Touchdown (20 page)

“I know you want it, Zoey. You’re playing with me. You want me to keep on raising the deal. Just name your price and let’s be done with this.”

“Fuck off and leave me alone. Don’t worry, I won’t ask for any child support from you, but I’ve changed my mind now. You won’t get any visiting right anymore.”

“You can’t support that child alone. You don’t even have a job.”

“I just got one, dickhead. They’re paying me twenty one dollars an hour. Eat that.”

She hanged up, and he cursed. This woman had just pushed his patience to its limit.

“Myers, you’re there?”

Troy turned in the direction of the voice—at the main door. That was Logan’s voice. He forgot they had a practice this afternoon.

“Here,” he replied.

Logan emerged at the entrance of the dining room and scowled upon seeing Troy sitting before the table with his feet raised up.

“What the fuck are you doing sitting your ass in that chair?” Logan yelled and picked up the cup of coffee. He took a sip before he spoke again. “The GM’s waiting for you.”

“That’s cold,” Troy said, pointing at the coffee.

“I’ll help myself. Go change your clothes. We’re leaving in five minutes.” Logan peered at the paper on the table. “What’s this?”

Troy lowered his feet on the floor and stood up. Logan looked up at him with wide opened eyes.

“You suggested that,” Troy said before his uncle could say anything.

“I suggested a marriage,” Logan defended. “I never said anything about divorce.”

“That’s a natural consequence. You knew I didn’t love her.”

“I think you do now.”

Troy chuckled and turned away. That can’t be true.
How could he love a fierce tigress like Zoey?
She was not his ideal woman. Not even close.

Chapter 22

Zoey tossed the paper on the floor and sank on the couch. She rubbed her forehead to relieve her headache. She just settled down in her new apartment, just two doors away from Franki’s, and the sheriff delivered her these summons from the court.

The investigator claimed he had found sufficient grounds and evidence to charge her and Troy with conspiracy to mislead investigation and obstruction of justice.

Things seemed to get worse as time passed by. If she knew this would eventually happen, she should have stayed away from Troy.

She pitied him. That was the very root of all these things. She shouldn’t have felt that.

“Zoey?”

That was Franki’s voice. Quickly, she stood up and opened the door.

“Mister Norris is looking for you,” Franki said and stepped away.

Zoey was stunned. Indeed, Logan was standing there.

“Good afternoon, Miss Graham,” he said.

She nodded. “Come in please. It’s cold in here. I thought you’re in Arizona already.”

“I came back,” he replied and entered the apartment. “I need to fix something here.”

Franki came in, as well, as if she was too excited to hear what the famous coach came to say. “I’ll make us all a cup of tea.”

“Yes, please,” Zoey replied and watched her friend run to the kitchen. “Sit down, please,” she told Logan.

Logan looked around and chose the single couch. “These are new?”

She smiled and sat on the long couch. “I bought it yesterday.”

He nodded. “Excellent choice. Blue’s my favorite color, too. I thought women like pink.”

She laughed. “Not all women do.”

“You like it here more than your house in Springfield?”

“That’s not my house anymore.”

“You’re both serious about that divorce, huh?”

She shrugged. “Troy asked for it.”

“And you signed it?”

“What can I do? He wants me out of his life.”

“You think so?”

“Why else would he divorce me?”

He looked at the ceiling and examined the interior design of the apartment as if he had forgotten they were talking about something. “He asked for a divorce, and when you signed it, he got depressed.”

She frowned. “W-what?”

He smiled. “Talking about stupid men, huh. Your husband is stupid. He doesn’t know what he wants.”

She didn’t agree. “He’s just too self-centered. What he wants, he gets, no matter the cost, no matter who gets hurt.”

“You don’t really know him, do you?”

“That’s how I know him.”

He squinted at the sight of the paper on the floor. She quickly picked them up.

“It’s from the court. Troy should have gotten a copy too.”

“Oh, that.” He nodded. “Jeremy got the copy for him.”

“So he knows already?” She returned to her seat.

“He knows, and that’s the problem. He’s a complete mess right now. I have to do something to fix him or we will lose the Superbowl.”

She sighed and did not say a word. With all those issues surrounding him, he probably could not sleep at night.

“This case is serious, Miss Graham. You both could be imprisoned.”

Her lips parted. She had not expected that such petty crime would amount to imprisonment. “For how long?”

“Maybe years.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. That sounded too much to her. “That’s not fair.”

“I know. You never did anything wrong. Don’t worry. I’ll give you a good lawyer. I was the one who started the idea of Troy marrying you in the first place, so let me handle your attorney’s fees.”

Somehow, that made her feel better. Money was her main problem in the first place. With all these issues, it may not be wise to demand the four million dollars that Troy promised her, or it would only implicate her more.

“Anyway,” Logan paused and pulled out something from his pocket. “I have two tickets here for you. It’s all I have left. Everything’s been sold out.”

Reluctantly, she took the tickets from him. It’s the first time she had ever held a Superbowl ticket. She could never afford to buy one herself.

“I went to see Troy’s father a while ago, but… he would not let me in. Would you like to speak with him instead?”

She nodded, wondering what he wanted her to tell Stanly.

“Troy made it up with his mother, but Stanly is difficult. Troy loved his father, even if he had been nothing but an ass. I think it would help if you can convince Stanly to call Troy and let him know that he’s supporting him. Anyway, the Patriots are not playing against the Jets this time.”

She compressed her lips. “Stanly hates him. He does not even want to speak with him.”

