Trent (Season Two: The Ninth Inning #4) (21 page)

“Hope they aren’t serving
anything with pumpkins or apples.”

“How come?”

“I don’t trust anything
that’s been involved in fairytales.”

A faint smile graces her
lips. “I’m sure the chef isn’t going to give you a poisoned apple,
and I highly doubt a pumpkin will turn into a carriage. However, we
do the option of steak, chicken, or salmon and none of those are in
any princess stories that I know of.”

I smile, happy she went along
with it. “Which are you choosing?”

“I’m thinking fish. And
you?”

“Chicken.” I glance around
the room again and ask, “So, did you want to come to enjoy the
event, or are you being honored?”

“Oh no, I’m not receiving
anything tonight. I came because, as strange as this sounds, I do
try to mingle and make some new contacts. It helps when we’re
trying to place foster kids.”

I shake my head, but I can’t
help my smile. “Even at a party, you’re still in work-mode. I’m
starting to feel like you have way more dedication to your job than
I do to mine. Actually, I’m sure you do.”

“Now, that’s not true. You’re
a professional baseball player.”

“And you’re still more
dedicated than I am.”

“So you think,” she mumbles.
“I’m hoping you’re enjoying yourself. Once the awards starts, it’s
a real snore.” She rolls her eyes.

“You’re always good company,
even during a snooze fest like this.” I grin. “Are you enjoying
yourself?”

“Very much so. Thank you for
coming, Trent. Who’s taking care of Kaelyn? You didn’t leave her by
herself, did you?” She jokes.

I give her a chiding, but
serious look. “I only leave her alone if it’ll be for the entire
weekend. Free range parenting and all; it works better for long
stretches of time.”

She giggles. “At least she’ll
learn some independence, then.”

“She’s five. She needs to
learn as much as possible before I kick her out on her eighteenth
birthday. But she’s actually with her new nanny, Angie.” I
discreetly pull out my phone to make sure I don’t have any missed
calls or texts. “Today is her first without my grandmother around
as well.”

“So, you did hire a nanny?
Wonderful! How does Kaelyn like her? Did you do a background check?
If you need help with that, let me know; I have some connections.”
Her concern for the well-being of my daughter and her new nanny is
endearing.

“I thoroughly checked her
out, don’t worry. She seems like a nice kid. Granny approves and
Kaelyn seems to like her so far. It still feels weird for me to
have her at the house all the time and to leave Kaelyn with her.
It’s an adjustment for all of us.”

“As long as you trust her,
that’s all that matters. You have to trust your gut on this
one.”

“I do. Otherwise, I’d be at
home right now.” I laugh.

Dinner is served and
throughout the night, I become more amazed by Scarlett. Countless
people come up to her, discussing some project she’s working with
them on or telling her how well something turned out. When it’s
time for the awards, Scarlett nearly falls out of her chair with
surprise when she’s called to receive one. It seems to take a while
before her shock wears off.

As we’re walking out, I offer
her my arm, which she takes. I lean in close to her ear and say,
“Is it going to sound bad if I say this turned out better than I
thought it would?”

“Is it because I almost
passed out when they called my name? I almost stumbled in my dress
walking up the stairs.”

“Yes, that was priceless,” I
laugh, but I falter when a light flashes.

“Doesn’t this seem like a
nice photo for the front of my article in the morning?” It’s none
other than Junior Mintzer.

“Don’t you have something
better to do? Seriously?” I’m sick of this guy.

“No, because I’m on the edge
of writing the best piece of my career. I’m not sure of the
headline yet. How about:
Baseball Player Had Wife Killed
?
Too generic?”

His casual tone irks me as I
take a step toward him. “You are really testing my self-control.
You don’t have a story and you don’t get to mention my wife.”

“Trent,” I feel Scarlett
squeeze my arm, “He isn’t worth it. He’s a blogger, not a
real
reporter.”

She’s right, but it pisses me
off that he’s fishing for a story that doesn’t exist. I take a deep
breath and nod. “Fine. Let’s go.” We step around Junior, but he
doesn’t shut up yet.

“I’m not giving up on you
two. I’ll get the evidence I need and everyone will know,” he calls
after us.

“You do that.” I clench my
fist, trying to get my emotions under control, but I can’t help
muttering under my breath, “Un-fucking-believable.”

“He’s a jerk and I’m
definitely going to be filing a complaint against him.”

“He’s persistent, I’ll give
him that.” I sigh. “I think I might need to give the team a heads
up if he’s not going to stop digging for a story that doesn’t even
exist. Just what I need.”

“I’m sorry. We both know it’s
because of me,” she mumbles. “I knew being friends was going to be
a bad idea. No matter how much I like you,” she finishes
quietly.

“It’s just as much my fault
as it is yours, Scarlett.”

“I think we should just go
home.”

I can’t argue with her there.
We’re quiet on the drive back. There’s a tension between us that
wasn’t there earlier, and it pisses me off that it’s Junior’s
fault. I want to lighten the mood between us. I rack my brain for
something to say as we stop outside of her front door.

“Sorry your night was ruined.
At least, you didn’t fall walking up the stairs; that would have
made it worse.”

Relief fills me when she
softly giggles. “True and my night isn’t ruined. I had a lot of fun
with you tonight; it’s been awhile for me.”

