“Maybe ten minutes out,” replied Cal.
“Alright, we’ll talk more then,” said Javi before he disconnected the call.
Camdyn’s car was in the drive at her parents’ house when Javi got there, so he pulled in behind her. Mr. Gallegos opened the front door when he knocked.
“Hey, Javi,” he said. “Do you know what’s going on with my girl?”
“I do,” he replied with a nod.
“Are you going to be able to make it better? Because I don’t know that I’ve ever seen her like this. She seems hopeless, defeated…and that’s not my Camdyn.”
“I hope I can,” he replied.
“Well, she’s in the den. She’s been there on the couch all afternoon. She wouldn’t get up and eat dinner with us. She’s just laid there.”
When Javi got to the den, he found Camdyn lying out on the couch, just like her dad had said. She was facing the TV, and she had a blanket pulled over her. She stared at the screen—her favorite true crime channel was playing—but he didn’t think she was actually watching it.
His girl put on a tough face. She wanted the world to believe that she was an ice queen, that she was a shark, that she could be hard for her job, but that wasn’t his Camdyn at all. His Cami had a heart of gold, she cared for people, and she loved deeply.He moved ’til he got in front of her and kneeled beside the couch. He reached his hand out to stroke some hair from her face.
She glared at him like he’d just interrupted some important moment, but he knew it wasn’t. She’d seen all these shows a million times.
“It’s time to go home,hermosa. Come on, get up. Come with me. We need to talk,” he said.
“I don’t want to talk,” she said. “I’ll just stay here.”
“No,” Javi said, shaking his head. “If you stay here, so will I, and your brother will not like that because I left him babysitting Lola.”
That got her eyes to cut to him. “He’s never watched a kid in his life,” she replied.
“Well, he has now,” said Javi. He took a deep breath. “Cami, do you remember when I asked you to be serious with me? To really give our relationship a shot? I did not want to just be friends with benefits. Do you remember what I told you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied with a sad smile.
I said, “I know what I want.” The same is as true now as it was then. I probably want youmorenow than I did then. I love you, Cami. I’m not going to let you break up with me. Ever. This is it for us.
She scooched up until she was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. “But how can we possibly make this work if we aren’t in the same place together?”
He moved to sit on the couch at her feet. “I traveled a lot this past season, but we made it work. We will always find a way to make it work. You and our life together is my priority. I know how important your family and your career are to you. I would never ask you to leave them behind.”
Her eyes beseeched his. “I feel the same way. I could never ask you to give up baseball. You’d be miserable without it. Very few people get the chance to play professionally, and I could never live with being the reason you stopped.”
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking about my life post-playing for quite a while. It’s one of the reasons I’ve pushed so far with school. It’s why I have been seriously researching to form my own barnstorming team. My goal was always to make it to the MLB. I’m here, but I can’t catch forever. I’m going to age and my risk of injury increases every year. I’m good, but I’m not Mike Piazza or Iván Rodriguez. I’m not going to make it fifteen plus seasons, and I don’t want to. I can see myself doing two or three more at most, and that’s because I want other things out of my life, too.”
He reached over and threaded his hands with hers. She didn’t pull away, just stared down to where their hands were entwined. His big and rough, hers dainty and soft with short, manicured nails. This woman tried to be hard, and her outer shell was pretty tough, but she was all soft inside. She was passionate, which made her good at her job, but it also meant that she felt things deep. He didn’t like seeing her depressed and upset. She was fierce and bold. Just like her father had said, this muted person before him was not his Cami.
“Do you know what those things are?” he asked her.
She shook her head.
“I want to marry you. I want to build a home here in Oasis with you. I want you to be the mother of my children. I want to coach our kids in Little League. I want us to help Lola have a good start in life. Sure, I want a career I enjoy, hopefully one that includes a bit of baseball. But what I want most isyou.”
He squeezed her hand and drew her gaze up to his with his finger under her chin. “Please don’t try to push me away. Havefaith in me. Have faith that I will always choose you, because, Cami, I love you.”
Tears started to stream down her face. “I love you, too, but I don’t know how to make this work.”
He reached under her arms and pulled her up and over into his lap so that he could cradle her. “Don’t cry, Cami. I’ve known since San Diego that you were what I wanted. I was angry and heartbroken when I woke up alone that next morning because I didn’t know how to find you. I will never take for granted God crossing our paths again. We’re meant for each other. I will never make you choose me over your family or your career because I know how important they are to you. But I need you to understand and believe me when I tell you that I will always choose you, whether you’re three hours away or thirty.Youdon’t have to find a way to make this work because I promiseIwill always find a way to make us work.”
He tightened his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, her face tucked up close to the side of his neck, her arms holding him, too.
