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“You okay, sweetie?” Her mom put a hand on Baylee’s arm.
“I’m not sure.” She shook her head. “I love him, Mama. I do. But is that enough?”
“The romantic in me wants to say yes, but with this”—she waved a hand towards the laptop—“this stuff would challenge even the best of love stories.”
Baylee nodded in agreement.
A knock at the door made them both turn.
“Anybody home?” Drew’s voice floated through the room as he opened the door and stuck his head inside.
His eyes found hers and the boyish grin made her smile in return, but the smoky blue of his eyes made her insides turn to mush. She melted at the mere sight of the man. Could she really even consider him not being a part of her life?
He stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. “What are you two up to?”
Baylee’s mother looked at her and whispered, “Casey’s in his room drawing. I’ll leave you two to chat.”
She stood and gave Drew a quick hug before heading down the hall into Baylee’s room and closing the door.
Drew frowned and looked at Baylee. “Feels a bit somber in here. Did I miss something?”
Baylee patted the chair her mother had vacated. “Come sit with me.”
“Okay.” He sat beside her and kissed her cheek. “Missed you today.”
A nod was all she could manage. Torn between bursting into tears and wanting to wrap her arms around him and stay there all night, her eyes saw only the picture on the computer screen. Drew had yet to turn his head, still unaware of it.
One thing Baylee wanted was to give him the benefit of the doubt. Drew had been nothing but honest with her from the beginning. He deserved a chance to tell her who the woman was in the picture. But the sense of dread of having to question every moment plastered in the news weighed her down.
“What’s wrong, Bay?”
“Who’s the woman in the picture?” She pointed to the screen.
He turned his head then leaned in to get a better look. He scrubbed a hand down his face and looked at the ceiling. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Not exactly the reaction she was expecting but she sat patiently waiting for him to continue.
He turned in his chair, took both her hands in his so she faced him. “I want you to look me in the eye when I say this, Bay. This woman means nothing. She’s not even in my life. Before I left for Silver Bay, I had dinner with my assistant, Monica, who is happily married, by the way, and she brought a friend with her.” He looked at the picture then back at Baylee. “This picture was taken outside the restaurant as we waited for the valet to get our cars. What you can’t see in the picture is that all three of us were laughing at something Monica said and I hugged them both goodbye. That was it.”
His thumb rubbed across her hand as he talked. All of it was true. It was evident in his eyes. And his tone lacked desperation. She’d learned with Erik that he only sounded desperate when he was covering something, wanting her to believe without question in what he was saying. What Drew gave was an explanation. And his eyes never wavered from hers.
“Monica can tell you the same thing. She was with us.”
“I don’t need to talk to Monica. I believe you.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. Soft at first, then he cupped her head with his hand and things intensified. She melted into him like always.
When they pulled back, he placed his forehead to hers. “I love you, Baylee. You. No one else.”
She nodded, tears lodged in her throat.
He sat back again. “This is what they do, the press. They find pictures that can be used to make something look different than what it truly is. And this?” He motioned towards the screen. “This was an innocent dinner between friends. That’s all.”
Unable to form words, Baylee blinked away tears and nodded again.
“You gotta give me more than a nod, babe. I’m dying over here.”
“I’m… scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Scared of not being able to handle all this. Scared of how it will change life. Scared that you’ll go back to New York, back to baseball, and not want me anymore. I’m scared of losing you. I’m scared of making bad decisions for Casey. I’m. Scared.” She hadn’t intended on dumping all of that on him, but now it was out and it hung between them, palpable. “I don’t know if I can do this, Drew.”
“Baylee. The last thing I would ever do is hurt you intentionally.” He looked down at his shoes. “I can’t promise that I can keep you from this, from the attention and the ‘noise’ as Monica calls it.”
“I understand.”
He looked up again and his eyes searched hers. “Then what’s next?”
Baylee wrapped her arms around her middle, to keep away the pain or hold herself together, she wasn’t sure. “I don’t know.”
