing Chase was so far away when he either won or lost the biggest game of his career.

  “Cool! When do we leave?”

  Jayda laughed, grateful her daughter always seemed to be up for anything. “You must be tired. I know I am. How about we call Daddy and tell him we’ll catch a flight out in the morning?”

  “Okay.”

  Jayda pressed the button on her steering wheel to activate the speaker phone, saying Chase’s name. “You ready?” she whispered while the phone rang.

  Looking mischievous, Cadence’s head bobbed up and down, her dark eyes sparkling. As soon as Chase said, “Hey,” Cadence screamed, “Daddy, we’re going to see you play! We’ll be there in the mornin’.”

  Chase laughed. “That’s great, angel. I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you so much!”

  Jayda loved seeing her daughter so happy, especially after all they’d been through in the past twenty-four hours, and hearing the excitement in Chase’s voice took her thrill to a whole new level. Was he looking forward to seeing his daughter or her too?

  “I missed you too. Grandad took me for ice cream.”

  “That’s nice.”

  Jayda heard the hesitancy in Chase’s voice, and she suspected he was wondering about what had happened with Dillon. “Um, well, we should let you go, Chase. You probably have to get to the stadium.”

  “Yeah, I should get in a little extra batting p
ractice before the game. Jay, you mind if I call you after the game?”

  “No, not at all.” She glanced in the rearview mirror, knowing her daughter must have a million questions about why her parents seemed so friendly all of a sudden, after years of barely speaking to each other. “Good luck tonight. We’ll be watching.”

  “Thanks. I’ll do my best.”

  “Hit a homer for me!” Cadence squealed, kicking her feet.

  Chase laughed. “I’ll try, sweetheart.”

  After they disconnected the call, Jayda pulled into the driveway of their tidy bungalow and cut the engine before helping her daughter climb out of their Ford Explorer.

  “Can we have BBQ for dinner?” Cadence yawned as they put their arms around each other and walked up the short drive. “Hamburgers?”

  At this point, Jayda would have given her just about anything she asked for. “Sure, honey. But first you need to take a bath, then have a nap before dinner, okay?”

  “But I’m too big for naps,” she argued. “I haven’t taken naps since last year!”

  Jayda tried to hide her smile as she unlocked the door. “I know, but you were up so late last night.” She wanted to talk to Cadence about her time with Dillon, but she suspected Chase would want to be a part of the conversation.

  “I’m not tired though.” Again, she yawned, trying to hide it behind her hand before giggling when Jayda caught her eye.

  Jayda was grateful her daughter didn’t seem the least bit troubled by spending the night away from home. Cadence still had no idea that everyone had been worried and looking for her, though, according to Jayda’s father, she’d gotten an exuberant hug from the lady who owned the ice cream shop before he shot her a silencing look.

  Getting Cadence out of town while everything died down, so they could explain to her what had happened, was definitely the best course of action. Jayda felt even better about her decision to spend more time with Chase.

  ***

  “You must feel like a new man,” their right fielder and Chase’s best friend, Ethan, said, grinning as he sat down on the bench beside Chase and slapped him on the back.

  They’d both arrived at the park early, intent on working out a few issues with their swings, and Chase was grateful to have a few minutes alone with his friend before they were swarmed by their teammates.

  “You have no idea,” Chase said, leaning forward after setting his glove down beside him. “That was the scariest time of my life, bar none.”

  “I still can’t believe Jayda’s brother took her, man. That’s messed up.”

  Chase didn’t even want to think about his former brother-in-law or what might happen the next time they came face-to-face. It was bound to be ugly. “It sure is.”

  “Was it weird?” Ethan asked, nudging Chase’s arm. “Being back with your ex?”

  Shooting him a sidelong glance, he wondered if he should tell Ethan everything that had gone down in Aurora and how confused he was. Deciding it was best to get it off his chest before the game, he said, “It wasn’t what I expected, let’s just put it that way.”

  “Meaning?”

  “We reconnected. I didn’t expect that.” Jayda had been so hostile when she called that he’d expected that attitude to carry over to his visit. But instead of wanting to scream at him, she’d wanted to hold him, and that had opened up a floodgate of emotions and regrets he’d been repressing for years.

  “Reconnected how? You banged her? Or did she just give you a blow—”

  Chase was tempted to bang Ethan’s head off the locker, and he growled, “Watch your mouth, asshole. That’s my wife you’re talking about, not some—”

  “Don’t you mean your ex-wife?”

  “What?”

  “You just called Jayda your wife.”

  Shit. He had called her his wife, which proved how deeply invested he was already. “Fine, my ex-wife. The mother of my child.” The only woman I’ve ever loved. “They’re flying in tomorrow.”

  “Who?”

  “Cadence and Jayda.”

  “Man, that’s awesome.”

  “Yeah, it is.” He dropped his head, smiling. “I’m really stoked about it.”

