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Oblivious to the emotion swirling in my head, Jimmy closed the door. Hannah still hadn’t moved, so I did. Maybe I did get it wrong. Maybe it was a fluke. Rather than jump to the obvious conclusion, I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Hi, Hannah. Good to see you again. You’re even more beautiful than you were in high school.”
Damn, she smelled sweet. Some sort of flower or fruit, maybe? I didn’t know, but as soon as my lips met her skin, my heart joined the party. It recognized its other half. The one that had been missing.
“Cash. It’s, um ... this is a surprise.”
I’m sure it is.
“Mom, you’re never going to believe this. Cash thinks I might be able to go pro. The big leagues. Isn’t that amazing? He’s a scout and he’d know.”
“What?” She giggled nervously. “You’re only fourteen.”
“I know. So cool, right?”
“Hey, sport?”
Jimmy and Hannah’s eyes widened at my instant nickname for him.
“That’s what my mom calls me.”
Not sure how to respond, I simply asked, “Can you give your mom and me a chance to talk?”
He looked at his mom, who nodded. “Why don’t you go call your grandparents and tell them about the game?”
Grandparents.Herparents. That was when I remembered whose house I was standing in. The floral sofa and chairs were replaced with soft yellow and gray ones. The fireplace still had the same red-brick facade and wood mantel. Pictures of the family rested atop it. Moving on their own accord, my feet carried me toward it.
I picked up the picture of Hannah holding Jimmy. He had to be three or four, maybe? A stuffed toy baseball sat in his hand, his little fingers barely wrapping around it. Running my fingers along the image behind the glass, I uttered, “I don’t understand, Hannah.”
When she didn’t answer me, I set the photo back in its place and turned around. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, cocked her hip, and studied me. “Can we not do this now?” Her eyes darted to the stairs before landing back on me. “Cash—”
“Tell me that boy upstairs isn’t my son.” Then it dawned on me. There were no pictures of another man, no pictures of her in a wedding gown, no evidence anyone other than the two of them lived in this house, and no wedding ring on her finger.
She sat down on the sofa and dropped her head in her hands. Ignoring the thunder in my chest, I gave her a few minutes. I knew her well enough to know she was processing. It had been something she’d always done. Hannah rubbed her hands on her jean-clad thighs, rolled her shoulders back, straightened, and looked at me.
Her eyes met mine, and her gaze never wavered when she said, “I can’t do that. Can you tell me why you picked today to acknowledge him? Was it because you’re seeing dollar signs? Jimmy said you thought he was good enough for the pros.”
“He is. We should probably be talking about that, except—”
“My son isn’t for sale.”
Shaking my head, trying to process her words, I couldn’t help the ire that began to churn in my stomach. “Sale? Maybe we should start from the beginning. First, you can tell me why you kept him from me.”
Affronted, she reared back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that you thought he was for sale. This is just a lot right now. He’s only a freshman.”
“And he’s only going to improve with age. He’s a natural.”
“Plus ... I’m ... it’s just ... he doesn’t know about you.”
I wanted to shout,that’s obvious, but didn’t. “So you’re not disputing it?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never disputed it.”
Confusion overtook my other swirling emotions. “To who? Not me.” Letting out a breath, I raked my fingers through my hair. “Time and place, Hannah,” I demanded. Her bottom lip quivered. I needed to soften my tone. This wasn’t us. Hannah and I were never mean to each other. We were best friends at one point. “I’m renting the house behind this one. Come over tonight. Say eight o’clock?”
Just then, Jimmy walked back into the room and straight toward Hannah. “Grandpa didn’t answer his cell phone. Bummer, because he’d flip, knowing Cash was here.”
“I’m sure he would,” I uttered.
I couldn’t stop staring at the young man in front of me. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed the similarities at the game. His quick delivery, his acute awareness and his genuine ability at the sport we both loved. Instinctively I wanted to wrap my arms around him, but I couldn’t yet. Then it dawned on me that I had no idea where he thought his father was. My heart cracked, thinking that he thought I’d abandoned him.
