New Beginnings (55 page)

“Really?” Zach’s brows knit together. “That must be stressful for the parents.”

“You have no idea. They’ve tried different locks, but nothing works.”

“How much do they need for the dog?” Zach asked.

“Fifteen thousand dollars.” All of the men were listening intently. She could tell they weren’t nearly as self-absorbed as some of the successful entrepreneurs she’d met. They would be happy to donate to her cause, but not before she’d established how it could help them.

“Consider it done,” Zach said.

“What?” Rennie’s heart hammered. Surely he hadn’t said what she thought he’d said. The Zach she knew back in high school and college would have given the shirt off his back to a stranger in need, but she thought that becoming a professional athlete had changed him.

“Just tell me who to make the check payable to. I’ll drop it by your office later today.”

“But you can’t…” Rennie struggled to think of a plausible reason why he couldn’t do that. The only reason she could think of was that it would change her view of him. Of course, maybe that was his angle. He was trying to score points with her by throwing his money around. Well, it wouldn’t work. “Sheldon’s parents are very proud people. When I suggested a fundraiser, they shied away from the idea, but they’re desperate. They’re tapped out financially; they live on a busy street and can’t afford to move.” She struggled with how much she should tell them. “It’s gotten so bad they’re sleeping in shifts because he’s started sneaking out of his bed at night and heading straight for the front door.”

Jaxon covered his mouth with his hand. “I can’t imagine what that must be like for them.”

“It’s brutal,” Rennie agreed. Her heart went out to them. Sheldon was their only child, the light of their life—much like Tyler was the center of her world. “I really want to help them.”

“But you won’t accept my money?” Zach asked, a muscle in his jaw flexing. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I told you, they’re very proud people,” Rennie said softly, touching his arm before she realized what she was doing.

His eyes fell to her hand. He looked up, drawing her in with the dark gaze that used to be able to hold her captive for hours… in bed. “Fine, if you won’t let me give them the money, at least let us host the event. I’ll donate whatever you need as far as tickets or signed jerseys. I’ll get my teammates to come together and help out too.”

Rennie was overwhelmed with gratitude, which she knew was dangerous. She didn’t want to be indebted to him, but she couldn’t afford to reject his offer. Sheldon’s family needed help, and no matter the reason, Zach seemed more than willing to provide it.

“Not that anyone asked my opinion,” Matt cut in, glaring at Zach, “but I think it’s a great idea. We’ll have an auction and notify the press. It’ll be good for business, not to mention fun. You can’t beat that.”

“No, you can’t,” Zach said, smiling at Rennie.

She really tried to resist the urge to smile back, but her twitching lips had other ideas.

***

Zach knew he was venturing into a fool’s territory with Rennie. She was like a drug. The more time he spent with her, the longer he wanted to prolong the experience. The initial tension and awkwardness faded away when he convinced her to join him for a cocktail, and the rest of their lunch had felt natural. Like two old friends reconnecting after a long period of separation. Billy Joel’s “Italian Restaurant” played over the drone of the lunch crowd, making him smile.

“What are you smiling about?” she asked, bringing her wine glass to her lips.

“I was thinking about how much you used to love Billy Joel.” He smiled. “Did you ever see him in concert?”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” she said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Nathan surprised me with tickets to see him and Elton John a few years ago for my birthday. It was amazing.”

Her husband’s name hit him like a fist between the eyes. He’d allowed himself to pretend it was just the two of them again. The reminder that it would never be that way again caught him off guard. “Yeah, I saw them too. They were great.”

“I seem to recall you were more of an Aerosmith guy. Bob Segar, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, that was my kind of music. What made you go see them?”

“You.” He stared at her, their past scrolling in front of his eyes: their first kiss, the first time they made love, the night he proposed, the wedding that never was… “His music makes me think of you. I was going through a rough time. I guess I wanted to feel closer to you.” He shrugged.

Rennie stared at him, obviously at a loss for words. She looked at her watch. “Oh wow, it’s getting late. I really should go. So you think the home game on the 14
th
of next month will work for Jake’s visit?”

