On My Own: Book Three in the Who's Your Daddy series (8 page)

“Ty, please sit down,” her mother pleaded. “Your questions aren’t helping.”

“This
is what I was afraid of when Benedict showed up in Devinne. Everything was going great. We were doing a great job raising that boy. No he’s ruined everything.”

Part of Caroline wanted to agree with her father, but the other wanted to hear from Dirk and get an explanation for his actions. First, she needed to get another look at that picture.

Wordlessly, she headed for the dining room and booted up her laptop. A quick search found the picture and a couple more. It looked like they were taken in the school on Thursday, the day of the assembly. But why did he allow them to be taken? And why had he gone behind her back to meet with JJ?

Her dad hovered over her shoulder as she viewed the photos. At least he had the compassion to stop talking, but she could still see that I-told-you-so look on his face.

“Mom?” She turned to find JJ standing just inside the room, his hands twisting in front of him.

“What is it baby?” She motioned him over and pulled him into her lap, something she hadn’t done in a long time because he was just as tall as she was now.

With a quiver in his voice, he said, “Don’t blame Dad. This is all my fault.”

All three adults began to speak at the same time, assuring him he hadn’t done anything wrong. “No, you don’t understand,” he continued. “I went to him after the assembly. He tried to send me back to class, but I wouldn’t go until I got to talk with him.” He filled them in on their conversation and his request that Dirk not tell anyone.

“I thought we were being careful. No one was around when I caught up to him. Nobody!” The tears he’d been holding back suddenly began to fall and Caroline hugged him close.

Just then the more banging on the door startled all four of them. Ty strode to the door and swung it open. “We don’t have anything—” His words hung in the air as Dirk entered the room while pushing back the surging crowd. He looked directly in her eyes and simply said, “I’m sorry.”

Dirk broke all kinds of speed limits driving from downtown Pittsburgh out to Devinne. He’d been greeted at the training facility this morning with a copy of the tabloid photo of him and JJ then blew up at the reporters who confronted him. Security managed to whisk them all out, but the damage had been done. Thank God Coach excused him from today’s workout so he could mend some fences with Caroline. And by the look on her face, he had a hell of a lot of work to do.

“Haven’t you done enough already to hurt my family, Benedict?” Ty spat out as he took a step in Dirk’s direction. “Why don’t you leave and let them live in peace.”

“Old man, this has nothing to do with you,” Dirk countered as he further closed the gap. He’d had enough of the man and his meddling in his personal business. “If you hadn’t stuck your nose in our relationship years ago, this wouldn’t be happening in the first place.”

“Stop it, you two!” Caroline shouted, her voice trembling. “I’m tired of this bickering.”

“But, Caroline,” her father started. “I’m just looking out for your best interests.”

“And that’s been part of the problem, Dad.” She softened her voice and took a deep breath. “I appreciate everything you and Mom have done. Everything. There’s no way I could have survived those first years after JJ was born without you. I definitely would not have been able to go to school and get my degree without your help.

“But this is something Dirk and I will have to figure out on our own, okay?” She walked over to both of them, gave them a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Do me a favor and go home. And please take JJ with you. I’ll stop over and pick him up in a little while.”

“Go get you jacket, little man,” Mrs. Jackson ordered.

“But I wanna stay with Mom and Dad,” JJ whined.

“Did your grandmother ask you to do something?” Dirk inquired, giving his son a look he hoped brooked no argument.

JJ visibly gulped and pulled a jacket out of the hall closet. “Come get me soon, Mom.”

Caroline gave his a kiss and a pat on the head. “I will.”

JJ eyed him for a second before walking over to him, his eyes shining. “I’m sorry, Dad for all this trouble. Mom did tell me not to try to see you, but I couldn’t help myself.”

Dirk pulled him into a hug and planted a kiss on top of his head. “It’s not your fault, sport. We’ll make this all better, okay.” With that assurance, JJ headed for the front door with his grandparents. Ty gave Dirk one last scowl before opening the door and wading into the media frenzy outside.

He turned back to Caroline and found her sinking into a wing chair in the corner. She looked tired, even scared and damn if he knew what to do to remedy the situation. He walked over to the sofa and took a seat, waiting for what, he didn’t know. What he did know was that they needed to resolve this matter while they were face to face. The last thing he wanted now was to have a bunch of lawyers involved.

“What happened at the school on Thursday?” Her question roused him from his thoughts and made him sit up straighter.

“I, um, spoke to the kids about what’s it like to be—”

“No, I mean, how did you come into contact with JJ? I thought we agreed you were not going to have any contact with him until I said so.”

“Yes, that was the agreement, and I truly intended to keep my word.”

“Then why did you lie?”

Dirk scrubbed his hand down his face and struggled to maintain his usual iron-clad control over his emotions. “I didn’t
lie, Caroline. After I finished talking and was about to leave the building, JJ caught up to me and asked to talk with me.”

“Why didn’t you say no?”

“I did, but he was very insistent. I wonder where he got that from?” He smiled but he could see that she was not amused. Giving out a loud sigh, he continued. “When I saw him, I immediately looked around and no one was in the vicinity. No one, Caroline.

“I asked him to go back to class, but he insisted on talking with me. We found an empty classroom and went in. I’d say we only spoke for about five-ten minutes before I sent him on his way.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he made me promise not to do so.
Said you’d be mad at him. So I didn’t. And before you ask, I checked the hallway again to make sure no one was out there.”

She let out a shuddering breath and leaned back in the chair. “This is what I was afraid of.”

Dirk wrinkled his brow and asked, “What are you talking about?”