  Most of the guys had family in the stands for almost every game: wives, girlfriends, friends, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins. Chase never had anyone. Ethan had to know how much it meant to him to have people he cared about cheering him on.

  “Are they going to be able to come home with us too?”

  Home. He had a flash of Jayda sharing his bed as their daughter slept in her room just down the hall. That was the way it should be, the way he’d always wanted it to be. “I don’t know if they can take that much time off work and school. I hope so though.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Ethan said, putting his hand around the back of Chase’s neck and squeezing. “You need a good girl in your life, one who keeps you grounded.”

  They hadn’t been teammates when he and Jayda were married, but Ethan had witnessed the fallout during and after the divorce. Chase had been a wreck. Mad at the world. He snapped at everyone, drank too much during the off-season, slept around, and hated himself and everyone else. That had lasted for three months until he woke up one morning and realized he had a baby girl counting on him to be a more responsible father than his old man had been. That was all it took to wake him up.

  “She hurt me,” he said quietly. “Like no one has ever hurt me. I hurt her too.”

  “I know what that’s like,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Me and my fiancée have gotten into some nasty fights, said shit to each other we wish we could take back, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love each other.” Ethan was engaged to a woman he claimed was the love of his life, and while her flaws were obvious to all of his friends and family, he wore blinders where she was concerned.

  “She could crush me this time.” That was what scared Chase the most—giving his heart to Jayda all over again only to find out she didn’t want it after all.

  “She could. Or she could give you back the life you thought you lost.” When Chase looked at him, Ethan said, “Didn’t you once tell me that you’ve never been happier than you were when you were married to her and living under the same roof with your daughter?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe you’ve got a chance to get that back, dude. How can you not want to take a chance like that? I say screw the risk. Go all in.”

  ***

  Since Cadence had had a nap that afternoon, Jayda let her stay up to watch part of the game, but Cadence started falling asleep during the fifth inning, so Jayda carried her into her bedroom. Since then, Jayda had been glued to her seat, covering her mouth to muffle her screams when Chase’s team scored a run or even got a base hit. Chase had been on fire, responsible for two RBIs and a single-run home run in the seventh inning to tie the game.

  Now Jayda was sitting by the phone for an entirely different reason—so she could congratulate Chase on their narrow victory. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang, and his name flashed across the screen. “Hey.”

  “Hey, baby.”

  She melted into the sofa cushions, smiling. “I watched the game. You were awesome. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” He chuckled. “It was definitely a team effort. I still can’t believe our starting pitcher went almost eight innings and threw over a hundred and ten pitches. And he’s a knuckleballer. That’s just crazy.”

  “It is.” Jayda knew baseball as well as any rabid fan. She’d started watching when she was just a kid, alongside her father and brothers, but she’d never loved it as much as she did when she got to watch her husband step up the batter’s box. “I’m really proud of you, Chase.” She let that admission hang between them before she whispered, “I know I haven’t said that to you in a long time, but it’s true.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, wondering if she’d overstepped.

  “It’s just…” He cleared his throat. “
I guess you’re the only person who ever really told me that. I forgot how much I missed hearing it.”

  “Cadence is proud of you too,” she said, her heart breaking for everything he’d missed out on growing up. “You have to know that.”

  “I do. But she’s just a kid. She doesn’t get it yet, what I do. To her, I go to work just like every other dad. Sure, I have to travel, but she told me so does her friend’s dad and he’s a long-haul truck driver.”

  Jayda smiled at her daughter’s innocence, wondering how long it would be before Cadence realized her daddy was a superstar. “She’s excited about our visit.”

  “So you haven’t changed your mind about that?” he asked, sounding hesitant.

  Her heart sank when she realized he might have changed his mind about having them come out to watch him play. “Uh, no, but if you don’t think it’s a good idea—”

  “Jay, I would love to have you guys there. I just wanted to make sure you still wanted to.”

  “Oh, well uh, sure. I think it would be fun.” She had no idea what to expect from their trip. Chase would be there with his team, so she didn’t even know how much time they could spend together. She just wanted him to know his daughter was there to support him. And if he gained strength from her support, so much the better.

  “Good. I’ll text you the details tomorrow. You know which hotel and—”

  “Chase, about that. It might be best for us to stay in a different hotel.” She laughed self-consciously. “The team puts you guys up in one of the best hotels in the city, and well, I can’t really afford that right now. Maybe we can get a room nearby, so we could still see you when you have some time?”

  “Are you serious?” He chuckled. “You really think I’d let you come all the way out here and not foot the bill? I want you guys as close as possible. In the same suite would work for me.”

  She imagined what it would be like, sharing a bed with Chase again. But that wasn’t what he’d suggested. He’d mentioned sharing a suite, probably with separate bedrooms. “That’s a really generous offer, but I can’t let you do that. You’re already giving us the tickets. That’s more than enough.”