They’d talked about it earlier, when he was still pretending Jake’s visit was the only reason he’d asked her to lunch. It wasn’t. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being so close, yet still out of his reach. But he wouldn’t try to wreak havoc in her marriage, no matter how much he still loved her. “I think so. Just let me talk to the powers that be, and I’ll get back to you.”

“Sounds good.” She got to her feet. Reaching for her purse, she hesitated to smile at him. “Thanks for lunch, Zach. It was nice.”

“Yeah, it was.” Nice didn’t begin to describe it, but he would only make her uncomfortable if he tried to make more of it. “I’d really like to come to your son’s game. It seemed like it would mean a lot to him, and I’d hate to disappoint him.”

“You can’t,” she said quickly, the color draining from her face.

“Why not?” Realization dawned when she failed to respond. “I don’t want your husband to think I’m trying to—”

“It’s not that,” she said, looking panicked. “You just can’t come. I’m sorry. I really have to go.”

Rennie sat at her desk several hours later, staring at her son’s photo and wondering how her orderly life had spun out of control in a matter of days. Zach was working his way into her life slowly but surely. He would be at Sheldon’s fundraiser next Thursday, and he’d agreed to meet Jake next month. She could handle all that. It was his desire to meet her son,
their
son, she couldn’t handle.

“Hey,” Terri said, looking up from her computer. “I forgot to ask how your lunch with Zach Foster went.”

“It was fine.” When Rennie realized her voice matched her melancholy mood, she tried to infuse a little more enthusiasm into her words. “It was good. Great, in fact. He and his partners offered to let us have Sheldon’s fundraiser at High Rollers.”

“Shut up!” Terri’s mouth hung open, and for once, she seemed speechless. The silence only lasted half a second. “That’s amazing, but why?”

Rennie knew the time had come to tell Terri the truth. She was her friend, and she may be the only person who could act as a buffer between Rennie and Zach. “I, uh, knew him a long time ago.”

“You did not!”

Rennie couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s reaction. “I did. We went to high school together.” She would have to break the whole truth to Terri gently, since she didn’t have a paper bag to hand over when she started hyperventilating.

“So why didn’t you tell me you knew him when I showed you Jake’s letter?” Terri slipped her pen between her teeth as she narrowed her eyes at her boss. “What are you hiding, lady?”

“It’s complicated.” That didn’t even begin to describe it. She should have told Terri the story over cocktails. Maybe then she would have been able to get the words out without a knot in her stomach.

“I’ve got time.” Terri settled deeper into her swivel chair. “I skipped lunch today, so technically I have an hour coming to me.”

Rennie knew the whole sordid story would only take a few minutes, but it was so hard to find the words. She’d convinced herself that Zach was a selfish, immature jerk, and that was the only way she could justify keeping him from his son. But he’d shown himself to be anything but since he’d walked back into her life. Guilt over her decisions was eating away at her.

“You can’t back out on me now,” Terri said, leaning forward. “So don’t even think about it.”

“We dated in high school and college.”

“On again, off again?”

“No, we didn’t break up until I left town.” Rennie thought back to that day. She’d flown to Orlando to visit her grandmother, who was in a nursing home and suffering from dementia. After that, Rennie moved to Tampa. She’d never felt more alone than she did in the months after she left home. She couldn’t turn to her family or the father of her baby for help. She’d worked every odd job she could find and saved as much money as possible to support her baby. She got a job as a volunteer coordinator soon after Tyler was born. It gave her the freedom to set her own hours while bonding with her baby. Then the man next door stole her heart and restored her faith in relationships.

She and Nathan had been friends for a long time before she was ready for a romantic relationship, but he saw her through some tough times. He dried her tears and indulged her pregnancy cravings. He walked the floors with Tyler when he wouldn’t sleep. During one of those midnight walks, she realized she’d fallen in love with him. Instead of the kind of all-consuming passion she’d had with her first love, her love for Nathan was gentler, not nearly as combustible. It made her feel safe, as though she could count on him to always be there for her.

“Was he already playing professional baseball when you left?” Terri leaned over to offer Rennie a stick of red licorice.

