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Cassie thought for a moment, then said, “Jack, look at me,” her voice soft and comforting as I glanced up. “I’m not going to stay here without you. You get traded, I get traded. We’re a team, remember?”
Hugging her tight, I spoke against her hair. “I just don’t want you to feel like you’re all alone in this. I completely understand if you want to wait until I can help. And if you need time to transition from your job to our new home, take all the time you need. ” And I meant every word. It would fucking kill me to be without her, but she had a life here too. It was only fair she left it on her own terms.
She sniffed, then snuggled in closer to me. “I don’t want you to worry about me. I can handle moving and everything else that goes with it. You just worry about getting on that new team and showing the Mets that they screwed up by letting you go. I can’t believe they’re trading you!”
“Thank you, Kitten. I can’t believe it either. Good thing I still have this necklace. I think I’m gonna need it. ” I pulled the key from under my shirt and stroked the letters stamped on it before letting it fall against my chest.
“It’s yours. Until you don’t need it anymore,” she said with a smile as she reached her hand out to touch it. “I feel betrayed by the team, in a way. Why do I feel like that? Do you feel like that?”
What I did feel was fucking stupid for having hurt feelings over this. What was I, a twelve-year-old? No, I was a man and grown men weren’t supposed to get butt-hurt over shit like this.
But truth be told, I was hurt. And I hated to admit it, but I vowed to never lie to my wife again and I took that seriously. “I don’t know that I feel betrayed as much as I feel let down. Like, I guess I stupidly thought they’d fight for me. Just because my pitching isn’t up to par right now, that they would know it would be back eventually. I feel like they quit on me. And it hurts because I’d never quit on them. They’re my team and I always give a hundred and ten percent when I’m on that mound. It hurts knowing it’s not a two-way street. Is that stupid?”
Yeah, I felt stupid admitting all this to her. Even though I knew she understood me more than anyone else in this world, it still sucked saying it all out loud.
“It’s not stupid at all,” Cassie said loyally. “You love this team. And it’s like you just got told they don’t love you the same way back. They broke up with you. ”
I snorted. “I got dumped. ”
Then she looked up at me with those big fucking green eyes and said, “I’ll never dump you. ”
My heart full of love for her, I reached for her left hand and kissed the diamond I’d bought her. “I wouldn’t let you. ”
She laughed, her body shaking against mine. “Yeah, I know. Been there, done that. ”
“And look how well that turned out,” I teased playfully, knowing damn well she was the best thing to ever happen to me.
“I’d say it turned out better than well, Mr. Carter. ”
“For me, maybe. I don’t know about your end of the deal. ”
Slightly Emotional
Jack got the news he’d been traded to Anaheim two days later. The Mets were in St. Louis and just like he said, he had to fly straight from there to Texas to meet up with his new team, the Anaheim Angels. Of course they went by some other name now, but growing up in Southern California, they’d always be the Anaheim Angels to me.
We really lucked out that the Angels were one of the teams fighting for Jack. That meant we got to move home, and it also meant that Jack didn’t have to try to find a place to live in his downtime. Grateful we had family in the area, he moved straight in with Gran and Gramps until I got there.
If he had been traded to Toronto, the team would have put him in a hotel for the first home stand only. It would only be for a few nights, then he would have had to find permanent accommodations on his own. That was just another harsh reality of playing professional baseball. No one helped you when you needed help the most. If Jack didn’t have me, I couldn’t imagine what he’d do. The players didn’t have time to find places to live, and deal with other necessary issues like that, when their entire days were spent at the ball field trying to maintain their position.
Of course I hated the idea of leaving work and the home we’d created in New York, but I hated being away from Jack’s home base even more. So I knocked on Nora’s door the morning after the trade.
“Hmph. I know why you’re in my office,” she said, momentarily pretending to be offended with me. Then real indignation took over. “I can’t believe they traded him!”
Taken aback, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I feel the same way. ”
“I’m really going to miss you,” she said, her face solemn. Nora was a smart woman; she’d obviously put two and two together to figure out why I’d come to meet with her unannounced.
“And I can’t believe I have to move back to California. Don’t get me wrong, I love my home, but I’m not ready to say good-bye to New York yet. Is that bad?”
“Of course not. New York’s in your blood, Cassie. Plus, I have a proposition for you. ” She rubbed her hands together and a devious smile appeared.
My mood immediately lifted. “What is it? Please let it be something that means I can still work here but not physically be here,” I practically begged.
She huffed and glared at me, shaking her head. “You ruin every surprise. ”
“Tell me!”
“As long as you ca
