AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No crying in baseball.” She wiggled two fingers at him. Billy tilted his head, acknowledging her two points.
Carly ignored them both. “Fine, I’m happy to go first. It goes without saying that I’m grateful for all of you, and to be part of the Cooper family. But I’d also like to say that I’m grateful that Teddy slept through the night last night. First time ever.”
The whole table cheered and applauded. Danny went next, with a gracious comment about being grateful to Layla for not wanting to contribute to her carbon footprint by flying back to Egypt for the break. “Good for the environment and for us!” he ended with a flourish.
Smiling, she returned the sentiment with a short speech about feeling very welcome in Minnesota, and grateful to the thrift store that had plenty of used winter gear she could buy.
And then it was Billy’s turn. “First, I gotta say I’m grateful to Lancelot.”
“That’s his glove,” Danny whispered to Layla, who looked very confused. “Baseball. I’ll explain later.”
“Lancelot saved my ass more times this season than I can count.”
“To Lancelot!” Thomas raised a glass to Billy’s glove.
Rolling her eyes, Jenna raised her glass and joined in. Typical Billy, putting his baseball glove at the center of his life.
“But I also want to say I’m grateful to Jenna for being…” He shrugged, as if he couldn’t find quite the right words.
“Best ex-wife ever?” she asked tartly. That was another of their running jokes. Maybe they’d been a terrible married couple, but they were a kick-ass divorced one.
“No. One of the best all-around people ever. Right, boys?”
Bean cheered, while Zack pretended to gag. Billy met her eyes as he lifted his glass of cider. His were filled with mischief and warmth, and it was impossible for her to block it out. A thrill snuck through her, zinging from her heart to her toes.
Trouble.
And then she remembered. Japan. Was he trying to win her over so she’d consent to this Japan idea? She wasn’t sure what she thought about it yet—she didn’t know the details—but flattering her wasn’t going to work.
Except that her pulse was still fluttering. Darn it all, Billy. No curveballs, please.
Two points for her—silently, to herself, which wasn’t nearly as much fun.
Three
Billy knew Jenna was unhappy with him, and he couldn’t blame her. He had no idea how Zack knew about the Japan offer; maybe he’d overheard something during a call with his agent, Pete? He should have talked it over with Jenna before the kids got wind of it. Communication was at the top of her wishlist of rules.
Now she was digging into her blueberry pie with extra fierceness. When she was pissed, she tended to attack her food as if it was the guilty party.
When Bean fell asleep with his head pillowed on Billy’s lap, he caught her eye. “Ready?” he murmured.
“Locked and loaded,” she answered cheerfully. No one else would be able to tell, but he knew she was righteously angry.
They said their goodbyes. After collecting the kids’ coats and hats and mittens, Jenna shepherded Zack out the door while Billy carried the groggy Bean in his arms. One of Bean’s superpowers was sleeping. Once he was out, he was nearly impossible to wake up. So different from Zack, who’d fought against sleep with every fiber of his being and had kept them up for hours every night.
The two boys were so different, Billy found it fascinating. They changed all the time, too. He’d come back after a long road trip and discover they no longer liked Legos and were all about Razor scooters. How much would they change if he was gone for months at a time instead of weeks?
At Jenna’s house, he breathed a sigh of relief that Annika was working the overnight shift at the clinic. Annika had moved in after the split, and while Billy was grateful for her help, he knew she was still wary of him. Jenna was very close to her big sister; she trusted her. So far he’d stayed on good terms with Annika, but he knew she was paying close attention. Unfortunately, charm didn’t work on her. His only tool was good behavior.
Zack hugged him goodnight and took himself off to bed.
“Brush your teeth,” Jenna called after him.
“I know, Mom! Geez.”
Her lips twitched, but she clamped down on her smile, as if reminding herself that she was upset. Sometimes Jenna had a hard time holding onto her anger. That could be good and bad; usually her anger was justified and deserved to be heard.
“I’ll put Bean to bed,” he offered, since he was still holding the warm bundle of his youngest son.
