On My Own: Book Three in the Who's Your Daddy series (5 page)

“I never got it,” she whispered
, her eyes widening. “What did you write?”

“It doesn’t matter now,” he said.

“Yes, it does. To me. So tell me.”

Dirk closed his eyes and let his head fall back. “I, um, I told you that I was sorry for everything that had happened. And that I still loved you and wanted us to be together. I wanted you to come to California with me.”

He heard her gasp and slap her hand over her mouth. Now a stream of tears ran down her face and she made no effort to stem them. Slowly, he reached over and began to dry them with the pad of his thumb, happy that she didn’t push him away. She took a quick glance in the rearview mirror and widened her eyes. “I forgot the cameras were following us!” She hurriedly composed herself and allowed a neutral expression to settle on her face.

Dirk smiled to himself and turned his head to look out the window once more. He’d made some progress. Slow and steady.

Caroline couldn’t stop shaking after she parked her car and walked into the municipal building for the welcome gathering. That little bit of time she spent with Dirk had put her over the edge. And now she had to spend a couple more hours in his company.
Nervous didn’t begin to describe how she felt right now.

The party was in full swing when
they entered the large room. The volunteers had done a great job decorating, with large posters of Dirk in uniform adorning the walls. Helium balloons with “Welcome Home” in Devinne team colors were tied to little weights and strategically placed around the room. A large table in the front of the room was laden with a variety of dishes whipped up by volunteers. Everyone had a plate in hand as they mingled with the other guests.

Standing on the edge of the action, she thought b
ack to her time with Dirk in the car. There was so much she wanted to talk to him about, but didn’t get the chance to do so. Although they had discussed him not getting too close to JJ while he was in town, she failed to warn him to stay away from him tomorrow at the school assembly. Her father had ask her if she was going to keep him out of school, to ensure the two didn’t cross paths, but she told him no. JJ would be in school and at the assembly. She had a long talk with him and let him know he was not to be in the same vicinity as his father. He seemed to understand the need for them to stay apart for now, but pressed her for a date when he could see him. She put him off, but with both of them wanting to get to know the other, she had no clue how long she could put it off.

She tried to put herself in Dirk’s shoes and imagine if she’d been kept out her son’s life for ten years. A
tremor traveled down her spine and tears pricked the back of her eyes. No way. If just thinking about that scenario made her want to throw up, then she knew she had to give Dirk some slack. Maybe her past actions were not for the best.

“Thank you.” Caroline jumped as Dirk walked up behin
d her with a full plate and bottle of pop in his hands.

“For what?”

“All this.
Folks did a great job getting this together.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled at him and her heart did a little
dip when he returned the gesture.

“Why don’t you grab something to eat and
come sit with me?” He tilted his head in the direction of a couple empty chairs at a nearby table. “I’ll save you a seat.”

“Sounds like a plan.” She watched him walk away before turning her attention to the food table. As she placed a little bit of everything on her plate,
Emanuel stepped in front of her.

“You certainly spent a lot of time with Benedict,” he sneered. “What did y’all talk about?”

Caroline slowly replaced a serving spoon into a bowl of pasta salad and turned to face him. Careful to keep her voice even, she stepped up to him. “Did you just ask me what Dirk and I talked about?” she bit out. “What right do you—”

“I think I have every right to ask you what happened,” he started with an infuriating smirk on his face. “You’re the one who asked the city to participate in this farce. In my
opinion, anyone and everyone in this room, this town, has the right to ask you anything.”

Caroline wanted to smack the self
-righteous look off of his face, but instead gave him her brightest smile. “Thank you so much for your concern, Emanuel, but I can handle this situation myself. So if you’ll excuse me.” With a huff, she tried to sidestep him, but he quickly moved to block her path.

“I’m not finished speaking with you,” he
scoffed. He grabbed her forearm and tried to steer her to a nearby corner. In an instant, all hell broke loose when Dirk slapped Emanuel’s hand away and spun him around to face him.

“I think I heard the lady say she could handle the situation and to excuse her.” The look on his face was the one he probably used on the field in the middle of a tough game. She involuntarily took a step back from the pair.

“This is none of your business, Benedict,” Emanuel said a bit too loudly as he looked around. “Caroline and I were just having a pleasant conversation.”

“About me,” Dirk concluded.

The ruckus had attracted the attention of the others, including the film crew who had been on a short break. They dropped their plates and stumbled over themselves getting to their equipment.

“Stop, you two,” she hissed while stepping between the men. “You’re making a scene.”

“But—” Emanuel started.

“There are no buts!” She turned to look at Dirk and found him staring down at her with a half
-smile on his face. Butterflies took flight in her stomach, but this was not the time. She turned to Emanuel and pinned him with an icy stare. “If you can’t be civil, you’ll need to leave.”

The principal seemed to notice they had an audience and quickly pulled
himself together. With a smile not nearly as sexy as Dirk’s, he took several steps back and gave them a slight nod of his head before turning and walking out of the room.

Her father sprinted over to them and with his back to the cameras hissed, “What the hell is going on here?”

“Nothing, Dad,” she whispered. “Everything is fine.”

“It doesn’t look like it,” Ty Jackson said while giving Dirk a dirty look. “Why’d you make
Emanuel leave? He’s a good man.”

She gave a grunt in response to his state
ment. With a sad look on her face, she said, “Let it go, Dad.” She let out a little sigh when he complied and returned to her mother’s side.

