Straddling the Line(8)
“Good night, Hammond,” Trevor said, then dug into his salad. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“What you did was very nice,” Haven said.
Trevor looked up at her and frowned. “What? Oh . . . Hammond? He likes to spend time with Lyla and the kids.”
“How old are the children?”
“Four and six.”
“Off the record? What happened to their mom?”
He hesitated.
“Seriously, Trevor. This is off the record.”
He nodded. “Hammond’s daughter Jasmine has a drug problem. A big one she’s been struggling with off and on for years. She was in and out of jail a few times for possession. But it went from bad to worse, and two years ago she started dealing, got caught, and now she has a long-term prison problem.”
Haven laid her fork down. “Oh, no.”
“Yeah. So Hammond and Lyla got full custody of Amelia and Jacob.”
“What about the kids’ father?”
“Two different fathers, neither responsible enough to be in the picture. They were even worse than Jasmine. One’s in jail for armed robbery.”
Haven sighed. “Those poor children. Thank God they have grandparents like Hammond and his wife to care for them.”
“Yeah. Hammond made a lot of sacrifices to try to get his daughter clean, but then finally washed his hands of her and bent over backward for the grandkids.”
“Some people you can’t help.”
“Not if they don’t want the help, no.”
She laid her hand on his. “Thank you for helping Hammond and his family.”
“Hammond’s doing all the work. I’m just paying his salary.”
“You’re right. He is. But he has you in his corner, and that’s great.”
“I like him. And I get a benefit out of this, too, you know. You haven’t tasted those steaks yet.”
She laughed. “Well, let’s get to it.”
Trevor was glad the topic was off him and onto the food, which of course tasted damn good.
“Oh, my God,” Haven said after she’d eaten a couple of pieces of her steak. “No wonder you hired Hammond. This steak is fantastic.”
Trevor swallowed and took a drink of iced tea. “I told you I got the better end of this deal.”
“So what you’re saying is, you can’t cook.”
“Sure I can. But I’m on the road a lot, and while I’m here in St. Louis, I have a fantastic cook.”
“And when you move to Tampa to play football? What happens to Hammond then?”
“He comes here every day to see to the house for me.”
She leaned back in her chair. “In other words, you continue to pay him annually.”
“Yeah.”
“Because you can afford to do that and because you’re a nice guy.”
“Aw, come on, don’t go telling people that, Haven. I have a badass reputation to maintain. And besides, we’re still off the record.”
She laughed. “Your secret is safe with me.”
After they finished eating, they cleared the table and took the dishes into the kitchen. Haven turned on the water and started rinsing them.
Trevor laid his hand over hers. “Hammond will have your ass if you start washing those dishes.”
“I can’t just leave these dirty dishes in the sink.”
“And if you take away his job, you’ll take away his pride.”
Now that, she understood. She turned off the water. “Fine.”
She grabbed a towel to dry her hands.
He led her back to the sunroom. But first, he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. He held one up for her, but she shook her head.
When they settled in, she realized it had gotten dark while they were eating. And cooler outside.
“Cold?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
He reached for the blanket that was lying over one of the chairs and handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
“So, about your new job at the network?” he asked after she’d settled in.
“My job? Nothing much to tell.”
“Are you excited about being a sportscaster?”
“It’s . . . new. So I’m still getting my feet wet.”
“Who have you interviewed?”
Trevor would ask her that. In essence, he was giving her a job interview. And she was about to fail miserably. “Oh, uh. No one big yet. Like I said, this is all new to me.”
He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his beer, then grinned at her. “Yeah, but now you’ve got me.”
“So I do. And why is that?”
“Why is what?”
“Why me? You could have gotten one of the more seasoned sportscasters to do this feature story on your career. You had to know I was just getting started with the network.”