Perfectly Ms. Matched(26)

Painful memories of that time rushed back. How he’d kept tabs on Jo through her mom and how Jo, just over six months pregnant, had gone into early labor while he’d been in the middle of a game. Her mom said Bryce was really small but doing well, so he’d gone home with the team and then kept a business meeting the next day so he could free up some time off to see his son. But by the time he finally made it to the hospital, something had gone terribly wrong, and Bryce had only lived for two days. Had he’d known Bryce’s true condition, he would’ve been on the first flight to be with him and Jo.

He’d always regret not coming home immediately rather than staying with his teammates celebrating their victory that night. If Jo knew he’d made that choice on purpose, she’d probably never forgive him. “I came to the hospital. But they wouldn’t let me see you.”

“I know.” She wiped away a single tear that had tracked down her cheek. “My mom told me after I got home.”

Jo looked so unbearably sad, he wanted to wrap her up and hold her. But she was through with him, and it’d do nothing but garner him more strikes. “Sometimes I wonder if he would have been anything like Ryan.”

Jo blinked away her tears and finally looked at him. She forced a smile. “I’d like to think so.”

He thought about Bryce every month when he paid the bill for the flowers to be placed on his grave. It was the one bill his business manager didn’t pay, because it served as a guilty reminder of what he’d lost because of his selfishness. He’d always wonder if the stress of their breakup had caused Bryce to be born too early. “Do you ever go? To the cemetery?”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

Why the hell had he even brought it up? Maybe because he’d wanted to talk to her about it for nine long years. And because Bryce’s birthday was in a week. “If you change your mind, I’ll go with you. Like maybe next Saturday? We could go as friends, Jo. Nothing more.”

Jo’s eyes locked with his. The obvious pain in them showed she knew exactly what next Saturday meant. “I won’t change my mind.” Jo crossed her arms and quickly looked away, her guard firmly back in place again. “Ryan is being way too quiet. I’ll go check on him.”

“Thanks.” He ducked back under the water and was still cursing himself for upsetting her when his cell rang. “Can you answer that please? The code is 1-2-3-4. I’m expecting a call from my coach.”

Jo called out, “I read that’s the most popular password for cell phones. What if a crazed fan found your phone?”

“It’s why I don’t use any last names. Just first names and initials.”

“It’d be easier to just change your lame password. The screen says Linda B.”

Really? The last he’d heard from her was when she’d dropped Ryan on his doorstep. He quickly rinsed the shampoo from his hair and snapped off the water. “Tell her I’ll be right there.”

He’d just wrapped a towel around his waist when Ryan called out, “Is that my mom?”

Dammit!



Jo glanced at Chad, who was hurrying out of the bathroom. He met her gaze and shook his head in silent warning. The look on his face told that it probably was Ryan’s mom.

Jo looked into Ryan’s trusting eyes as he waited for her answer. Her heart melted. “I don’t know. I just answered the phone for Chad.” That wasn’t a lie.

When Ryan reached up for the cell, she desperately waggled the phone Chad’s direction.

Chad quickly snagged the phone from her hand. “It’s a private call, Ryan. And you should be in bed!” He left in a hurry, leaving Ryan blinking back tears.

She leaned down to Ryan’s level. “Chad didn’t mean to snap at you. He’s still in a lot of pain. It can make people grumpy. Let’s go get you tucked in. It’s late.”

Ryan frowned but stuck his hand out for Jo to grab.

As she held his warm, chubby little hand in hers, she led Ryan back to his room while trying to shake off the conversation she and Chad had in the bathroom about Bryce. It probably needed to happen at some point, so maybe it was good they’d gotten it over with. Or maybe started it was the better term. They had more to talk about at some point. She could only take so much at a time, though.

She was still reeling inside that Chad remembered Bryce’s birthday. She would’ve thought he’d have long forgotten by now. He hadn’t carried Bryce for six months and then held his tiny body in his arms after he was born like she had. She’d loved Bryce before he was born, but seeing him, holding him, had filled her with a whole new kind of love she’d never felt before. Maybe she’d have that same love again one day.