Home is Where the Heart is (10 page)

F
ollowing the baseball game, in which The Little Devils won seven-to-two, Nick treated his entire team to pizza at the local Pizza Palace in town, serving as a good way for both children and their parents to unwind from a long week of work, school drop-off and pick-up, and other kinds of duties residents of Yellow Valley were involved in.

Cassie was sitting in a booth alongside Gabby and Nick, devouring a slice of her favorite pepperoni pizza and chatting together, while Nick was in the play area of the restaurant watching Jake play with the other boys on the team and talking to their parents when a tall figure came in through the front doors of The Palace, walked to the front counter, and ordered a pizza.

After paying for his pizza, the children’s glee and exhilaration distracted him from his usual headspace, and he turned around, spotting someone he knew all too well.

She was here. Everywhere he went, there she was.

Now was his opportunity to see her again, weaving around endless tables and chairs in the dining area until he was standing behind the booth she and her friend were occupying. Both of their eyes flicked to him. She didn’t look pleased either.

“Hello, Cassie,” he said. His eyes lingered on her momentarily for the first time since the night she pushed him out the door.

“Jordan, you’re back.”

Jordan nodded his head. “I am.”

“But I got your text,” she stated confused.

“Yeah, I know what I said, but I got as far as the airport and realized I couldn’t walk away again, not when I could have the opportunity to get to know Jake as his dad. I want to be a part of his life—if you’ll let me.” He said it like it was Cassie’s decision whether she allowed Jordan to be a part of his son’s life. If she didn’t, then she would forever be known as the bad guy.

Gabby stayed silent, but Jordan caught her rolling her eyes like she couldn’t believe the bullshit coming out of his mouth and she hoped her friend wouldn’t fall for the crap he was feeding her.

“Well, you are his father, and I would never intentionally cut you out of his life. You should know your son. He
should
be a part of your life. I’ve always believed in that,” Cassie replied, maintaining eye contact with Jordan. Of course, he should have known she wouldn’t be cold and heartless enough to keep him completely out of Jake’s life. Cassie wasn’t like that.

At that moment, in a complete burst of get-up-and-go, Jake bounded toward his mother. “Mommy, Mommy! I’m hungry,” Jake exclaimed while placing his hands on the edge of the table and jumping up and down.

Gabby gave a slight gurgle.

Cassie slipped an arm around her son’s small, bouncing body. “Of course you are, baby. You’ve had a big day. I got you some yummy pizza and it’s your favorite—extra cheese.”

Jake’s eyes grew wider, and his mouth turned into a smile. “Cool!”

He sat down next to his mom and stuffed a mouthful of pizza into his mouth as soon as she set a slice in front of him.

Jordan stared at the little boy, suddenly seeing Jake in a whole new way. He wasn’t just Cassie’s son, but he was his son too.

He took in the sports uniform Jake was wearing, reminding Jordan of the times he too wore that same outfit when he was a child. He used to love playing baseball, and he guessed Jake did too, judging by the larger-than-life smile he was sporting on his little handsome face.

Jake lifted his head up from the table, his eyes peering over to Jordan in a guarded way. “I know you,” he mumbled with food in his mouth.

“Jake, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Cassie told him.

“Sorry.”

Once Jake finished the bite of food he was chewing, he continued talking. “I saw you talking to Mommy.”

Jordan got down to his level, looking into his big brown eyes—eyes that were identical to Jordan’s own.

“Yes, you did. I’m a friend of your mom’s.” His gaze wandered toward Cassie, and he caught her eyes shifting down to the table as she played with the topping of her pizza as a diversion.

“Oh, okay,” Jake said happily, his shoulders bouncing up and down. “Do you know Gabby and Nick? They’re Mommy’s friends too.”

Jordan nodded his head. “I do.”

“Cool! Nick is really cool! He’s my baseball coach.”

“I know; I saw some of your game when I was driving back into town and passed the baseball fields,” Jordan said uneasily, finding it difficult to talk with his son. Words were suddenly hard to come by as he grasped for something to say. “You’ve got a good swing on you.”

By the look on Cassie’s face, she was surprised and wondering why he hadn’t stopped in briefly to watch the game. Part of Jordan had wanted to watch his son play, since he obviously loved and reveled in the game alongside him, but at this point, Jordan was simply a stranger to his kid. Jake didn’t know of the connection and DNA they shared with each other.

“You know, I used to play baseball when I was younger. I actually played with Nick.”

Jake’s face lit up with glee as he looked over in Nick’s direction, sending a nod his way.

“It’s true; we did,” he assured Jake.

“Cool! Nick is really good at baseball. He helps me practice all the time.”

A pang of jealousy flew through Jordan’s heart like a wrench. It should have been him teaching his son how to throw a pitch and hit a ball, but he couldn’t play the blame game and be mad at his child’s mother or best friend. Cassie had done her best to parent their child the only way she could, and Nick was filling the role of an absentee father like only a good friend would do. Jordan was here now though, and he was being given the opportunity to be a part of his son’s life.

“Do you still play baseball?” Jake asked.

Cassie stopped her son. “That’s enough, Jake. We don’t want to bombard Jordan with too many questions.”

Jake’s smile fell slightly. “Sorry.”

Jordan shook his head. “It’s okay; I don’t mind. You’re just a very inquisitive little boy. And no, I don’t play baseball anymore; I play football instead.”