Once everything calmed down and everyone began eating again, she met Dirk’s questioning gaze with a hunch of her shoulders.
Emanuel had never acted that way around her before. What was going on?

Chapter Six

Dirk
smiled as he scanned the assembled crowd of children. He stood just offstage, anxiously awaiting his turn to speak. Part of the film crew was set up near him, and the rest were in the rear of the auditorium. Excited chatter filled the room and quite a few students wore replica jerseys with his name on them. He noticed that the shirts looked new, but he was not going to quibble about it.

The school underwent a major renovation the year after he graduated. The old auditorium barely had enough room for the high school students. This new one had seating for the whole student body. Because of the reduction in the city’s population, all the district’s students could be housed in one building. A wave of sadness swept over him, thinking about how far down the city had fallen. He should have done something
to help, but because he hadn’t kept up with the goings on back home, he didn’t know. To rectify that, he’d already contacted his financial people and they were coming up with a plan to make a large donation.

Dirk cut his eyes to the man standing next to him, Principal
Emanuel Hines. He hadn’t said a word to him since Dirk arrived about half an hour ago. Didn’t matter. The room buzzed last night after their little encounter. But now was not the time for an argument. Nothing was going to mess up this day. Nothing.

Caroline took pains to avoid him
after his dust up with Hines, speaking to everyone else but him at the gathering last night. But it was all good. Folks he hadn’t seen or spoken to in years took pains to greet him. Some actually apologized for their slights of him and his family. Was it because of his present fame that they were so gracious or something else? Maybe Caroline’s request that they treat him civilly was the cause. Whatever the reason, it felt good.

His conversation with her in the car yesterday replayed in his mind, keeping him from getting a good night’s sleep. Her old man must have really hated him back then. Hell, he probably hated him more now that he was back in Caroline’s life. The big diffe
rence this time is that he wouldn’t be pushed away. He had a son. A son who he intended to have a relationship with, no matter who objected.

As if he’d conjured the boy, Dirk glanced to his right and saw JJ sitting in one of the last rows on the first level of the auditorium. He didn’t have on a jersey, but Dirk could see him animatedly talking with a couple boys sitting on either side of him. The boy looked so much like him, it was scary. His mom and dad would have spoiled him rotten, just like some say they did with him. He was their only child and tried their best to give him what he wanted, despite their precarious financial situation. Dirk’s throat began to close up thinking
about them. Damn, he missed his folks.

“Ready?”
Emanuel grunted, startling Dirk.

“Yeah,” he responded without looking at his nemesis. He watched Hines walk to the middle of the stage and approach the microphone. He cleared his throat and motioned with his hands for the children to quiet down. Once he had their attention, he introduced Dirk and then waved him over.

For the children’s sake, Dirk shook Emanuel’s outstretched hand, then turned his attention to the students. He had to swallow hard to keep the tears at bay. These kids were the children of his former teammates and classmates. They were innocents in all of this stuff. Blameless.

“How’s everyone doing today?” he shouted with a smile that grew when the kids yelled a greeting back. “So good to be back home in Devinne!”

“Welcome back,” someone shouted from the sea of faces in the crowd. His heart swelled with gratitude and the tears he’d tried his best to hold back escaped. He hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand and took a step away from the mic. The kids rose to their feet and shouts of “We love you, Dirk” made it more difficult for him to get himself together.

After taking a couple minutes to settle his emotions, he approached the microphone and began to speak in a shaky voice. He thanked them for the warm welcome and then   launched into the speech he spent several hours writing last night and this morning. He encouraged them to stay in school and to further their
education once high school ended. He regaled them with tales of his adventures when he was a boy growing up in Devinne, cracking them up at all the trouble he used to get into.

Once his speech was over, there was time for some questions. They ranged from his NFL experiences to his thoughts on what colleges they should consider. Dirk took the time to answer every last question and posed for a ton of pictures.

Bone tired, he started for the exit but was stopped by Hines. “You did a good job today, Benedict,” he said begrudgingly. “I have to hand it to you, the kids love you and hung on your every word.” He turned to go then quickly stuck his hand out again. “I may have my misgivings about you, but I’m man enough to admit I might be wrong.” He then quickly walked out of the auditorium.

Stunned, Dirk stood there for a minute and took it all in. The film crew was packed up and ready to go. Monique must have already headed for the car because she was nowhere in sight.
Time for him to go too. He had a workout with the team later in the afternoon and being late was not an option. As he started for the exit, someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Yes,” he said turning around. He gasped when he saw his son staring up at him.

Dirk quickly looked around to make sure no one was nearby before speaking.
“Hello, son. How’d you like my speech?”

“It was cool. My boys really liked it.”

Dirk knew that he had no business talking to JJ, especially since Caroline warned him to stay away until they worked out something. But he wasn’t the one to make the first move, so he hadn’t really broken his word, right? “Don’t you need to get to class, sport?”

“Well, I kind of told my teacher I was going to the restroom.” He held up a piece of paper Dirk assumed was a hall pass. “But I wanted to talk to you.”

“Let’s go someplace private, okay?” They walked down the hall and soon found an empty classroom. Dirk squeezed into a desk while JJ chuckled at his efforts. “How are you, JJ?”

“I’m good. Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you leave my mom?”

Dirk took deep breath and tried to formulate an acceptable answer. Caroline said she’d told him a little bit about their relationship, but what had she said concerning him leaving town? “JJ, my leaving town had nothing to do with her. I loved your mom.” And still do.

“But why, then?
Why’d you go away?”