Christy
It’s been a week, and I’ve done nothing but stare at the card Evan gave me with Charles’s number on it. I can’t get over the fact that Eddie is—or I guess, was—part owner of the team. I’d had no clue he was even rich when I started dating him. He walked into our salon wearing shorts and a Captain America T-shirt, needing a haircut. I just happened to be open, and things bloomed from there.
It wasn’t until he came at me with the offer of a house and an NDA that I found out who he really was. Until then, I’d felt like I was being swept up in this whirlwind romance with this amazing guy. When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was early since we’d only been dating for a short time, but everything just felt right.
Until it didn’t.
When the shoe fell, it fell hard, and I was left an absolute mess. Not only because of my unborn child, but because I had been tricked that bad into thinking I’d met this good guy, only to be totally tricked by a guy living a double life.
I never thought about his family though. I only knew of him and his wife, who was adamant on not having kids, especially ones who weren’t her own.
Knowing Nolan has grandparents who really want to get to know him hurts my heart for them. It’s not their fault their son is a liar who is married to an absolute soulless monster, but do I want to open that door for Nolan?
Nolan has asked about who his dad is and why he doesn’t have one. I knew the truth would come out eventually, but I thought I would wait until he was older.
But then I think about how a relationship with his grandparents may be best when he’s young.
Before I talk myself out of it, I pick up the phone and call the number on the card.
“This is Charles,” he says as his hello.
“Hi. Um, this is Christy,” I say, not even sure if he’ll know who I am by just my name.
“Christy,” he says breathlessly. “Hold on. Let me get my wife.”
“Dear, it’s Christy on the phone,” I hear him say in the background.
A woman’s squeal of joy comes over the line, and I have to hold back tears.
“Christy?” she says. “Hi. I’m Mary.”
“Hi, Mary,” I say, still feeling like I don’t know what to say.
We sit in silence for a moment until she continues, “Look, I can’t fathom what you’ve gone through over these years, but we just want you to know that if we’d hadanyclue about the situation, we would have handled itcompletelydifferent.”
I nod even though they can’t see me.
“We’re so very sorry you’ve had to go through this alone,” she says.
I sigh. “I’ve had my family’s help, so I haven’t been totally alone. And having the house took a lot of worries off my plate.”
“It’s still not okay. If you’ll let us, we’d like to make it right.”
“I don’t want your money,” I blurt out defensively.
“No, sweetheart. I know you don’t. I mean, in terms of family. We’d like to get to know our only grandson. We’ve only seen the pictures you’ve posted online. He’s adorable.”
I grin as I close my eyes and nod, tears flowing down my face. “He’s the best. He brightens my life every day.”
“I can imagine,” she says, and then we both sit in silence again. “We’ll give you all the time you need. We just hope, one day, you’ll allow us to be in his life.”
“I don’t want Eddie around,” I state firmly. “At least not right now. When Nolan is older and can understand things more, then he can decide for himself. Until then, that’s a firm no.”
“We understand,” Charles cuts in. “We want the baseball field to be his safe place with us. Eddie knows he’s not welcome there anymore. We figured that could be our place with Nolan, making you feel secure that he wouldn’t pop in, unannounced.”
“Okay, yeah … that makes sense.”
“So, you let us know. We’ll be here, patiently waiting for your approval.”
