That was actually a relief. He’d pulled over twice on the way here to make sure the pup didn’t have any accidents in his truck.
“Of course, hand him to me,” said Cami.
Lola handed off her puppy after giving him exaggerated hugs and love. She was a cute kid.
“Alright, load up,chiquita,” he directed Lola before leaning down to kiss Cami goodbye. “Lola and I will be back tomorrow. Love you,hermosa.”
CHAPTER 29
After all my years, there are two things I’ve never got used to—haggling with a player over his contract and telling a boy he’s got to go back.
– Connie “the Tall Tactician” Mack, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, 1937
The end of November arrived swiftly once Thanksgiving had passed and life settled into a comfortable routine for Camdyn. She was living with Javi and Lola in the little house he’d rented in Oasis and working at her family’s firm. Life was good and she was happy.
As Camdyn was preparing to leave her office at Callahan for the day, her cell rang with an incoming call from her brother. She picked up on the next ring. “Hey, Brother.”
“Cam, are you with Javi?” he asked.
Brothers were so irritating. She didn’t even get a greeting. She rolled her eyes. Calling her only to want to talk with someone else. It was probably about that girl that’d broken up with him again.
“No. I’m just getting ready to leave the office. Why don’t you call Javi if you want to speak with him?” she said with just a hint of sass.
“I tried to, but he didn’t answer,” he replied.
Well, that was unlike her man. His phone stayed glued to him all the time.
“I went to work out in the gym, here at the complex, and I overheard Martin on the phone,” he continued.
Martin was one of the new front office guys. He had recently joined the Diamondbacks and was currently living in the gated community owned by the team. No one seemed to care for the man so far. He just came off as smarmy.
“Okay,” said Camdyn.
“Yeah. So I heard Martin on the phone with someone, and he said Javi was traded to Reno.”
She nearly dropped her phone.
“What?” she breathed. Javi was being traded to a minor league team and he hadn’t told her. He hadn’timmediatelycalled her. Reno was hours away. She didn’t know how far the drive time was in hours offhand, but it had to be in the double digits.
Her brother continued, unaware that he’d just nuked her world. “I was surprised that he hadn’t called me. Do you think maybe they haven’t told him yet?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t tried to call me, so maybe he doesn’t know. I’ll tell him to call you when I get to the house.” Surely Javi was unaware. He would have called her.Wouldn’t he?
“Okay,” Callahan said distractedly. “I’m gonna walk over to Lie’s to see if he knows anything. Talk to you later.” Then he just hung up. No chance for her to reply or say bye. It was irritating and reminded her of their grandpa.
She left the office somewhat dazed. The drive home was all automation. She didn’t even remember how she got to their road.
Javier and Lola were walking up the drive as she pulled in. They’d evidently taken Amigo for a walk. They stopped, waiting for her to get out of the car, but she couldn’t. She wanted to get out, but she knew she’d cry if she did, and Camdyn didn’t cry.
Javier was everything she wanted in a partner, and she’d grown to love him. She’d known when they started their relationship that there was a chance that he would get traded to another team or sent back to the minors. But he’d convinced her to take the risk. She’d ignored the logical choice and followed her heart. In one fell swoop, she was about to lose the man she loved, the life they’d been building together, his precious cousin, and even Amigo. Because they’d have to follow Javi wherever he went, and she couldn’t go. She’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t betray her grandpa or uncle again. She couldn’t work for Callahan Law in Nevada. She couldn’t carry on her family’s legacy from there. She’d already chosen a man and another law firm over her family once. She wouldn’t do it again. She just couldn’t.
She watched as Javi sent Lola and Amigo inside. She didn’t know if it was her paralysis or if he could just read the hopeless desperation on her face, but she knew he could tell something was wrong. He made his way over to the car and opened the driver’s side door.
“You okay?” he asked.
She looked up at him but didn’t make a move to get out of the car. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The statement hung between them and she saw the moment he realized what this was about. “Well, for one, I haven’t been told for sure that I’m going to Reno. It’s a possibility. Thorton has recovered well and he’s done with his rehab. He has the allclear to return. They want to bring him back onto the roster, but he doesn’t want to risk reinjuring himself. They’re talking about him playing the first game of the season and then retiring. If he agrees to that, they’ll have to remove me from the active roster. So they’re discussing sending me up to Reno for a few games and then me rejoining the team after opening day. But honestly, with Thorton being so worried about being reinjured, he may decide to not play at all, and in that case, they won’t send me.”
