Perfectly Ms. Matched(44)
And after football? What kind of life could he look forward to? Especially without Jo in it. Being with her and not being able to have her tortured his soul.
When nothing held his interest, he turned off the television and went to the kitchen to grab his phone from the charger to check his email.
The first was from Linda. Demanding five million dollars in back child support. No way she was getting a dime from him. He hit delete.
The next email was from his conditioning coach, demanding to see him in person as soon as possible. He wanted to see for himself what the state of his knee was. Thanks to freakin’ Linda. Coach wanted him in San Diego Sunday, before kickoff.
Crap!
There’d be no more hiding behind emails. What if his knee didn’t pass the inspection? He needed to talk to Jo about it, but didn’t want to interrupt her date. But maybe he’d be doing her a favor. Maybe her date wasn’t going so well, and she’d be happy for the interruption.
No. She’d be mad at him if he messed up another of her dates. Especially after confessing how much he wanted her. He’d tell her tomorrow, after they went to the cemetery.
He texted Heather to confirm she could watch Ryan, then he arranged for a private plane early Sunday morning. He hoped Ryan wouldn’t freak out at the idea of being left with Heather for the day.
Chad walked down the hallway and rapped a knuckle against the door jamb of Ryan’s room that Chad had completely tricked out with Chargers gear. “Hey, Ry. Can I come in?”
Ryan was in bed, already dressed in his PJ’s, and flipping through the new Chester book Jo had brought for him.
He looked up and nodded.
“Want me to read that to you?” Ryan never asked him for anything. Chad wanted to read the book to him.
Ryan shook his head. “No. Jo reads them to me. I know what they say.”
Chad sat on the edge of the bed. “You have all the Chester books memorized? That’s amazing, Ryan.”
He shrugged. “I really like them. And I really like Jo. I wish she would live with us all the time.”
“Yeah. That’d be nice, but it isn’t going to happen. We’re going back to San Diego in a few weeks, remember?”
Ryan closed the book. “I like it here. Because we can go to the ranch and see Grandma. And see Jo.”
He hated to disappoint the kid. “We’ll come back after the football season is over and visit. I thought you liked the beach house?”
“I do. But I’ll be sad to leave here.”
When Ryan’s eyes filled with tears, it sent a dagger to Chad’s heart. Crying always made him feel so helpless. “It’ll be okay. Once you settle in out there and make some new friends at school, you’ll be glad we moved back. And we’ll go to the beach whenever you want. Okay?”
“Okay.” Ryan bravely sucked it up and then nodded. “Did my mom call yet?”
He didn’t want to lie. “She wrote me a text tonight about some adult stuff, so she’s fine. But I wanted to tell you that I have to go away on Sunday to talk to my coaches. I’ll be back Sunday evening. It’ll just be a quick trip.”
Ryan’s forehead scrunched. “Can I go too?”
“No. The locker room isn’t a good place for kids. And I’ll have lots of stuff to do for work. But I’ll be home by the time you go to bed. I promise.”
“Okay. Can I text to my mom on your phone?”
“Absolutely. What would you like to say? I’ll write it for you.”
“Jo can talk to her phone and it writes for her. Can I talk to your phone?”
“Sure.” He set up the voice to text and then handed the phone to Ryan. “Just push the button when you’re ready.”
Ryan held the phone near his mouth and said, “Hi, Momma, it’s Ryan. I miss you. Bye. Oh, wait. Chad said we have to go back to the beach house soon, so if you want to find me again, that’s where I am. I hope you come back soon. Bye.” Ryan passed the phone back, looking so sad, Chad could barely hold it together.
Ryan’s whole life had been turned upside down. It wasn’t fair. “Are you sure you don’t want me to read to you? I’d kind of like to see what’s so great about this Chester dude.”
“Okay.” Ryan scooted over to make room. “This one is about getting time-out for being bad. It’s funny.”
When Ryan smiled again, Chad’s heart turned over in his chest. He thought it’d take a while to develop feelings for Ryan. The kid was so angry and resentful when he first came to live in San Diego. And then having to change schools and live in Denver, knowing it was just for a few months, had been another tough change. It was no wonder Ryan resented him.