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“Who’s Franco?”
“My virtual spin class trainer. Your father bought me one of those stationary bikes that I wanted. Anyway, it’s not often you call your mother before noon my time. Is everything okay?”
“I know. I’m sorry to bother you, but have you spoken to Dad recently?”
She laughed. “Of course. Why?”
“Did he mention he talked to me?”
“No, and you never answered me before. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just—”
“Cash, you’re starting to make me worry. Do I need to call him at work?”
“No.” That was the last thing I wanted her to do. “I have something to tell you.”
“Okay, can you please do that because right now I’m imagining all the bad things?”
“You’re a grandmother,” I blurted.
“What?” Her shriek had me pulling the phone away from my face.
Maybe I should have asked if she was sitting down. Once the vibration in my eardrum dissipated, I cleared my throat. “I’m in Blossom Berry Falls for my class reunion.”
“I heard about that. Mitzy Barber told me that the school had renamed the stadium. That would have been nice to hear from you.”
“Sorry, it was a surprise to me too. Anyway, that isn’t important. Do you remember Hannah Hall?”
“Oh yes. Such a sweet girl. Broke my heart when you two went your separate ways. And that was your fifteenth reunion, right? I can’t bel—” Her pause told me the pieces were starting to click together. Giving her a moment to process, I remained quiet. “Honey, are you saying that you and Hannah have a child?”
“Yes. His name is Jimmy. He’s fourteen, smart, funny, and pitches for the varsity team.”
She sniffled. “Oh my word. I’m just ... I can’t believe this. We have a grandson. He’s named after you too. I’m confused, though. She didn’t reach out to tell you? Wait until Dad hears.”
“He knows. Not that he has a grandson or his name, but that Hannah was pregnant.”
After I explained everything as best I could, my mother was appalled and horrified. “I can’t believe your father did that.”
She sniffled again, and I felt horrible. Except I wasn’t the cause of her tears. My dick for a father was. Still, I apologized, prompting her to go into mom mode. “It’s not your fault, honey. I’d love to defend him and say he did it for your own good, but I call bullshit on that.”
“Mom, you swore. That’s very unlike you,” I said with a laugh uncharacteristic for the conversation but trying to bring a sliver of levity to the heavy situation.
“Yes, well, this is cause for it. And other than your father, she never tried to reach you? I wish she would have come to me.”
“No, she said she emailed, called, and wrote letters. I just never got any messages. I wasn’t exactly in charge of my emails or my phone, really. Leo took care of everything.”
“I never liked that shady man. I told your father that he was wrong for that job.”
Thinking back to when I found an agent, I had also been told to get an assistant to help me with my schedule and other things that could fall through the cracks otherwise. It seemed other players had one, so I figured, why not? My dad helped me get organized before I left. Leo was part of that organization, but I got his name from my agent.
“What does Dad have to do with Leo?”
“Leo’s uncle and Dad play golf together. I don’t want to assume anything, but something tells me that—”
“Dad suggested Leo to Thomas so he could control the events surrounding my life, including my son.”
More pieces to this skewed puzzle that had turned out to be the last fifteen years of my life. I thanked my mom, and we ended the call, promising to video chat later. The room felt heavy with the weight of disappointment and betrayal. Anguish knotted in my chest as waves of frustration washed over me. For years this had gone on. How could I have been so blind? My fists clenched, and my body tensed thanks to a slurry of emotions, none of which were good.