“Yeah, he was.”

“Is that why you dumped him?” Terri bit into her favorite candy. “Did he cheat on you with some obsessed fan who threw herself at him after a game one night?”

Rennie smiled. Terri was a drama queen, but she never failed to make Rennie laugh. “No, nothing like that.”

“Okay, so what was it?” she asked, biting through her licorice like a dog with a rawhide stick.

“I found out I was pregnant,” Rennie whispered, unable to look her friend in the eye. Jackie was the only other person she’d uttered those words to, and Rennie had believed she would be the last. The past was coming back to haunt her, and she didn’t know how to escape it.

“Wait a second,” Terri said, pulling her swivel chair closer to Rennie’s desk. “Are you saying Tyler wasn’t Nathan’s son?”

“He was in every way that mattered.” Tyler called Nathan Daddy, and her husband had loved her son as though he were his own. They’d even talked about giving him a little brother or sister… She shuddered, trying to block that conversation out of her mind. Terri stared at Rennie, obviously waiting for her to explain. Rennie had never lied to her about Tyler’s father. Terri had just assumed that Nathan was his biological father, and Rennie didn’t correct her assumption. A lie by omission was still a lie, but it was her business and her secret to protect.

“Oh my God.” Terri’s gaze fell on Tyler’s picture. “Now that you mention it, I see the resemblance. I don’t know why I didn’t see it when Zach was here the other day.”

“You weren’t looking for it.” Rennie glanced at her cell phone when it buzzed. Karina’s last appointment cancelled, so she would be able to pick up the kids. Rennie texted her “Thanks” before returning her attention to her friend.

“I take it Zach doesn’t know?” Terri asked gently.

“No, he doesn’t.” Rennie tried to ignore the judgment in her friend’s eyes, but it wasn’t easy when the same thoughts were going through her head. Should she have given Zach a chance to defend himself? Should she have told him she was pregnant before she left town? Should she have called him when Tyler was born? Would her son hate her if he ever learned that she’d purposefully kept him from his biological father?

“What did he do that was so terrible, Ren?” Terri asked, touching her arm. “Was he abusive? Did he—”

“I just found out he wasn’t who I thought he was.” Rennie had thought she was brave enough to tell the whole story, but she wasn’t sure anymore.

“How did you find that out?”

“The night before our wedding—”

“Hold on a minute.” Terri pulled on her earlobe. “I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just say the night before your
wedding
? You were going to marry him?”

“Yes.” For a brief moment, Rennie allowed herself to think about the fairy-tale wedding they’d planned for four hundred of their friends and family. Zach already had a contract with the Mariners. They were going to move to Seattle after the honeymoon of her dreams in Maui.

“Okay, so what happened to change your mind?”

Rennie took a deep breath, mainly because she needed to collect herself before recalling how she’d felt when she heard the man she loved tell his brother that he didn’t want the baby she was carrying. “He pocket dialed me. I overheard a conversation he was having with his brother.”

“What did he say?” Terri asked, her normally robust voice a whisper.

“He said he wasn’t stupid enough to let me get pregnant.”

“Ouch.” Terri winced. “Had you guys”—she blushed—“you know, always used protection?”

Rennie nodded, thinking how adamant Zach had been about protection, even in the months leading up to the wedding when she teased him that it wouldn’t matter if she got pregnant because she wouldn’t show on their wedding day. “I guess it’s true what they say—condoms aren’t a hundred percent.”

Terri shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Did he say he wanted a family, you know, before y’all got engaged?”

“Yes.” Knowing he had lied to her still hurt more than anything else. If he’d told her the truth—that he wanted to wait until his baseball career ended to start a family—she couldn’t say for certain that she would have agreed to marry him. At least they could have parted as friends who understood they just wanted different things out of life. “I told him I wanted to get pregnant right away because I wanted a big family.”

“And he didn’t tell you he felt differently?” Terri’s voice took on that edge that Rennie recognized as outrage.

“No, he didn’t.” Rennie twisted her wedding ring. “He played along like he wanted all the same things I did. I think that’s why it came as such a shock.”