“That’s why you have to try. He listens to you. You might be able to convince him. Please, Zoey. You have no idea what a mess your husband is right now. He needs to feel that his family is by his side.”

She bit her lower lip. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Cleaning up after his mess. You’re not his father.”

“He doesn’t have a father. He has nobody.”

She was clueless as to what he meant by that.

“You’ve seen it yourself,” Logan explained. “His father never gave a damn about him.”

Since the start, she did notice the tension between Stanly and Troy. “I did, and I’ve always wondered why, but I didn’t want to ask Troy about it.”

“You want to know why?”

She nodded, intrigued. “Sure.”

“You heard about his brother’s death?”

“I read it in the news.”

“His brother, Ashton, was his parents’ favorite son. When he died, they blamed Troy for it. Then they turned their lives into a hell. Troy tried to stay away to keep his sanity intact, but he couldn’t get away. He loved his parents so much, something that my sister and my brother-in-law failed to see. They were too busy mourning for a dead son, not realizing that they’re killing the other one, in the process.”

Something pricked her heart. So Troy had been going through something like that with his parents but he never even talked about it.

After pondering over the matter, she took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll talk to Stanly. I’ll give these tickets to him so he could go with Paula. Troy needs his parents, not me.”

Logan sighed. “You have to go, Zoey. He needs you too.”

She chuckled. “He is divorcing me, and he wants to take my baby from me.”

“Ah, fuck that. If he wanted to divorce you, he could have filed your application already. I saw the documents. It’s still sitting in his house until now.”

“Maybe he’s busy.”

“Busy my ass. He’s confused. He realized he didn’t like to file it after all.”

For a moment, she could not speak. That seemed unbelievable.

“He’s a man who doesn’t even understand his own feelings. His parents never loved him. He never knew how it feels to be loved, and I don’t think he even knows he is in love. But even if he knows, he might not admit it, or he is too scared to accept it.”

“A man like Troy? Scared?”

“You think he’s tough?”

“I’d say insensitive… inconsiderate.”

Logan chuckled. “Men won’t show it, but believe me, they can be more sensitive than women.”

“Not Troy. Why should he be scared?”

“He thinks you wouldn’t love him in return, just as his parents never did.”

Again, she could not speak. Is that really the reason why?

She lowered her head, staring at the tickets in her hand.

“I know you find it hard to believe what I just told you, but I know my nephew. Since he married you, he’d changed in a way that I never thought would be possible for him to be. He’s just scared to put his heart on the line. He likes to pretend he’s tough, but the truth is, he’s at the verge of breaking down.”

She bit her lower lip. “I’m scared too. What if you are mistaken?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. This time, I’m positive.”

*****

Zoey remained dazed even after the judge had announced her case as dismissed and left the courtroom. She should be happy that she no longer had to worry about going to prison, but instead, she felt even worse.

The things that she’d heard still had not completely sunk into her head. What was clear was that Troy submitted, through his counsel, a manifestation confessing himself to have forced Zoey, by use of threats and intimidations, to change her statement regarding the accident that took place a few months ago. As a result, since the prosecutor had no other evidences against her, they had no option but to dismiss the case against her.

“Less one of your worries,” Chelsea, her lawyer said, as she fixed her things. “I’ll call you next week for your custody case.”

She nodded. After Chelsea left, she slowly rose to her feet.

“Congratulations.”

She looked up and found Jeremy standing in front of her. “Why did he do that?”

“I think he finally decided to take full responsibility for his stupidity.”

“Stupidity? You assisted him.”

“No. I never told him to do stupid things. He did it despite my warnings. As of your sham marriage with him, maybe I did. But that’s because I know it’s not illegal.”

“So what will happen to him?”

“He is guilty, of course. He admitted it.”

“Will he go to prison?”

“His ten-month sentence for his negligence is waiting for him after the Superbowl, plus additional months, or maybe years, for this. Let’s just hope the judge will be lenient to him.”

She compressed her lips. “It’s not fair for him.”

Jeremy squeezed her shoulders. “He took the blame for you, Zoey. You don’t have to feel sorry for him. You can just thank him and forget about it.”

She nodded, even if it didn’t feel right to her.

“By the way, there are two ladies out there that you might want to meet.”

She turned in the direction that Jeremy nodded. She found two women—one very young, probably a teenager, and the other one was a middle-aged. They both had auburn brown hair with freckles across the bridge of their nose. They looked just like her. It was like seeing herself a few years ago with the teenager and two decades from now with the older woman.

She quickly turned away, unsure of what to think and what to do. For a moment, she thought about approaching them, but she suddenly hesitated and walked out of the courtroom.

Were they her family? Was that older woman her mother?

She was not ready for this encounter. Jeremy should have at least warned her about it.

As she descended the stairs, she stopped. When she looked back, she saw the women following her. They suddenly stopped. The older woman’s eyes were teary.

She turned away again and continued down the stairs. She knew they were following her so she slowed down her steps. Slowly, she turned to have another look at them. The teenager approached her, but could not say a word.

Zoey licked her lips. “Would you… like to join me for lunch?” she asked.

Immediately, the teenager nodded. “I’m Jaycee, and this is my mother, Lily.”

Lily stepped closer, her tears at the verge of bursting. “Can I hug you?” she asked.

Zoey’s heart swelled and bled at the same time. If this woman was her mother, she despised her for abandoning her, but at the same time, she was happy to finally meet her family.

She nodded, and Lily wrapped her arms around her, first loosely, and slowly tightened.

She closed her eyes as Lily sobbed on her shoulders. Jaycee joined them, resting her chin on Zoey’s other shoulder.

This must be her sister.