“I like football,” Jake said before taking another bite of pizza, bringing silence to the table. Cassie played with the straw in her glass of soda while Gabby shot daggers at Jordan as if she was annoyed he was even here in the first place. He couldn’t come in and expect things to go back to the way they used to be, before he broke her best friend’s heart. It didn’t work like that. He would need to earn their forgiveness one slow step at a time. Even then, it would be a long road to recovery when it came to Gabby.

Jordan liked Jake. He liked talking to his son, even though Jake wasn’t aware he was talking to his dad.

Gabby slid out of the booth and got to her feet, looking at Jake with a huge smile spread across her face as she smoothed her straight black hair with her hand. “C’mon, buddy, let’s go check out that play area.” Then she turned to Nick and said his name in an odd tone of voice, giving Jordan the impression something was up between the two of them.

“Okay!” Jake jumped up from the booth finishing the last mouthful of pizza, and off they went in the direction of the indoor jungle gyms.

“What was that about?” Jordan asked Nick.

“You don’t want to know,” mumbled Nick.

Jordan knew to leave it alone, though he still wondered whether something was going on between his oldest friend and Gabby.

Cassie looked up at him from where she was sitting—no smile in sight—and folded her arms on the table. “So are you serious about being a part of Jake’s life for good?”

Jordan slid into the seat opposite Cassie so she could see he was serious.

“I am. I wouldn’t have changed my mind about staying in town a little longer if I weren’t. He is my son, and I do want to get to know him—with your permission, of course.”

“You don’t need my permission to be a part of your son’s life. It’s your decision to make whether you want to be his father or not. I’m not going to stand in the way,” Cassie stated.

Nick folded his arms over his chest, revealing the masculine muscles in his arms. “So I take it your father isn’t happy with the idea of you staying then?”

“You could say that. He was one of the reasons why I was leaving earlier than I originally planned. I can’t be around him when there’s too much hostility between us.”

“So where are you staying then?” Nick asked him out of curiosity.

“I thought I would check into the Bed and Breakfast Inn.”

“Nonsense, I can’t have my best friend staying there; you can stay at my place. Besides, it’s not open for business right now. They’re renovating the place.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

“You miss a lot when you’re gone for so long,” Cassie mumbled under her breath. She hadn’t meant to sound so rude—that was more Gabby’s thing—but it just slipped out of her mouth.

“You sure you don’t mind?” Jordan questioned, grateful for his friend’s kindness.

“Absolutely. Besides, it’s not like I have to worry about double-checking with any roommates. I live alone, I’m not currently in a relationship—right now, anyway—and we can’t have the starting Quarterback sleeping in his rental car. That’s not right.”

“Thanks, man.” Jordan gave him that same goofy grin he always did, fist-bumping knuckles with Nick like old times.

“It’s no trouble. You can follow me home after I’m finished here.”

“Nick, Cassie, you’re needed with Jake. He wants to show you something,” Gabby said as she walked back to the booth. “Plus, it gives Jordan and me a chance to play catch-up properly.”

Cassie and Nick offered him slight, apologetic smiles for leaving him alone with Gabby, although the waitress who had taken his order came over and handed him his pizza before walking away.
Uh-oh!
He didn’t like his chances of walking out of this unscathed. He knew Gabby would have a few choice words for him, considering how close she and Cassie were. He just hoped she’d go a little easy on him, given the public place they were in.

Gabby leaned back against the plush, red glitter lining of the booth, studying Jordan very carefully as if she was wary of his next move.

“So, you’re back for good?” she asked him, getting straight to the point. She was determined to bite the bullet and question his true motives for the sake of her best friend and godson.

He nodded his head. “I am for the moment.” The real Gabby was finally coming out, and Jordan was glad to see it. He’d much prefer the harsh Gabby over the ‘let’s pretend you don’t exist’ charade she had been playing since his return to town. She wasn’t fooling him. Jordan could see Gabby wasn’t happy to see him back in Yellow Valley. Besides his father, she would have been the only one not happy to see him back. After the other night, Jordan wasn’t sure where he stood with Cassie or if she really was glad to see him back—even for a little while.

“Well, at least until football season starts, and then I will work spending time with Jake into my schedule, no matter how busy I am. I’m going to be a part of his life because I
want
to be, not because I feel obligated.”

“And Cassie’s too, obviously.” She didn’t smile, but she didn’t frown either. “I won’t try to keep you and Cassie from being together again. If you make her happy, then that’s all I really care about, but if you know you’re only going to break her heart again…” she took a deep breath to calm herself “…just…please don’t do something you know will break her heart later. I care a lot about my best friend and godson, and if you do anything to threaten their happy lives, I will make your life miserable. Understand?”

Gabby didn’t give him time to admit his understanding of the conversation. Just like that, she was done, offering him a friendly but confident smile, and then continued to eat her pizza in silence like nothing had happened.

Jordan knew she had a point, and he respected Gabby for being there for Cassie and Jake when they needed her, but this time, he was going to make sure he didn’t do anything to break their hearts. He simply wanted to be a part of his son’s life—both of their lives.

Later that night, after settling into Nick’s two-bedroom bachelor pad, Jordan sat outside on his small but peaceful balcony with a bottle of beer in one hand and his iPhone in the other. He sank back into his chair, taking in the view of Yellow Valley’s local university surrounded by tall oak trees. Jordan had to admit, no matter how much he loved the city life, or how good the city of Miami was treating him in his busy lifestyle as a professional football player, it felt so good to be back in his hometown. He guessed he was still a country boy at heart.