“You got a deal!” I turn toward Zach with Nolan in my arms. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime,” he says with a grin, then goes back to helping his son hit off the tee.
I keep Nolan in my arms as I head back to where Christy is waiting for us.
As we walk by Charles, I see the tears fill his eyes, but he keeps his promise and doesn’t say a word, so I say to Nolan, “Can you say goodbye to Charles, the team’s owner?”
“Bye!” Nolan waves, and I hear Charles choke back a sob.
“Why is he crying?” Nolan whispers in my ear.
“Because adults are silly sometimes,” I respond, hoping to make light of the situation.
We get to Christy, and she instantly grabs Nolan from me, holding him tightly to her.
“Why is everyone crying?” he asks, confused.
“‘There’s no crying in baseball!’” I mimic Tom Hanks fromA League of Their Own.
Christy laughs, but the saying goes right over Nolan’s head, and he looks at me in even more confusion.
I rub my hand over his curly hair. “We’ll have to watch the movie so you’ll get it. Maybe tonight?”
“Yes! Can we have a movie night, Mom?”
She turns to leave the ballpark. “Sure, bud.”
“That’s after we get our banana split,” he points out.
She looks at me.
“Hey, I thought a banana split was in order.” I nod, standing by my idea.
She chuckles. “Yeah, I agree. We deserve a banana split.”
“Yes!” Nolan says in celebration even though he has no clue what all just went down. As long as he gets ice cream, he’s good to go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Evan
Once we’re home and Nolan is occupied with his toys in his room, I lean against the kitchen counter, wrap my hands around her waist, and pull her into me. “Are you okay?”
She nods, but I don’t believe her.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She sighs. “I promise you, I didn’t know who he was or that he was married.”
I pull her a little closer to me. “I told you … You don’t have to keep repeating yourself. I believe you.”
She places her hand on my chest. “I don’t want you to think I’m a gold digger. I’m not. I don’t care how much money you make as a baseball player. That’s not why I’m dating you.”
“I know that, Christy. I know you had no idea who I was when we met. Your face alone told me that when you saw me on the field that day.”
She chuckles. “It was that obvious?”
I grin and nod. “Yeah. It was cute. And don’t forget, I pursued you. Not the other way around. No one thinks you’re a gold digger.”
