Fate (39 page)

Just being that close to him
,
feeling his strong hands on her face,
and
hearing him call her Rosie brought back overwhelming memories of Vincent. It was more than she could take
,
and she fell into his shoulder crying softly. “I wanna believe, Lorenzo. I really do.”

“Then do it.
Believe
.”

They both froze when they heard the door out front close and footsteps then voices.

“Rose,” Grace called out. “I’m gonna make your game after all. It was a false alarm. But come out here
;
I wanna show you something.”

“Oh my God,” Rose whispered, sniffling and wiping her tears away as she pulled away from Lorenzo.

She rushed to put the evidence of her injections away. “What do I do?” Lorenzo asked.

Rose glanced at him then responded to Grace. “I’ll be right out, Grace. I just need to finish getting dressed. Give me a minute.”

“Okay
,
but hurry.” Grace sounded almost giddy.

Rose turned back to Lorenzo. “Just follow my lead okay,” she whispered. “Whatever I say just go along with it.”

Wiping her face clean
,
she looked in the mirror quickly to make sure it wasn’t obvious she’d been crying—
again
. She waved at a very befuddled
-
looking Lorenzo to follow her.

Grace stood just outside her door and waved a sonogram picture at her. “I’m having a girl!” She danced in place until she looked behind Rose and stopped dancing
,
the smile all but wiped off her face.

“That’s great,” Rose said trying to keep Grace in her cheery mood. “I told you, you were.”

All this time
in
every ultrasound Grace had the baby’s legs had been crossed. She’d been dying to know and had pretty much given up finding out until the baby was actually born.

Sal stood just a few feet behind Grace. He didn’t look too pleased either about Lorenzo and her stepping out her bedroom together.

Rose pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Lorenzo is going to put up some shelves for me in my room.” She turned to Sal
,
wishing she wasn’t such a god
-
awful liar. Her stupid voice even changed octaves when she spoke. “If that’s okay with you, Sal
,
I was just showing him where I want them.”

Sal nodded
,
but his expression
remained just
as hard. Rose glanced back at Grace. She appeared as convinced as Sal. “So Vivianna it is
,
r
ight?”

Grace seemed confused for a moment then smiled. “Yes,” she turned back to Sal. “We agreed right? Vivianna for a girl.”

He nodded again just as Rose’s phone started ringing in her room. “I gotta get that,” Rose said rushing back into her room. She felt a little guilty about leaving Lorenzo out there alone with them.

“Where are you?”
h
er coach demanded.

Rose spun around to look at the clock on her bedside. “What do you mean? The game is not until—” She brought her hand to her forehead. She’d completely forgotten the coach had asked them to be there extra early this time. “Oh geez
,
I forgot! I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She hung up and grabbed her bag. “Lorenzo, can you please drop me off
,
so I can change in the car while you drive?” She turned to Grace. “That was my coach
;
I was supposed to be there twenty minutes ago. I totally forgot.”

Grabbing Lorenzo’s arm before he had a chance to respond
,
they both hurried out
.

“I’ll see you there, Rose.” Grace called out. “Good luck
,
and don’t worry. You got this!”

Rose jumped in the back seat and started with her shin guards and socks. “I can’t believe I forgot. But I guess this week
has
been a crazy one.” Rose had given up trying to rid the dull ache from her heart. She’d accepted now. It was never going away
.

“Was your coach mad?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “He’s always mad.”

She rummaged through her bag looking for the right color socks
and
jersey.
By the time they got to the stadium
,
Rose was in her complete uniform. Over the years she’d gotten pretty good at changing without ever having to be completely naked or show skin
.
S
he could slip her jersey over her shirt then pull the shirt out from under
neath
. She was even able to change from her regular bra to
the
right
-
colored
sports bra the same way.

Stuffing her things in her bag quickly
,
she jumped out of the car as soon as Lorenzo pulled over. “Thanks so much,” she stuck her head in the passenger side window. “Will you be at the game?
”

“You bet. You better kick some ass.”

She smiled
,
wondering how long it would be
,
if ever
,
before Lorenzo’s smile and the twinkle in his piercing eyes stopped reminding her of Vincent.

Just as she began to pull away from the window
,
Lorenzo called out to her. “Rose.”

She turned back and looked at him. “Remember, think positive.”

Taking a deep breath
,
she smiled. “I will. I promise.”

The crowd was probably one of the largest they’d ever had. Sadly girl’s college soccer never drew in large crowds
,
but being the finals
,
there was a full house today. Rose’s family took up a better portion of the bleachers.

