He drops a hand on my back. "I can tell. We all can." I turn my head to meet his eyes. "You've been a little more storm cloud than sunshine lately, bud."
I groan loudly, sitting up and letting my head fall backward.
"Eh, don't be so hard on yourself. We know you well enough to know this isn't you. Just a tough few weeks."
I shake my head. "No… that's not it."That's definitely it."It means Levi was right."
I look at him side-eyed, and we both chuckle. As our laughter fades, so does the brief reprieve that my lie just allowed.
"Cut yourself some slack," Mack says, reading my mind like he can. "It's a big year for you. And we all know that Ruthie comes first. But that's why you can't give up on trying to find someone you trust to help you guys out. You won't really behereif home isn't taken care of."
My mind immediately paints a picture of Tess, and there's an undeniable relief that floods my system at just the thought that she exists. "I know," I admit. "I will."
"Good," he says with a tip of his chin. "Do it now."
I turn my body toward him sharply. "Now?"
He stands, presses his lips together, and nods. "Now. Because if we lose to the Yellow Jackets because you're in amood,I'm gonna put my sneaks somewhere a lot more unpleasant than your shoe mat."
"I—" My face contorts as I shake my head. "I don't even want to know."
He winks, and walks away, and once his comment settles, I'm left with an anxiousness I never feel before games. I realize it's because he's right. There's this lingering thing I need to do—a call I need to make—and until it's done, my focus won't be fully on the field.
Reluctantly doing as he says, I find my phone in my bag and pull up the last contact added to it. I roll my head before making the call, and my gaze lands on Jace as I look out toward the field. He's casually settled between second and third, and it's as if I can hear the countdown clock in my ear.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
With that in mind, I press all of my hope into the little white call button, dialing the number of the one person I think may actually be what we need.
For Ruthie's sake.
And my own.
After a few crawling seconds, the voice on the other end of the phone washes over me. "Hello?"
I hesitate for just a beat before turning away from the field. "Tess?" I ask, my eyes sinking shut. There's another moment of silence, and just when I think maybe she didn't hear me, she answers.
"Liam?"
7
Tessa
Pulling into Liam's driveway—in mycar—the gamut of emotions runs through me. I'm glad to be here, excited to meet Ruthie, and ecstatic to have a job again.
But I'm nervous as hell for it to be this one.
I've heard that typically, Liam is a walking Hallmark card—always rainbows and butterflies and dropping the next best piece of optimism. But either that's changed, my sources lied, or I bring out the worst in him. Either way, I've never started with a new family already feeling like I'm swimming upstream.
I'm not sure what made him change his mind. Between my being late and his abrupt ending to the interview, I would have thought he'd just as soon retire early than hire me. But I'm not asking questions. Ruthie seems like a great kid, and I'm hoping with time, and the chocolate chip banana bread I made fresh this morning—plus the fact that he told me to be here by 8am Monday, and it is an early 7:54—that I'll be able to prove to Liam that he made the right decision.
Taking one last look in the rearview mirror, I slide chapstick over my lips and fluff my lashes. I made sure not to overdo it with the makeup—not that I ever really do. But I want to show Liam from the moment he sees me that I'm here to work. And that I'll be a good example for his daughter.
I was also extra strategic about my hair and outfit.
