Running Game(60)

And so would Jesse.

After her conversation with Jesse, Maddy had drifted off to sleep… But I wasn’t going to find rest quite as easily. I spent the entire night talking with Jesse, discussing the past, and figuring out what all of this meant for our future.

“Maisey, I get it,” he’d said, his voice a low whisper as we sat by the window in Maddy’s hospital room. “I don’t hold it against you. We’ve all made choices we regretted later.”

“Did you?” I asked. “What do you regret?”

“Me? Well, for starters, I regret not coming after you on prom night. I saw your note to your dad. I knew where you went. I could have drove down to the bus station and found you… But I didn’t. I let myself get angry. I let you go, and I’ve regretted it ever since. Now I know why.”

“I should have told you the truth,” I said. “I was scared, so I ran.”

“I guess all three of us are good at running,” he winked.

“I can’t believe you’re joking about all of this,” I said. He reached over and grabbed my hand, his warmth comforting me like a blanket.

“What else can I do? All we’ve got is now, Maisey. We can’t change the past, so why spend time being angry about it? And, I don’t know if you noticed, but it needs to be said - you’ve given me the greatest gift of my life, the most important gift I could ever receive. I’m proud to be Maddy’s father, she’s a wonderful kid. You’ve done a great job of raising her, Maisey,” he said, my heart melting in my chest at his words. “You should be proud of that. And you did it all alone, Maise. That’s amazing.”

“You’re amazing,” I said, smiling up at him. “I’m so lucky to have you in our lives, Jesse.”

“I’m the lucky one,” he said, leaning over to kiss me. His lips were so gentle, so warm, so loving, so fucking perfect that tears began streaming down my face.

“Why are you crying? You aren’t going to run away again, are you?”

Laughter bubbled up from under my tears, and I shook my head.

“No, Jesse, never again.”

“Good. Cause if you try it again, I’m gonna have to tackle you.”





Epilogue





MAISEY - SEVEN MONTHS LATER





“Oh, my God, I’m so excited, I’m gonna piss my pants!” Eddie cried, throwing his Broncos scarf over his shoulders.

“Eddie!” I tried to scold him, but I couldn’t stop laughing. Maddy jumped up and down at my side, and the three of us stood huddled on the sidelines in what was easily the most exciting moment of all of our lives.

The Broncos had made it to the Superbowl and for the last several hours we’d been cheering them on as they played against the Arizona Cardinals in the Superdome in New Orleans. Jesse chartered a jet for the three of us and we’d been living it up in the Big Easy all weekend. The only sad part is that I didn’t get to spend much time with him over the last few days. He had to travel with the team and they were practicing and training every minute leading up to the game!

We’d all spent the last two weeks counting the days till we stepped on that plane, and we’d had the time of our lives. I couldn’t remember ever being this happy, and it amazed me that my crazy life could lead to this even crazier moment.

Jesse had been right about Maddy’s illness. The doctors had performed a bonafide miracle. Once she was properly diagnosed, they were able to schedule a surgery almost immediately. A month in the hospital and one little pill to take every day and her symptoms had disappeared completely. As she recovered, Maddy spent more and more time walking the hospital floors and getting to know the other girls who had come here for treatment under Jesse’s charitable program. She had a gentle grace about her, and it wasn’t long before she was friends with every patient and nurse in the building.

Maybe she would go into medicine someday… Just like me… The world was her oyster and it was all thanks to Jesse.

I’d spent years imagining what would happen if the truth came out, and I’d never imagined it turning out this wonderful. I counted my blessings every day of my life, and I did everything I could to make it up to both of them. Maddy had finally come around after a week or so, and once she realized that Jesse was here to stay, she saw it for the blessing that it was. We’d finally bonded together like a real family.

And here we were as if we’d always been like this.

I held my breath as the last play of the game unfolded before our eyes.

The Broncos were down by three points but well out of field goal range, and there were just seconds left in the game. The Broncos had just called their last time out with time for one final play.