Javier sprinted through the terminal to reach his gate. He could not miss this flight. Camdyn had booked him a seat on the last commercial flight heading out for tonight. It wasn’t direct, and he’d have two plane changes to deal with, but he had to make it if he wanted to be in Miami by morning. Thankfully, there were minimal layovers between each swap, but it was going to be exhausting. That was okay, though. Caffeine was an old friend of his.
He’d come directly from the stadium. His team had won tonight, and while they celebrated, he’d rushed through a shower and change. A reporter had tried to catch him after, but he’d waved them off and shouted, “Can’t talk. I’m going to get Lola!” as he’d sprinted by.
He still couldn’t believe that the pope had spoken out on his and Lola’s behalf. It blew his mind. The Supreme Pontiff.The Bishop of Rome. The Holy Father of the Catholic Church. The Vicar of Christ. The religious head of the church who often weighed in on international affairs and influenced over a fifth of the global population was a baseball fan who’d felt a need to weigh in ontheirsituation.
And his opinion was all it had taken. Everything had seemed to fall into place very quickly after. The man spoke, and people listened. From his lips to God’s ears. It was done. Like magic, all the red tape had fallen away, and within a week, his guardianship petition for Lola had been approved.
As Javi rounded the bend, he saw that the waiting area for his gate was empty. His stomach dropped with the fear that he hadn’t made it in time, but then he spotted the gate agent. She waved him over. “You’re just in time. We’re about a minute from shutting the door but I recognized your name and was trying to delay. I saw a video on my phone that you were on your way to get your cousin.”
Javi breathed a sigh of relief as she scanned his ticket. Apparently, the reporter he’d sprinted past had been filming. “Yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome and good luck,” she called as he headed down the gangway.
Social media was a wonderful thing, but it was weird to have random people not only recognize you but also be aware of what was going on in your life and have an opinion about it.
He made his way onto the plane, finding the seat that Cami had booked for him in the very back corner—his preferred place to sit on a plane. He didn’t hate flying, but it wasn’t his favorite, and at some point over the years, he had heard that if you sat in the back of the plane, you had a higher likelihood of surviving if the plane crashed. Ever since he’d heard that, it had become his favorite place to sit. Oddly, it was a random fact that he and Cami had discussed when she’d been watching someUnsolvedMysteries-style show about a flight that had gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle. Just a random, offhand comment. Yet she’d remembered his preference.
His beautiful Cami was brilliantly smart. Technically, her grandfather was his attorney for this case, but he’d been little more than oversight for Cami in this situation. She’d been doing all the paperwork and filings. She’d even coordinated all the travel arrangements for them and his mother. She was really helping him make the most of the three days of leave he was being granted. Anything more, and the team could replace him, so he prayed for God to continue to align everything.
Cami and her grandfather had left for Miami yesterday. They’d wanted to be boots on the ground in Miami for arranging the private flights to and from Havana, and to meet with the consulate. His mother had arrived there earlier today. Due to his limited leave, he had a very small window to get to Miami, retrieve Lola from Cuba, and rejoin the team.
Tomorrow, he and Mr. Callahan would charter a private flight to Havana to meet with the government agency that was overseeing the transfer of guardianship. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any additional paperwork needs or holdups in retrieving his cousin from the orphanage. If everything went according to plan, they’d fly back to Miami that same evening. The plan gave him an additional day, if needed, before having to meet back up with his team.
While waiting for the flight attendants to finish their safety spiel, he pulled out his phone to message Cami.
I made my flight. We’re getting ready for takeoff now.
Even though she was several time zones ahead of him, and it was quite late there, he got an almost immediate response.
Perfect. Let me know when you land in Dallas. I’ll keep an eye out for any delays.
Javier wasn’t sure what he’d done to win God’s favor, but somewhere along the way, he’d done something that pleased the Big Guy. That’s all he could figure with the windfall of good luck and good things that kept falling into his lap: playing in the majors, finding the woman of his dreams, the pope weighing in on his life. He was living some kind of fairy tale.
He sent her a thumbs-up, but it didn’t seem enough. He never wanted her to doubt his feelings for her or her worth in his life. He’d never had such deep emotions for anyone else.
I love you, Cami. I can’t thank you enough for all the hard work you and your grandfather have done to help me get guardianship of my cousin.
He sent it, and his heart began to race as he watched little bubbles pop up on the screen indicating that she was typing a reply. A heart appeared, then more bubbles, but soon they disappeared, and nothing else came through. He wondered what she’d been typing and why she hadn’t sent it.
CHAPTER 19
Good ballplayers make good citizens.
– Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
Arap sounded on the door of the hotel room that Camdyn was sharing with her grandpa. Pa had a key, so she knew it wasn’t him. She hurried to open it, because she knew Javi had probably arrived.
“You look exhausted,” she said as she took in his travel-weary appearance. His clothes were wrinkled, eyes dull, and a dark scruff covered his face. She leaned up to kiss him. It was a brief, but comforting touch. She hated that he’d had such a long night hopping planes from Phoenix to Dallas to Orlando to Miami, but it had been the only way to get him here by this morning without booking a costly private flight. And he was already paying for one of those today.
“Where’s your grandpa?” inquired Javi as he dragged himself into the room.
“I left him downstairs reading the paper after breakfast. You didn’t see him when you came in?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I didn’t notice much. I don’t think I even looked towards the cafe. I saw the elevators and came straight up to the room you’d texted me.”
“Your suitcase and garment bag are in the closet. Why don’t you shower and change and I’ll run down and order you some breakfast,” she offered.
“Thank you for bringing my bags with you. I probably would have missed my first flight if I’d had them.”