They’d all come out to see her game again. It surprised Rose that Sal was okay with letting the managers do their jobs and actually manage the restaurants
,
so the owners didn’t have to be there
all
the time. Grace said he was getting better about letting others handle things. Now that he was going to have two kids
,
Rose could see him changing. It was a gradual change
,
but it was progress.

Rose concentrated on the game though inevitably her mind would wander off to thoughts of Vince
nt
and where he could possibly be
.
Was he still alive? Was he injured?
She’d gone over all the horrible possibilities all week. But she’d promised Lorenzo
,
and she really did want to believe
that
if she thought nothing but positive thoughts
,
it really would help
.
It
seemed so farfetched—that he was alive and well and coming home to her.

She played harder than she ever had, giving it everything in her. Taking advantage of her angst
,
she used the game to
let out
the pent
-
up anger—releasing all the emotion she wanted to just scream out
,
because life was so damn unfair. She even got a yellow card for slamming one of the forwards down
too
hard. It was another one she thought she’d played fairly—all body. But she admitted she probably didn’t need to slam against her
that
hard.

By the time it was over
,
she
felt
more
drained
than she typically was after a game. They won
,
and she sat in the middle of the field on the grass with her other teammates now as the coach gave them the after
-
game speech and talked a little about the next game in the finals.

Rose had looked over on the sidelines and saw everyone waiting for her anxiously earlier.
The coach better hurry up.
Grace hadn’t mentioned it
,
but she was certain there’d be some kind of gathering they’d all be anxious to get to and start celebrating. Even though as good as it felt to win, she was still in no mood to celebrate. She was even worried Lorenzo might be insulted by their celebrating because of the circumstances. She looked up from the grass she’d been pulling away at when she heard Alison gasp.

“What?” Alison and now Candace were both staring behind Rose
,
so Rose turned to see what had them so startled.

Her jaw fell open
,
and she was immediately choked up. At first she thought it was a vision. She stared at him for a moment before shakily standing up. He was far
,
but it
was
him. She wasn’t seeing things. Vincent stood on the sidelines in his fatigues staring at her—waiting for her.

Rose’s trembling hands were now at her mouth
,
and she fell apart crying into them as she started toward him. “There is a God,” she whispered to herself as she began walking faster. “There is a God!”
s
he said even louder now. His arm was in a sling
,
but otherwise
,
he was a glorious sight. Walking even faster
,
she broke out into a sprint as she got closer. Mindful of his injured arm
,
she wrapped her arms around his neck as soon as she reached him
,
sobbing against his chest. Holding on for dear life—she’d never let go again.

“I love you. I love you. I love you,”
s
he told him in between sobs over and over again.

“I love you, too, Rosie.”

She continued to cling to him
,
crying like a baby and holding on to his clothes with clenched fists
,
afraid he’d disappear if she didn’t.

Still barely able to catch her breath
,
she pulled away to look at him
,
wiping the tears now streaming down his face, too. Then she wiped her own because they were completely blurring her vision. “Let me look at you, Vincent,” she said swallowing hard. “It’s really you. You’re
really
here.” She leaned her face into his chest
,
unable to contain the emotion that just poured out. It felt so unreal she had to look up at him again. “But how? When did you get here?”

“This afternoon.”

He explained how he’d been on a bit of a wild goose
chase
trying to figure out where she was—all in a taxi. Then finally someone from the restaurant told him about her game
,
and he’d gone straight there. He stopped talking to hug her again with a groan
,
and she hugged him back just as hard.

“I told you he’d be back, Rose.” She heard Lorenzo say
,
but she didn’t want to pull away from Vincent’s arms
,
so she just nodded.

The tears continued to come
,
but they were the best tears ever. Vincent had come home to her. He was really here
,
and she could hardly believe it. Then reality hit. She’d just got him back
,
and she was already going to worry about one thing. She pulled back to look in his eyes again. “How long are you back for?”

He smiled
,
lifting her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’m here to stay.”

“What?” Her other hand was at her mouth again
,
looking around not understanding. All the other women around them were crying
,
too
,
and the men looked pretty broken up themselves as they held their wives in their arms. Grace cried the most against Sal’s shoulder
,
and Rose knew why. She’d been
so
worried about Rose.

“I’ve been medically discharged.” Rose turned back to him searching his eyes. “I’m done, Rosie. I don’t have to leave again.” He hugged her again
,
and she leaned into him with a trembling deep breath praying to God this wasn’t a dream. “I got your letter,” he whispered against her ear.

She looked up at him. “You did?”

He nodded with a smile so tender it reminded her of the very first time she’d seen that vulnerability in him. “Just a few days ago.”

He filled her in briefly on his injury and when he’d been discharged then explained why he hadn’t called to tell her about it when he found out he’d be home soon. But he said he’d tell her more
,
later when they were alone.