She waved her arm toward the front of her house.
“All this! I wanted to avoid all this media attention. I want my son to be normal.”

He’s my son too, Caroline. And just because I’m famous doesn’t mean he can’t grow up as a normal child.”

She stood, pulled the curtains open and pointed to the crowd outside. “You call this normal?”

“Caroline, they’ll all go away soon. The press has the attention span of a gnat. Something else will pop up tomorrow and we’ll be forgotten.”

“I can’t take that chance, Dirk. I just can’t.” She slid the curtains closed again and sat down on the sofa next to him.

“What about last night?” he whispered as tendrils of fear sped up his spine.

“I’m sorry, but I need time.”

“You need time? How about all the time I didn’t have with my son?”

She stood once more and headed for the door. “I think you need to leave now. I’ll have my attorney contact yours.”

Blowing out
an exasperated breath, Dirk rose and headed for the door. He towered over Caroline and just looked down at her, trying to figure out how things had gone to pot in less than twelve hours. But by the set of her mouth, he knew she was not in the mood to talk now.

“Please bring my son to the game tomorrow, okay?” When she gave him a noncommittal expression, he simply turned the knob and left. The mob instantly set upon him, but he was in no mood to deal with them. His life was truly a mess now.

Chapter Ten

The
atmosphere at the stadium practically crackled with electricity, the fans bouncing in their seats awaiting the start of the game. This was the first time that LA had been in Pittsburgh in over ten years. And the fact that LA was the defending professional football champs made the game almost feel like a playoff game.

Caroline couldn’t see an empty seat in the place, but saw plenty of Pittsburgh fans decked out in the team colors. She wore a black and gold sweatshirt, but despite telling herself she was an idiot, she had on a tee shirt underneath with the LA logo on it. JJ pressured her to wear it, while he proudly wore an LA jersey with Dirk’s name on the back.
A package with the attire arrived yesterday. They were sitting in the end zone with what looked like half of the city of Devinne. She didn’t know how Dirk pulled it off, but he certainly took care of his home folks.

She had to call the police yesterday to get the crowd to disperse. There was a lot of grumbling, but eventually they left in a trickle. Her cell phone buzzed incessantly until she had no choice but to shut it down. Luckily her parents decided not to bug her when they brought JJ home after a few hours. Her nerves were on tender
hooks and she couldn’t deal with anymore drama.

Sleep was
an impossibility last night. Did she really want to involve lawyers in this custody matter? She and Dirk were adults and at one time loved each other to distraction. Thinking back to her actions yesterday, she now regretted them and wished she could speak to Dirk. The genie was certainly out of the bottle now, and they needed to move forward.

But after her blow-up yesterday, would he want to speak to her? Sadness drifted down over her and she felt pinpricks at the back of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes closed and willed the tears away. This was not the time
, nor the place for crying.

With that
settled, she slid forward in her seat and anxiously looked out onto the field. The announcer was introducing the opposing team and Dirk was the last one to sprint onto the field. The crowd rained boos onto him, but it seemed like all it did was make him smile wider. Her heart began to beat double time as his image came up on the Jumbotron.

Next the home
team took the field and kickoff was right around the corner. Dirk and all the other captains met at the center of the field and LA won the coin toss. More boos came and it seemed to energize the LA team as they jumped up and down on the sideline.

Everyone headed back to their respective sides of the field except Dirk. Someone handed him a microphone an
d his face soon filled every screen in the stadium. He held up his hand, requesting silence from the crowd. Caroline stared at the scene unfolding before her with a puzzled expression on her face. What the hell was going on?

Dirk turned in her direction and cleared his throat. “I know this is a little unusual, but can I get a little cooperation for the next few minutes.” The crowd noise lowered to a hum and he began to speak again. “I guess you all know I was born and raised in Devinne. Due to circumstances that aren’t important now, I left home over ten years ago and did not come back until a few days ago. The town was kind enough to welcome me back and I thank them for that.

“What I really want to do right now is to apologize to someone I hurt very badly.”

Caroline froze and slowly shook her head. What was he doing?

“Caroline Jackson, I’m so sorry for everything I’ve put you through over the past ten years. I should have been around. Hell, I never should have left.”

The tears she had successfully stemmed a few minutes ago now freely flowed down her face.

“I know we have a lot of talking to do, Caroline, but I want the world to know I still love you, and want us to start again.” Instead of boos, the crowd now rained ahs down on the field. Suddenly, Caroline was on the stadium large screens and she tucked her head down. Shouts of ‘way to go, Caroline’ came from the townsfolk and her mother embraced her.

Dirk blew a kiss in her direction then handed the mic to a stadium employee before sprinting off the field. Game on.

Dirk hugged Caroline close as they watched JJ run up and down the field, a huge smile on his face. Pittsburgh beat LA today, but although he was not happy about the loss, Dirk was on top of the world because of the woman in his arms.

“So, are we okay?” He stared into her eyes and held his breath, awaiting her answer.

“I wouldn’t be here with you if everything wasn’t. We have some work to do, but I hav
e a feeling things will be alright.”

“Caroline, I’m going to make sure to make it up to both you and JJ for all the years I wasn’t around.”

“You know this wasn’t all your fault. If my father hadn’t—”

He placed a finger on her lips and followed it with a quick kiss. “We’re going to have a fresh start. No blaming anyone for anything. Let’s live for today, alright?” He bent down to give her another kiss, but had to cut it short when he heard JJ cry out. Ready to run to his son’s aid, he stopped when he saw him jumping up and down. “What’s going on, son?”

“Look, look,” JJ yelled as he drew closer. “It’s an official pro football! And it’s signed too.”