“I’m glad I invited myself
then. How long is awhile?”

She hesitates, seeming
nervous. “The wine tasting and before that, I can’t remember.”

I grin. “That was fun, too. I
should go and see if the nanny survived putting Kaelyn to bed,” I
chuckle and Scarlett laughs. I give her a hug and add, “Have a good
night, Scarlett. See you around.”

“See you around, Trent.” She
smiles as we pull away, her arms falling back to her sides.

I start walking back to my
car before I turn around and call out to where she still stands on
her doorstep. “Make sure you find a reason to wear that dress
again. You can’t buy it and only wear it once when you look amazing
in it.”

Thanks to the light on her
porch, I see her smile, but she only shakes her head at me. I leave
and head home. Considering I only checked my phone once tonight,
and I never heard from Angie, I’m assuming everything went
well.

When I walk into the house,
Angie is picking up toys in the living room.

“Hey, how’d it go?”

“Great,” she smiles widely.
“She gave me a little fight when I put her to bed because she
wanted you to tuck her in, but I managed to get her settled within
twenty minutes,” she says with pride.

“Good. Still want to stick
around?”

She laughs. “Yes. You have an
amazing daughter and sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like
work.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

“Did you have a good
night?”

“Yeah, thanks. I’m going to
check on Kaelyn and then I’m turning in. Do you need anything?”

Angie shakes her head, and I
bid her good night. Kaelyn is sleeping, looking like an angel.
Satisfied, I head to bed, the night’s events with Junior Mints
coming back around to plague my thoughts.

***

I THINK I’VE read the
email more than twenty times. Dom’s attorney sent me another email
requesting I speak on his behalf. I can’t do it. I know deep down I
can’t stand in a courtroom and say anything that will help Dominic.
Yes, he had his good points, years ago, before the drugs got him. I
close the email without responding.

I have less than a half hour
before I meet up with Macy. She called me this morning and wants to
have drinks tonight. Considering the past seventy-two hours of my
life, I need it.

Not only was I completely
floored to win the Social Worker of the Year award, the hug from
Trent hangs in my head. I feel like I can still smell him. Yes, I
know it sounds strange, but I feel like I do. Even though the damn
reporter put a huge damper on the evening, having Trent there was
something special. I’m glad he’d come with me.

When I walk into the wine
bar, I see Macy waving me down. She already has a bottle in front
of her.

A bottle?

“Long day?” I ask as I slide
into the booth.

“And it’s not even close to
being over yet.” She takes a large gulp of the red liquid. “You’re
going to need this.” She pushes a full glass over to me.

“Oh no. Tell me quickly.” I
can tell by her face it’s not going to be good news.

“Okay. First, have you talked
to Trent about Junior Mintzer?”

I nod. “Sure. I’ve been
keeping him in the loop. Junior even caught us coming out of the
awards event a few nights ago.”

Macy faces goes from concern
to shock. “I knew Trent went with you, but you didn’t say anything
about Junior showing up.”

“I know, but he did. He ran
his mouth for a couple minutes, Trent threatened him, and then we
left. Why? What’s going on?”

Macy shakes her head. “Well,
his article is hitting their site in the morning and it’s already
creating a buzz.”

“Wha...wait...what?” My heart
jumps into my throat. This can’t be happening. Not to Trent. He has
come so far in the past couple months. “I don’t know what to do.”
For the first time in a long time, I’m at a loss for words. I can’t
let this stupid ass blogger ruin Trent’s life, or mine for that
matter.

“I know it’s lies, Scarlett.
Anyone who reads his cheap, uneducated writing will be able to tell
it’s nothing.” Macy tries to sound helpful.

“If it’s
nothing
, why
is there a buzz about it?” I take two large gulps of the wine, and
I’m thankful there’s a bottle on the table now. “What the hell am I
going to do? How can someone just lie about people for nothing more
than a headline and few additional hits on a blog?”

Macy gasps. “That’s it.”

“What’s
it
?”

“He’s lying, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Sue him and the blog. I
seriously doubt you’ll get serious cash or anything, but he is
blatantly lying about Trent and you.”

“Sue him?” I can’t even think
straight and it’s not like I know anyone who can help me with
this.

“I’m not joking. You can,
beyond a reasonable doubt, prove you and Trent didn’t know each
other during the time of his wife’s death. Not to mention, Junior
won't have any proof that you did.”

“Of course I can, and stop
talking as if you’re on a
Law and Order
episode.” I fill up
my second glass.

Macy giggles. “I’m not. I’m
trying to point out he’s lying; therefore, it’s libel.”

I don’t take a drink from the
glass I filled. I stare at the red wine and mull over the words
Macy just said. Another legal issue in my life is something I don’t
want. Even more, I really don’t want Trent to deal with it. Macy’s
right. I need to be ready to fire back. I can’t keep sitting around
and letting everyone run my life.

I already told Dominic I
won’t be saying anything and I will make sure his attorney knows it
too. On top of that, I’m not going to let some blogger hurt the
people I do care about. I do care for Trent and it’s enough. He’s
been through the ringer and I’m going to make sure I nip this in
the bud.

Trent: I’ll be there in an
hour.

He sent me the text
fifty-eight minutes ago. I’d sent him a message asking him over. I
didn’t know where else we could talk privately; this is something I
can’t tell him in public.