Perfectly Ms. Matched(62)

He threw his bag by the utility room door, then made his way to the kitchen. After he’d grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, he scooped up the bottle of pain meds his trainer had given him. He’d been popping them like candy all week to get through the day. And the nights. His knee hurt so bad, it kept him up.

He’d quit taking the pills after the season was over. He didn’t want to get hooked on them like so many of his friends had.

Chad shook out the meds and was about to toss them back, but then stopped and stared at them. Was he already in danger of getting hooked on them? Just to prove he was okay, he put the pills back and instead grabbed a beer from the fridge. He took the cold bottle out to the deck and flopped into a chair.

The cool air blowing off the ocean, the seagulls calling, and the crashing of the surf hitting the sand usually relaxed him, so he closed his eyes and made himself think about the plays they were going to run the next day. He didn’t want to let the fans down. He needed to prove that he was as good as he was before his injury. Sometimes it wasn’t about being faster, it was about being smarter. That was something he had over the younger players he’d be up against. He and the QB had been in perfect synch earlier, just like old times, so he’d show those docs who’d doubted his return. He’d show them in spades. Chad Jenks was back.

But he was so damned tired.

He took a long pull from the bottle in his hand and then grabbed his cell from his pocket. He wanted an update on Ryan, and then he was going to take a nap, like a little kid. Maybe he was getting old, but no one else had to know it.

His lawyer answered his cell on the second ring. “Hey, Chad.”

“Hi, John. What’s the latest?”

“Linda’s lawyers finally called the cops and told them Ryan was fine, and they were just having a vacation before they travel back to her home in Europe. So no help there. The police said they can’t justify the resources for a custody battle dispute.”

Dammit! “So are her lawyers still holding out for the five million?”

“Actually, I was just about to call you. I just finished going over their latest offer. They said they’d settle for three million, if you coughed it up by Monday. And then she’ll sign the agreement giving you primary custody and her visitation rights like we discussed.”

He pondered the new offer. It was just money, but Linda didn’t deserve a dime of it. “Did they say we could have Ryan back on Monday as well?”

“Yes. Which obviously means she’s still in Denver, or close by.”

He stared at the sunset-silhouetted sailboat bobbing in the ocean as he puzzled things out. “I checked, and Ryan hasn’t been in school all week. Can we get her on a truancy charge?”

“Maybe.” His lawyer was quiet for a moment. “I might be able to convince a CPS officer I know to check on Ryan’s welfare, if we could figure out where they are.”

The private detective he’d hired hadn’t come up with anything. And without the police’s help, they couldn’t get guest info from hotels. They were still screwed. “See if they’ll settle for two million. I’m getting tired of this. I miss my son.”

“Chad, I wouldn’t do that. We’ll win a court battle. And maybe even full custody with supervised visitation after the stunt she pulled with Heather. I think we should wait them out.”

“Just make the offer. I can earn that kind of money by doing a tennis shoe commercial. Ryan means more to me, John. Let me know what she says. I have to go.”

Next he emailed his mom with an update. He’d put off telling her about Ryan at first, thinking he could fix it, but he’d had to tell her by Tuesday morning when Linda’s lawyers contacted his and made it clear there was going to be a long standoff.

His mom had been worried sick all week that she’d never see Ryan again if Linda didn’t get her way, but even more important to him was that Jo had been keeping tabs on Ryan’s situation through his mother. He didn’t want Jo to worry either. Although it was sweet she did.

He’d been so tempted to ask Jo to come to his game tomorrow. To see what a fantastic job she’d done, but then what? It’d be torture to be near her and not be able to be with her. He’d be better off to let that idea go and concentrate on the game in the morning.

He finished off his beer and then threw the bottle as hard as he could into a corner trash can. Pissed, and so tired he could barely see straight, he rose to go lie down for an hour. Why, when his professional life was finally back on track, was his personal life such a pile of steaming crap?



Resigned to moving on, Jo opened the heavy door to a downtown brew pub to meet up with her matchmaking team on Saturday evening. She’d hoped Chad would call, but he hadn’t all week, so he must have been serious about not wanting to change. So she’d do her best to forget about him. She’d done it before, and she could do it again. Hopefully, Lori and Shelby would find her the man she was meant to be with. She just wished she was actually looking forward to dating anyone.